The World Cyber Games tournament begins

The first World Cyber Games opened yesterday in Seoul, Korea, at the KOEX convention hall. The event features a five-day tournament that includes 389 participants from 37 different countries. A number of notable visitors attended the opening ceremony, including Namkung Jin, Korean minister of culture and tourism; Yun Jong-Yong, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics; and Stuart Moulder, general manager of Microsoft's Game Division.

"I am very proud that the largest game festival of the world is held in Korea," said Namkung Jin in his opening speech. "I expect every player in this event to do their best in the competition, display fair manners, and contribute to games' growth to true e-sports."

The winners and runners-up of the event will be determined on December 9 by a double-elimination tournament, which follows preliminary tournaments held on the first two days of the event. The tournament is being aired live on the Korean broadcast TV station MBC. The event can also be viewed on Lycos Korea.

Some of the games featured in the competition include Microsoft's real-time strategy game Unreal Tournament.

In addition to the game tournament, the World Cyber Games will include conferences and lectures. Some of the speakers include Stuart Moulder of Microsoft; Brian Reynolds, president and CEO of Big Huge Games; Cliff Bleszinski, one of the designers of Unreal Tournament; and Mark Rein, vice president of Epic.