For many high school students, getting to know a bunch of video game designers is a dream come true. While they may not be talking with the devs directly, a group of students at North Gwinnett High School near Atlanta, Ga., have the privilege of listing Hi-Rez Studios as one of their team sponsors for the NASA-based FIRST Robotics Competition. Pretty cool!

Hi-Rez Studios, developer of the upcoming massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) Global Agenda®, congratulates sponsored Team 1771, The Global Agenda Gamers, of North Gwinnett High School and their robot “The Black Widow.” The robot took highest honors at the South Carolina "Palmetto" Regional Event at Clemson University, part of the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition: Lunacy™. With this victory, the Global Agenda Gamers advance to the FIRST national championships at the Georgia Dome, April 17 and 18.

FIRST Robotics Competition, sponsored in part by NASA, is a unique varsity sport of the mind designed to help high-school-aged young people discover how interesting and rewarding the life of engineers and researchers can be.

The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in competitions that culminate in the national championships at the Georgia Dome. The 18th FIRST Robotics Season kicked-off it's season on February 26, drawing over 160,000 youths to join teams across the nation, designing, strategizing and building their robots from a common kit of parts provided the organization for this year's Lunacy™ competition.

"Game development requires the same combination of creativity and engineering that is being demonstrated by these students”, says Todd Harris, executive producer of Global Agenda, "It seemed particularly fitting to support Team 1771 in this highly competitive sport that, like our game Global Agenda, puts a strong emphasis on team work and use of advanced technology"

North Gwinnett High School Team 1771 faculty advisor Mike Reilly adds that "Game Development and Robotics are amazing partners in nurturing our future technologists. I feel that a partnership with Hi-Rez is inspirational to our students, and is a great example of return on investment to both the school and local industry. This is just what Georgia is after in trying to grow the Entertainment Industry, and this is what students love to study."

The Global Agenda Gamers, Team 1771, also won the General Motors “Industrial Design” Award for best design, as well as the Rockwell Automation “Innovative in Control” for custom control systems. Team 1771 is ranked as one the top robots in the country heading into the FIRST Championships.

The 2009 FIRST Championships will take place on April 16, 17 & 18 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia and is open to the public and free of charge. Live viewing of the event is also available online courtesy of NASA. More information can be found at http://www.usfirst.org.

Global Agenda is a fast-paced action MMO using Unreal Engine 3 set in Earth’s near future, a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. The game is currently accepting applications for its beta testing program at http://www.globalagendagame.com.

To learn more about Hi-Rez and their upcoming MMO, Global Agenda, click here!