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League of Legends' World Championship is worth a cool three million bucks
League of Legends' hold on the e-sports community appears to be going strong, especially if we're judging based on the sheer size of the prize pool up for grabs in this season's World Championships. How much money will players be competing for this time around? Something to the tune of three million bucks. The folks over at PC Gamer got the opportunity to sit down with Riot Games' Vice President of e-sports, Dustin Beck, to have a chat about the upcoming League of Legends World Championships and the competitive gaming scene as a whole. The interview includes some insight into the game's success in the e-sports circuit as well as some discussion on the various teams and strategies we can expect to see on the tournament level at this year's championships. For all of the sweet, juicy information, just head on over and check out the full article.
Cute mini-robots compete for championship title, gladiator freedom (video)
If you thought a robot fighting championship just sounds like the plot for a Hugh Jackman vehicle, you'd be partly right. We'll tell you who does have the real steel though, the plucky fellas you see above. They're competing for this year's ROBO-ONE championship, an annual competition where humanoid robots slug it out to the death (or power failure at least) held this weekend in Kawasaki, Japan. This is no toy fair either, with contestants bagging a $12,000 pot if their android-avatar wins the crown. This year, that title goes to GAROO, winning for the second time in a row by defeating Gargoyle Mini for the spoils. Rumors of LED gouging were unfounded, as you'll see in the video after the round... we mean break.
Invictus dominates Flyff World Championship
The dust has settled, the battles won, and United States team Invictus has emerged victorious from the $100,000 Flyff World Championship. Teams from around the world fought to progress through an elimination ladder to become the champions, but in the end it was two teams from North America -- Invictus and SOD -- that faced off for the grand prize. Invictus dominated the fights, winning five out of six on October 15th. As the new champion, Invictus was awarded $50,000, unique in-game armor, and a trip to Korea to meet the makers of Flyff and attend G-Star 2011. The runner-up team, SOD, walked away with a respectable $20,000 and the special armor for its members. All Flyff players can enjoy the residue of the championship by logging in and leveling up for a chance to win prizes. The game is also planning its next content patch, which will go into open beta on October 28th. Stay tuned to Massively as we will be talking to Invictus later this week! [Source: gPotato press release]
Pokemon Black and White World Championship detailed, kicks off next month
You've caught 'em all. You've trained them. You've bred them, trained them, and then EV trained them. You've hunted for their rare, shiny counterparts. You've done every little thing there is to do in the confines of Pokémon Black and White -- but you haven't yet taken on the world. Like, the real world. You know, the one we live in? Nintendo announced today its schedule for the 2011 Pokémon World Championship, a killer, three-month-long event which will test the mettle of trainers across the U.S. and Europe. Players in the U.S. will have to attend a qualifying event held in one of six cities, starting with Seattle on May 14. Each qualifier will send sixteen players from the Junior Division (players born in 2000 or later) and the Senior Division (players born before 2000) to the National Championships on July 8 in Indianapolis. From there, the top eight will move on to the World Championships in San Diego on August 12, where they'll battle for fame, fortune and global Pokémon bragging rights, which is way more valuable then those other two things. Check out the full schedule for the tournaments in the press release posted after the jump!
WoW TCG North American Continental Championship is now
Cryptozoic Entertainment is hosting its first-ever World of Warcraft TCG event in Las Vegas, and it's happening now! The WoW TCG North American Continental Championship runs from today through Sunday, but even if you're not in Sin City, you can follow the events online via Cryptozoic's liveblog. What's at stake at the championship? Only $80,000 in prizes for challenge winners, and those who participate in any of the numerous side events have a chance to win iPads, Macbook Pros, iPods, gift cards, and (of course) loot cards. They're even giving away prizes all weekend to fans who watch live video coverage of the event here. Good luck to all the competitors and to Cryptozoic for their first big event!
