Esports Pro Interview - Tommey

 Second up in my series of Esports Pro Interviews is Team Vitality Member, Tommey.

Tommey is a British based Pro Player who has played for a number of French based teams, and here he speaks about his experiences of this fairly unique situation:


 What are your Top 5 favourite games?
Tough one, I don't really play that many games but I'd have to say Socom, Halo, FIFA and CoD (I don't have anymore (worry))

What interests do you have outside Gaming?

I love football and pretty much all sports, I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend too. Nothing else as of now but I'm quite a busy person.

Who is your closest friends in Esports?

All of the people that I've played since CoD4 with, Sam (SewiCyde), Gavin (GuvnaGavin), Ben (StyleR), Josh (Furbzy), Zac (chillaZ) and of course my brother David - There's too many to name though, I enjoy playing with people who aren't fully in a competitive team but still play using the rule set and so on.

How did you get into the competitive/Pro CoD scene?

I was introduced to GB via my brother, back on CoD4 and since then it's just evolved into what it is now.

How did you end up playing with a predominantly French team?
To tell you the truth, I really don't know. It started with Millenium and it worked well (weirdly). I'm now with Vitality but I teamed with Gotaga under apeX, and Krnage under Millenium - so this time it's a lot easier.  Communications are sometimes difficult, as you'd expect with a slight language barrier, but with strats being sorted, things seem to flow OK, and in general we get our call outs across .

Are roster changes a necessary evil, or do organisations/teams change too much?
Most of the time they are necessary, If you're winning but not enjoying it due to the people around you, it can really grind you down and in a way make you depressed/hate playing the game. There are some which I can't get my head around but then again, each will have their reasons and in their own mind it will be necessary.

Trash talking in games recently became a hot topic. What are your views on this and do you think it has a negative impact on eSports image in the world outside gaming?
I personally don't trash talk, the only time you'll here me say anything is when the other team are trying to verbally abuse my own and even then, I wouldn't call what I do trash talk. I keep mine in line with the game. It's definitely has a negative impact, teams and players just need to mature/grow up a little bit.

Where do you see eSports and competitive CoD in particular going in the short to mid term future?

Tough one - At the moment it's going well, a lot of progression in a short space of time (since BO2) so it's hard to give an answer, If it carries on at the pace it's going I'd like to think we can achieve what LoL have created/done and maybe go even further.

Do you see players from different countries playing on the same team? Fopr example a Brit playing for one of the US teams?

That could happen, I just don't think it will yet. I'd love to see that though.


Big thanks to Tommey for giving up his time to do this and best of luck to him and the rest of Team Vitality for upcoming events.

Give them a follow on Twitter:
Tommey - @TommeyJT
Team Vitality - @Team_Vitality

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 

 
Neil 

Esports Pro Interview - Chris Blevins Curse CoD

(First published on 360 Icons)

 I’m very pleased to introduce the first in a new series of Esports interviews. These will take the form of some light hearted questions about the interviewee, and also some more searching questions about the current Esports world.
 
Starting us off is the General Manager of the Curse CoD Esports Team, Chris Blevins or @CrsBlevdog. Chris was very kind in giving up his time to allow me to do this article and for this I thank him.

What are your Top 5 favourite games?
My top Five favourite games of all time are Call of Duty, Everquest, Fallout 3, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and FIFA 98.
 
What interests do you have outside Gaming? 
I love playing Golf , University of South Carolina Football and really enjoy watching MMA.  I used to do MMA for a couple of years, but now I’m pudgy and old.
 
