Monday, 31 December 2012
[Editorial] Malaysian eSports in 2012
If there was one thing about Malaysia in 2012 to give a huge shoutout to, it would for me indisputably be about our eSports industry, and thus this post dedicated to our rising talents and to all those behind the scenes managing and organising.
Though I myself am definitely not a pro gamer, not even close, competitive gaming have always (well since a few years back) caught my attention. The eSports scene is huge, if not globally played and globally appreciated. Of course, this could only be possible for the number of quality online PC games available, with massive titles like DOTA 2 (my personal favourite), Counter Strike: Global Offensive, FIFA and the now up and coming World of Tanks.
You notice that most of them have been around for years and have been regularly updated, improved and some even recently relaunched to fit in with current trends. Through the years each of them have caught attention of an increasingly massive fan base, each serving its own scope of avid players and each breeding new sets of professional, highly-skilled masters of the game – ultimately creating an online phenomenon of the eSports industry today.
But that’s another thought for another day.
Malaysia, despite only in recent years gained access to a high-speed broadband (and even now still limited to the main cities), isn’t far behind when it comes to the standard of our professional gamers and the extend of what we have achieved.
Professionals
Championships were won, top placings were earned, but more importantly, experience and progress were invaluably gained. 2012 saw some of our top teams, including emerging professionals racing for some of the most prestigious, international titles globally. We may not be a jack of all trades, but we surely are a master in arguably the largest division of the entire eSports industry – the MOBAs (multiplayer online battle arena) like DOTA, LoL and HoN. Oh gosh, those initials, talk about the similarities they carry (pun intended).Orange eSports
Let’s start off with Orange eSports DOTA. After a few changes in lineups and the big news of Mushi deciding to shift to coaching, the professional team has grown from strength to strength as they went all out, travelled the seas, across the globe, all the way to the largest international DOTA 2 tournament, The International. Competing with 16 of the world’s top DOTA 2 teams with $1Million at stake, you could say it was an embodiment of what the DOTA eSports scene truly was, and an achievement itself for Orange eSports already.
MUFC
But Orange isn’t the only professional DOTA 2 team we’ve got. 2012 finally saw the re-emergence of MUFC as an independent team once again after many crucial changes in lineups. If anything, MUFC used to arguably be Malaysia’s top DOTA 2 team until Orange came about and recruited some of its most precious talents. But that’s another story, and for another day. This year, despite having lost several opportunities already and in particularly missing The International, MUFC finally ended the year with a high note as they stormed DOTA 2 The Asia with an impressive set of display, being the only team who was completely undefeated during the group stages and finally earning 2nd among all the best teams regionally.
KL Hunters
While both Orange and MUFC continued to carry our nation’s DOTA pride, KL Hunters, Malaysia’s first professional League of Legends team, brought us an icon, a hope and a belief for us to root for in the League of Legends eSport division. Apart from Orange eSports, KL Hunters seem to be a professional team ready for some serious competitive gaming as sponsored by Garena themselves have led the team to a strong foundation of essential training sessions, strategy meetings and even, fitness workouts (huge kudos to that!).
Tournaments
But ultimately, professional gamers are nothing without a platform for them to shine. And it is these tournaments that truly bring out the talents of the eSports scene. However, most major tournaments have always been held internationally and our gamers have to fork out their personal savings (unless they have a sponsor) just to travel abroad and compete. Being on a world stage is, to say the least, a huge opportunity and should well be deserved for anyone who have already reached the capability of competing with the top. But the costs just to travel and to accommodate is sky-high expensive.With this factor limiting our potential talents to unleash their skills, it inadvertently setbacks our eSports industry if we continue to fail to get a globally-recognised tournament together on Malaysian grounds (or we could also encourage more sponsors, we'll get back to this later).
But we prevailed.
In 2012 itself, Malaysia had the honour of hosting some of the world’s most prestigious and most closely- watched tournaments, from the likes of WCG Asian Championships to DOTA 2 The Asia. Both, were huge. Ushering in massive crowds and spurring an emerging phenomenon in Malaysia, the hosting of such prominent tournaments simply breathed a fresh new air into our Malaysian eSports scene – bringing hope, faith, and dreams all together for the future.
