As announced today, Hong Kong's leading online retailer for PC and video games, Play-Asia.com, joins the world's largest computer & video game festival - World Cyber Games 2007 Hong Kong preliminaries. Being one of the local sponsors, Play-Asia.com, not only sponsors the Hong Kong Preliminary, but also supports the Hong Kong National Team for WCG events in overseas, including the Asian Championship in Singapore in early August and the Grand Final in Seattle, USA in early October.

"Hong Kong is truly a gamers' metropolis. Not even in Tokyo can you see so many people playing handhelds while using public transportation", a spokesperson of Play-Asia.com commented. "Even though lots of Hong Kong people are crazy for video games, the culture & atmosphere of local e-Sport scene is relatively weak. With our participation in World Cyber Games 2007 Hong Kong Preliminary, we want to help to boost up e-Sport in Hong Kong, and give the best gaming talents the opportunity to compete with other athletes from all over the world".

Background information:

World Cyber Games (global):

The World Cyber Games (http://hk.www.worldcybergames.com) are the Olympic Games of the e-Sport scene, and have grown from a relatively small first event in 2000 to a global happening with approximately 1.3 million participants from 70 countries in 2006.

With the slogan "Beyond the Game", the WCG aims not only to establish a serious sports event, but also to promote a strong cyber-culture, as well as international exchange and harmony.

Asia’s top e-Sport athletes will compete for the Asian Championship this summer in Singapore from August 2-5, and this year's Grand Final will be held in Seattle, US from October 3-7. The Grand Final will feature competitions for eight PC and four Xbox 360 titles.

World Cyber Games 2007 Hong Kong Preliminary:

The Hong Kong preliminaries for the World Cyber Games (http://hk.worldcybergames.com) are fully supported by Samsung and will be held July 27-31 at the 9th Ani-Com Hong Kong / 4th Hong Kong Game Fair at Booth D30 of Hall 1, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center.

The Hong Kong preliminaries will feature the PC games Warcraft III, Age of Empires III, and Half Life: Counter-Strike (Team Event), and the Xbox 360 title Dead or Alive 4, as qualification for the Grand Final. Totaling eight gamers will be sent to represent Hong Kong in Seattle in USA.

For Asian Championships in Singapore - Hong Kong preliminaries will feature Warcraft III, Defense of the Ancients (Team Event) and Age of Empires III for PC, and Dead or Alive 4 and FIFA 07 on Xbox 360; nine athletes will be sent to Singapore in August.

Play-Asia.com

Play-Asia.com (http://www.play-asia.com) was established in 2002 and has become the leading online retailer in Hong Kong for computer & video games and related toys, soundtracks, and rare, hard-to-find items.

The company offers one of the world's biggest selections of classic games, as well as DVDs, CDs & electronic gadgets.