The MLG Providence Awards
November 22, 2011
Providence has ended, much to my dismay. The event was a feast, every course filled with bitter defeats and sweet victories. Napkins have been folded, dishes have been washed, and a young Korean has emerged $50K richer. Leenock wasn’t the only victor, though. For CEO Sundance DiGiovanni, the conclusion of Providence marks a year of explosive growth for Major League Gaming.
The momentum they have going in to season 2 will be tremendous. Read on…
Well Mannered #6: Breaking Immersion
November 17, 2011
A few things you should know about MLG Providence
November 15, 2011
This friday the big dance begins. MLG’s season ending Providence event marks the moment where all of those rank and qualifier points finally translate into an enviable prize pool. While Halo, Call of Duty, and League of Legends have had remarkable seasons in their own right, nothing has expanded MLG’s audience more than Starcraft 2. The introduction of Korean talent and the myriad efforts at community outreach have paid dividends. Marketing maneuvers like acquiring JP McDaniel and his wildly popular State of the Game podcast, recruiting exceptionally popular casters, and producing regular original web content have created a potent hype machine that spells out a singular message:
If you’re an eSports fan, you can’t afford miss this. 
Read on…
Gaming in the 90′s, Part 1: 16 bits of Nostalgia
November 15, 2011
The 90′s was an awesome decade to be a young gamer. It had that perfect balance between rough innovation and polished refinement. While hardware innovations yielded rapidly increasing graphical capabilities, Western industrial development was still in its budding days. For every familiar-but-new iteration of a Nintendo franchise, there was a wacky PC game with not quite perfect mechanics that had the potential to invent new genres. An environment that the modern indie scene harkens back to.
It also gave us the greatest console war of all time. Read on…
Antihype! Immortals Edition
November 8, 2011
I hope I’m wrong. I hope Immortals ends up being at worst, a fun-filled action adventure movie that our inner adolescents can relish, and at best an unexpected mythical epic.
But when your production design for Ares, the god of war, destroyer of cities, son of Zeus whose chariot was “yoked with Fear and Terror”, looks like this:
You’re damn well asking for it. My god(s) what a silly hat. Read on…
Pre-Gaming the ASUS ROG Stars Invite
November 4, 2011
The ASUS ROG Stars Invite is a 10,000 dollar live tourney being held in Helsinki, Finland on November 4th and 5th. Invitees include some of the best players outside of Korea, and English casting will be provided by TotalBiscuit and dAppolo.
With an 8 player lineup and no losers’ bracket, the stakes are high. Underdogs haven a shot at the big upset, and no one can get too comfortable. The event’s diversity in nationality, play style, and personality also represent the full spectrum of the Starcraft 2 pro. You have everything from the lovable White-Ra to the ruthlessly polarizing Idra to the unknown hometown hero Efli. These brackets should yield some great matches.
Here’s a breakdown of the participants: Read on…