ShootMania Interview: Frantic and TCM Gaming

Last week, TCM Gaming became our second European team qualified for our $100,000 ShootMania: Elite tournament at IPL5 at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas! They were kind enough to answer some questions for us, so please check out Frantic, diddix, and luxxiz's responses in the following interview:

How did you first become involved in ShootMania?

TCM.Frantic: Hypno (from k1ck) had a few alpha keys to give away and I happened to be one of the lucky ones to get one from him. When I installed the game I started off playing some public Royal, which was quite fun. But the next day is what made me play ShootMania.. I played some Elite games with luxxiz and phoen|x versus some other mixed teams. We were having so much fun for so many hours. Facing many known names from different games, trying to prove who's the better player/team in such an early stage. It really had been a long time since I played a game that long without having a break, til the morning hours. This is also where my first ShootMania team was created, pure-esports (luxxiz, phoen|x, and myself).

How long have you been playing with your teammates, and have any of you played on different teams in the past?

TCM.Frantic: In ShootMania we've been playing together for about 3 months now I think. I have played with diddix in UT2004 a bit in an instagib CTF team, but nothing serious. With luxxiz on the other side, I have played quite some UT games with and against. We also played CoD4 competitively together, so we knew eachother pretty well. (might be fun to know that kowa from Team Dignitas, was also in our CoD4 team). To answer your second question, I started off with pure-esports and joined Eclypsia after that (playing with Jiepie and Lekaim). After I left them, I joined up with luxxiz again, we took in diddix and joined TCM.

What about ShootMania appeals to your competitive side?

TCM.Frantic: What I like about Shootmania is the pressure as an attacker. A good "crowd control" is needed to avoid all incoming fire, a great aim is needed to eliminate the opponents and good map knowledge comes in handy to create alternative ways towards the pole area. On the defensive side I really like the team play you can build up and play with different kind of tactics and positions.

Tell us about your IPL5 qualifier experiences. You got to the semi-finals of the first qualifier, did that make you and your team train harder?

TCM.Frantic: Yes, it did actually. When we joined the first qualifier we were doing our best to perform well. Having lost a map to Traffic lights (k1ck) did not do us good though. Winning versus the French side of Millenium gave us good hopes, eventhough aKm had just left them. When we lost versus Eclypsia in a close match, this opened our eyes and we indeed started to practice really hard. We watched the VODs of our games and eliminated some flaws in the tactics and thought of new ones to implement. We had two weeks to get this done and we trained our asses off.. In the second qualifier it all worked out nicely and now we're going to Vegas baby! :)

And this last one is for everyone:

How do you feel about beating some of the best ShootMania teams in Europe, and how do you feel about earning your trip to IPL5 in Las Vegas?

TCM.Frantic: We had a tough road ahead of us, with Question mark, GamersLeague, Team Dignitas and Eclypsia waiting for us. We knew it was going to be tough, but we practiced well and we just played our game. All these good teams kept us really sharp and made us play our top game. In the end we managed to beat them all and all the adrenaline in my body was going crazy haha. Our management immediately called us on Skype and everybody was screaming! Such an awesome feeling that was! :D We are really looking forward to compete in IPL5, it's such a big tournament and a bit of a battle between Europe versus USA. The prize money is just absolutely insane and the location.. amazing! This is going to be one big great experience.

TCM.diddix: It feels good to beat some of the best teams in Europe because that's what I together with luxxiz & Frantic are aiming for. The great competition and good teams are two reasons why I play ShootMania. It was really nice to win IPL5 EU Qualifier. I always want to go for 1st place when I play and I know luxxiz and Frantic feel the same. It felt really great when we won the qualifier tournament because after EU qualifier #1 we practiced and checked all the mistakes that we did. And then to come back to the 2nd qualifier and just feel that you've made progress from the practice matches was just great.