The Future
At TheShadowGamer.com, we truly believe that our eSports industry is growing. Already ranking 6th in the International eSports Federation, our teams are certainly a formidable force on the world stage, while 2012 also brought the spotlight over to Malaysia with the prestigious tournaments held on local grounds.But there definitely is more with our potential. The Malaysian eSports industry still holds a big gap for many more opportunities to come. Sponsoring our local professional teams for one is a huge prospect for companies to seriously consider as after all, these teams are the icon of the games, the idols of gamers, and essentially our nation’s flag bearers in the international stage. Companies out there should realise that there is great potential in using our teams as their marketing platform. After all, our strongest teams are known internationally, around the world.
That said, though we simply as an independent site dedicated to everything gaming, do not have the money for sponsorship, we ultimately do have some resources to give our strongest share of support, and here’s how.
Starting 2013, we have decided that we are going to give a larger focus on the Malaysian eSports Industry than we did this year. And what will this mean to you? Well, for a start, you will be seeing more consistent news/updates relating to our professional teams and their appearances in tournaments. But at the same time, we will be dedicating some time aside to work closely with some of of our up and coming professional gaming teams, and with this we truly wish to give our biggest form of support.
Hence, if you’re professionally gaming or are on the verge to be, and would like some media spotlight or coverage on your performances, simply send us a short message at hello@theshadowgamer.com and we would love to discuss on how as a media partner we can help you.
Till then, have a wonderful, new year!
Friday, 28 December 2012
Ragnarok Online 2 Open Beta postponed to 3rd of January 2013, meanwhile you can continue playing
Years after the original Ragnarok Online finally comes its second installment/sequel for our South East Asian region proudly hosted and massively marketed by online gaming giants Asiasoft. Obviously highly-anticipated, Raganarok Online 2 has been to say the least a great success for the company since its launch and Closed Beta phase.
However, when it came to its Open Beta which was supposed to be ready on the 27th of December, things didn't go as well as what we as gamers were hoping for.
Its Open Beta was planned for a 3pm (in simpler terms of SG/MY time) launch on the 27th, but as eager players were waiting at the seconds to get into the new realms of Asgard, Asiasoft via RO2's Facebook page announced that they had to push back its release, twice, explaining that this had to be done due to some "extremely high traffic to the RO2 website and PlayPark.net".
However, when it finally opened at 6pm, their servers again seemed to be facing troubles as Asiasoft announced several times that they had to to shut it down to conduct stress tests. This is of course understandable as the original game is, after all, one of the most popular games at the time and hence would probably still be now, and sometimes its not easy when there is a surge in traffic. This scenario is also not foreign as even massive games like Diablo 3 had also faced the same problems.
Nevertheless, chariman of Asiasoft Online Sherman Tan has came out and released an official apology/message/note via the RO2 Facebook page, again explaining that this whole drama was due to a "staggeringly high traffic that resulted in severe website and server congestion", announcing that "(they) have to reschedule Open Beta to 3rd January 2013".
The good (or maybe not so good) news is, you will still be able to experience the land of Asgard while waiting for its Open Beta relaunch as Asiasoft will continue to carry out stress tests and by playing you will be able to give them a hand. The catch is, any progress you get during this time will not be counted and thus will not continue on the 3rd of January 2013.
After reading RO2's official apology, will you still be playing? Shoot us your thoughts below!
Monday, 24 December 2012
DOTA 2 The Asia: The Results
1st place: LGD (China)
Last weekend was one heck of a blast at KLCC (Convention Centre) as two major events Comic Fiesta 2012 and TGX 2012 were held at the same venue, despite in different halls. Though we can not rid yet of how awesomely packed the place was with gamers, cosplayers and comic-enthusiasts alike, this post will first serve to highlight one of the biggest regional esports tournament this year, DOTA 2 The Asia held in conjunction with TGX 2012.
Attracting and bringing all the top talents of DOTA 2 around this region and even renown shoutcaster Toby 'TobiWan' Dawson in one venue, The Asia was set to be a massive sight and a must-go event for all DOTA and esports fans. True enough, though sound systems backtracked the event a little, it indeed soon proved to be one heck of a festival for both avid fans and onlookers alike.
But in midst of all these, are the true carry-ers, gankers and supporters in the game, focusing hard and working as one to grab an edge over the other team. All dedicated whatever they had, all played with profession and sportsmanship, but some were less fortunate, while some, advanced.
After the two days long tournament, after rounds of hard battles and overcoming some serious ganks, team China's LGD eventually took the lead against Malaysia's very MUFC in the finals, taking home the tournament title along with $15,000, while MUFC had to settle with 2nd place and $9,000. Meanwhile, Orange Esports, after succumbing to co-country team MUFC during the semi-finals, proceeded to take hold of the Philippines' MiTH-Trust, gaining 3rd place and $6,000.
