Team USA has won the overall championship in the recently-concluded World Cyber Games (WCG) 2007 held in Seattle, Washington this weekend. The champs bagged a total of 6 medals, just one medal shy of a deadlock with South Korea's seven-medal record.

The Americans dominated in various platforms and came out on top in Gears of War, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham Racing, Tony Hawk's Project 8, and Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

This year also saw the emergence of Germany in the RTS genre with 4 medals, topping powerhouse South Korea's three-medal performance. The United Kingdom also put on a stunner as they swept Starcraft with an unbeaten streak in the Singles game courtesy of star player Apollo.

When all was said and done, more than 700 players from 74 nations expressed their fulfillment in their participation throughout the event. Victory may not have been for everyone, but there was much happiness to be shared.

The World Cyber Games is the biggest e-sports gathering in the planet. It was founded in 2001 and has been one of the industry's most celebrated shindigs ever since, attracting fans and media from all over the world.

Multiplay is encouraging all LAN game enthusiasts to come and participate in i31 event which is now one of the biggest game gathering of the sort in Europe.

Spanning 1,500 square meters of space, players can bring along their own computers and hook it up on the LAN. Once underway, the gamers can compete in multiplayer skirmishes on titles currently on the World Cyber Games (WCG) lineup, on both PCs and Xbox 360s open to the public use.

Samsung is one of the main sponsors of the event along with other industry heavyweights like Asus, Packard Bell, Intel, Scan, Philips, Crucial and Antec. All of the firms have come to participate to show their support for the popularity of gaming on the PC.

Software giants are also there to add spice to the shindig. EA will be giving a demo of Crysis, THQ will show off Frontlines: Fuel of War and Activision will let players get their hands on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The winners will then be flown to Seattle where the best of the best are poised to prove once more who the king of the PC gaming hill is.

Multiplay Managing director Craig Fletcher was proud to comment "this is the largest and most interactive exhibition we have ever organised".

An interview by 1UP with Community Manager Aaron Kaufman had revealed that Electronic Arts and the Command & Conquer online community were still waging a constant battle revolving around the three things: the 1 vs. 1 ladder system, the disconnect issues, and gameplay balances.

 

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars is currently the most played RTS over the PC platform. Xfire's Xstatics placed C&C3 on top of the RTS gaming list, even while contested by more the strategic and unfortunately overlooked Supreme Commander from Gas Powered Games and THQ.

In fact, the game has become so popular that the World Cyber Games has listed this game as one of their flagship titles for the RTS competitive leg, along with Blizzard's Warcraft III: Frozen Throne and original Starcraft. This is where all the troubles began.

Because of the World Cyber Games U.S. Open invitational announcement and the apparent influence it has had on the American Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars online community, there has been a flurry of "did toos" and "did nots" over at the official forums that certain gamers listed on top of the 1 vs. 1 Ladder list are actually cheating.

Gamers who disconnect from a game in order to avert tagging a loss to their stats are now considered as cheaters. Kaufman, better known around the forums as Apoc, explained fixes going to be introduced with patch 1.05 will not only change the current lineup of top performers, but will also establish serious consequences for disconnectors.

But more often than not, gamers have complained that they wouldn't need to disconnect early from a game if the balance issues were addressed in the first place. Instead, they reasoned out that their disconnects are often morale-based, because of one-sided tank rushing power that instantly lop-sides any competition.

Apparently, balance changes will be introduced in the coming 1.05 patch, where Apoc believes that should completely stir up the top 100 players in the ladder rankings. Although it gives aspiring competitors little time to straighten out the rankings and weed out the real top RTS players in the list, Apoc believes the best ones can easily adapt to balance changes and still win in competitive matches.

With several new games added to the list, World Cyber Games 2007 for the U.S. may prove to be more exciting than ever. The U.S. Open will take place in New York City come June 2 - 3 at the Samsung Experience.

