Thanks to Jacob Chaney of Webster University we have a pretty cool video about the event. This was done as a school project with an interview, hence me talking a lot. History aside, there’s a lot of good shots of those of you who attended and best of all Chee’s soon-to-be-famous “shut down a bomb site” speech at the end.
Thanks Jacob, and of course all of you who attended Warfactory 2008. Let’s hope gas isn’t $4.00 a gallon come time for the next LAN!
This may go under the radar of a lot of gamers, but as of today we’ve just heard that the Championship Gaming Series has shuttered the doors proclaiming itself as “an idea whose time came too early” . I wrote a brief article about the Death of the CPL earlier this year and we’re now seeing a pretty disheartening trend for the competitive video game industry.
I’ve watched a number of episodes of the CGS on G4 to see what it was all about. While it was vaguely interesting to me, unfortunately I’d have to contend that the choice of games, rules for the games, and exclusivity for league players have much to do with their demise. While many may say that E-Sports isn’t ready for prime-time, I have to disagree. If you’re as concerned about the future of E-Sports in the US as I am, read on … Continue Reading
We want to thank everyone for helping make Warfactory 2008 a success this year. Warfactory is proud to have been back on the scene in St. Louis after a successful tour around the US helping other organizations such as ESWC and GotFrag.
If you’ve been waiting for the wrap-up for Warfactory 2008 please check out this link for all the details. Also, feel free to browse our Flickr galleries for the event featuring well over 400 photos for this one alone!
Team 34 – 1st Place in the Counter-Strike 1.6 Tournament
Thanks to ALL our many sponsors including top cash contributors Ranken Tech, Dust-Off, and BenQ. Thanks to our gracious host – IT Enterprises – for providing hours of help and staying up with us through the event. Most importantly, thank you for attending the event. We fielded a lot of great comments at this one and are planning our 2009/2010 season now. We’ll need your support in the coming year, so please don’t forget that Warfactory is here to provide you with fun and competitive events throughout the St. Louis Area.
Pre-Pay Closes at 5 PM – October 24
The event is in the final stages of preparation … setup will occur tomorrow and we’ll have everything ready for your arrival.
If you plan to attend and want to save $10 on admission and increase your odds of winning prizes, please make make sure you register BEFORE 5 PM FRIDAY. We will be shutting off pre-registration tomorrow afternoon.
Remember to Bring your Stuff:
PC Gamers – Bring a spare power strip just in case.
CONSOLE Gamers – Bring a comfy chair or stool and a short network cable.
For ALL gamers, remember that this is BYOC (Bring your own computer/console).
Dust-Off To Offer Prizes and Free PC Cleaning Service
Branchburg, NJ (October 21, 2008) – Dust-Off®, the leading brand of consumer electronics cleaning products, is further establishing itself as a key player in the gaming community with its official sponsorship of Warfactory 2008, one of the Midwest’s largest Bring-Your-Own-Computer (BYOC) video game event. Warfactory 2008 is being held at in St. Louis, MO from October 25-26, 2008.
Dust-Off will have their official PC Cleaning Tent located next to the registration area where Bring-Your-Own-PC (BYOC) attendees can have their computers professionally cleaned by Dust-Off “doctors” and receive a free gift (while supplies last). In addition to these free cleanings, Dust-Off will be distributing their new Digital Cleaner to every event attendee, and will provide their highly-rated Keyboard Quiver LAN Bag to the select winners of the event’s competitive PC tournaments .
“PC maintenance is critical, especially for gamers,” said Ken Newman, Director of Marketing for Dust-Off Products. “Keeping a well maintained machine provides a gamer with a competitive edge and is a key step in defeating one’s opponent. Dust-Off is proud to partner with an organization such as Warfactory which shares this same belief. Together, our organizations are dedicated to working to help share this message and stress the importance of PC maintenance with this growing and evolving industry.”
“We are excited to have Dust-Off’s support and presence at Warfatory 2008”, said Dave Derington, Owner and Event Director for Warfactory. “Dust-Off makes an incredible line of products to help maintain and boost PC performance. Dust-Off’s Cleaning Tent will be a huge hit and an amazing opportunity for our BYOC attendees to experience this first-hand.”
About Falcon Safety Products
Founded in 1953, Falcon Safety Products, Inc. is a privately held corporation headquartered in Central New Jersey. A world leader in compressed-gas technology, Falcon manufactures a diverse line of products including the Dust-Off® brand of computer / personal electronics cleaning products and signal horns for the marine, sport and safety markets. For additional information about Dust-Off gaming products, please contact Falcon Safety Products, Inc. at 908-707-4900 or visit www.dustoffzone.com.