Who is your closest friends in Esports?
My closest friends in ESports are Mr. Ernest Le (Works at Twitch), Steve Arhancet (Director of eSports at Curse) and Rawn Valenzuela (Producer at MLG)
 
What lead you into competitive gaming, and then onto your current position within Curse?
I started playing Multiplayer Call of Duty when Black Ops 1 released and I was hooked constantly trying to get better.  I started getting into Competitive Call of Duty by watching Ernest Le doing the Race to Master Prestige last year with the release of Black Ops 2. After that I started watching the competitive call of duty scene and really tried to become a student of Competitive FPS.  I eventually thought there were some things/ideas I could do to make the scene better so since Ernie was local I reached out to him.  We met for lunch and talked about some different ideas we could and became friends.  Through him I met Stan Press at Elgato at MLG Anaheim and we developed a relationship and then through Stan I met Steve Arhancet and Nathan Lindberg (VP of Sales).
While working with Curse to emphasize the importance of the competitive eSports and Youtube Scene within Microsoft I started consulting with them and eventually Steve asked me to come on board to run the CoD division.
 
What do you feel sets a Pro player apart from an amateur/Public player?
Pro players have a much better sense of Map awareness and overall flow of the game.  I think really good competitive players can make instant decisions about where the opposing player is and is going versus the amateur.  They also have a much better understanding of lines of sight and strats.  The Pro player will try multiple times to master a strat where an amateur will usually rely on gun skill alone.
 
Are roster changes a necessary evil, or do organisations/teams change too much?
I think roster changes will happen just like they do in any other sport.  The problem we have is that Pro Points travel with the player. So players can make themselves valuable not only because of their talent, but also because of their Pro Points.  I hated doing the roster changes we have so far.  I really want to promote longevity and continuity.  The changes I have made were due to Chemistry.  I don’t anticipate making any changes for the rest of 2014 no matter who comes available.
 
Trash talking in games recently became a hot topic. What are your views on this and do you think it has a negative impact on eSports image in the world outside gaming? 
I think hype and excitement is so important, and trash talk is a byproduct of that.  The problem is that when that becomes disparaging or derogatory comments it goes too far.  I think because it is such a spectator sport and the nature of Video games in general is to trash talk it can have a negative impact.  There needs to be a balance between hype and trash talk.
 
Where do you see eSports and competitive CoD in particular going in the short to mid term future?
I think eSports are going to continue to rise in popularity.  We see that from League of Legends and Dota and how big their championships have become.  For COD I am not so sure.  We need consistent developer support and right now we didn’t see that from IW.  All the goodness that Treyarch gave us went out the window.   I do think there is a huge appetite for a FPS eSport and eventually we will see a Riot or a Valve or similar come along and create a console  FPS that will become the standard if Activision doesn’t do something. 
 

Thanks again to Chris for being my first interview in the series! Keep a look out for more to come and please get in touch if there is anyone you’d all like to see being interviewed.

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 

 
Neil 

 

The Return of Prophecy - Exclusive Interview with Oli Sellors and XLNC

(Originally published on 360Icons on 4.12.13)

On the 2^nd December an announcement was made by Oli Sellors (Proph Acid), Team Boss of Prophecy, that they would be restarting as an active CoD Esports team in the very near future.

They have been out of the limelight for quite a while now, after disbanding shortly after i49, with players leaving for new ventures. Oli thought this was an opportune time to give the organisation a break from competitive gaming, and so Prophecy faded into the background, well at least the team did, as let’s face it, Oli is one of the most recognisable faces in CoD esports, and he remained active at events and monitoring the whole scene.

After reviewing the recent Ghosts events at MLG and i50, Oli decided that it was about time that Prophecy was brought back, and the announcement was made along with the news that Nick Ward aka Proph XLNC would be on board as team captain and the first team member to be announced.

I caught up with both XLNC and Oli, and here is what both had to say on the announcement, starting with XLNC:

“Oli recently approached me in that he wanted to rebuild Proph in 2014, which I thought would be the perfect opportunity for me to get back into the swing of things. I've recently been taking a break from cod as I’ll be away to Brazil this month (for 5 weeks) so I thought it'd be best to try arrange something after I get back; as it wouldn't be fair on a team if I was to join them for a few weeks only for me to then go on a lengthy break.

