The Rezzed Report 2013

In an industry such as gaming, it’s surprising how often things can change and surprise you. In the past few years we have seen whole segments of the gaming industry rise and fall, with indie gaming most notably emerging as a dominant force. At no other point since the twilight of games development in the 70’s, have we seen such a prominence of “bedroom coders”. Is it any wonder when titles such as Minecraft (which recently hit 11 million sales) and Super Meat Boy (which has sold over a million copies) have captured the gamer’s attention, even managing to outperform some publisher backed blockbusters?

So if indie games are really such a big thing why don’t we see more at expos? Better yet, why don’t they have their own specialised events? This is what RockPaperShotgun and Eurogamer aims to address with the follow up to their indie focused event – Rezzed 2013.

Epic.EIGHT CSS Final Day roundup

After the group stages of the Epic.EIGHT Counter Strike: Source Tournament have finished, we are left with eight of the ten teams that have entered. Sadly CHICO LAND and Xtreame One were dominated in their matches, (despite putting up a brave fight) and didn't make it into the top eight.

FRAGMASTERS TOXIC despite being top seed, ended up drawing one match and losing another, whereas Visualize Your Enmity and Rasta Gaming, had clean sweeps winning all four of their matches. This has left no clear leader going into the quarter final, read on of the full results of the rest of the tournament.

CoD4 Epic.EIGHT Tournament Grand Final

After completion of both the Upper and Lower Brackets, the two teams that have pulled through to the final confrontation are ESPC and TCM-Gaming. The current favourites coming into this match is ESPC, since they previously knocked down TCM-Gaming in the Upper Bracket Final. Whether TCM-Gaming can step up their game and counter ESPC's strong Backlot gameplay is to be seen, but one thing is certain, it will be an experience.

Cod4 Epic.EIGHT Elimination Stage

The Elimination stage has now begun, with the top 16 rated teams in the group stage, advancing to the Upper Bracket. We've seen laughter, anger and a whole host of other emotions at this event, and the playoffs will be sure to deliver even more tense faceoffs. After dominating their group with a flawless 5-0 record, TCM-Gaming is looking confident to win the Upper Bracket and possibly even the tournament. The big competition for them however is ESPC, who similarly also dominated their group without dropping a single match. ESPC is riding high after their strong 3rd place finish at BenQ Grunex European LAN, so it seems TCM-Gaming will have to give it their all to succeed.

CSS Epic.EIGHT Group Stage

Welcome to our constantly updating coverage of the £2500 CSS Epic.EIGHT tournament. Live from our seats at the event, we'll keep this post updated as it happens, keeping you in the know.

10 teams have entered this tournament, with LiNK Gaming, winners of Epic.SEVEN's tournament absent from this, it leaves the door open for a brand new champion this time around, although FRAGMASTERS TOXIC have been seeded first, can third placed winners of Epic.SEVEN Rasta Gaming secure the top spot?

CoD4 Epic.EIGHT Group Stage

 

Welcome to our constantly updating, live coverage of the £2500 Call of Duty 4 Epic.EIGHT tournament. Coming in straight from the event, we'll keep this post updated as it happens, keeping you in the know.

With 22 teams taking part in this tournament, this is a pioneering event for Call of Duty 4 and is bound to liven the lagging Pro-Gaming scene for the title. The victors of last years tournament fm! Sapphire are here to defend their title, as well as the runners up LANiMALS, who still sore from their defeat last LAN, plan to dominate.

However with 20 other top teams from all over Europe including top teams such as: TCM-Gaming, team Infused, and Epic.LAN newcomers ESPC.LGT from Finland, it's going to be one hell of a battle to the top.

Epic.EIGHT Tournament Fixtures Announced

With the combatants drawing up ready for battle in the CSS 5v5, and CoD4 5v5 tournaments, the group stage fixtures have been revealed. Setting off at 11am this morning for both tournaments, this event should see the clash of some of the UK's premier CSS and CoD4 teams, including last years winners LiNK, and fm! Sapphire.

The lineup announced for the games are as follows:

Counter Strike Source 5v5

Group A FRAGMASTERS TOXIC Visualize Your Enmity Perilous Hyphen Xtreame One

Group B Rasta Gaming MALIK-eSports  Nice Guys arachnid GIANTS Paynt's Fanbois

CTD returns to Epic.LAN

It's event time yet again myself (Krem) and Fatal, are heading to Epic.LAN's Epic.EIGHT, our previous coverage of Epic.SEVEN is floating around the site somewhere, and from the 16th through to the 19th of February we will be at the Uttoxetor Racecourse covering the event.

Epic.EIGHT looks to be Epic.LAN's biggest event yet, the attendance numbers are closing in on the 300 mark, and the prize pool of both Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4 Tournaments have been bumped up to £2500.

Between the casual and competitive fun, and of course the all important bar usage, we'll be bringing you news from the event, and pictures however no video interviews this time sadly, I don't think I could take another round of video editing.

For more information and possible last minute bookings head over to Epic.Lan's website

£1000 Soul Calibur 5 Tournament Announced

Namco Bandai has announced a european tournament for Soul Calibur 5 which was released to stores today.

Due to commence in March, the tournament (dubbed Soul Calibur Impact) will see thousands of european Soul Calibur players fighting for the top spot. It has been confirmed that the finals will be held in London on the 17th of March, at a "legendary location".

The website of the tournament reveals:

Competitors will not only be covered in glory. They'll be showered in gifts from numerous partners for this Namco Bandai Games event, including MadCatz and Insert Coin Clothing!

And the final winner will leave with a cheque for £1 000, and a unique trophy: the authentic and original Soul Edge sword (especially created for the occasion)!

The trophy (pictured above) appears to be highly detailed, however specifics about it's dimensions and construction have yet to be released.

