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SMITE announces world championships for 2015
Are you the best SMITE player in the world? Are you sure about that? If so, maybe you should go ahead and take part in the SMITE World Championships. The company has just announced that the championship tournament will take place January 9th to 11th, 2015, along with qualifier dates for North America and Europe, all of which can be found just past the break. Players will be competing for a grand prize of $600,000, a pool which is expected to grow over the next half-year in the lead-in to the event. You can check out the official e-sports site for the game to find out how to register your team and try to make it into the big leagues, or just check out the trailer below. Maybe you just like to spectate, after all. It's cool.
League of Legends contract for 2014 prevents streaming of other games
The last thing that anyone at Riot Games wants is to provide free advertising to League of Legends' competitors. The first thing that the company wants to do is promote the professional gaming side of the community. In the contract for players taking part in the game's 2014 championship series, the company is aiming to kill two birds with one stone by preventing professional players from streaming any competing games during the duration of the 2014 season. Games considered to be "competition" include World of Tanks, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Dota 2, and StarCraft. An official response from the company states that this is comparable to the restrictions placed on pro athletes in several sports. Players in the official Reddit thread are upset by this decision, claiming that the comparison to professional athletes is both inaccurate and inapplicable in this particular context. It remains to be seen whether or not this will impact the game's championship numbers in any fashion.
Mad Catz MLG Pro Circuit controller review (PS3)
While most of us play games purely for their entertainment value, an elite few get their game on while calling themselves "professionals." These superstars of simulated battle make the rounds in various tournaments, including, most notably, Major League Gaming Pro Circuit championships. Now those digital athletes, as well as the masses of seasoned "amateurs," can compete with professional (or at least officially licensed) equipment -- we're talking about gear like Mad Catz' Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Controller for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This Major League gamepad promises to give competitive gamers a professional, customizable edge over their opponents with swappable "ProModule" thumbsticks and d-pads -- invoking the customizable spirit of Mad Catz' transforming RAT mouse. We gave the PlayStation 3 edition a chance to make its rodent cousin proud. Read on to see if it lives up to its professional branding.
SteelSeries Sensei gaming mouse goes up for pre-order, obeys your macro come October
Competitive gaming scored itself a new peripheral vying for the top spot back in August, when SteelSeries unveiled its ambidextrous Sensei mouse. If you'll recall, the Sensei tracks up to 150-inches per second with its 10.8 megapixel sensor, and uses a 32-bit ARM processor to calculate it all without bogging down your rig. Making things sweeter, a trio of illuminated sections can be set to differing hues befitting your mood, and an LCD planted on the Sensei's underside will let you change some settings without a computer. If you've been dying to get your FPS-loving mitts on this $90 input device, it's now officially up for pre-order from the company's website and due to hit doorsteps during the first week of October. As usual, the full PR is located just past the break.
Mad Catz Major League Gaming controllers offer swappable thumbstick layouts, fancy arcade buttons
If we didn't already know those cats were mad about customizable controllers, we just got a reminder: the Mad Catz Major League Gaming Pro-Circuit Controllers. These professional-grade PS3 and Xbox 360 controllers allow competitive gamers to adjust the gamepad's weight and swap out key components -- such as exchanging the controller's analog stick for a D-pad. Want your PS3 controller to have a Xbox 360 layout? No problem. If the insane kitty's ambitious Onza competitor isn't your thing, check out the MLG Tournament Edition Fightstick, featuring the same Sanwa Denshi components used in Japanese arcade cabinets. It may not have its sibling's stick-swapping action, but its 13-foot controller cable, classic layout, and left-right stick toggle mode (for emulating the missing analog thumbstick) still aims to please. The Arcade Fightstick can be had now at the GameShark store to the tune of $160, but the Pro-Circuit gamepads aren't due out until closer to the end of the year. Hit the break for a pair of extra pictures and the standard PR.
Orangemarmalade's 1 vs. 2 comeback explained
Orange is my master now. It's fairly common to see professional Arena teams to concede defeat after losing a member in tournaments. It happens all the time. You wouldn't fault them for it, either, considering that if you do the math, 3 will always be more than 2, and 2 will always be more than 1. So it was no surprise that when SK-Gaming Asia went up two players to one in the fourth match of their best of five series against H O N, even the commentator was congratulating them and writing H O N off. Most players would've left the match. Orangemarmalade, H O N's Mage who was left in a lopsided situation against SK-Gaming's Priest and Mage, showed us all why he's one of the greatest Mages to ever PvP. Korean team H O N won the ESL Global Finals in a most dramatic fashion and will always be remembered as one of the best moments in professional Arena competition. This video from th Electronic Sports League gives us the play-by-play on how Orange pulled off such an improbable win.
