World Cyber Games US Finals under way

The action is under way at the World Cyber Games US Finals, which is taking place through Sunday at New York City's historic Hammerstein Ballroom.

Winners from local and regional qualifiers have been flown to the Big Apple for the event, which will narrow the field of 184 down to a handful of winners that will become Team USA. The group will then travel to Singapore in November, where it will represent its country by competing against more than 800 players from 70 countries at the World Cyber Games Grand Final. There's "only" $34,000 at stake in the US Finals' prize pool, but there's $420,000 more at stake in the Grand Final.

Games included in the competition include PC games Half-Life: Counter-Strike, StarCraft: Brood War, FIFA Soccer 2005, Need for Speed: Underground 2, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, as well as the Xbox pairing of Dead or Alive Ultimate and Halo 2.