Tag Archives: PC

eSports Talk: SMITE Dreamhack Valencia & ESL Cologne

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SK GAMING 3-0’s CLOUD 9

The ESL CS:GO Cologne Finals took place this past week in Cologne, Germany. After a long and arduous group stage 8 teams advanced to the playoff. This included the old standbys of Cloud 9, Faze, and Optic Gaming as well as up and coming teams Team Liquid and Natus Vincere. After a stunning playoff round with many teams losing 2-0, the grand final of SK Gaming and Cloud 9 was set. In an incredible turn of events, SK defeated Cloud 9 in only 3 rounds. I would not have believed the ESL finals would end with the loser taking not a single game. But, nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened. Congratulations to SK and the players Taco, Fer, Fallen, Felps, and Coldzera!

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SMITE DREAMHACK FINAL MATCH SET

In other news, the SMITE Dreamhack Valencia Finals began yesterday and already some big names in the SMITE pro scene have fallen. Tournament favorite Dignitas has already defeated Brazil’s representative Black Dragons and will move on to the semis. Fan favorites NRG also will move on after taking the set against Trifecta 2-1. Many argue that the jungler and mid for NRG, Adapting and Yammyn, are the best players in the field. We’ll see how far that will take them. After their sets, Rival and Obey also moved on to semis, which began early this morning.

In a stunning turn of events, relatively new team Rival was able to defeat Obey 3-1 in a BO5. Many would have expected the experience of veterans Ataraxia and Prettyprime, along with the great strategies of EmiLZy to take the day, but rising stars Deathwalker and wlfy would not be denied, making some great plays to help Rival pull off an upset.

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In yet another amazing semi-final match, Dignitas shut out NRG 3-0 in their BO5 set. Dignitas had the best record in the SPL coming in, and their hot streak looks like it will continue. Try as they might, the once dominate NRG eSports could not overcome the Zyrhoes led Dignitas. SPL star and the individual often regarded as the best pro SMITE player Adapting could only do so much to keep his team alive. Picking up former Paradigm support and jungle players Trixtank and QvoFred has been a great move for Dignitas and the two played a huge part in their run to Dreamhack Finals.

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The finals begin tomorrow and my money is on Dignitas to beat Rival 3-1. The current synergy and momentum that Dignitas in my opinion is simply too much for any team to overcome right now. $60k is up for grabs in this final match, this will definitely be a final to remember. Speaking of SMITE, I may have a bit next week about the state of the game. Some of the new changes coming do not bode well and I’ll tell you all why. Stay tuned.

Photos attributed to the ESL Pro League and SMITE eSports/SmitePro.

 

My PC Can Be a PS4 Now?

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An interesting bit of news graced me this morning. It seems that Sony will now be adding PS4 titles to its PlayStation Now game streaming service for PC. This adds to the extensive catalogue of 500 PS3 games. It’s only a few games for now but the number of PS4 titles will probably be expanded.

PlayStation Now is a service that allows you to stream games across the internet to your PC. The service requires a subscription fee of $20 per month. The main draw of the service is you don’t have to download a game or use a disc, it’s completely on-demand. It is also possible to use it without a PS4, your PC can be used alone so long as you have a DualShock 4 controller. Those of you that already have a PS4, keep in mind you need a PS Plus subscription if you want to transfer your local save data to the cloud for use on PlayStation Now. If you’re not sure you want PlayStation Now, Sony is currently offering a 7-day trial for the service. One of the great features of this is you can take your PS4 essentially anywhere. Unfortunately, the PS4 is the only system that currently has support for PlayStation Now. The service has been removed from TV’s, blue ray players, PS3 and PS Vita.

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Xbox still has some catching up to do to compete in the streaming arena. PC streaming from Xbox requires you to connect your PC and Xbox and have an Xbox Live account. PlayStation Now only requires a PC and a separate subscription to its service independent of your PS4. Microsoft has launched its Play Anywhere campaign where buying a Play Anywhere digital title allows you to play it on Xbox and a Windows 10 PC, but the games currently supported is small and only recent titles. PlayStation Now allows you play the current PS4 games offered and basically every PS3 game. This seems like quite a big leap in gaming for Sony, we’ll see if PlayStation Now lives up to the hype.

I do not own any properties of Sony of PlayStation™. Photos credited to PlayStation™. All rights reserved. Any opinions expressed are mine alone.