With no windows to let in unwanted sunlight, the venue was the perfect spot for Gamestart Level Three — Warrnambool’s only formal competition for gamers. 

For six hours they got a chance to shoot, race or roundhouse kick their way to glory through high points and semi-finals.

“This is our third tournament,” co-organiser Phill Orero said. 

The weekend event was split across two days for the first time, with Saturday dedicated to gamers under the age of 18 and yesterday set aside for the adults.

“We had to be careful about what titles we chose for the underage for legal reasons being that we can’t have MA15+ games,” he said. “We’ve got a total prize pool of $2000 across both the events.” 

Even pinball made the cut — albeit a digital imitation. 

“The old ones can cost up to $2500, and they cost a lot to maintain,” Mr Orero said. 

Guitar Hero and the latest Call Of Duty were also among the games played yesterday. 

“We’ve got some pretty dedicated people, most of the guys here were at the level one tournament. We’ve got some identities shining through and some nicknames being thrown around,” Mr Orero said. 

“E-sports are starting to become really predominant (but) we’ve tried to distance ourselves from that a little bit (as) most of those tournaments are very title-based — you’ll have Street Fighter tournaments or Call Of Duty tournaments. 

“We try to open it up to anyone who enjoys gaming. We just try to create an event we’d like to attend ourselves.”