If you're not averse to some good cheesy reality TV fun, the WCG Ultimate Gamer premieres tonight on the Sci Fi Channel. From the show's site:

The SCI FI Channel, in partnership with Samsung and the World Cyber Games, presents an all-new reality competition series to find the "Best All-Around Gamer." A diverse group of contestants embark on an intense and emotional journey...They will compete against each other in challenges that include traditional video game play as well as real-life video game simulations, which place the contestants in situations inspired by best-selling and world famous games. Throughout the competition, the ultimate gamer will need to excel both individually and with his or her teammates, have top-notch gamer skills and be able to handle the pressure of head-to-head elimination rounds played in an arena filled with hundreds of spectators. The ultimate gamer will also have to showcase their ability to navigate and manipulate a houseful of other die-hard gamers, all vying to be crowned number one.

I've actually gotten to see the first episode, so I can explain how it works. Each week is themed after a particular game, starting with Rock Band and progressing through games like Halo 3, Virtua Fighter 5, Project Gotham Racing 4, and so on. In the first half of the show, the contestants face off in some sort of real world competition related to the game (this week's is particularly insidious and I suspect most of us would not only fail, but would manage to humiliate ourselves spectacularly in the process!). In the second half of the show, they face off by playing the actual game.

The winner of the real world competition then chooses someone to play against the loser of the ingame competition for a final showdown. The loser of that showdown is then "kicked off the island", as it were. And so it progresses until there's a last man -- or woman -- standing.

Of course, it wouldn't be reality TV without some personal drama, so the contestants all have to live together for the duration, with cameras constantly prowling around. You didn't think it was all going to be about the games, did you?