Korean pro Warcraft player says 'zug-zug' to a half-million dollar contract
Korean professional gamer Jae Ho "Moon" Jang has signed a three-year, $486,500 contract to play with WeMade FOX in the Korean gaming leagues. His manager is working on introducing more quality players as there "aren't many first-class players in Korea." Um, if you're, like, really good at Warcraft/StarCraft ... now's the time to start learning Korean.Best part: Jang isn't even the highest paid professional Korean player, just the highest paid Warcraft player. Top billing goes to his WeMade FOX teammate, Yoon Yeoi "NaDa" Lee, who signed a contract for $521,250 to play StarCraft back in 2007. Wow.[Via VG247]
15 Minutes of Fame: e-sportscaster tracks WoW tournies Part 2
WoW as an e-sport currently is actually pretty awful. Two, for example, are the Electronic Sports League (ESL) who have a world wide tournament, the finals being in March 2009, and Major League Gaming, a console-centric league who expanded to PC earlier this year with WoW. There are not a lot of amateur tournaments out there for WoW.
15 Minutes of Fame: e-sportscaster tracks WoW tournies
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. First off, let's establish this for the record: yes, there are people out there who play World of Warcraft professionally. There are pro teams, well known player personalities and an entire tournament scene. And behind it all, there are podcasters – "e-casters" – reporting on every twist and turn.Meet JP McDaniel, a 22-year-old college journalism major and podcaster for ArenaCast. JP has combined the game he loves with school and work in what he hopes will be a springboard to a print journalism career in gaming. He's managed to roll his main up to 80 in the midst of podcasting, news updates, tournament travel and his studies. We talked with JP about his road into e-casting and his perspectives on where e-sports -- and competitive WoW, in particular -- are heading.
Championship Gaming Series folds
In a (not so) shocking announcement on their website, The Championship Gaming Series revealed that they will be ceasing all operations immediately. The International gaming series, which expanded to every continent except Antarctica this year, is shutting down after only two seasons. The professional gaming league, which aimed to promote eSports in a flashy, televised format, was patterned after professional sports leagues with player drafts, team managers, and city-based teams. The CGS featured five games during its two seasons, Counter-Strike: Source, Dead or Alive 4, FIFA 07, and Project Gotham Racing for Season 1; with FIFA 08 and Forza Motorsport 2 taking up the latter two slots in Season 2. Although not included in seasonal coverage, the CGS also recently promoted World of Warcraft Arena tournaments, with Europe's Nihilum winning the 2008 Championship. Arenas were also included in the CGS-run College Gaming League. A full statement from the league can be found on their site.
Joystiq review: E-@thletes
Televised professional gaming, for a variety of reasons, has never had much success here in North America. After last night, I feel like I know the secret to making pro-gaming a phenomenon: Make it exactly like E-@thletes, a new documentary that follows two teams of pro-gamers as they battle through a year and a half of tournaments.Over director Jonathan Boal's 75-minute film, you'll became acquainted with Team 3D and Complexity, two gaming squads that (in 2006 at least) always seemed to end up facing each other for the top prize. Their game of choice is Counter-Strike. In fact, other games hardly get so much as a mention.
Parents let child drop out of school to play Guitar Hero
Sure, the story of a rocker dropping out of school in order to pursue a career in, uh, rocking, is one we've heard told plenty of times. Famous musicians have admitted to dropping out, including Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger. It comes with the territory, we suppose. And now, it would seem, the lifestyle is being attributed to fake rockers, thanks to the parents of one Guitar Hero player.Blake Peebles is a 16 year old kid from Raleigh, North Carolina. Having done well in local tournaments, his parents are apparently fine with him quitting school. That's not to say he's without any education, as his parents pay for private tutors. With so few professional gamers out there that make enough money to live comfortably on, some would say it's a big gamble to let junior quit school to concentrate on gaming like this. But hey, what do we know? We're only lowly bloggers, after all.[Via Go Nintendo]
WSVG president breaks down what happened
GameDaily BIZ tracked down Matt Ringel the (former?) president of the World Series of Videogames, to figure out just what the hell happened last week.As you can see from our own interview with Ringel earlier this year, things seems to be rolling along great for the WSVG-- they were working with Blizzard to make presentation much better for Arena PvP, and they had gotten a deal together with CBS to show their videogame tournaments in a series of specials. But Ringel says the WSVG wasn't alone in the space-- the CPL is another big player, and one who many have cited as a successor to the WSVG-- and advertisers had a big problem determining what the differences were between all the organizations. Ringel doesn't add much more, except to say that the WSVG is really, truly dead: Games Media is going to focus on their online properties, including Gameriot.com.As we said on the podcast last Saturday, this doesn't mean professional gaming is over-- it just means the WSVG didn't do it right. But considering the WSVG was working hand-in-hand with Blizzard to promote Arena PvP, it might mean the end of non-Blizzard professional Arena matches. My guess is that instead of partnering with another organization to run professional tournaments, Blizzard will be much more inclined to just run their own, at BlizzCon and other Blizzard-related events.[ via Joystiq ]
CGS draft (and Joystiq) at the Playboy Mansion
The Championship Gaming Series had their inagural gamer draft at the Playboy Mansion last night, and we took it upon ourselves to attend and give you the scoop. It was grueling and arduous to make it through hours at Hef's historical hangout, but somehow we managed to survive. The things we do for you readers really shows our resolve.First of all, we'd really like to know where all the money is coming from, because this event certainly wasn't cheap. We know they had some big name sponsors last night (Mountain Dew, XPS, Xbox 360, DirecTV, IGN, etc), but did they pay for all of it? Will they be funding the whole gaming season? According to the folks we talked to last night, this production alone cost a million dollars (rented crane, multiple cameras, live streaming, flatscreens galore, and a partridge in a pear tree), plus once you factor in the cost of hosting an event at the Mansion, providing food and drinks for 500 people, parking, shuttles and hiring Bunnies and CGS girls ... you've spent a pretty penny. But will it all be worth it?%Gallery-3926%
Will professional gaming change the World of Warcraft as we know it?