 It's also great to see Oli continuing the Proph brand too - with or without me. He's put far too much effort into Proph for it to go to waste and I'm glad he's come to realise that. With all this being said, hopefully we can arrange a line-up that can challenge the best teams this game has to offer by the end of January (at the very latest). Be sure to follow @ProphecyTeam for updates on our squad! #prophReturn”

Following on from that, Oli had this statement on the return of his team:

“Going back to after Gfinity 1, the team made a huge decision to release both Swanny and Jake, in which I supported. We quickly made it clear we wanted MadCat and Jurd, who at the time were the best two EU players on the game, and we thought it was exactly what we needed. Then came EGL10 where we fell short of our expectations placing 5th (something I wasn't too fussed about). Jurd went back to Epsilon after, just before i49 and we weren't sure what to do from then, and then even after winning i49 MadCat left to return to Epsilon. In reality this upset me as one of the main things I wanted with Proph was stability, and minimal change is our roster throughout the year. When we had no chance to attend Gfinity 2 or ESWC I said to Gunshy and XLNC that would be it from Proph for Black Ops 2, as I didn't want to force anymore rosters that we weren't comfortable with.

Since then we lost Gunshy to TCM, which he came to me with the news before anything went public. I was happy for him that he got to attend MLG Columbus and Clash of the Titans as he deserves it, but majorly gutted I'd lost the main player I started Proph with, and probably my best friend in gaming. It got me having doubts of whether I wanted to continue on doing what I was doing, as I gave a nice job to do this full time, so it was something I instantly lost out on, but for so long I'd been happy doing Proph and working with the team I had.

This weekend watching i50 gave me the spark I needed to know that I will be 100% carrying on the Proph name. I created Proph to put the EU/UK scene on the global map, to give the EU someone they could support and get attached to like the US scene has. Not only that, I wanted to make sure individuals received the fanbase and profiles they deserved. I still have on going business talks in the background to make Proph even bigger than it already is, but we will be coming back stronger whatever happens!

 Prophecy is grateful to work with some of the best in the business, and companies who provide us with the support we need to be the very best. We look forward to our continued partnerships with Red Bull UK, ASTRO Gaming, SCUF Gaming, Philips Monitors and GamerGrip. Look out for some possible new partnerships on the horizon in the near future to.

Follow myself @prophAcid on twitter to find out more on Proph as the news unfolds! #prophReturn #prophLife”

So it would appear that the EU scene has got back one of its biggest names, both in terms of teams and a personality! I believe that a strong Prophecy team will only be good for the EU scene, and will help take the fight to the NA contingent!

Good luck to Oli, XLNC and whoever ends up on the team, and one thing’s for sure, it’ll be an entertaining and interesting ride!

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 
Neil 

Review - Orb Accessories GX Rumble Headset

This review will look at the intriguingly named GX Rumble Headset for Xbox 360/PC from Orb Accessories.

The headset has a retail price of £49.99, but is often available at between £25-30 at stores such as Sainsburys and Argos.

It is a wired headset, and is connected via the normal USB/Audio Input routes.
Its main feature is the fact that it has a Rumble effect that reflects in game sounds. This effect can be adjusted by the integrated volume control on the wire connecting the headset to the console. Here, as usual, you can also adjust game and chat volumes and mute the mic.

So what is the Rumble effect like? Well it took a little getting used to, especially in Multiplayer games. In campaigns/single player, it is very immersive, and creates a new audio element to story lines/experiences. The rumble effect differs dependant on different sounds that are going on around you, with things like explosions being given maximum effect!
In mulitplayer games, I found myself turning the effect down slightly in favour of listening for enemy movements etc..However, you still get a good effect, especially at key moments.

The headset itself looks good with its green trim reflecting the Xbox colour scheme too. It is also exceptionally comfortable, even against headsets twice as expensive! How do I know this? I have just finished using a well known brand of headset that was quite frankly terrible for comfort, and made my ears sore after a night of gaming. The Rumble headset however, despite being half the price of the other headset, always sat comfortably on my ears, and I never felt I need to adjust it to make it sit better on my head.

Another nice touch is the mic stork. Its made from a very adjustable metal flex, and seems really sturdy yet can be positioned really easily, again at the side of other more expensive headsets, I found this really nice.

The sound quality is really good, and at no point did I feel let down by this aspect of the headset.

