Overwatch Open Pacific Division Week 5

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports

In the end, it all falls apart…

Well, it is over, done and dusted. Our first venture into the competitive arena of video games. We had some ups and downs but hopefully throughout it all, the team learned something along the way. And that is what this was all about, learning something new. Learning more about the game and how it is played on a more cohesive and professional level. To see just how much time and effort teams and players put in to the game and seeing first hand how much of a difference it makes. To learn just how detailed the game can be and how intricate the strategies are which make the game that much more impressive and also shows just where the differences lie between regular and pro players.

Welcome to the new tank meta

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Overwatch Open Pacific Division Week 4

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports

A lackluster performance

This week finally had us up against a team who was ranked below us in terms of SR (yes, I was given a spreadsheet with every teams Highest and Team average SR, it is nice to know we aren’t the lowest team in the division lol) so we were looking forward to a positive match up on the Saturday night. However, once again our opponents were a no show, giving us our 3rd win by default. While we don’t mind taking the default win, we want to play, we need to play, we need that game time against other teams if we want to improve. Each team only gets 10 games before the play offs start so every game is important. It is even harder for us since we are a new team and have really low ranks. Finding teams to scrim against at our level is really hard, the majority of teams looking to scrim in our league are all looking for Master teams or above. The lack of game time with each other is really starting to show esp with our Sunday night game albeit against a team whose record doesn’t reflect their ability. Continue reading “Overwatch Open Pacific Division Week 4” →

Overwatch Open Pacific Division Week 3

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports

So close yet so far. Small mistakes are costly even in video games

We are past the halfway point in this season of the open division and our performance continues to improve. Unfortunately our second game this week resulted in a no show from our opposition. Even though we get the win 3-0, we really wanted to play them and see how we would match up as this was a team of similar ranking to us. However with their team only contacting us 10 mins after the start time and then no further communication, we had no choice but to contact the tournament admins and register our opponents as no shows. That aside, our first match up this weekend ended up being an epic affair with us going down 3-1.

Our first map victory!

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Overwatch Open Pacific Division Week 2

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports

Finding our feet as the opposition evens out

In our second week of competition we managed to get 2 games in as most of the teams in the division have now been finalized. While we still lost both games, after a week of soul searching and deciding just what direction to take our team, we have shown a marked improvement in our game play. While we are still far from perfect and where we need to be as a team, we are making great headway moving forward.

POTG and all votes for the cards! MVP to Victor!

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Overwatch Open Pacific Division Week 1

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports

X-Pats Vs Cyclops Athlete Gaming: Going up against a pro team

So for our second game during the first week in the Overwatch Open League, we were matched up against one of the best if not the best team in the Pacific Division, Cyclops Athlete Gaming. A team boasting 3 players from the Japanese World Cup team. While our first game was a win by default (our opponents forfeited due to being in the wrong division), this second game was always going to be a one sided affair and a good eye opener for some of our players.

Having gold eliminations with only 2 kills… not a good sign

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RTS and VR

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports

Could merging the 2 bring new life to the RTS genre?

So by now are aware of the leaps forward in VR technology and other peripherals that can go with it. One thing that has interested me with this current and future tech is how it can be used to redefine various experiences either in the gaming world or within the real world (especially how that tech can be used in DJn, check here for an article I wrote a while ago on this)

But in this quick article I’m going to talk about the use of this technology within a specific game genre, Real Time Strategy (RTS) and games like Command and Conquer or WarCraft.

The C&C series had a long history but failed to evolve its UI and user experience over the years.

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Fading Frontier: Kukje Electronics Center

by akadjblaze, posted in Anime, Gaming & Esports

Video games make way for manga and anime figures

This was written as part of a look at how popular gaming stores and markets have faded away over the years in Korea. This article was my contribution covering Kukje.

In the second part of our installment looking at hot gaming markets in Korea, I took a trip to another popular hot spot, Kukje Electronics center. Located near Nambu bus terminal, Kukje sits in a big multi-level complex sporting many different electronic goods and wares over several different floors.

Located on the 9th Floor, go through the G2 door and up the escalators

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Final Fantasy VII (remake) Isn’t Far Away

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports

Why after playing 12+ hours of Final Fantasy XV, I am concerned

I am a big fan of Final Fantasy VII. I love the game. The story and the battle system esp are things that standout in my mind when ever I think about that game and it is one of the few open world type games I have played twice. I have a lot of love for the Final Fantasy Series in general, even thou it has had its ups and downs along the way, it has still provided some great and epic gaming memories.

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BeFm Part 2: 2014 Is this really a DJ competition?

by akadjblaze, posted in New DJ Content

Set List:

  1. David Guetta & Kaz James – Blast Off
  2. Skrillex & The Doors – Breaking a Sweat
  3. Steve Aoki Feat Rivers Cuomo – Earthquake People (remix)
  4. Zedd – Spectrum
  5. 2NE1 – Come Back Home
  6. Bottle Popping Transition Mix
  7. Calvin Haris Ft Tinie Tempah – Drinking from the bottle
  8. Linkin Park – What I’ve Done (Remix)
  9. Lil Jon – Turn Down For What (Transition Remix)
  10. CL – Solo

Before going into the competition as a whole, I’ll firstly go over my entry set. This was a fun little mix, my usual inclusion of rock based EDM remixes but this time adding in a couple of transitions to show a wider range of music variety. I especially like the Spectrum/Come Back Home mash up I ended up doing. I didn’t really showcase too many skills in this mix thou. I was more focused on just getting it out of the way so I could concentrate on other things. But overall it was a step up on my years previous mix and had some nice transitions and remixes working together. Continue reading “BeFm Part 2: 2014 Is this really a DJ competition?” →

The Overwatch League is almost here

by akadjblaze, posted in Gaming & Esports, Overwatch League

What you need to know about Blizzards ambitious project

The official Overwatch League logo.

The esport industry has been steadily growing over the last decade alongside an already booming video game industry. The industry is said to have produced an estimated $493 million dollars in Revenue during 2016 which is up 50% from 2015. The video game industry as a whole is estimated to break over $100 Billion in 2017. For some perspective, the total box office ticket sales in 2016 was around $38.6 billion. The North American Sports market in 2015 was sitting at $63.9 billion. So while esports doesn’t have the big numbers yet, nearly half a billion dollars in revenue in an industry that is exploding ahead is nothing to sneeze at. Esports is also excelling in viewership numbers of it’s major events. League of Legends has been one of the biggest esports in the world both with popularity and revenue. In 2016 43 million people tuned in to watch the world championship, 2nd only to the Intel Extreme Masters topping out at 46 million. With more and more people turning away from TV and focusing more on social media and live streaming platforms like twitch where esports thrives, the popularity of esports will continue to rise.

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