CURTAINS RISE ON US FINALS FOR WORLD’S BIGGEST VIDEO GAME CHAMPIONSHIP

- Winners Form 'Team USA' and Advance to Grand Final in Singapore

(NEW YORK, NY, September 8, 2005) - National video-arcade top-dogs, obsessive joystick jockeys and aspiring pro-gamers from all over the country will descend en masse to the Mecca of American competitive gaming - the World Cyber Games US Final - in order to rub shoulders with and learn the latest moves from the nation's top PC and video game players when they converge to do battle at the famed Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, September 8th through 10th. New York plays host to the US Final for the first time in the six year history of the world's largest e-Sports festival.

The festivities kick off with the Opening Ceremonies on Thursday, September 8 at 6:30 PM. These will be sandwiched by performances from one of the world's preeminent jazz innovators, trombonist and seashellist 'Steve Turre' and New Jersey-based indie quartet 'Spiraling'. Additional festival musical acts include a performance on Friday, September 9th by UK Hip-Hop pioneers 'Ninja Tune'; and Local East Village rockers, 'Marwood', who will round out the festivities with a performance on Saturday, September 10th at 4:00pm, directly preceding the Team USA unveiling and Closing Ceremony at 4:30pm.

Throughout the festival, New York Tokyo Anime Films will be showcasing highlights from New York City's original monthly gaming event, Gamers Niite Groove. Attendees stopping by will also be treated to an exclusive hands-on sneak preview of 'Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex' from Bandai Games. Other game demos that will be showcased on the pavilion computers, include a sneak peak of the brand new F.E.A.R title from VU Games and the recently released smash hit Battlefield 2 from EA Games.

The festival also boasts special guest appearances by former WWE Champion and Long Island native, Mick 'Mankind' Foley who will be signing autographs on Friday at 3:30 PM and FX Network's 'Rescue Me' star, Callie Thorne who will be signing autographs on Saturday at 4:00pm. In addition, daily drawings for prizes worth over $40,000 including Samsung Digital Cameras (Digimax V5) and Shuttle Gaming PCs. Admission is free.

Players have honed their skills at local and regional qualifiers all summer and anxiously await their chance to win a slice of the $34,000 prize pool as well as the honor of representing America in Singapore for the Grand Final in November, where an additional $420,000 is at stake. Of the more than 40,000 gamers who have battled to qualify for the US Final, only 184 players remain.

Unlike any other gaming tournament, WCG US Finalists are flown to New York and stay at the Official World Cyber Games Players' Village. The winners of each event will form Team USA and go to Singapore to face over 800 players from 70 countries, the world's elite gamers, at the Grand Final. More than $2.5 million in cash and prizes is expected to be distributed on a worldwide basis between an estimated 1 million gamers participating in World Cyber Games events.

Game categories and cash prizes for the US Final include:

PCs

HALF-LIFE: Counter-Strike - 1st Place $ 5,000; 2nd Place $ 2,500; 3rd Place $ 2,000

FIFA Soccer 2005 - 1st Place $ 2,000; 2nd Place $ 1,000; 3rd Place $ 500

Need for Speed: Underground 2 - 1st Place $ 2,000; 2nd Place $ 1,000; 3rd Place $ 500

StarCraft: Brood War - 1st Place $ 2,000; 2nd Place $ 1,000; 3rd Place $ 500

WarCraft III: the Frozen Throne - 1st Place $ 2,000; 2nd Place $ 1,000; 3rd Place $ 500

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - 1st Place $ 2,000; 2nd Place $ 1,000; 3rd Place $ 500

Xbox

Dead or Alive Ultimate - 1st Place $ 2,000; 2nd Place $ 1,000; 3rd Place $ 500

Halo 2 - 1st Place $ 2,000; 2nd Place $ 1,000; 3rd Place $ 500

Samsung, Intel, Shuttle and Razer are sponsors for the World Cyber Games US Final. Samsung has been a global sponsor of the World Cyber Games since 2000.

Photos are available on request.

About World Cyber Games

South Korea-based International Cyber Marketing (www.worldcybergames.com) is the global organizer of the World Cyber Games, the world's largest computer and video game festival, and is responsible for all World Cyber Games interactive game tournaments to be held in about 70 countries this year. This year the winners of each national event series will compete for the world championship title and prizes worth more than $400,000. Last year's World Cyber Games Grand Final was held in San Francisco, CA with more than 642 gamers from 59 countries, attracting major media such as The New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, Associated Press, Reuters, ABC, NBC, CBS, and many more.