LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- In a grand festival celebrating online games and their players, the first annual Game and Game World Championship (GNGWC) North America Regional Finals were held in Los Angeles on August 19, 2006 and featured finalists from a pool of more than one million participants across the globe. Connecting people of all ages and nationalities, the GNGWC (http://www.gngwc.com/) demonstrated the overwhelming popularity of online games and dispelled the misconception that the gaming world solely attracts teenage males.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/gms/25411/

GNGWC is the competition and event extension of game & game (http://www.gamengame.com/), a Web site developed by Korean IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA) to allow people to download the best online Korean game titles, free of charge. In the case of GNGWC, the free game download came with a chance to quality to attend the Los Angeles competition, where finalists competed for cash, prizes, and a trip to the Grand Finals in Suwon, Korea on September 23.

Ken Morse, a 59-year-old resident of Abita Springs, La., found himself at the Regional Finals because his 17-year-old son introduced him to an online golf game, OnNet's "Shot Online," earlier this year. Morse had played golf most of his life and quickly grew to love the online game. He submitted his scores for GNGWC and then placed second in the Los Angeles competition, earning a trip to Korea to compete for the title.

"A year ago my family and I were running through 145-mile-per-hour winds for shelter after a 70-foot tree fell on our house during Hurricane Katrina, and here I am now heading to Korea to play against the best gamers in the world in an online golf game," says Morse. "What started as an enjoyable time for me and my son has brought us closer together, and he's very proud of me. I'm already a winner."

In addition to "Shot Online," the GNGWC competition includes Joymax's "Silk Road," a role-playing game, and Softnyx's "Gunbound," an action game. All three are Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) titles in which large numbers of people around the world can interact via the internet to play a game concurrently from the comfort of their homes.

"The camaraderie you find in online gaming is really fantastic," says Morse. "Everyone is very cordial and supportive of each other, and it's exciting to become friends with people of all ages from across the globe. With this past-time, there's no generation gap."

The upcoming Grand Finals in Suwon, Korea will feature GNGWC Regional Finals winners from the Los Angeles competition as well as from those held in Germany, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

To view the North America Regional Finals winners, click here. For more information about the Korean game industry's game titles, visit http://www.gamengame.com/.

About GNGWC

Game & Game World Championship 2006 (GNGWC; http://www.gngwc.com/) is an international online game festival featuring the Korean online games "Gunbound," "Silk Road Online," and "Shot Online." Selected regional finalists from competitions in Europe, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and the United States will attend the Grand Finals in Suwon, Korea on September 23. GNGWC is the competition and event extension of game & game (http://www.gamengame.com/), a Web site that showcases Korean games and game companies to international audiences. Developed and operated by Korean IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA), game & game allows gamers around the world to download and experience the best online game titles that the Korean game industry has to offer.

CONTACT: U.S.: Kevin Carney of Game Marketing Solutions - GMS,
+1-646-456-4052, kevin@gamemarketingsolutions.com; or Korea: Won Taek Buhm of
Korean IT Industry Promotion Agency - KIPA, +82-2-2141-5434 or
+82-16-722-8849, wtbuhm@software.or.kr

Web site: http://www.gamengame.com/
http://www.gngwc.com/