Nerds from around the world duke it out for global supremacy in the videogame olympicsMost gamers see games as a casual hobby, but some dedicated players play games as competitively as sports. For these hardcore competitors, the Word Cyber Games represents the Olympics of gaming, where the best players from all over the world square off mano a mano for championship prizes and huge cash awards!

This year, the grand finale was held in San Francisco, the first time the event was held outside Korea. Also notable was the increased presence of Xbox games as both Halo and Project Gotham Racing 2 were games in the main event.

Hank Jeong, CEO of the WCG, recognizes the Xbox as a leader in competitive console gaming. "the emergence of multiplayer features such as Xbox Live facilitates the introduction of competitive games to non-PC gamers." Organizers and sponsors of the event realize the importance of console gaming to competitive 'e-sports.' "many more people play Xbox games than PC games. We want to open their eyes to a part of their hobby that they might not know is there," says Jeong.

United States players proved strong in Halo as Matthew "Zyos" Leo and teammate Dave "Walshy" Walsh took the gold and bronze medals, respectively. New to the event this year was the presence of shoutcasters for the Xbox matches, who broadcasted play by play reports of the games to listeners online. With Xbox making a significant impact at the WCG this year, console gaming further validates itself as a practical medium for competitive gamine. Did you hear that, MOM?Source: Official Xbox Magazine December Edition.