May 27, 2009 - NEW YORK, NY. May 27, 2009 - Thirty of America's finest gamers earned their way to the World Cyber Games 2009 National Final this past weekend by advancing through the stiff competition of nearly 100 'A-list' gamers in some of the world's most popular game titles. The champions and runners-up for each of the games - including Gears of War 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, Virtua Fighter 5, FIFA Soccer 09, Counter-Strike, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and StarCraft: Brood War shared in more than $15,000 in cash and prizes while automatically qualifying themselves for the WCG USA National Final, which takes place this September at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

The gamers will now have the chance to become part of TEAM USA, which will travel to Chengdu, China in November for the premier international video game competition - the World Cyber Games 2009 Grand Final. Included among the winners was Geoff Robinson (Seattle, WA) - fresh off his stint on the hit SCI FI reality series WCG Ultimate Gamer - who captured the championship in StarCraft.

"The WCG US Invitational has always been a showcase for the best players in gaming and this year was no different as the competition reached new levels," said Aaron Smolick, Director of Marketing for World Cyber Games. "We look forward to watching these elite gamers compete at the National Final to become part of TEAM USA."

Nearly 5,000 fans cheered on the intense competition and watched as the following gamers and teams defeated all challengers to take home the glory and earn a spot at the National Final:

Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)


1st - Team 'The Business'

2nd - Team 'vVv Destiny'


Guitar Hero World Tour (Xbox 360)

1st - Thomas 'witwix' Burke

2nd - Michael 'MoB Shift' Naiman


FIFA Soccer 09 (PC)

1st - Juan 'juanqui' Alvarado

2nd - Yfran 'Eafra' Garcia


Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360)

1st - Dennis 'KPS' Sockwell

2nd - Eddel 'ChiefFlash' Dioquino


Counter-Strike (PC)

1st - Team 'x3o'

2nd - Team 'EG'


StarCraft: Brood War (PC)

1st - EG's Geoff 'iNControl' Robinson

2nd - David Fells


Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (PC)

1st - Nikolas 'Sonkie' Cassidy

2nd - Phil 'Longwalk' Crawford


In addition to the weekend's gaming action, fans enjoyed a WCG Ultimate Gamer mini-reunion. WCG Ultimate Gamer host Joel Gourdin was joined by the final six contestants - Mark, Rob, Jamal, Chelsea, Swoozie and Amy - for a question and answer session. The weekend's events also included the presentation of the $100,000 check to WCG Ultimate Gamer winner - Mark Smith - and WCG Ultimate Gamer runner-up Rob 'ProdigyX' Paz set a new Guinness World Record for the highest score in Rock Band 2. Fans can relive all the excitement from the weekend by watching video highlight on www.samsung.com/newsroom. Fans who want an opportunity for a live chat with the top 6 Ultimate and Geoff 'iNControl' Robinson can log on to www.samsung.com/newsroom at 6pm (EST) this Thursday, May 28th, 2009.

The WCG National Finals will be held in conjunction with The New York Anime Festival September 25 through 27 at the Javits Center. To find out more about World Cyber Games and register for upcoming tournaments, please visit www.wcg.com/usa.

ABOUT THE WORLD CYBER GAMES
World Cyber Games (www.wcg.com) is the premiere global eSports tournament and festival, with about 800 players from 78 countries participating at the WCG 2008 Grand Final. Founded in 2000 and credited with launching the professional careers of many of the planet's top competitive video game players, World Cyber Games uses a yearlong tournament format, which begins with online, regional and national competitions in each country. National finalists then convene to compete in the ultimate international tournament in eSports, the World Cyber Games Grand Final, where each country's best players battle for the largest and most prestigious prizes in competitive gaming. The WCG 2008 Grand Final was held in Cologne, Germany. This year's WCG Grand Final will be held in Chengdu, China from November 11th to 15th.