Those who can prove themselves will get automatic berths and top seeds for the WCG USA National Championship in September.  But before that, they'll get US$ 20,000 while players for eight certain games will be flying to Mexico for the WCG Pan-American championships; round trip and hotel accommodations all free of charge. The competitors will come from 10 different countries in North and South America, battling it out from June 22 - 24.

 

During the U.S. Open, both spectators and pro gamers alike are invited. WCG encourages it as an "Open", where everyone can play and stars are born. For gamers in the know, this is the chance for spotlight and professional gaming contracts. If you think you've got the competitive skills for the PC and Xbox 360 games they're offering, it's the perfect time to prove yourself.

The tournament will play in a "double elimination" format during the Open, while the individual finals will happen during the 2nd day. After that, champions from all over the world will fly to the last stop of their road to glory. The WCG Grand Final will be held in Seattle, Washington with more than 70 countries vying for gold.

WCG 2006 had 1.3 million competitors in its roster, while 24 million swarmed Monza, Italy to watch the action live. Don't forget, it might be very difficult to win the championships but it's always more important to have fun.

We all know how great of a title Gears of War is. What we don't know is who's the greatest GoW player out there. It could be you, it could be us, and to officially settle this, we invite you to join the tournament being set-up by Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games. The event is being sanctioned by the World Cyber Games (WCG) and everyone around the world can participate.

Here's how Gears of War Global Xbox Live Tournament works: The event itself runs from April 9 to May 6. During this period, compete in GoW ranked matches over at Xbox Live. The top four eligible ranked players for each participating country will then be competing in their country's 2007 World Cyber Games National Championship event.

After the elimination round, the stakes get higher. The top 11 finalists in the world will then be sent to Prague, Czech Republic in July to slug it out in the Grand Final. "We are thrilled to offer the chance for gamers across the world to come together and share the glories of blowing apart someone into little chunks.May the best man, or Locust, win," quipped Cliff Bleszinski, quite thrilled.

And he should be thrilled because the prizes are rather very, well, rewarding. They include:

• Grand prize(s): The 11 top ranked overall players receive a trip for 2 to Prague to compete in the Gears of War World Finals.
• Secondary prize(s): The top 12-25 overall ranked players (after the Grand Prizes have been awarded) receive an Xbox 360 Bundle (Xbox 360 Pro Console, Viva Piñata, Project Gotham Racing 3, Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1, Kameo, and Xbox Live Gold 12 month subscription) and Gears of War faceplates and statues.
• World Cyber Games Prize(s): The top 4 overall ranked players in each participating country win a trip and automatic entrance to their country's 2007 World Cyber Games National Championship event.

Registration for the tournament began last March 29 and will end on April 29. To participate and know more about the event's rules and details, just click the Read link below. See you there!

Philips is continuing its bid to form close relationships with the videogame industry. The company has just signed a three-year deal with the World Cyber Games that will see the integration of Philips' immersive amBX gaming peripherals into gaming tourneys as well as the birth of a new competition: the WCG Philips amBX Cup Challenge.

The announcement was made by Michael Arzt, senior vice president and general manager of WCG organizer International Cyber Marketing USA. According to Arzt, as an "Official Global Partner," Philips' exclusive hardware sponsorship designates Philips amBX accessories as the official Ambient Gaming Environment Systems at select WCG events.

"Working with the World Cyber Games is a great opportunity for Philips to showcase the power of amBX and further immerse gamers into the competition," said Engelbert van Pelt, the general manager of peripheral accessories of Philips Electronics.

"Both Philips' and the World Cyber Games' goal is to create an amazing experience for the gamers. We believe the amBX peripherals and the amBX Cup adds a new level of immersive playing never before experienced in the World Cyber Game events."

This year's World Cyber Games will be held on October 4 through 7 in Seattle. Epic Games' hit TPS Gears of War will be one of the many games where gamers will compete in.

 

CMP - the folks responsible for organizing the Game Developers Conference has recently confirmed that they will host a Korean GDC come September this year.

