Whoa, it's been a year already? It's that time of the year again for our UK readers to look forward to MatchBox360 XL, the largest Xbox 360 eSports Tournament in the UK. This year, attending gamers will get a chance to get their hands on Race Driver: GRID, the latest racer from Codemasters. More details about the event in the full article.

Here's more info on the upcoming MatchBox360 XL 2007 UK event. This year has a neat lineup for all you gamers out there (at least in the UK) this coming 4th and 5th of August. For this year's event, NEC Toute Suite, Birmingham will play host to the biggest Xbox and Xbox 360 eSports tournaments.

MatchBox360 XL will have competitive tournaments and freeplay on some of the best Microsoft console titles like Halo 2 (FFA and 4v4), Gears of War (4v4 Execution), and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Champions League format, group and knockout stage). Not only do these fantastic games await you, but tons of cash and material prizes that's worth up to £7,500.

XLEAGUE.TV will also be joining in on the fun to cover the event. So with that media bit covered, we're pretty sure you're all up and ready to expose your gaming skills to the world, eh? So why don't you go and enjoy yourselves at the MatchBox360 XL 2007 UK event? We bet you'll find some new buddies right there.

Keep it posted here for more info.

Our non-U.S. readers sometimes feel left out. They don't get to join the big U.S.-only contests by American game developers. If you're in the UK, you often get your games days or weeks after the Americans on this side of the pond.

Free to enter tournament. But Matchbox360 and AlienPants (and Microsoft, of course) are having the Matchbox360 XL LAN 2006 at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) where attendees "will be able to enjoy freeplay and a free to enter tournament on the year’s most anticipated Xbox 360 game, Gears of War."

Prizes. What's at stake? A "whole host of fantastic prizes, including limited edition Gears of War faceplates for the Xbox 360, courtesy of Microsoft."

When and where. The event will be on the weekend of Saturday, November 25, and Sunday, November 26. So start making plans to get yourself to the West Midlands.

Tickets. The tournament is free to enter. But it looks like the event is not free to enter. You need a ticket to get in. You can pre-order your ticket from xl.matchbox360.co.uk (that's probably better - you can never be sure there'll be tickets at the door).

One last thing. How many people are they expecting? We've heard the NEC is gigantic. For those of you who manage to go, let us know what it was like. You can always open a thread in an appropriate place in the QJ forums (now we make no promises, but if it's good, we'll mention your post on this blog).

Matchbox360 just recently got the support of AlienPants to host their upcoming XL "e-sport" event. With over 50 consoles lined up for all of those tournaments, there's one more bit of info that you might want to know: Vivendi SA is a video game developer; formerly known as Vivendi Universal">Vivendi is coming along for the ride. Do you know what the means?

XL is going to have a paranormal twist when F.E.A.R. latches onto the tournaments. While the floor is alive with matches for other games, there's going to be an eight-player tournament dedicated to F.E.A.R. The winner will get a whole score of prizes from Vivendi and a limited edition F.E.A.R. faceplate for their 360.

So, make sure you guys practice and own up to your fear, because once the event kicks off on November 25, it's going to be one paranormal weekend for the participants.

The upcoming XL e-sports event in the UK just got bigger. It's going to be an Xbox and Xbox 360 tournament-fest, with Halo 2 and Pro Evolution Soccer 6, at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Toute Suite on the 25th and 26th of November.

After the recent PAX, and the ongoing Midnight Gaming Championship, Matchbox360 is expecting a lot of participants for their XL event, and they've lined-up more than 50 consoles to accomodate all the players they're expecting.

What's in store for the winners? There's going to be cash prizes and gifts to be given away worth more than $ 3,700. All for the fun of jeering and bashing your friendly foe.

They're upping the ante to the next level. Xbox competitions weren't this fueled with energy. You think you got what it takes to "XL" to the top?