Los Angeles Game Developer David Guskin Wins Free Trip to Magic Tournament in Geneva, Switzerland

David Guskin, a developer at Los Angeles video game start-up Pretty Good Games Corp, won a free trip to Geneva Switzerland last weekend to compete in the international Pro Tour for card game Magic: The Gathering. David won the free trip via a regional qualifier in Phoenix, Arizona. After the tournament, he will visit European capitals including London and Paris.

Redondo Beach, CA (PRWEB) February 14, 2007 -- By day, David Guskin programs video games and websites for his Los Angeles area employer. After work, he plays the game 'Magic: The Gathering' online, or with friends. His hobby paid off recently, when he was awarded a free trip to Geneva Switzerland last weekend by winning the Phoenix Pro Tour Qualifier in November.

David plays the game casually, and had never before won a major tournament like the qualifier. Other contestants are nationally or internationally ranked, and they compete for the coveted trips to the invite-only tournaments. Previous Pro Tour events have occurred at exotic locations such as Honolulu, Prague, and Kobe, Japan.

Winners of the qualifying tournaments, were flown to Geneva courtesy of Wizards of the Coast, the Renton based game company responsible for the Magic: The Gathering international phenomenon. The Geneva event is the opening major tournament of four per year. The ultimate event is the Magic World Championship, to be held this December in New York City.

The winner of the Geneva competition, American Mike Hron defeated Takuya Osawa of Japan in a close match, and was awarded $40,000 for his victory. The top 75 places pay some prize, for a total prize purse of $240,245. David's finish in 174th place out of 387 put him in the top half of the field, and his participation makes him considered a professional, and no longer eligible to play in amateur tournaments.

Although David did not play beyond the first day, he was happy about the experience. He said, "Even though I wasn't a top finisher, I felt good about my performance. This is my first time in Europe, and I'm looking forward to the time off to see London and Paris before I return to the States." David has a Masters Degree in Physics from Columbia and undergraduate degree from California Institute of Technology. He works at Pretty Good Games, a new video game startup, on some upcoming casual titles soon to be announced. His last project was developing the www.CasualCafe.com website.

Pretty Good Games would like to congratulate David on his good fortune and skill to win a free trip to Europe and wish him well on his vacation overseas.

About Pretty Good Games Corp:
Pretty Good Games Corp was recently founded to make multiplayer online casual games. The company is working on its first game and licensable game engine technology. Prior to founding Pretty Good Games, Michael Scholz was director of technology at SkillJam Technologies, the leading provider of casual skill-based online gaming. He has 10 years experience developing games including years working at Vivendi, THQ, and starting-up WildTangent, a leading casual game publisher. He is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Magic: The Gathering, Magic Pro Tour are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Contact:

Michael Scholz, president
Pretty Good Games Corp.
310-634-7130
http://www.prettygoodgames.com

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