We were unable to attend CES this year, but thankfully World Cyber Games Director of Marketin, Aaron Smolick was awesome enough to answer our questions about WCG, Ultimate Gamer Season 2 and Samsung. Yes, that’s right, Ultimate Gamer Season 2 was announced at CES 2010 and we’ll be bringing you all the information so that you can try out.

We loved WCG Ultimate Gamer on GamingAngels.com and are very excited to hear that it has been renewed for another season. What can you tell us about the next season of Ultimate Gamer?

Glad to hear it, and we’re very excited as well. We’re very proud of season one of WCG Ultimate Gamer. We got a lot of great feedback and positive momentum going that we want to continue into season two. Of course with the season two we want to make it bigger and better. Can’t reveal everything, but we have a lot of surprises in store for the fans and our next group of competitors.

Do we know when auditions are? Or where gamers can send their information?

We haven’t formally announced audition dates and locations yet, but we’ll be updating the WCG Web site, us.wcg.com, with all the relevant details soon… we’re targeting March!

What are show producers looking for when casting?

We screen contestants on gaming, and they have to be good at everything – not just Rock Band or Starcraft. Once you pass that screening, it’s all about personality. At the end of the day, the WCG Ultimate Gamer has to be passionate about games, while bringing a lot of enthusiasm and personality. Also, the World Cyber Games is a global organization, so we’re also looking for some of the best gamers from around the world to participate.

Do you need to be a professional gamer to apply?

Not at all. We’re looking for gamers of all shapes, sizes and platforms; PC or console. If they think they’re the best, we want to meet them.

Will the game genres be more varied in Season 2? Are we still limited to the Xbox 360, or will you see PC or PS3 games?

We received a lot of great feedback from the gaming community at the end of season one. One of the most common suggestions we encountered is the diversification of gaming genres and platforms. You’ll have to stay tuned for season two to see what changes we’ve made, but I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

How has season 1 affected the contestants lives that were involved?

Our season one winner Mark “applesauce” Smith received $100,000, loads of gear from Samsung, and has traveled around the globe as an official WCG spokesperson at our events, like the 2009 WCG Grand Final in Chengdu, China. His passport has definitely seen some action in the past 12 months. Other gaming superstars such as sWooZie, Chelsea and Jamal, can say the same.

Competitive gaming still has a long way to go to gain mainstream popularity. How is the WCG trying to encourage more diverse audience and do they believe that Ultimate Gamer will encourage more people to try the professional competition scene?

It’s funny, because you look back to 10 years ago, when the WCG started, and the simple idea of gaming was still pretty niche. Now you have games like Halo 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 breaking major records, making more money than movies. So give it time – now that even nighttime talk show hosts know the difference between a frag and a fail, we’re poised for major growth. Professional gamers are the best for a reason, and they really deserve recognition for their accomplishments and dedication – we’ve seen this in Asia, and it’s growing here in the US. WCG Ultimate Gamer really allows people who can’t attend our events to see what it takes to be one of the best, while being entertained and hopefully learning some new tricks from our talented group of gamers.

Samsung Electronics is the sponsor for WCG Ultimate Gamer. What new products were shown at WCG that gamers will be really excited about?

Samsung produces the absolute best electronics for gaming, and we’ve used their LCD monitors, TV’s, mobile phones, and solid state drives in previous years of competition. This year is no different. We already have plans to incorporate the latest in Samsung technology to take gaming to a whole new level both on the show and during our events.

Thank you Aaron for taking the time for our interview! GamingAngels.com can’t wait for season 2 of Ultimate Gamer and I hope many of our members will be applying.

Here’s a video of a few of the WCG Ultimate Gamer Season one cast at CES 2010: