The touring game festival GameRiot will kick off its second national tour later this month. Calling itself "the world’s largest traveling video games festival and competition," the event is designed to introduce the key 18-to-35-year-old demographic to new and upcoming console and PC titles. Most often held in clubs, GameRiot dates assume a concertlike ambience and feature light shows and DJs.

　　Among the marquee titles attendees can play at GameRiot are Ninja Gaiden, Battlefield Vietnam, Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, and Unreal Tournament 2004. All told, almost 30 titles from publishers like Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Activision, and Ubisoft will be available at the events.

　　The first GameRiot took place last summer and was paired with the legendary music tour Lollapalooza. This year, GameRiot goes it alone, opening with a March 28 date in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and closing out its two-month run with a special three-day event in Los Angeles from May 11 to 13.

　　Not so coincidentally, the GameRiot finale coincides with the E3 game expo. To pique gamers' interests, GameRiot will pick one lucky winner who will be flown to LA. He or she will attend E3 and will participate in the closing GameRiot extravaganza. In addition to Xbox, other sponsors of this year's tour include EB Games, Nvidia, AMG, and yours truly, GameSpot.