Tag Archives: gaming

News

In pandemic, Ongaku Overdrive thrives with virtual video game music showcase

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The yearlong pandemic has become one of the toughest external forces that the music industry has had to undergo.

But one local concert organizer has successfully pulled specialized bands together from across the country to keep his video game music concerts going.

Kent Ward recently hosted Virtua Ongaku VII on his Twitch stream, showcasing five performers – and paying them.

“It has been awesome,” said Ward, whose event raised nearly $1,000 for the performers. “We have no idea when live concerts or conventions that would book these acts will return so seeing fans step up to support the musicians has been a wonderful feeling.”

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News

ESPN: EA’s Maitland-based VP confirms return of college football video game

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It appears that passionate college football fans might be able to claim a huge win in the video game world.

Electronic Arts Maitland-based executive Daryl Holt told ESPN in a story posted on Tuesday that the popular video game company would be bringing back its NCAA Football franchise.

While it’s unlikely to come this year, next year could be a possibility.

The announcement could mean hiring for Electronic Arts when it moves into downtown Orlando this summer.

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News

Mayhem return to action in Overwatch League with two weekend matches

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The Florida Mayhem travel to Houston this weekend for a pair of matches as they try to improve on their 1-1 record.

The Mayhem start its weekend with a 3 p.m. match Saturday against New York Excelsior (3-1), which has a 10-4 map record and sits in fourth place in the league.

The squad is coming off a 3-0 sweep of Houston on Sunday, which helped Excelsior earn a weekend split.

The Mayhem follows that yo with a match against the London Spitfire (1-2).

The Spitfire picked up its first win last week and has a 4-8 map record.

Florida, meanwhile comes off a bye week after splitting a pair of matches two weeks ago.

For more info and team statistics, visit the Overwatch League’s site.

News

Magic Gaming releases 2020 schedule, will host 2 events in Orlando

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Magic Gaming released its 2020 schedule Thursday, revealing that the league’s opening Tipoff tournament will be held March 24 to 28.

The Orlando squad will also host two events at Full Sail University: a round-robin tournament that will include the Hornets, Heat and Hawks teams and tips off May 23 and a rivalry matchup with New Jersey on June 27.

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Events

Video game speed-run experts raise $250K for charity in 2 days, aim for much more in Orlando

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P.J. DiCesare has some tricks up his sleeve that he shows off when he speed runs Mega Man 7.

For instance, using a variety of weapons on Spring Man – rather than the villain’s greatest weakness, the Slash Claw, exclusively – can save up to 4 seconds on your time.

It’s one of the ways the Rochester, N.Y., native finished the entire game in 41 minutes, 30 seconds, on Dec. 18, marking the second-fastest time ever recorded on the game. He also set the record for quickest to finish the game with 100 percent completion on Dec. 15.

“Every time you leave an area, you start to think, ‘Where can I have sped it up,’” DiCesare, 30, said after he finished the game in less than 50 minutes during the charity fundraiser Games Done Quick, which this year for the first time was held in Orlando. “I just like the mental simulation.”

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Events

Mario, Mega Man and Zelda speed-runners coming to Orlando for charity

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On your marks, get set, play Super Mario Bros. 3!

For the first time, a speed-run event will come to Orlando in January, with highly skilled players looking to finish games like Mega Man 7, Battle Toads, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and, yes, Super Mario 3 as quickly as they can.

Awesome Games Done Quick is a weeklong video game marathon that raises money for various charities.

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Schools

Florida Poly students showcase video games at expo

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It’s not just UCF and Full Sail University training the next generation of video game developers in Central Florida.

While those two consistently rank at or near the top in national studies that rank schools’ game dev programs, the relatively new Florida Polytechnic University has launched its own program.

This week, the school had an expo to show off what the 30 students in Florida Poly’s game design classes have built during the past several months.

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Interviews

Video game pioneer, Pitfall! creator David Crane says esports roots planted 40 years ago

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Legendary video game designer David Crane said he probably should have seen the rise of esports way back in the 1980s.

While building games for Atari, a long hallway ended in a sort-of makeshift game room, where programmers would play the latest titles.

These often impromptu sessions would often draw six to eight people watching the gameplay.

“We, of course, looked at games differently than the average person – concentrating on design issues and technical implementation,” he told The OVG in an email interview. “But it could be entertaining nonetheless. It showed the value of watching an expertly played game.”

Crane would move on to Activision, where he would be the brains behind the legendary Atari 2600 game “Pitfall!,” and “Ghostbusters” for the Commodore 64.

This weekend, Crane will be in Orlando for Free Play Florida, an annual showcase of arcade games that serves as an homage to that classical video game period.

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Schools

4 teams from UCF’s FIEA video game school to showcase games

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Students at the University of Central Florida’s video game school will show off the titles they have been building this semester early next month.

The quartet of projects will include a virtual reality video game, a puzzle-solving platformer, a treasure quest game and a movie created using the Unreal Engine.

The groups at the Startup Showcase will exhibit their games at noon on Dec. 11 at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, 500 W. Livingston St.

Below are the descriptions of the four titles, straight from the development teams:

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YouTube

Watch: Interview with FIEA director, who helped lead development of Ultima Online

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Ben Noel was part of a team that would develop a video game that has a special place in the industry’s history.

Ultima Online was released in 1997 as one of the first massively multiplayer online role playing games while Noel was part of Electronic Arts’ Origin Studios, which created the title.

He was lured by the appeal of trying to create a networked world that connected hundreds of thousands of players to each other.

“That sounded a lot different than a video game,” he said.

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