Blizzard Announces "There will be no Blizzcon this year."

With Blizzards decision to hold the Battle.net 2012 World Championships, the company has announced that the next Blizzcon won't be taking place till 2013.

This is unsurprising as the company has said, that it's attention is focused with getting "Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible." And as a result of which the next Blizzcon has been pushed back to next year.

Blizzard also said, that the World Championships would be held in Asia towards the end of this year. This most likely means that the Battle.net Championships will be held in South Korea. No other information has been released about the location or events yet, but Blizzard have said they'll be making announcements over the coming months.

i44 Interview with Riot Games' Matt Knott

Here is the second of Fatal's Insomnia 44 interviews!

This one features Matt Knott League of Legend's and Riot Games' community manager, enjoy!

i44 Comes to an end...

As the above picture with the one and only Total Biscuit will tell you: the event for us was f*&^&£^ epic..

Expect a full round up of the event sometime soon, there is more pictures and videos to come..

...oh and we have swag, and some of it may be for you.

i44 Starcraft 2 IPL 4 Qualifier Grand Final

The Starcraft 2 IPL qualifiers (at i44) has to undoubtably be the biggest Starcraft related thing to ever make it's way to English soil. We have seen blood, sweat and tears paint the event halls like a canvas, with players like Ryung, TAiLS and Stephano laying waste to all who dared encounter them.

Now we have reached the grand final of the tournament who has the mettle, to take the final step and collect the $10,000 grand prize?

i44 SC2 BYOC Final - Unleash the insanity!

                       

Here we have a rundown of the final match of the i44 Bring your own Computer SC2 Tournament.
256 players were whittled down to 2, and drama ensued. Here we go...

**DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS!!**

The Cream of the Crop

         



From the 256 player open bracket, 16 have risen above their peers to grab a slot among the superstars of the foreign Starcraft II scene.

These players will compete against such talent as Stephano, Grubby, WhiteRa, Ryung and TAiLS for a single spot in IPL 4. These players are:

Protoss: -
Pughy - Settler - MXfive

Terran: -

Gomas - sunshiNe - Skyda - Jimmy - Slyce

Zerg: -

vOddy - rANDY - Stone - KarMa - Gunnersmate - shibbxyz - XiVol - CLN

Matches are currently underway to determine the seeding of these players, and tomorrow morning their real task will begin - trying to overcome some of the best players in Europe and indeed the world! I will update at the tournament's conclusion with its progression, to show you guys who is top of the heap! GLHF!

IGN Pro League 4 Qualifiers - i44

Fists raised to the sky, the victor’s lungs contract as he exhales. He has made it. Thirty-one lie vanquished beneath his feet, unable to make it to the finish line. But this is only the beginning. He has another war to prepare for. The IGN Proleague. 

Sixteen invited professionals. Sixteen players from a 256 strong tournament. A $20,000 prize pool, and one spot in the 4^th IGN Proleague, one of competitive Starcraft II’s most prestigious tournaments.

The fog of war descends on Telford this Sunday, as the 32-man IPL 4 Qualifier takes place. Cast by immensely popular duo John "TotalBiscuit" Bain and Shaun "dApollo" Clark, the tournament ensures a dramatic and energetic conclusion to a weekend of Starcraft II. 

No Sleep Coming with i44

Tomorrow myself and Fatal will be joining members of G3-Radio at Insomnia 44, as the poster states we may invade both G3's live shows Saturday 7-10pm GMT and Sunday 12-3pm GMT, and unconfirmed as of yet but Teldur (aka Dave) of Blastprocess.com may be popping down Sunday for his show 7-9pm GMT.

We'll be there all weekend, hopefully to snap up some pictures, videos and if we are lucky get some interviews.

Crash To Desktop Invades Replay Expo 2011

With thousands of gaming events happening every year it's hard to keep track these days. In fact the United Kingdom itself has quite the event scene. One of those such events is the Replay Expo which is dedicated to the art (and nostalgia) of retro gaming.

"So what is Replay?"

Simply put, the Replay Expo is a huge weekend long event that celebrates gaming through the ages. The idea is simple and effective, you turn up, you find that one elusive console that you never could quite pin down (in my case the Nintendo 64DD), and you experience what you missed the first time round. With over 100 consoles ranging from the neolithic BBC Micro, to the incredibly rare and sought after Panasonic Q (basically a shiny Nintendo GameCube with DVD player inbuilt), the sheer scope of the gems found here is breathtaking.

Call of Duty 4 Epic.LAN Tournament UPDATE: Grand Final

It seems the group stages of the £1000 Epic.SEVEN Call of Duty 4 tournament have finished and the teams are soon moving onto the Elimination stage. Here are the results of the CoD4 group stage:

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	Diff	Streak	Points
fm! Sapphire	3	3	0	0	6	0	6	3	9
LANiMALS	3	2	1	0	4	2	2	2	6
Epic Mix	3	1	2	0	2	4	-2	-2	3
Team Phys1x	3	0	3	0	0	6	-6	-3	0

5v5 Epic.LAN CSS Tournament UPDATED: Grand Final

Group Stages Begin

The group stages for the Counter Strike Source tournament at Epic.SEVEN has begun with 8 teams fighting it out for a £2000 (plus tickets to Epic.EIGHT) prize. The reigning champions Rasta-Gaming (known as Rasta.Xd at Epic.SIX) have been confirmed for entry to defend their title along with Epic.SIX's finalists Link Gaming.

The tournament will be played in a group stage followed by double elimination format whereby competitors will have 2 chances to succeed before being knocked out. Although hard it's possible for a team to lose early in the tournament and fight through the "Losers Bracket" to win a tournament so keep your eyes peeled, this is a tourney to watch.