Tag Archives: must reads

How do you explain the phenomenon of watching videogames?

For all our think pieces about interactive media, social media, and virtual reality, we are all still very much living in a culture of spectation. Big budget movies, music videos, episodic television, and professional sports: these are still the main sites of cultural cohesion for most people in the United …

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Why Overwatch’s South Korean coup matters

Crown and king should not be conflated – the latter is forever destined to be replaced. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes years, but in the end, the mantle must pass to another. No reign lasts forever, and League of Legends may be drawing on, at least in one nation. Read …

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Checking Riot’s lane swap assumptions

So far, I’ve mainly dealt with statistics and fairly small, straightforward statements from Riot Games’ original statement discussing the changes coming to turrets and minions on Patch 6.15. Addressing the rest of Riot Games’ claims for why they believe the changes they are implementing are necessary requires more interpretation and …

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Isaiah "TriForce" Johnson: building the Jamaican esports community into an industry

In esports, for every big-name region like China or the US, there’s dozens of smaller regions that have never found international success. Nowhere is this more true than Jamaica and the Caribbean, where Isaiah Triforce” Johnson, founder of Empire Arcadia, is fighting to help turn an esports community into an …

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Building Clash Royale into an eSport

The big eSports of the world may be hogging almost all of the spotlight right now, especially with the likes of Counter-Strike jamboree ESL One Cologne and Dota world cup The International 6 dominating the summer tournament landscape, but quietly, a mobile revolution is building, and leading the charge is …

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14 North American LCS pros say who inspired their careers

Professional League of Legends is still a reasonably young entity, but it’s been around long enough that a line of players have come through the game who have served as role models, reference points and sources of inspiration for the current batch of pros. Read more on Slingshot eSports >>>

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I Watched the World’s Biggest Fighting Game Event at an eSports Bar

Competitive gamers from around the world were in Las Vegas over the weekend for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the biggest fighting game tournament in the world, competing in titles like Mortal Kombat XL, Killer Instinct and Street Fighter V. On Saturday, I found myself slouched over a barstool at …

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TV networks show they are ready to commit to esports

The crowd erupted in Las Vegas, 15,000 fighting game fans clapping, cheering and booing as Infiltration suplexed his way to a victory over Fuudo, becoming Evolution 2016’s Street Fighter V champion. Read more on Mashable >>>

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Pro Sports Bets on Video Gamers for Growth

Major league sports teams are recruiting a new kind of player: one who can score with a joystick. In the past two months, Manchester City and West Ham United, two of the top English Premier League soccer teams, have signed professional video gamers to represent the clubs when playing FIFA, …

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Hungrybox’s new golden legacy at Evo

A defining chapter in Team Liquid’s Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma’s legacy was about to be written. He was considered a "god" of Super Smash Bros. Melee but never the best—a great player who was never able to win the big one at the Evolution Championship Series (Evo). When Melee first came …

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