Pedro Matias sets new texting record at LG Mobile World Cup (video)
Showcasing the "fastest, most accurate" text messengers (according to the corporation that dreamed up this little publicity stunt), the LG Mobile World Cup Championship went down yesterday at Gotham Hall in New York City. We're proud to say that the American team fared well -- grabbing second place and winning $20,000 in the process -- although in the end the cup went to South Korea. Additionally, history was made when Portugal's Pedro Matias set the new World's Record for texting by typing a 264-character text in just 1 minute 59 seconds (besting the previous record by 23 seconds). Of course, each Mobile World Cup must have its share of controversy -- in this case, Engadget Mobile's very own Chris Ziegler led a silent protest during the awards ceremony. The group was reportedly upset over the use of QWERTY phones (the LG enV3 in this case) to break the record. "The only true test of texting skill is a numeric keypad, without T9," he said. "Hell, it's the Morgan Pozgar affair all over again. Is nothing sacred?" PR and video after the break. [By the way, we totally made the last part up.]
USA takes the gold in Atlantica Online during the Game and Game World Championship
It's not very often that we get to announce that an American player won an international gaming championship! RobinSwan from the US server of Atlantica Online went to capture the gold this year in the Game and Game World Championship (GNGWC), a collection of events focusing on different MMOs and featuring the top gamers from around the world. Robin went to trump 16 competitors from Europe, Vietnam, North America, Korea, South America, China, Japan and Thailand to take the prize of $5,000 and the gold medal for the Atlantica Online event. Robin's winning mercenary combos included a stun-lock/DoT combination of the Musician and Shaman to close the final match against Liu from China. We've got an exclusive Q&A with RobinSwan about his winning techniques after the break, so come along and learn some PvP tactics for Atlantica Online.
World Sand Sculpting Championship holds special surprise for Sony fans
Sony took some time to promote the PS3 and PSP at Korea's first annual Invitational World Sand Sculpting Championship. We're impressed by how the sand PS3 simply towers over these Asian girls. As we ponder the incredible manpower used to create these massive sand recreations, we can't help but think to ourselves ...There's a Invitational World Sand Sculpting Championship???
Silkroad Online gets their own international championship
If you're a player of Silkroad Online and have been attempting to dominate the old historic trade route in Asia, then you're going to be excited about the news that your domineering ways might finally pay off in the form of a championship and a trip to Korea. Silkroad Online has been chosen as an official game for this year's Game and Game World Championship.Silkroad Online will be joining Shot Online, Navy Field, and Atlantica this year as the best of the best in each game meet up and test their mettle. Players in the United States can first sign up for the online preliminary rounds, and if you pass you'll be invited to San Jose, California to compete in the regional qualifiers. Top two players will be invited to Seoul, Korea (hotel and airfare included) to compete against the other qualifiers from Germany, Singapore, South America, Japan, and Korea for a first prize of $5,000 in cash.All that is required for entry is simply an active account with Silkroad Online or any other game in the championship. If you're interested in garnering more information about the tournament, head on over to the main tournament website for all the juicy details.
LoN championship qualifiers begin this weekend -- $5000 prize pool and more
The first in a series of qualifers for the 2008 Legends of Norrath Championship will take place this weekend. On Saturday the 15th of December, from 10:00AM PST, players of LoN can participate in tournaments to win a spot in the Championship that will take place at Gen Con Indy.But there's a lot more at stake than just the Championship entry -- the total prize pool is worth around USD$5000 and is spread among the top 16 players from the weekend's contests. Aside from the Championship spot, first place will get $500, paid air travel to Gen Con Indy, a 4-day Gen Con Indy badge, and -- brace yourself for this one -- their likeness on a new LoN card!The rest of the players ranked up to 16th will get a share in the remaining cash, with second place taking a sizeable $750. Unlike some of the recent LoN tournaments, this one will not have an entry fee, so if you fancy your chances then keep this weekend open. The full event details, and a list of the prizes, are posted after the break.
