Sunday 13 September 2020
LOCKDOWN STORIES PART 1
Sunday 22 November 2015
The state of E-sport and Pro Gaming in Uganda
Salcurb-check, premix-check, toxin binder - check.... Cotton 520kgs,sunflower,fish and shells all at 600 kgs... Maize bran we will use 40bags but hold on. I need to first draft tomorrow's blog courtesy of a challenge from tight buddy and fellow gamer Sam.
I haven't written anything in a while and thats because am nolonger gaming or doing anything gamer related to a level I consider pro. In other words I now have a completely different job... Keeping chicken for eggs, call them layers and its a 24hr gig. But it gets me paid so shut up. Once in a while as I chat with local gamer groups and veteran local gamers a Gaming tournament always shows up somewhere, Mortal Kombat X, FIFA 15/16 among a few.. Oh and PES. but i havent actually attended any of these because I don't play any of the games above and not because I don't want but because I can't... At the moment, main reason why I can't attend is because I don't have a console and my pcs have Intel HD and i3 specs. But can that hold me back from observing the gaming scene... Hell no so here is the current state of the e-sport arena in kampala and maybe Uganda as a Gaming nation.
The organiser, usually the owner of the gaming venue in which case a Gaming parlour decides to host the event. A date is set and the ultimate trophy is decided. The competitors are always required to pay registration fee which is used to raise the trophy... Usually cash trophies, gaming consoles or other gadgets. The date arrives and the event kicks off, knockout stages make sure only the best prevail and in most cases we endup with two head to head hardcore gamers... Winner takes it and the event closes, whatsapp numbers are exchanged for future gamer related stuff... And then the venue closes for the day, everyone is satisfied atleast the organiser gets a good cut off the tournament. BUT....
What happens to our winner of the tournament? Where is their name hung? And apart from getting Street credibility and respect amongst fellow keen gamers, the king of Mortal Kombat X or PES or FIFA or NFS... Where do they go? What tournament does he kill next and what are the future plans apart from demolishing new competition from all the tournaments they get involved in? That's something to discuss in the next blog but for now... I would like to thank Sam for asking me whether I can still blog... Coz i have a feeling I can still blog.
But for now.... I gotta go back and finish this milling thing. Catch you i the next blog and we figure out what the tournie winner does after the tournament.
Wednesday 6 March 2013
The Beautiful Gaming Plague
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Hope for the best as usual |
This is my third article in the Opinion column of the G&E magazine and the last two articles i greatly despised the situation at hand within my region,however the situation has intensified to category 7,yeah thats always the worst category in any disastrous scenario however its a good category 7,oddly it is and here is how.
We have between 5-10 Game Parlors/Shops/Station in my neighborhood alone,these are for only playstation 2 games being played on 14/19 and rarely 21 inch tv screens.This has driven out the few PC Gamers and internet cafes out of business as the young and teen customers have resorted to video games other than "facebook".
See,the playstation 2 console is popular mainly because of the ease by which owners can access the accessories here,memory cards,controllers and games are easily accessible anywhere at decent prices but i have actually noticed that the higher this demand gets the higher the prices for consoles and prices.This does not affect the gamers directly but rather hit hard at the Game Station owners and proprietors (US).
Demand,the demand for playstation 2 and gaming services is high and so is the rent,electricity bills among other fluctuating factors within the local economy.I hate this part where i have to wish upon a better tomorow and also hope for the government and ICT sector to acknowledge whats going on in the local Gamers community but until this is cleared and we can say everything is up and running,then i will claim satisfaction for the whole gamer community in Uganda.
Monday 17 December 2012
Promoting the "soda" or "gamer"?!.The 2012 Mountain Dew Extreme Gamers Challenge in Kampala.
Moving on,i attended the Mountain Dew Extreme Gamers Challenge with a friend and we reached at the venue at around ahalf past 1 in the afternoon,registration was meant to start at 8:00am up to midday and i knew we were going to be late so spectation was my objective at this point,we tried to check in and enter the venue as spectators but were told to "pay" in order to acquire player tags into the venue,i found this unfair and tried to argue the attendant out until i finally paid,10,000ugx which is the equivalent of 3.79 something dollars at current exchange rate,however this is pretty huge money nowadays.
The attendant informs me that the fifa 13 challenge is closed and that only racing and action games are open for contesting and i agree since i wanted to contend in need for speed and we were given a small piece of paper to fill and it looked like this
The Racing Registration form i later found out |
So this was our official entry document into the venue and competitions,looked cheap though i mean these guys could have done better.
Anyways i went ahead and entered the venue, Garden City rooftop parking,not bad and i was met with a swarm of gamers playing FIFA on flat screens and seated on plastic chairs.
I head over to the table where i am supposed to pick my free mountain dew soda courtesy of mountain dew,thanx but my objective has changed and i have started to worry a bit about the organisation of this and my reason to worry is simple,the music is up too high at this moment to even hear what the announcer is saying,the FIFA tournament is apparently still underway and i am not seeing any screen running "need for speed",the game i have registered for.
I pick my soda and talk to one of the attendants who advises me to head over to the tournament chat where players names are written down and their challengers cited,this is exciting now but the lady writing down the names informs that she is "not sure" whether the racing slots are still available for me to contend,i am pissed at this time but only a bit so i ask the gentleman fre seeing the "racing"competition and he informs me that its true,the racing competition is closed.
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The Tournament Chart |
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FIFA 13 while i gett pissed |
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This gamer was reportedly cheated by the guys updating the tournament chary |
Gaming is not a business for me,its a culture and tradition instigated deep into the gamers' minds and daily lifestyles and whoever attempts to exploit this will earn nothing but total failure and loss of dignity and respect in the sector,i checked the events' facebook page today and there was nothing such as a "thanx for coming" message,i was also informed that even after the event the tv commercials are still airing...mountain dew and Mile Gamers,work on your stuff for a better future in this, thats all i have for them.
For the Ultimate FIFA Tournament,it was pushed for this weekend and word has reached me that competition will be on playstation 2 consoles and more is up for this too,hoping it will be better than the one that was supposed to be better.
Thursday 13 December 2012
PROMISING WEEKEND FOR THE GAMERS AROUND KAMPALA
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MD_XG Challenge |
In the sports Category,Mountain are providing NBA,FIFA 1,FIFA Street,SSX and the action category is to cover games such as Tekken Tag 2,Mortal Kombat, Fight Night,UFC, WWE among others.
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FIFA 2K12 Tournament by Gamers Dungeon |
Its a great way to round up 12 months on unbeatable gaming activity and milestones for me and i intend to attend both events with the ultimate FIFA 12 Tournament following shortly a day after the mountain dew Gamers Challenge,i also plan to cover both events and assess where we are heading to,whether the future is bright or these guys are just coming out to commercialise a blooming culture as they always do,either way i have my fingers crossed that i will find 'Serious" Gamers hosting both events but not attendants trying to get paid at the end of the day.
Thursday 6 December 2012
Joe Kratos Writes:Third World Freelancing: A Typical "Gamers Nights" Story
A Typical "Gamers Nights" Story
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F-Natic Gamers at the Intel Extreme Masters |
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Ibrah Plays Need For Speed Carbon,i swear it was lagging |