Special Offer for Warfactory Participants:
Dust-Off is offering the Warfactory community a 10% discount off anything purchased at www.dustoffzone.com or www.shopfalcon.com.
Just enter promo code “ESSWF10” at the check-out screen. Offer valid now through Nov 30, 2008!
Hey Gang,
Just today BFG has entered the game and will be featuring some great prizes. There’ll be BFG shirts for the first 100 attendees plus tons of swag to share including.
Most important to all you video card enthusiasts: BFG will be adding the following to our extensive Door Prize list:
1 – BFG GeForce GTX 260 896MB PCIe Graphics Card
2 – BFG LS-680W Power Supplies
Remember … You can’t win unless you register. Those who pre-pay for the event get yet another chance at winning great door prizes, now in the thousands of dollar range. We have not only one grand door prize, but TWO!
Get signed up today and hang on tight for another great Warfactory event!
If you’re planning to attend Warfactory 2008, please sign up today!
Tournament events are expensive to run and require a lot of planning. For this event in particular, we know that a LOT more people are planning to attend than have signed up. While it may seem easier to you to wait, without knowing how many people to plan for we will begin downsize to save the expense of unused equipment.
What this means is simple. First, there are fewer seats so you may arrive to find there’s no room left at the event. Second, with a combined total of $4000 in cash and prizes for our tournaments and perhaps $2000 more in great swag from Computer Geeks, FPS Group, Bawls, Thermaltake, and more, you stand the chance of missing out.
As additional incentive to pre-register, here’s our offer to you:
Signup online:
Receive ONE door prize ticket
Signup and Pre-Pay:
Receive TWO door prize tickets
Signup and Pre-Pay YOUR ENTIRE TEAM
(CS OR COD4 ONLY)
Receive THREE door prize tickets!!!
If you remember previous events, realize that we always give away a “Grand Door Prize”. Right now, items are work $250 or more. We want to have the best event possible and knowing who’s coming will ensure that we can do just that. Pre-paying also saves you $10 off the at-the-door price, so hey … it’s a win-win for everyone!
Click here to sign up now or follow the “quick sign up” instructions you see in the previous post! We look forward to seeing you on the 25th!
-Warfactory
Have a team and want to get them signed up quick? Here’s what you can do:
1 – Create a list of you and all your team members (Full Names, Handle, and E-Mail)
2 – E-mail this list to dave DOT derington AT warfactory DOT net.
3 – When you receive an e-mail from Dave, you can then submit a single PayPal payment for your entire team.
Happy October Everyone! Thanks to the efforts of Chris Moncivalles, we have an important announcement to make and are opening a brand new tournament for this event!!!
BenQ, a leading provider of gaming LCD monitors & Projectors, has graciously agreed to sponsor the BenQ Quake 3 Challenge at Warfactory 2008. With the release of their new line of full HD 16:9 2ms LCD’s, BenQ has agreed to provide the following prizes for one of the last Quake 3 US events for 2008. Furthermore, BenQ is offering two $40 off promo codes (Promo code “E2400HD” for E2400HD, and E2200HD” for E2200HD) to all Warfactory gamers who are interested in pre-purchasing E2400HD and E2200HD on its online store at http://store.benq.us .
1st place: E2400HD + $250
2nd place: E2200HD + $150
3rd place: $100
Already hosting a $3,000 Counter-Strike 1.6 Tournament and an unofficial Call of Duty 4 event, Quake 3 should help make this a well rounded event for all to enjoy. Warfactory 2008, to be held on October 25-26, 2008 at IT Enterprises in St. Louis, MO should be a great fun filled destination for all Midwest gamers.
To make sure that spectators can enjoy the action from their home if they can’t make it to the event, matches will be broadcast via GTV at benqtv.takingbackesports.com:27960.
For more information about Warfactory 2008, please visit the official event page or to register for the BenQ Quake 3 Challenge, please visit the registration page.
We invite all Quake players to come out and either compete or just enjoy one of the last US Quake 3 events for 2008. Please support and thank BenQ for helping keep 1v1 FPS alive! Continue Reading
Metal Gear Solid 4
Developer: Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
ESRB Rating: M (17+)
Genre: Action Adventure > Modern
Platform: Playstation 3 (Exclusive)
Well-versed gamers will be no stranger to the world of Solid Snake. Metal Gear Solid has established itself as one of the mighty in the realm of stealth gaming. As one of the most anticipated releases for the PS3, Metal Gear Solid 4 hits its target.