With the arena system introducing a new kind of competitive PvP to the World of Warcraft, we're seeing our first professionally sponsored WoW arena teams. While Blizzard continues to market WoW to a core casual audience, the introduction of paid professionals into the arena brackets is anything but casual friendly. (Not that I've ever been a good enough PvPer to hit the top levels, but it was always nice to look at the arena gear and dream!) And the truth is we've probably only just seen the beginning of such sponsorships. Says Stephen Schoder of Check Six (sponsors of team ZERG IT UP):In the future you will soon find that Blizzard has tweaked the game to near perfection [in regards to game balance] in preparation for mainstream eSports competition.There's a whole new world of gaming out there, and Blizzard is only just getting its feet wet. [Via 1up, with thanks to Dave for the tip!]
Headshot! Energy bar for gamers
Mountain Dew and Red Bull just isn't enough for today's serious gamers. Now they need specially marketed energy supplements to keep them in the fragging zone. Enter Uncommon Loot and Headshot; the candy bar specifically created for gamers.With 100 mg of Guarana, Headshot could pack a serious punch considering that your average bottle of Bawls has approximately 80mg of everyone's favorite nervous system stimulant. Uncommon Loot will be releasing the product to gaming centers first and will eventually make it available on their website.We'll be sure to bring word of Headshot again after the first professional gamer is kicked out of competition for crushing and snorting his candy bar.[via Engadget]
Game champion commits suicide over gambling debts
Christian Sellergren, a professional gamer who led Team Eyeballers to the 2004 CPL Counter-Strike championship, apparently took his own life last November over massive debts accrued from online gambling. The news trickled down to us through a rough translation of a recent story about the death in Swedish paper Aftonbladet. According to the report, the 21-year-old Sellergren, who went by "divino" online, turned his competitive instincts to online gambling after retiring from the eSports scene. Sellergren lost his job and accrued over $13,000 in debt to fuel his addiction, which he kept from parents and friends. While stories about pro gamers with six figure salaries and major sponsorship deals may make you think the scene is all about glitz and glamor, this story shows that is not always the case. Our sympathies go out to all of Sellergren's friends and family. If you think someone you know may have a gambling problem, please don't wait until it's too late. Get help. [Thanks Will]
Casual players act hardcore, win loot
Something's perverse about the idea of a casual games tournament, but that's exactly what happened when 71 gamers who don't speak a word of l337 gathered to compete in Bejeweled 2, Solitaire and Zuma. We're having trouble imagining a LAN party without overwhelming BO, shouts of "pwnt!" and at least one Y chromosome for every X, but that's what Fun Technologies claims happened this past weekend in Hollywood, CA. To be serious for just a second: casual games tournaments are nothing new. Scrabble, Chess, Poker and Bridge tournies have been around for many years (in some cases, hundreds of 'em). This may well be the biggest prize awarded in a software-based casual game tournament, though. Professional FPS players the world over can now rest easy. When ya'll are too old and slow for FPS competitions, you won't need to start endorsing Mueslix and Viagra. Instead, prolong your glory days on the casual gaming circuit. [In the image: champion Kavitha Yalavarthi, with her winnings and her fiance.]
World Cyber Games looking for gamer input
Interested in contributing to the World Cyber Games? The WCG is searching for gamer feedback on the rules and regulations of its tournament games, so if you have a burning desire to see a particular ruleset put in place, now's your chance.Looking for gamer input like this is useful, although part of the WCG organisers' job is to be, or seek out, experts on individual games to advise on rules. However, if enough players contribute their thoughts, there should be less contention over minutiae during the tournament itself.
World Cyber Games '06 titles announced, Halo 2 dropped
The World Cyber Games, an international professional gaming competition, has announced which titles will be used for this year's competitions. With the advent of a new platform, it's been interesting to see where the focus of professional gamers will lie.A return to Counter-Strike 1.6 (last year's competition used Source) and upgrades for FIFA Soccer and Dead or Alive are all on the cards, but the surprise switch outlined is the removal of Halo 2 from the line-up; it's being replaced with Project Gotham Racing 3. Console FPS players will be disappointed.[Via Gamespot]