I would also like to use this opportunity to commend both our boys Orange eSports and especially MUFC. MUFC gave a pretty solid performance from the very start, being the only team in the competition who was completely undefeated during the group stages and obviously, before the finals. Both of our teams had done Malaysia very proud for taking 2 out of the top 3 places, among all the top talents an in such a competitive regional scene. Keep it up!
2nd place: MUFC DOTA (Malaysia)
3rd place: Orange eSports (Malaysia)
Thank you, RGN for the photos!
Sunday, 23 December 2012
GameOn Malaysia announces availability of the Nintendo Wii U Deluxe and Basic Set
Positioned as Malaysia's premier online video game store, GameOn has recently announced that they have started selling both the Wii U Deluxe and Basic Set in Malaysia, though limited stocks are only available. However, it is important to note that Nintendo has not officially release its latest console in Malaysia or Singapore, and neither in their regional base Hong Kong.
Instead, GameOn has imported their stock from the US (according to their website) and will be selling the Wii U Deluxe and Basic set at RM1599 and RM1399 respectively, both with a 1 year limited warranty.
The Wii U Basic set includes a white coloured 8GB-storage console, a GamePad and the necessary adaptors, cables and sensors. While the Deluxe set, as its name suggests, offers a higher-end, black coloured bundle of a 32GB-storage console, the GamePad, other necessary acessories and additional Wii U stands together with a Nintendo Land video game.
For more information about the retailing Wii U, head over to GameOn Malaysia. Also, learn more about the consoles from previous Wii U posts.
Friday, 21 December 2012
PlayStation Australia introduces official PS3 Guides
The PlayStation 3 is much more than just a game console. Equipped with some of the top current-gen hardware and drives, it has outgrown itself into a much more capable entertainment hub for movies, music, internet, and needlessly said, video games.
To help gamers and PS3-owners alike, PlayStation Australia has released a set of step-by-step PS3 guides, ranging from how to watch high-definition movies to using its social features and even the very basics on connecting the console to the internet.
I ran through some of them and I've got to say they're all pretty clearly explained. However, what makes this effort unique from the rest of the usual guides is its dedicated help hub. Clean, simple, and easily-accessible, its help hub easily makes it one of the most user-friendly way to pick up all of PS3's features in just one place.
Visit its official helphub PS3 guides here.
Razer CEO showcases its Kraken Signature Black Edition, unavailable in markets
Recently, Tan posted several photos of Razer's latest product, the Razer Kraken Signature Black Edition. The original Kraken was already a sight to behold, and with a pure all-black edition, it was really, really tempting.
The downside was, Razer's Signature Black Editions are always limited, in fact, extremely limited as they are only exclusively produced as a sign of appreciation for their closest friends and partners at the company. As explained by Tan, "every year, we design a Black Signature edition (limited to 1337 units) that bears my signature. These products are not for sale and are individually serialized and marked - and gifted to our closest friends and partners at Razer."
Though well yes I definitely do wish I was one of their 'closest friends and partners', it's really inspiring to see such a huge company making all these efforts for those they respect and appreciate most. Who knows, maybe one day, hopefully, cross my fingers, when I do get a chance in interviewing Tan (one of my personal goals), I may just get a step ahead.
But till then, I'll just drool at it.
[Source: Tan's facebook page]
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Assassin's Creed 3: PC Review
Picking up from an equally intense predecessor Assassin’s Creed: Revelation, comes a whole new chapter, Assassin’s Creed 3.
Just a little backtracking, we were left with Desmond running off with his father together with Shaun and Rebecca. Relationship between Desmond and his father have been straining, but nonetheless still preserving. Likewise, they continue with their journey as we follow glimpses into Desmond's life.
But Desmond is not the main guy. He's just a link which rather geniously binds all the Assassin's Creed franchise titles together through a system called the Animus. There, we venture back to the past taking the form of Desmond's ancestors - 15th-century Ezio, the quite a legendary Altair, and now, Connor the British-Native American.
DOTA 2 updates with 'Greeviling' Christmas event
Since Valve took over the reigns of DOTA, the company has since evolved what used to be a mere Warcraft map into its own platform and game client via Steam, evolving one of the currently most popular online games played globally into an even larger phenomenon.
One of the biggest additions was its Diretide event to celebrate Halloween, introducing an entirely new game mode followed by new tactics and strategies, challenging us at first then rewarding us with the top collectibles in-game.