TCM.luxxiz: This is exactly why I play competitive. Winning those crucial matches, that feeling! Even better when you come into the match as an underdog and win 3-0. Also winning 3-1 vs dignitas felt really good. Even though it's for $100,000, just going to Las Vegas is a prize for itself. I am really looking forward to it. I am gonna leave Las Vegas as a millionaire!

Is there anyone you'd like to thank for helping you dominate at ShootMania?

TCM.Frantic: First of all I would like to thank luxxiz and diddix for being amazing team mates, without them we wouldn't be traveling to Vegas next month! We're having a great time together, playing this awesome game. I would also like to thank our management for giving us all the support we need. They've been nothing but great help to us since we joined TCM. Also a big thanks to CMStorm, BENQ, CCL, Coolermaster and Multiplay for upgrading our gear and supporting us for this and other upcoming events! Last but not least, thank you for having this interview with us! :)

Big thanks to TCM.Frantic, TCM.diddix, and TCM.luxxiz! Keep practicing hard and stay in top condition for IPL5 in Las Vegas! To see VODs from the EU qualifier that they won, check out http://www.youtube.com/iplshootmania!

Source : ign[dot]com

Cliff Bleszinski Leaves Epic Games

Cliff Bleszinski, design director known for his creative work on the Gears of War and Unreal Tournament, has departed Epic Games.

Developing...

Source : ign[dot]com

Get Started Playing ShootMania: Elite!

IGN Pro League, Ubisoft, and Nadeo are giving away thousands of ShootMania beta keys in preparation for the $100,000 live Elite tournament at IPL5 at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas!

If you're interested in some competitive play for a chance at some huge prize money, watch the video above to see how to go from not having a beta key to playing Elite and destroying people online!

Source : ign[dot]com

Vote for your favorite players to the World All Star Team in the GSL World Championship

As many of you know, IPL5 takes place November 29 to December 2. In addition to the main tournament at IPL5, there will be the Semifinals and Final of GSL Code S as well as the return of the GSL World Championship!

Stephano and NaNiWa have both been invited to the team, but we still have 5 spots to fill for the World All Stars!

Vote for your favorite European and American players in the polls below. They will be played into a 16 person bracket (1 for EU, 1 for NA) to compete for the last 5 spots!

America

Europe

Stay tuned to follow the GSL World Championship all the way to IPL5!

Source : ign[dot]com

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Has Exclusive Content

Namco has announced that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on Wii U will have exclusive content.

We spotted Mario, Link and Bowser costumes in the reveal trailer alongside in-stage power-ups, including the Mega Mushroom, which super-sizes combatants. It's pretty damn funny.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 launched earlier this week on PlayStation3 and Xbox 360. Be sure to read our reviewand check out our interview withT ekken legend Katsuhiro Harada for more.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Dances to a Different Tune

With Tekken Tag Tournament 2’s September console launch fast approaching, it seemed possible that game producer Katsuhiro Harada would have already emptied the contents of his closet marked ‘surprise’ and wouldn’t have much else to reveal at Gamescom 2012. Clearly, I underestimated Mr Harada, as there were many more in-depth details about its World Tekken Federation stat tracker to show off, in addition to a whole new mode called Tekken Tunes.

World Tekken Federation (which for the sake of all concerned is best not turned into an acronym) is most simply thought of as the beat ‘em-up equivalent of Call of Duty Elite and Battlefield Premium’s stat tracking services.

“World Tekken Federation is based on Tekken Net, which links the arcade machines in Asia, and we really wanted to incorporate that level of statistical data for console too,” Harada explains. “The presentation style is geared towards the western market who are perhaps more used to FPS’.”

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World Tekken Federation is based on Tekken Net, which links the arcade machines in Asia, and we really wanted to incorporate that level of statistical data for console too.

The online service tracks the stats of all of a player’s online battles and looks to provide not only vanity stats (such as the expected win/loss ratio for each character, favourite tag combinations and overall rank) but also more useful metrics that can be studied to help improve performance.