Ah, Korea, land of awesome kimchi, mass-produced MMOs - no offense to the really good ones that came out, cyber athletes/celebrities, the World Cyber Games, and female MMO gamers who sell their virginity for uber in-game items. (A Ragnarok Online myth that's yet to be confirmed, quick, call Jamie and Adam!)

Anyhow, GDC Korea is set to take place from September 13th to 5th at the Bexco Convention Hall in Busan, South Korea. The event is said to capitalize on the country's "fast growing" games community. (What? It's still growing?)

The event is said to consist of a two-day conference on the 13th and the 14th, and an Expo that will run for the full three days. The event is said to also be organized in part by Busan Metropolitan City. For more details on the event, feel free to click our read-link below. It should lead to the official site.

International Cyber Marketing Inc. has just revealed the final roster of games that players will be able to compete in at the upcoming World Cyber Games 2007 to be held in Seattle this October. Last month, we gave you a brief update on three more games that were added to the list of playable games, namely FIFA 07 Soccer, Age of Empires III, and Age of Empires III: the War Chiefs.

So with no further ado, here's the full list of games to be featured in the upcoming WCG 2007:

PC:

• WarCraft III: Frozen Throne
• StarCraft: Brood War
• Half-Life: Counter-Strike
• FIFA Soccer 07
• Need For Speed: Carbon
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
• Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

Xbox360:

• Gears of War
• Dead or Alive 4
• Project Gotham Racing 3
• Tony Hawk's Project 8
  

SteelSeries (a leading manufacturer of various gaming accessories such as headsets, keyboards, mouse pads, and mouse accessories) just struck a partnership with Reason Gaming (a British team that manages squads for Quake 4, Counter Strike, Call of Duty, Battlefield 2, and Halo 2; and was even chosen to represent UK in the World Cyber Games 2005) to produce cool videogame accessories.

As such, Reason Gaming will take part in promoting SteelSeries products. Also, both companies are preparing for various UK LAN events for 2007, so that's something to look forward to.

Says, Kim Rom, Head of SteelSeries' PR & Communications:

SteelSeries have been supporting a wide range of eSports teams since our inception in 2001. We select partners carefully, ensuring they are well suited to represent our brand. Reason Gaming has already had solid results with Gladiator Computers and Western Digital.

Here's a bit of inspirational news for all of you gamers out there. Wesley "TTR Ch0mpr" Cwiklo, the youngest member of Team USA, took gold in Project Gotham Racing 3 on the Xbox 360.

Team Korea (you know what a gaming-crazy nation Korea is) took home the Grand Champion title (their first since 2002; they won this year partly because of the gold and silver from Starcraft: Brood War). Team Russia got second in terms of medal count. Canada, China, Poland, and USA each took home one gold, so that makes Wesley Cwiklo the only gold medalist for Team USA.

Cwiklo went undefeated round after round at Monza, Italy, where the event was held. The final race was against Christopher Hogfeldt of Sweden, a fellow TTR member (TTR is a team of PGR players).

Next year's World Cyber Games will be in Seattle. Ralph Morton, Executive Director of Seattle Sports Commission, was there at this year's closing ceremonies to take the WCG flag in the symbolic turn-over.

(One last thing about how the Koreans are a gaming country (or at least a nation where gaming is not frowned upon but seen as a positive thing). We were digging through our press photos from the event, and we kept finding Koreans; it seemed like they were really well-represented there. Eventually, we settled for that image of the event stage, because it's pretty neat.)

About US$ 462,000 were given away in prizes. Gold medals went to China for WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, the Polish for Half Life: Counter Strike, and Germany for FIFA 06. You know how parents say that gaming doesn't pay? Well it usually doesn't, unless you're really good like the 700 players who went to this year's WCG.

If any of you guys know of any other competitions - or if you're joining a competition - why don't you let us know? We'll cheer you on. And if you're in the Seattle area, make sure you don't forget about next year's WCG!