Now, come Christmas, what seemed like a 'Frostvirus' event announced on DOTA 2's official blog at first has now came to a twist. 'Frostvirus', whatever that might be, has been cancelled due to, err, basically a spawn of raging Greevils...
Right, but Valve and DOTA has written a post in its trademarked mix of wit and sheer weirdness, though pretty much brilliant, reading
"Misery piled on misery! As the cold closed in, how we looked forward to Frostivus. Instead we get The Greeviling! The shops have been plundered, our gifts ripped open, our precious items scattered through the woods by a dire tide of Greevils!"The update will see you battling with these Greevils, or in other words its similar to a PvE (Player vs Environment) mode, to take back all the presents then giving them to other players. Wait, what? Yeah, but after all, tis' the season of giving isn't it? Who knows, you can always get a present back from your fellow players! Till then, here's to a Merry Greeviling!
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Ragnarok Online 2 Open Beta to start 27 December
Dubbed as Asiasoft's 'Blockbuster MMORPG', the recently-announced Ragnarok 2 (RO2) has been on the spotlight for quite a while as its close beta have been (I would say) extremely well-received, especially within my circle of networks.
Lasting over a 6 day period, Ragnarok Online 2's Closed Beta Testing have been successfully-concluded and its game servers are now being maintained to fix any in-game bugs and technical issues. This prepares for its upcoming Open Beta as Asiasoft strives to give the smoothest possible experience all around the region in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Phillipines and more once it goes live on the 27th of December. Better news still, Asiasoft has also mentioned that if you're on its Closed Beta previously, you wouldn't need to re-download its game client, but well I'm pretty sure you would still need to go through a patch or sort.
Asiasoft surely has been putting an immeasurable amount of effort into RO2 as you would have noticed on its marketing strategies, filling almost every day of my Facebook feed and ads. The game have also always had a big following and with this, I believe it is going to be Asiasoft's biggesst success since the all-so-lovable Maple Story.
To join the rapidly-growing community of RO2, simply hop on their official fb page.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Walking Dead: The Game on iOS is now free
Walking Dead fans can be pretty hardcore, and so will their franchise soon be. If you're one who wouldn't afford to miss an episode from Walking Dead, then you would probably have heard about their video game and may even have downloaded their game app.
To those that haven't got the app yet, we've recently found out that its game app is now free. However, on it's first episode is free and for any subsequent episodes, you will need to pay $4.99, or just $14.99 for the entire bundle.
Hardcore or no hardcore, app or no app, Walking Dead is a pretty darn good series nonetheless. You can get the game app for free here.
DOTA 2 The Asia to have multiple-language streams
DOTA 2 The Asia, one of the most prestigious regional tournament yet, is set to go from the 22nd till the 23rd. A total of 12 teams will be battling it all out right in the middle of Malaysia's hub Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre for a total of USD 15,000.
With an important tournament as such, the organisers have also managed to bring one of the most popular commentators into the scene, plus attracting several other commentator streams in the many languages of South East Asia.
Official Channels:
[English] Toby 'TobiWan' Dawson and Joshua 'Jtan' Tan (live onsite):
http://www.twitch.tv/rapturegaming
[Thai] Pinkle: http://www.twitch.tv/raptureth
[Vietnamese] Pewpew: http://www.twitch.tv/rapturevn
[Tagalog] Marlon: http://www.twitch.tv/raptureph
Other channels:
[English] Toby 'TobiWan' Dawson and Joshua 'Jtan' Tan (live onsite):
http://www.joindota.com/en/live/tobiwan (Stage matches)
[English] David 'GoDz' Parker and David 'LD' Gorman: http://www.twitch.tv/beyondthesummit
[Chinese] 啃西咯: live.neotv.cn/live/pipe-20 (LGD matches)
[Chinese] Kent and Rihou:
- http://www.fengyunzhibo.com/tv/kentdota2.html
- http://www.twitch.tv/rihou1648 (LGD matches)
Saturday, 15 December 2012
Timbersaw makes the cut in latest DOTA 2 update
In a time once before, there used to be a goblin raging through forests taking down both trees and foes. While his teammates fight till the end, trees are his biggest allies as he uses his coat of of steel to withstand the gaining forces of his enemies. But, Goblin Shredder is now no more.
Introducing Timbersaw, its replacement
With his four skills Whirling Death, Timber Chain, Reactive Armor and Chakram, Timbersaw has evidently a love to cut trees down, while of course causing a considerable amount of damage.