For example, it’s possible to find out what percentage of throw attempts made by other players are successful against you, helping to highlight whether the throw break technique should be practiced. The average time of rounds won and lost is also tracked, with a short duration for unsuccessful rounds suggesting that while you’re strong on attack your defensive strategies need work.

These areas can then either be practiced in offline mode in the Fight Lab or, as Namco Bandai is hoping, in conjunction with other players. This co-operation will happen either passively: through viewing the World Tekken Federation profiles of top players and watching replays of bouts, or more proactively: with more advanced players helping to coach new players by identifying where their game is falling down and advising which areas should be improved.

Particularly altruistic players can even buddy-up with less skilled players via the World Tekken Federation’s team structure. The creation of a team will enable the stats of each member player to be tracked and fed into an overall team rating, as well as offering a breakdown of how each member contributes to the team’s overall status. Team creation also provides access to a group forum and the opportunity to create a team name and emblem and to set goals for its members. In theory, this could lead to creation of quasi-guilds, with a couple of lead players heading up a team of lesser-skilled, up-and-coming players, each of whom has their own personal stats recorded as well as how great a contribution they are making to the progress of the team.

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It’s great for players to have the freedom to incorporate their own tracks. At the same time the quality of the original soundtrack is very high and I’m confident that players will come to realise that it’s the best music to fight to.

The ultimate goal of World Tekken Federation is to make the game more accessible by using the stats and feedback as a training aid while encouraging progression through the distribution of service-based achievements, which offer an additional carrot to those taking a lot of stick. Of course, it also provides the savants with an awful lot of stats to pore over and they may already be salivating at the notion of compiling such a comprehensive stack of numbers. However, pricing details and any potential additional perks of the service, such as early or free access to DLC, are being held back until the week of Tekken Tag Tournament 2’s launch and so it’s too early for less hardcore players to decide whether the price of admission will be worth the potential benefit that they’ll gain from it.

During the presentation, Harada also introduces the notion of Tekken Tunes. Quite simply a customisable music service, Tekken Tunes not only allows players to assign any of the in-game stage or background music tracks to whichever part of the game they wish, but also to import custom tracks from an external source to replace any of the existing music in the game. Ever wanted to bust digital heads to the soundtrack from The Sound of Music or your one, ill-advised attempt at karaoke? Well, now you can. In addition, long-term Tekken fans will be pleased to hear that music from older titles in the series will be made available via the PS Store and Marketplace to download and replace the new tracks.

“It’s great for players to have the freedom to incorporate their own tracks,” offers sound producer, Kanako Kakino, before adding with a smile, “At the same time the quality of the original soundtrack is very high and I’m confident that players will come to realise that it’s the best music to fight to.”

World Tekken Federation and Tekken Tunes bolster an already burgeoning feature list, including Fight Lab, Combot, numerous customisable options, 2 Vs 2, and 2 Vs 1, and allow Tekken Tag Tournament 2 to offer an embarrassment of riches when it launches on PS3 and 360 next month. Whether this is your first Tekken or your eighth, Harada and co are working hard to ensure that there’ll be something here to help you fight harder, better, faster and stronger.

Stace Harman is a freelance contributor to IGN and is convinced that zombies will one day inherit the Earth. You can follow him on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Dota 2 One Million Dollar Tournament Begins

Valve has kicked off its 2012 Dota 2 tournament The International, where teams of highly skilled Dota players will compete for a one million dollar grand prize. If you're interested in watching the tournament as it runs between August 31 and September 2, it can be viewed for free online or though a dedicated client on Valve's Steam digital distribution platform.

Dota 2 has been in beta testing for quite some time and routinely ranks as the most popular game on Steam. Whenever it's ready to officially launch, it will be free to play and have the entire roster of heroes unlocked. A microtransaction system, which is currently live in the beta, will allow players to purchase cosmetic upgrades for things like heroes and item couriers.

