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Newsflash:

WCG U.S. Open in New York May 31-June 1

Published May 29, 2008

America 's top gamers will converge May 31 and June 1 at the Samsung Experience in New York City for the World Cyber Games (WCG) 2008 U.S. Open video game tournament. Samsung is proud to present this two-day gaming competition that kicks off the American leg of the WCG USA 2008 Championship Series, culminating with the WCG 2008 Grand Final this November in Cologne, Germany.

The U.S. Open features an A-List of American gamers, including players from the defending Gold Medal 2007 WCG TEAM USA, Geoff Robinson, Raghav Phadke, Shawn Teeter, Brian Boyle, Team EG, and several of the top-ranked Halo® 3 teams on the planet.

The U.S. Open competition will be fierce, much like Virtua Fighter 5.

Hot Xbox 360® games that will be played competitively include Need For Speed™ ProStreet, Halo 3, Project Gotham Racing® 4, Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock, and Virtua Fighter® 5.

Guinness World Records
"The World Cyber Games U.S. Open offers spectators a rare chance to not only witness some of America's best gamers in action close up, but to also join in the excitement and take their best shot at making TEAM USA by entering into one of our walk-up tournaments," said Michael Arzt, general manager of WCG USA.  "In addition to the elite eSports action, fans will also be treated to the special Guinness World Records certificate presentation on Saturday and possibly walk away with some of the amazing prizes and giveaways that will go on throughout the weekend, courtesy of our many great WCG Partners."

During the first day of the event, officials from Guinness World Records will be on hand to present World Cyber Games organizer International Cyber Marketing with the record for the "Most Participants In a Video Game League in a Single Season." The WCG, which previously held the record, shattered their old mark of 1.3 million competitors in 2006, by drawing more than 1.5 million gamers to the World Cyber Games 2007 tournament.

Competitors will be racing for $20,000 in cash and prizes.

Path to Championship
Competitors at the Open will be vying for $20,000 in cash and prizes and automatic berths to the WCG USA National Championship, taking place in the fall at a soon-to-be-announced location. Winners of certain games will also receive roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations to Monterrey, Mexico to compete in the WCG 2008 Pan-American Championships, June 20-22. In addition, spectators and local gamers will be invited to participate in the WCG U.S. Open walk-up tournaments in Guitar Hero III and Carom 3D. The weekend's winners of the games' tournaments will earn trips to play in the WCG USA National Final.

World Cyber Games
With over 1.5 million players from more than 70 participating countries, the World Cyber Games is regarded as the gaming world's premier international tournament and video game festival. Featuring online and offline events held throughout the world, the year-long series' 2008 television coverage will kick off with highlights of this year's WCG U.S. Open on an upcoming episode of Spike TV's GameTrailersTV with Geoff Keighley. For further in-depth and live event coverage, tune in online to eSportsTV.com and WCGLIVE.com for play-by-play calls, blogs, news, forums, live chat, and videos of the tournament, all posted in real time.

There is still plenty of time to sign up to compete in the World Cyber Games 2008 USA tournament! As a special bonus "thank you" to loyal players and fans, the WCG, in partnership with GameTrailers.com and Xfire, announces its exclusive "30 Displays in 30 Days" giveaway. Every day in the month of June, the WCG USA will award a free Samsung SyncMaster 931c gaming display ($399 value), the "Official Monitor of the World Cyber Games" to one lucky winner picked each day via a random drawing and announced daily on the WCG USA website. No purchase is required, but entrants are also encouraged to register for the WCG USA online tournament(s) of their choice. To register now for the WCG USA online tournaments and/or enter the "30 Displays in 30 Days" giveaway, visit the World Cyber Games site.