America's Top Gamers Battle at World Cyber Games US Open as 2006 Championship Series Kicks Off
e-Sports pros head to Los Angeles to start US leg of the world's most prestigious gaming tournament
Local gamers and attendees also invited to compete in several promotional Xbox 360 titles
LOS ANGELES, May 30, 2006 - Amateur gamers and hard core enthusiasts will have the opportunity to see and compete against the best PC and video game players in the country when the World Cyber Games, the world's largest and most competitive e-Sports tournament, kicks off the 2006 WCG USA Championship Series at the WCG US Open, an invitation-only tournament to be held at The Annex in Los Angeles on June 3-4.
The WCG US Open is designed to give elite professional gamers the opportunity to compete against each other and enable the very best to gain automatic berths, top seeding and a free trip to this year's WCG USA National Final in September. Several members of Team USA, which won the overall medal count at last year's WCG Grand Final in Singapore, will be on hand to defend their titles, including James "NefariousSage" Clifford, Matija "Taf_Jevrej" Biljeskovic, Kamran "omegaelite" Siddiqui and Matthew "mTwWizard)" Anderson. WCG US Open Winners will walk away with products and cash prizes valued at approximately $20,000.
In addition, anyone interested in competing at the WCG US Open is encouraged to sign up onsite to play one of several promotional Xbox 360 games, including Major League Baseball 2K6, Halo 2 and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.
"By starting the season with an invitation-only tournament like the US Open we give elite players a chance to qualify early and offer less experienced competitors a better shot at advancing to the WCG USA National Final through our traditional qualifiers," said Michael Arzt, general manager and senior vice president for ICM, organizers of the WCG. "As the tournament known for launching the career of many pro-gamers we feel an obligation to bring fresh faces to the competitive scene. We seek to foster the next generation of elite e-Sports pros."
The Annex is located in the Kodak Theatre complex and is the ideal forum to watch the nation's best PC and Xbox 360 console gamers face off in what promises to be an exciting showcase of gaming talent.
Winners in each of the eight WCG official game titles at the WCG USA National Final will form Team USA and will be flown to the WCG Grand Finals in Monza, Italy from October 18 - 22, to defend its title as overall WCG Grand Champion against more than 700 gamers from over 70 countries around the world.
This year's official worldwide WCG program includes the following PC titles: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: Frozen Throne, FIFA 06, Starcraft: Brood War, Need For Speed: Most Wanted and Warhammer 40,000: Winter Assault. Official Xbox 360 titles are Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3.
Anyone interested in registering to compete in the WCG USA Championship tournaments can do so at: http://us.worldcybergames.com
Also, for a limited time only, anyone who registers for the WCG USA tournaments will receive a free one-year subscription to Electronic Gaming Monthly, compliments of WCG USA and Ziff Davis Publishing.
The WCG USA is sponsored by Samsung, Microsoft and Shuttle. Samsung is the Worldwide Sponsor of WCG and Microsoft is the Premier Sponsor of WCG worldwide regional programs, including the Grand Final.
About the World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games (www.worldcybergames.com) is the world's blue-chip global game tournament and cultural festival, founded to promote international harmony through e-Sports competition. Under the slogan "Beyond the Game," WCG leads the digital entertainment culture by bringing gamers across the globe together to form friendships and compete in the planet's largest e-Sports festival, with the world's largest following. More than a million gamers attempted to qualify in 2005, with over US$2.5 million awarded in total. Over 55,000 spectators attended the five day 2005 Grand Final in Singapore with millions more watching via TV broadcasts and online. WCG was first to broadcast e-Sports coverage in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
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