Robo-One Grand Championship sees battles, carols
Sure, this may be the twelfth time that the Robo-One Grand Championship has taken place, but each year it seems to get even zanier. This go 'round, Tokyo was home to 25 finalists built by amateurs lusting for a little piece of the limelight, and the whole lot apparently put on quite the show. Hundreds of onlookers watched as "Arichyon," decked out in Christmas lights, belted out carols, only to get pelted by a penguin-headed bot who wasn't exactly feelin' the holiday cheer. If you missed out on this year's event, you've got over 360 days to prep for the next one -- just make sure your creation speaks, er, sings softly and carries a big stick, okay?[Via I4U News, image courtesy of ITN]
The road to $100,000 continues in Indiana
When I was but a wee lad of five, my grandmother taught me how to play poker. What can I say, she knew how to have fun. As I grew up, my love for card games extended to board games and video games. Then came trading card games which took up a good deal of my teen years and I played for the enjoyment of competition. Others apparently play to win enough cold hard cash to buy an BMW M6 Convertible.The US Nationals of the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game tournament is this weekend at Gen Con Indy in Indiana. The first and second place winner of the national tournament will get flown to San Diego, California over Thanksgiving weekend to compete in the World Championship tournament and get their shot at the $100,000 grand prize.Upper Deck, the makers of the card game, will be covering the three day national tournament live on their site. There are elimination rounds through Sunday when the final winners will be crowned. Now, if we can just get paid to play WoW itself.
Today's typing impaired video: Pac-Man instant messenger
Poor Pac-Man. With those giant oversized mitts of his, how can he get anything done? It almost makes having hands pretty useless. In fact, who gave Pac-Man hands anyhow? Is that a holdover from the Saturday morning cartoon?Major Nelson should know a phone call is more personal anyhow. Pass the power pills and dish out some justice, Paccy.
Morgan Pozgar wins texting championship for cheaters
Last time we checked, the true challenge in speedy texting was overcoming the numeric keypad. Just ask Ben Cook or Ang Chuang Yang -- two of the world's quickest -- about what it's like to belt out a meaningless sequence of 160 characters without even the benefit of predictive text entry to ease the task. Alas, for LG, it's hard to pimp your QWERTY-equipped VX9900 enV in a contest that requires the use of the digit keys alone -- so it bent the rules for its $25,000 texting championship held in New York City this weekend, requiring that entrants do their thing on the enV's generous (relatively speaking) full keyboard. Morgan Pozgar, a 13 year old Pennsylvanian, bested 21 year old Eli Tirosh in the final round to walk away with the crown and the $25,000 booty by accurately texting "Supercalifragilisticexpialidoucious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious," something Tirosh failed to do. How does it feel to have an asterisk permanently affixed next to your "World's Fastest Texter" title, Ms. Pozgar? Shall we give sprinters roller skates in the Olympics next year, too?
LG sets up $25,000 texting contest -- with a catch
Where we come from, trying to participate in a texting context with a QWERTY device is called "cheating," but we guess LG has some obligation to push the text-tastic capabilities of its V and enV handsets, so we'll cut 'em some slack here. In fact, the V and enV are the only devices LG's allowing in the competition -- with active Verizon service to match, of course -- so we suppose that sorta levels the playing field a bit. It seems LG wants to turn this into a costal battle, too, with the West Coast qualifier going down on the 31st of this month and its eastern counterpart rocking on the 21st of April; the winner from each gets ten grand and a trip to New York City to compete in the $15,000 final. Good luck, cheaters (don't worry, we still love ya).
Armored Core 4 championship offers $17k prize
Well, US$16,674. Will that suffice? Armored Core 4 players in Japan (and, presumably, importers who live outside of Japan) have until March 1 to get their rusty mechs polished for the Armored Core Championship Battle 2007. Previous years' tournaments had been held regionally throughout Japan; thanks to the wonders of online play, though, this year's event will be played out via the PlayStation Network over a period of three weeks. The final stage of the tournament will, however, be held in Tokyo, where the top two players as of March 21 will do battle for the grand prize of ¥2million. The Xbox 360 version of Armored Core 4 is (coincidentally?) released in Japan on March 22, so this year's tournament is open only to players of the PS3 version.
