Wesley Cwiklo wins gold at World Cyber Games

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!

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!