All in all an absolutely terrific, value for money headset. You simply do not get quality and features like this from similarly priced headsets.

Highly recommended, give this a look if you're after a first gaming headset, or simply after something that offers great features at a superb price!




 
My Rating 9/10 - Superb value for money that isn't matched by higher priced items!


So give Orb a visit at www.orbaccessories.com or on Twitter at @ORB_Accs

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 
Neil 

1st Review - Orb Accessories Magnetic Induction Charger

Here is my first review of a product that I got sent recently from Orb Accessories.


Orb are a supplier of console accessories across lots of different platforms, and their products can be bought in some major outlets like Sainsburys and Argos as well as online at Amazon.

This product is a Magnetic Induction Charger. It comes complete with 2 rechargeable battery packs and normally retails at between £20-£25 depending on where you get it.

 It basically takes the principle of the Charge and Play kit, and takes away the wire connecting your controller to the Xbox! You can either leave the battery pack in the controller and lay it on the charger, or have a spare battery sat on there charging while you play on.

The magnetic element means you simply pop the battery/charger onto the plate, and it is magnetically drawn into position and starts charging. A red light indicates charging in progress, a blue light indicates charging finished!

It really is that easy. The charger plugs via USB into your Xbox, and is very slim and easy to hide away when not in use. It really is a doddle.

I found with my old play and charge kit, I constantly had to get up and down to plug in, and got a nasty buzzing noise whilst being plugged in. Well none of that now! I have a battery on charge and one in my controller, so I'm always good to go! 

With a play and charge kit usually costing around £12, this is also excellent value for money as you get 2 battery packs and less inconvenience! What more do you want?

So give Orb a visit at www.orbaccessories.com or on Twitter at @ORB_Accs

My Rating 10/10 - The perfect charging companion - couldn't fault it.

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 
Neil 

NEWS - Link up with Orb Accessories & Jmods + Youtube/Facebook

 

I am delighted to announce that I am partnering with Orb Accessories and Jmods Custom Controllers to do reviews of their products.

Orb Accessories:
Orb produce a range of accessories across multi platform consoles. This includes headsets, charging accessories, thumb grips and controllers, as well as other accessories.
They are working hard at the moment on new products for Next Gen consoles, and these will hopefully be looked at in due course!

Jmods Custom Controllers:
Jmods offer 2 different groups of products. Firstly they sell all sorts of items for customising your controllers, such as buttons, thumb sticks and all sorts of lighting/LED modifications!
Secondly they customise controllers to your own design/specification. This can be done on a new controller or one of your own.

I'll explain more about the companies in details as and when I do the individual articles/vlogs.

For now, here are their details so please give them a look and show them some love!

Orb Accessories:
http://www.orbaccessories.com/
@ORB_Accs

Jmods:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/JmodsCustomConsoles/154655494587690?fref=ts
@JmodsCustomCons

Remember to subscribe to my new Youtube site here - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1bxmAaXM7WqtviRGp822g/feed

Also I now have a Facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/TheGrumpyOldGamer

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 
Neil 

Esports and Trash Talk - A Hot Topic?

 

First Published - 28/10/13

We are just days away from the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, yet there is a burning issue tearing at the heart of CoD Esports – Trash Talk.

After some much publicised recent events, the subject of player behaviour and Trash Talking in CoD Esports has been brought very much into focus within the community.

There are definitely fluctuating opinions on the subject, and especially with regards to what is deemed acceptable whilst trash talking in game.

When talking to individuals from within the CoD Esports community, there initially seems almost universal condemnation of the levels and content of comments made between players and teams during matches. However, this is not to say that all of these personalities want this type of ‘banter’ to leave the game altogether. Indeed, as TCM team member MarkyB says “there’s a difference between telling someone how bad you think they are, to how good their mother is in bed!”

Another point that is put out as an explanation of this behaviour is that a lot of the comments are made in the heat of the moment, and this is some sort of mitigating factor. Again, MarkyB had a great analogy for this – “In football for example, players do things in the heat of the moment, but get punished by red and yellow cards. As soon as this behaviour is cracked down on, it will no longer be part of the regular behaviour of these players”.

