In the past, professional poker was played by a few obscure individuals in casinos. With the advent of television, however, the game was transformed into mainstream entertainment, and its players became celebrities. The video game industry is hoping the same phenomenon will occur with professional video gaming. The industry wants to turn the pastime of millions of people into a television event. Barry Brady, a professional gamer, is ready. He says he is waiting to be discovered. Brady specializes in the driving game, Project Gotham Racing 3, is helping to move gaming into the entertainment arena by competing in the Champion Gaming Invitational, a made-for-TV tournament organized by DirecTV, a satellite television provider, and IGN, a video game Web site. This event will have the most elaborate TV coverage ever done for a professional video gaming event in the United States. Over 60 competitors from around the world will compete. Cameras will follow the players and their reactions as they play, and the viewer will also see what the players see, along with unusual camera angles from inside the game. DirecTV and IGN plan to offer over four hours of coverage, which is scheduled for some time in August. Steven Roberts, vice president and general manager of DirecTV, says a very large number of people plays video games and for large amounts of time. It makes sense, therefore, to put the event on television to determine how exciting it will be for mass audiences.