Bluntly, MGS4 is a pretty game. Easily one of the best looking games on the PS3. However, while the style of the game fits perfectly into the series, the graphics are not as great as one would expect. While being a definite upgrade in graphics, the jump from MGS3 just does not seem to have the same visual impact that MGS2 and MGS3 had. Enough bashing of my perceived visual shortcomings of the game, it is a great looking game. The textures are clean, lighting falls properly (although light does not play quite a large of a role as in the Splinter Cell series) and the various locations around the world that are visited in the game are rendered beautifully. The game is set in the near future, so most of the settings will be recognizable as most know them currently. And Shadow Moses rendered on the PS3 is quite nostalgic.
The sound in MGS4 is outstanding. On a surround system, it should be discernable as to where things are coming from and even in stereo, the game is great. The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is quality all-around. The music of MGS has always been great and this one does not disappoint. The cow noises are a bit disconcerting though. You may wonder where they are coming from, trust me, it’s not a cow.
The gameplay of MGS4 is outstanding. It is basically the same system from the last two games, only refined to be friendlier. The camera in previous MGS games was top down with ability for a first-person view. This limited the range of sight in the games unless you hopped into first-person. The views needed to be combined for a proper view of the surrounding area. In MGS4, the camera is a hybrid of Splinter Cell-like (360 degrees) control and a target reticule in third-person that allows for running and gunning in a semi-controlled manner. You can hit stuff, but first-person is always more accurate. The performance of the game overall is great for the amount of detail on screen. There are times where a visible change from smooth frame rates to slightly more choppy ones can be noticed. The game does not suffer because of this though. The only real issue that most people will have is with the game’s cinematics. If you have played any previous MGS, you know what you are in for. The cinematic quality of the game is in its mixing of gameplay and cinematics. This is just as much of a movie as it is a game. The cinematics are good yes, but most of the time they are excessively long. The only saving grace is that most of the long cinematics have a save near the half way point, but it is still advisable not to play this game if you are in a rush. In a break from tradition, MGS4 allows for much more access to your average gamer. The previous MGS games were sneak heavy and limited the amount of ammunition that was available. This made for a game that pushed sneaking by trouble more than gunning it down. In MGS4, Drebin is the limit. If you are so inclined to sneak, you can. If, however, you want to lay down all your previous pent up frustrations with sneak games and go through ammo like water, you can do that too! The game allows for all comers to gun as they like. Finally, the camo system is back. Snake now sports a suit of camo that adapts to the setting around him for greater stealth. This as well can be played as hardcore as one wants as well. There is an auto setting that will allow the suit to adjust colors automatically or if one wishes, it can be done manually. Overall, MGS4 is a blending and advancement of the systems from other MGS games.
Controls in MGS4 are fluid. There may be a lot to grasp at first if you have not played a MGS game in a while or never at all. Old MGS fans should not have a problem getting back into the game’s controls though. They are mostly the same. For newcomers, the controls are intuitive, but could be overwhelming at first. A few trips around the interface and most gamers will be ready to rock. The main issue with control will probably be in the sneaking area. Wall crawling might be slightly awkward at first. Hitting the wrong button at the wrong time and other mix ups could be problematic at first. Popping out from a wall instead of pulling a weapon can end nastily. More than likely, a certain play style will develop for the player. One player might like to crawl along the wall and pop out on enemies and another player may like to stay off the walls, but stay near them for cover and not physically interact with them.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is a Metal Gear Solid game in style, substance and gameplay. It is the evolution of many MGS games into something that should be fun to play, intriguing, and beautiful to look at. The game’s story may only suffer from it being back story heavy. Players not well versed in the MGS world might have a bit of confusion at times. Mostly things are explained, but some things might require a bit of outside research. Nevertheless, it is still a fun game for the uninitiated. This is a worthy entry into the genre of sneak games. Its near future setting and themes discussed in the game make for a politically relevant story while still allowing for some science-fiction license. There are other sneak games like MGS in gameplay, but the story makes MGS4 stand out.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is a must-have for any MGS fan. The game is accessible enough that it might draw in new players that may be intrigued enough to go back and play its predecessors. Still plagued by ridiculously long cinematics, the game does feel like it offers a bit more gameplay than cinematics compared to earlier MGS games. And the game is just beautiful. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a worthy addition to the MGS family at a 9.5 rating.