Generally speaking most opinions put forward were in agreement that anything personal and insulting should be severely clamped down on in some way. CoD Esports caster Alan Brice has been particularly vocal in his dislike of these types of comments, although in general, no consensus seems to have been reached on what form of punishment should be taken against offenders.

With CoD: Ghosts just days away, the future of Esports for the franchise is again firmly in the spotlight, and many people that I have spoken to about this subject feel that the ‘scene’ is at an important juncture in terms of how Esports is viewed. Indeed Ben ‘Benson’ Bowe stated that “after speaking to the developers about this exact topic, I can tell you, it needs to stop”.

Not only this, but that all those involved in CoD Esports – Teams, Players and Event Organisers, should all agree to moving forward with any improvements in player behaviour for the good of the future of game in general.

Thanks to all those that helped contribute to this article:

@TCM_MarkyB

@Benson_EU

@Bricetacular

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 
Neil 

Scuf Classic - A Review by an Average Gamer

 I’ve never considered myself particularly good at gaming and FPS games in particular, and of course I’d heard all about other brands of controllers other than the standard Microsoft ones.

It would be fair to say that for the extra cost, I was dubious as to whether any of them would make a difference to an ageing gamer such as me! So when a friend offered me a Scuf Classic to try, I did so with a little bit of trepidation as to what it might bring to the table.

I had solely used the original Microsoft Wireless controllers for my whole Xbox gaming life prior to this, and this Scuf was wired, although given that I sit quite close to my TV, this wasn’t really a problem!

The first new feature that I had to get to grips with was a domed right stick, not much to write home about you probably think, but I immediately felt at ease with it, and found myself moving with ease especially when aiming. All in all a small yet incredibly useful addition.

The major feature of Scuf controllers is the paddle system – either 2 or 4 paddles on the underside of the controller that allow you to use them as you would the A,B,X and Y buttons, but without moving your fingers from the natural grip of the controller. My Scuf had just 2, mapped to replicate the A & B buttons. This was an area of the controller that I had most apprehension about; would I even use them, would it feel odd, what advantage would I gain? After all, I very rarely drop shot and as for jump shots…..well lets say I leave that to Halo players! However, given that I mostly used the pad on Black Ops 2, the ability to use the B Paddle to dolphin dive onto Capture Points/Flag Points, and to use the A paddle to easily jump up to areas whilst on the move proved to be a really handy thing over a standard controller.

Another major benefit of the Scuf Pads are the addition of ‘Trigger Stops’. These are inlays in the Left and Right Triggers that stop any unnecessary movement of the trigger and saves split seconds in getting a shot off in a game such as Call of Duty. My pad however, did not have these on, so I will not comment on this, suffice to say any saving on time in a CoD firefight would be massively welcomed by me!

Complimentary to this feature is the Adjustable Hair Trigger mechanism. This allows the user to adjust small screws on the pad that alter the sensitivity of the triggers, again a highly useful feature for the FPS player.

So, I hear you ask, “Did the Scuf Classic Pad make you a better CoD player?”  I’m not sure I’m in a position to answer that, but what I will say is that all the features rolled into one package, makes playing games a more intuitive and confident process. I felt more in control and felt that I had more of an edge than I had with my previous standard controllers.

I now even use it for playing Fifa with! OK so I might not use the paddles, but the unit as a whole just feels so nice to game with, that it would be stupid not to use it.

So, in summing up, well done Scuf Gaming! At roughly £50 for the base version, it’s not even that much more than an official Microsoft Wireless pad, so decent value for money too!  Scuf might not have improved my meagre skills as a gamer, but you have certainly given me a chance of achieving more than just mediocrity when gaming! A top quality product for ANY gamer.

Give them a follow on Twitter too! @ScufGaming

Let me know your thoughts people, and feel free to get in touch -
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Old_GrumpyGamer
XBL - NastyNeil WR

Peas out chaps! 
Neil