I'm no pro, but Timbersaw is a heck of a nuker early game with its short cooldowns and double doses of comboing Whirling Death and Timber Chain. It's Reactive Armor then makes Timbersaw one of the most durable tanks in the game, with its armor increasingly stacking everytime he receives damage. That said, he can be a great nuker early game earning kills like cutting trees, and the team's tanker late into the game. Double dose of annoyance, perfect.
Thursday, 13 December 2012
[DOTA 2 The Asia] Official group stages and schedule
DotA is arguably one of the more popular, if not the biggest game in Malaysia, South East Asia and especially up north China. To acknowledge the fact and to celebrate all the top talents from each countries around the region, DotA 2 The Asia has been organised.
DotA 2 The Asia will be held from the 22 to the 23rd of December in conjunction with TGX (The Game Expo) Malaysia 2012 and its group stages and schedule have recently been announced.
I would say that both groups are fairly balanced, with probably LGD or MUFC (if they perform at their best) taking the lead in Group A, while Zenith and Orange having a good chance in Group B. But don't get me wrong, all the other teams are equally competitive, but track records have shown that China's LGD and both Malaysia's Orange and MUFC to be the better contenders for this year's one of the biggest regional DotA 2 tournament.
The official schedule, click image to enlarge.
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
3 Gaming Gears Perfect for Christmas, by Logitech
Christmas is coming! The christmas tree, the colourful lights, santa claus and its reindeers (err, really?), oh how excited I am, and the presents! Oh yes, Christmas is all about exchanging presents and sometimes, we would just make a little more effort to the people we care most. When we've got a great friend who's an avid gamer, getting them a good gaming gear would probably be one of the best ideas wouldn't it?
This year around, Logitech has shared with me some of their several great gaming gears and I thought maybe I should highlight 3 of them. You know, if you were thinking of getting one for those you care most, or maybe even for yourself.
Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930
Logitech G600 MMO Gaming Mouse
MMOs are great, but while in that large, seemingly-endless world of boss fights and guild wars, skills are gonna be spammed and some gaming mouse are designed specifically for them. Introducing the G600 MMO Gaming Mouse, a clean beauty in its form but packs an arsenal of programmable macro keys for the most convenient experience. Priced at only RM259, choose your pick, Classic Black, or Elegant White?
Logitech G700 Gaming Mouse
The Spirit of Giving
Well, I'm sure they look amazing so if you're really looking to share the Christmas spirit with one of your closest friends who's a gamer like yourself, you may want to consider some of these gaming gears from Logitech. Till then, Merry Christmas!Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Malaysia's Orange Esports finishes 4th in WCG DotA 2 finals while Invictus Gaming crowned champions
Definitely no pressure at all but our boys from Orange Esports DotA is arguably Malaysia's strongest Esports team yet. The team, who is also strongly supported and sponsored by Razer, are multiple champions for various tournaments in local ground. However, their international records have yet to be as successful though at many a times, they often only miss their footing at the very last moments. Unfortunate.
In their latest major international attempt, Orange Esports advances into the 2012 World Cyber Games (WCG) DotA 2 Championships. Despite having a pretty good set in its League games, the team unfortunately then were set up against now-champions Invictus Gaming from China (they also won The International 2012) and proceeded to play 3rd placing playoffs against DevilMice from Belarus.
Despite being favourites in the game, Orange Esports gave in 0-2 to DevilMice, finally finishing the annual Games in 4th place.
The team's dissapointment was in any case, evident but I as a huge supporter for the Esports industry in Malaysia and for the team Orange Esports themselves who really are progressing in each tournament, really do believe that the day will come when we will overcome and make a bigger name, internationally.
Keep it up, Orange!
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Steam Big Picture mode for TV goes live
It has conquered PC gaming, owns the Mac gaming market, but is not in any way yet thinking of stopping. In a phase of bigger and greater expansion, Steam has officially released its 'Big Picture' mode in plans to invade your living room.
Oh yes, Steam's Big Picture mode now allows you to play most Steam games on your TV with full compatibility with a game controller. With it, you'll be able to manage your Steam account, surf the web, and definitely enjoy your games at the comfort of your living room.
To celebrate the big move, Steam has also announced a week long sale for all the partially and fully-compatible games with up to 75% cut in prices, and that includes one of our favourites Portal 2!
Oh, did we mention that while using Steam Big Picture with a controller, you will be introduced to an all-new way of 'typing'? Yeah, do check it out. That's innovation, and it's feeling pretty unique right now (though definitely need some time getting used to).
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