March 2012

So a lot happened in March, let's get right into it.

The girl with the dragon's heart

The dragon is a mythical creature. They are associated with wisdom, longevity and exceptional beauty. They often possess supernatural powers and some guard hidden treasure. Listening to Margaret 'Luperza' Krohn talk about gaming reminds me of just such an exceptional creature as the dragon. She possess an ethereal beauty, as if some hidden treasure pulses from within her heart. As she expertly steers her way through the interview, it becomes obvious that she has wisdom that extends far beyond her years. She enchants countless gamers with the fantasy worlds she creates and her legacy lives on in cyberspace.


The marriage of science and Starcraft

For years gamers have been looked down on as inferior nerds who have nothing better to do with their time than waste it away playing silly games. We either have to battle with biases, on the front of stereotyping gamers or we have to defend games as not being the cause for violent behavior.

But then something truly remarkable happened in 2011, science showed up for the party. The result: a match made in technology heaven between Starcraft II and the SFU Cognitive Science Lab. This partnership spawned SkillCraft, a study on the acquisition of attentional skills and expertise in Starcraft II players. Join me, as I sit down with Mark Blair Ph.D., associate professor at the Cognitive Science & Department of Psychology faculty at Simon Fraser University for a discussion about science, Starcraft II and being a geek. Read the rest of this article here.

"Raise you wrench"

I’ve been playing Team Fortress 2 (TF2) for over 4 years, and I cannot recall 1 pro engineer in African Fortress. In fact, the only thing I remember about someone playing engineer was when Crow, my teamie in ‘Cause of Death’ made this comment. During a clan match, I asked him to, “Please get the teleport up.”, and he replied, “I am known for getting my equipment up quickly’. That comment from him forever marred and set the standard for my opinion about what a good engineer is. A good Engineer gets his equipment up quickly. Read more about the Engineer here.

A look into the enchanted world of Dear Esther

I'm having some difficulty describing this game, because, in all my years of gaming, I've never played anything like 'Dear Esther.' There are no clear goals; no enemies, no tasks, you don’t even have a weapon. You cannot jump, run or interact with your environment. Instead, you wander around, you explore, you discover, you listen, and you feel. Read my opinion piece about this exquisite game here.

Extraordinary Fortress

Honoring some of the extraordinary people in the Team Fortress 2 international community, with Lazar 'Comedian' Jovic from VanillaTF2, John 'Agro' Irwin from KritzKast, Timothy 'wm' Bagheri from OzFortress and Rhys 'Greaver' Hudson from GreaverTV.

Oh my God, who touched Sasha?!

When the TF2 competitive scene started out the Heavy was the predominant and most feared class to face on the battlefield. Gameplay was much slower and maps were played that favoured this class.The players that mastered the Heavy remains well known to this day. I tracked down a man who still knows how to rev up the biggest gun in TF2,Will ‘Ruskeydoo‘ Segerman from Brighton England, read more about this Heavy here.

KLOC is here!

Meet the 12 teams and the shoutcasters for African Fortress' first KritzKast Lo-Fi Offlcass Cup. Read more about this event here.


A Sniper frenzy on Gullywash

The finals of the 16Bit TF and KritzKast Lo-Fi Offclass (KLOC) Cup was one hell of a show. Thanks to everyone who organised, played and supported this event.

That conludes a very busy March.