Valve also just released Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, an update of its long-running competitive shooter franchise, which was recently reviewed on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Bringing the Fight Home

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is kind of a big deal. Initially appearing in Japanese arcades late last year, the game has been very popular in that scene, due to its appeal to both old and new fans of the series. “Veterans of the series who had been around for a long time and played all the Tekkens really seemed to enjoy it,” says Katsuhiro Harada, Game Director of the Tekken Project, and a member of the Tekken project for 17 years now. “And then on the other end of the spectrum there were the very new players who were good at memorising things and learning quickly and they seemed to really enjoy the game system as well.”

The initial arcade release is just the first step, of course. Letting it loose in the arcade wild gives the team valuable insight into how people are playing the game, any potential balance issues and what the fans would like to see. In the case of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (TTT2), the game has already seen an arcade upgrade, subtitled ‘Unlimited’. This, according to Harada, was designed to cater to “the more casual group who started with Tekken 5 or 6. A lot of these players said they could only really use one character, say Lili or a character like that, and there wasn’t a second character that was easily learnt. So we added the 'Solo' gameplay system; one-on-one. You could still pick two-on-two like before, or also you could do one-on-two. Since we implemented that we noticed that a lot more people across a variety of different player groups and styles really seemed to be enjoying the game a lot more.”

Tekken Tag: New Moon.

It’s this ‘Unlimited’ version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 that’s coming to homes around the world in September. TTT2 is still very much a Tekken 6 sibling, and if you have any experience with that game you’ll find plenty of familiar faces, and that most of your strategies translate well. However, the addition of the tag system brings so much more to the table, much like the original Tekken Tag Tournament did after Tekken 3, that this is indeed a deep game with longevity for both casual and long-time fans alike. Strategy-wise it’s a far cry from any other solo or team-based fighting game, as players really have to manage their resources. If one character dies, the team dies, which makes safe tagging a premium skill. Whilst the old-school ‘Tag Cancel’ is gone, TTT2 gives us a more strategic ‘Tag Crash’ – it costs you your recoverable life and your ‘Netsu’ (time-limited damage increase), but it gives you a near-invulnerable tag in.

In terms of damage, the more power to hurt you have, the more chance you have of stopping another player bringing in their other character. Juggles are as insane as ever, with tag-buffered launchers returning from Tag Classic. On top of this, players also have ‘Tag Assault’, which is a combination of the Bound system in Tekken 6 (slam an opponent into the ground during a juggle and they’ll bounce up and you can keep juggling) and the Tag Launch (your team member can come in and get in a string after the Bound). Sounds pretty complex, but it’s all pretty intuitive once you get going, and it won’t take long before you start doing juggles that include multiple tags, bounds, walls, wall breaks and any combination thereof.

The battle arenas in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 are similar to Tekken 6, with walled stages of various sizes and shapes – some with breakable walls – and a few infinite stages as well. TTT2 also sees the addition of tiered stages: smash your opponent over a balcony, and your team-mate is waiting at the bottom to continue the carnage. Damage scaling does kick in, but the possibility for insane juggles is virtually endless with all these variables. Players can look forward to new stages as well – there’s a Snoop Dogg one as part of the pre-order bonus content, and the team has promised more to come.

As far as the port from the arcade game is concerned, the gameplay is clean and true though the presentation may be a shade clunkier. There were definite moments of slowdown during hectic action in the code we played, but it didn’t inhibit gameplay and will hopefully be polished out of the final release. Playing through the game in Arcade mode it’s clear that this is a true representation of the game so many Tekken fans have been pouring money into at the arcades.

Of course, outside the gameplay systems, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for PS3 and 360 isn’t a simple arcade port – there are quite a few extras thrown in. DLC characters and stages have already been announced, with the novel addition of them all being free.

