Taking on aliens for Team USA: Local man in video-game Olympics

Previous competitions had been in such exotic locales as Monza, Italy; Suntec City, Singapore; and Seoul, South Korea. Now, after earning a spot on the 22-member Team USA, Mill Creek's Geoff Robinson is being sent on an expense-paid trip to do battle in ... far-flung Seattle.

He'll be battling the aliens of "StarCraft Brood War" as part of the World Cyber Games Grand Final, held today through Sunday at Qwest Field. (See www.worldcybergames.com for tickets, the full schedule and other details.) One of several such events, the seven-year-old WCG bills itself as the Olympics of competitive video-game tournaments, pitting 700 gamers from 75 countries against one another for $500,000 in cash and prizes.

The cyberathletes will also throw down in "WarCraft III: Frozen Throne," "Counter-Strike," "FIFA Soccer 07," "Need for Speed: Carbon," "Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars," "Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs," "Project Gotham Racing 3," "Dead or Alive 4," "Gears of War" and "Tony Hawk's Project 8." Tickets are $10 per day, or you can watch the highlights Nov. 9 on Spike TV.

Cue the "Chariots of Fire" theme. Robinson has maintained a strict training regimen of three or four hours a day on "Brood Wars," a science-fiction real-time strategy game. He says his mother would find that a conservative estimate. And the assiduous training hasn't been without sacrifices for the 22-year-old aspiring teacher, who studies English and history at Oregon State University.

"The game is pretty notorious for having a lot of people get consumed by it, because it's a very addictive game. When the decision came down to, well, I could study for this test or play a couple of games of 'Brood War' — which turns out to be 10 or 20 games — 'Brood War' usually wins out," he says.

"My mom must have said a million times, 'That damn game.' "

This dedication finally paid off for Robinson when he took first place last month in WCG's National Championship, in Orlando, Fla. (Spike will broadcast it Oct. 12.) He won $2,000 cash — which he'll spend on books, food and a lizard — and a $1,000 gift certificate at Circuit City.

What's his strategy going into this weekend?

"My style and strategy in the game is unique in that I'm very aggressive, and I like to bring the fight home to them very quickly," Robinson says. "So I'm hoping to catch off-guard the international players that are unfamiliar with me."

He adds, "A non-Korean has never won for 'Brood War,' so to go in with hopes of winning is unrealistic. So my goal is to have as much fun as I can and represent the USA well and be respectful."

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com