The 2008 World Final of the Championship Gaming Series happened this week in Los Angeles, but it was a British team that took all the cake.

Congratulations go out to the 'Birmingham Salvo', who won half a million bucks by crushing all opposition on the way to gaining the title of World Champions in the Championship Gaming Series gaming league.

The Birmingham Salvo is composed of the following dudes (and sole dudette):

• Michael “Bazza“ Barrett (FIFA 08) Watford, 18
• Sarah “Sarah Lou” Harrison (Dead or Alive) Stockton-on-Tees, 19
• Mingzhi “MESSY” Deng (Dead or Alive) Guiyang, Guizhou, China, 24
• Dean “Picaso” Sutton (Forza Motorsport) Basildon, 25
• David “Daveyskills” Kelly (Forza Motorsport) Liverpool, 19
• James “wilzOOO” Wilson (Counter Strike) West Midlands, 19
• Elliot “weZ” Welsh (Counter Strike) Manchester, 19
• Sam “RattlesnK” Gawn (Counter Strike) Brighton, 20
• Pete “pt” Wright (Counter Strike) Plymouth, 20
• Marc “Mangiacapra” Mangiacapra (Counter Strike) York, 23

The biggest losers in the finals event were the San Francisco Optx, who, apparently, caved and choked under all the pressure and totally missed out on winning half a million dollars. Poor Optx -- too bad, all that money would have been really nice. Suckers. Oh well. Maybe next year you won't lose the most important match, and embarrass all of California.

The Birmingham Salvo have a general manager named 'ODEE' O'Dell, and he was quoted as saying the following:  “They truly deserve the title of World Champions. My players spent hundreds of hours practicing this season, and their hard work paid off. I'm extremely proud of my team right now."

If you'd like to watch the finals, apparently it is being broadcast all this week, every night on channels Sky One, Sky Two, and Sky One HD.

And for all you under-16 year olds reading this: remember, big skills can lead to big bucks. Take down the champs.

Championship Gaming Series posted this following Birmingham Salvo recap video. For more CGS videos go here.