“We haven’t announced all of the DLC characters yet,” Harada tells us. “Regarding the characters we have announced so far, some of them are similar to existing characters, for example Jaycee and Michelle. This was actually done on purpose because obviously you can play solo with Jaycee, but if you were going to take her and try to find a partner, well you would have to re-learn strategy and techniques and such and it’d be very difficult. You couldn’t just pick Kuma and use him right away. Although on the other hand if you played Kuma, Panda is available; or if you use the Capoeira fighters you have them easily available, so we wanted to have similar pairings for other characters as well. They do have unique moves themselves, but their overall strategy - you don’t have to relearn how to use the character.”

The ultimate tag pair?

“There is some fan service obviously - bringing back some of these characters that people have been asking for,” Harada continues, “but we really wanted to get more people enjoying the tag system by providing easy-to-learn pairings. But that’s not all of it - it’s not that you just buy the game and play through it and you get the endings and it’s finished. We want people to enjoy the game for a long time. So after release if three or four weeks later a new character appears or something, that’s something to look forward to and everyone can enjoy it for quite a while and people will want to draw their friends in as well. It’s another tool to help people enjoy the game and stay excited about it for longer.”

The DLC bonuses don’t stop there though, with assurances that there is plenty still to come. “There are some characters that we haven’t announced that are quite unique," Harada says. "There are even some that I’m very confident people won’t guess, so there are definitely some surprises left. There are also stages, a few new ones that we’ve been announcing that have been geared towards pleasing various fan groups in different countries by giving them a stage in their country. But again, there are still some that we haven’t announced yet.”

This is all great news for the casual Tekken player – the player who wants to enjoy the game and learn their own character, but isn’t too keen to obsess about frame data and memorising duckable strings of other characters. In fact, ‘Rage’, the damage-increasing power-up from Tekken 6 was often seen in highly competitive circles as something of a ‘scrub clutch’ – an unfair equaliser that could hurt the more attacking, talented player more than it could ever help him. Harada-san holds a very different view on this.

“So actually Rage was quite popular if you look at the Tekken audience overall,” he tells us. “Some said maybe they felt they would lose to an opponent of lesser skill. But when you look at it overall, that just means that because of Rage sometimes accidents will occur if the player isn’t careful enough... Most of the people who play Tekken, say 70%, are part of that intermediate group – they know how to play the game a bit but not necessarily at tournament level. They enjoy it because they feel if they play enough, they’ll still have a chance of beating someone who’s better than them occasionally. And that really leads to them sticking with the game much longer. It’s funny that people who are big fans of the series and have been with it for a long time have that opinion because if they remember back to Tekkens 1, 2 and 3 the game was much more rough in that aspect. And that’s kind of what makes Tekken Tekken.”

One final question mark that remains is online. Not everyone has an arcade nearby or can drag friends over for competition in person. Online play is obviously the solution for those looking for competition. Tekken 6 was disappointing in this area, even though Tekken 5 had been more than passable.

“It’s funny you mention that because we just got back from an event in San Diego where we showed off the online code for the first time,” Harada says. “We had some of the more well-known players in the community come and check it out and they were all very positive about what they experienced. We took the code from Soulcalibur V and improved on that. We haven’t really announced much about the online modes but I guess we could say that most of what you were able to do in Soulcalibur V, which was very well received, was taken and implemented for Tag 2. And then on top of that we have the team function as in Tekken-Net on arcade, which we’ve kind of taken and adapted to consoles. We are still working on that and implementing it in the game, and we will have more details shortly.”

All told, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is shaping up to be a more than worthy new addition to the series. It looks to present compelling gameplay for both new and existing fans, has a roster of more than 50 fighters, throws in a healthy wad of additional content to be delivered free, and promises quality online play.

Are you looking forward to Tekken Tag Tournament 2? Tell us why in the comments.

Bryce McDonough is an Australian freelance writer and hardcore Tekken fan. You can follow the antics of IGN AU on Facebook and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com