The Hits Keep Coming: DOTA 2 Takes Center Stage

Well things are certainly growing fast in the gaming scene for Jamaica. This week we introduce you to a young man who seeks to be the driving force behind the Dota 2 Community here in Jamaica. Even though the scene is still in its infancy, the group is passionate and enthusiastic about their game and seek to grow their community accordingly. Say hello to Prince Royal...

1. Politely Introduce yourself (Name, Game and community)

A. Hey I am Prince Royal and I'm a Dota 2 Enthusiast and Pro-Gamer. I currently lead the Dota 2 Jamaica community that hosts Dota 2 tournaments locally and within the Caribbean region.

2. How long have you been playing Dota2 casually and competitively?

A. I've been playing Dota since 2012 when my friends at UWI introduced it to me. I started playing Dota 2  late 2013/ early 2014 causally and then competitively later on in 2014.

3. Where do you want to see Dota2 in Jamaica go? Also what are you doing to help get it there?

A. I want to see Jamaican teams represented in the the official Dota 2 international competitions. What we're doing for Dota 2 in Jamaica is currently forming unions and recognizing local talents in Dota 2 through tournament hosting. We're doing this in conjuction with Tandem, Cyberbox LAN Center and Triforce & Co. with JA G.A.M.E.S. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/JamaicaGames/)

4. In comparison to the world where on the competitive scale do you think the Dota2 players in Jamaica are?

A. In comparison to the world on a competitive scale, Dota 2 players in Jamaica rivals among top players in the game. If you don't believe me be sure to check out "FIRST BLOOD"  a live Dota 2 tournament to be held in Kingston, Jamaica in March 2015.

5. Has there been an official Dota2 tournament in Jamaica yet? If not do you plan to host any and where if you do?

A. There has never been a Dota 2 tournament in Jamaica to date (not that I know of to say the least). But as I said earlier we are planning a major live Dota 2 tournament in Jamaica to be held at Cyberbox Lan Center for more details you can check out our Facebook page and join our community group "Dota 2 Jamaica" (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1530182720569138/).

6. How can we contact you (twitter and facebook) and where can we find your community here in Jamaica?

A. We currently don't have a physical location at the moment but we are looking at venues such as Cyberbox Lan Center and other potential venues that would be able to accommodate a healthy turn out for a Dota2 tournament. You may contact us directly through the Dota 2 Jamaica Facebook community page if you have any questions. I hope to see you at our tournaments in the near future! (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1530182720569138/)

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Here Comes A New Challenger: League Of Legends Is On The Scene

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gamers of all ages; welcome to another interview with your friendly neighborhood gamer Zalgo_Cometh. Continuing our coverage of eSports and the various faces representing it here in Jamaica I present to you the driving force behind the League Of Legends community for Jamaica; Khadeed Fearon.

Q. Welcome to the blog, could you please introduce yourself for all the readers?

A. Hello, my name is Khadeed Fearon. I’m a League of Legends player in the Jamaica gaming community. I also play Street Fighter and I’m working on getting back into Counter Strike.

Q. eSports is becoming a movement in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean and a lot of people are stepping up to the plate to help lead in the task of setting up a foundation for eSports in Jamaica. What role do you play in the Jamaican eSports scene?

A. I work as a eSports Community Manager for Jamaica through an organization called “Jamaican G.A.M.E.S.” It stands for Jamaican Gamers Association in Multimedia Entertainment and Services. It used to be called Caribbean G.A.M.E.S. but it got changed recently for some reason due to something big that is happening in the Caribbean as a whole. The organization consist of the Island’s premiere tournament director and organizer Andrew Johnson. Wayne Benjamin who is the CEO of The LabVideo Game TV., Gregory Moore who owns Str8Games where you can find the latest video games on the Island and Triforce Johnson who founded the organization and is Jamaica’s eSports Architect and Consultant.

Q. The whole paradigm for eSports in Jamaica is rather diverse. What do you think are the games that will really push Jamaica forward into the future?

A. There are different types of gamers throughout Jamaica and we all play something differently, whether that may be competitively or casually. Based on my experience I’ve seen games likes Tekken, Street Fighter, Smash Bros. at our yearly tournament Mash Di Button. Although those games are popular in their own right, it’s really games like FIFA and League of Legends that pushes the island when it comes to eSports.

I’m a part of the growing League of Legends community and I’m working with them to push their tournaments throughout Jamaica. I use social media tools like Facebook to help me. There are gaming groups like LoLJa (https://www.facebook.com/groups/LoLJa/) and websites like http://lol-swallowtail.rhcloud.com/ that we use to support and foster the community. For the most part that is what is used for League of Legends. 

Our country’s main game “FIFA” is literately headed by Empire Arcadia’s FIFA team called The Silverbirds. The Manager’s name is Dean Barnnett and he has been running 90% of the FIFA tournaments long before I even got into the whole eSports thing. There are other games like Call of Duty, I don’t want to leave them out as the community has run a few tournaments as well for them. Most of these tournaments listings can be found in the Facebook group communities; mainly FAJ (Fighters Allegiance Jamaica).

Q. From your point of view what is the status of the progress coming along for eSports in Jamaica?

A. Before 2014, it was just local tournaments we could run from the community. We have one widely regarded yearly major and that’s Mash Di Button. Andrew Johnson has been doing that for about 3 years now I think. When Triforce came down to the Island earlier this year he and Andrew teamed up to revolutionize and commercialize the eSports exposure to the masses. It was obvious that some significant events were in the making.

Digicel and LIME, both of which are our telecommunication giants got involved and hosted a couple of tournaments between the two of them. You even have non tele-communications companies like Intcomex who have been hosting a yearly LAN tournament. Not too long ago we helped organize a League of Legends tournament at the Cyber Box Lan Centre with more to come in January 2015.

Q. Can you explain to my readers how does your group operate to get things done for eSports in Jamaica?

A. We’ll start from the top, first you have Triforce who set up the structure for it. This is his primary role as our eSports Consultant. From what I can say, he designed the whole system and  positions based on our strengths and that allows us to complete the task that best serves the community. He also brings in foreign help in terms of sponsors and supporters of the tournaments such as soon to be major supporter MVG (Multimedia Video Games).

Next you have Wayne Benjamin who pretty much covers all the media for us. Honestly without him the true coverage of eSports throughout Jamaica is impossible. If you look at his work on Youtube or TV on Channel 100 Flow you will see that he gives us the true professional coverage that we need so that people can look at our scene with respect and integrity. Not to add to fine a point on it but communication is key and through his media resources he is able to provide the entire country with info about the community, new games and tournaments.

Then there is Greg from Str8games. Greg takes care of all our tournament gaming logistics. He has supplied LIME for their eSports integration challenge that they had in the fall through J.A.G (Jamaica G.A.M.E.S) and even before in past tournament. He has a game store in Sovereign Kingston and he’s our go to guy when it comes to that.

There is myself, which I mentioned earlier in my role as the Community Manager for League of Legends.

Finally you have the head of FAJ Andrew Johnson, a core piece to the whole strucutre from what we're doing. Everything that's done has to be relayed to him as he's the organizer for the grand scheme of things for the future Esports' Tournament lifestyle. As I stated before he’s our fearless leader and overall tournament director (T.O.). I gather relevant information on established or up and coming gaming scenes and present that information to Andrew who takes that and ascertains how to best support and incorporate that scene.

As you can see, the system works and although it’s very young it serves our scene well. I can see where we can and will improve. That alone brings promising results for future for eSports in Jamaica.

Q. What are the big eSports tournaments that you think we should look out for in 2015 in Jamaica?

A. For 2015 based on what I know when I last spoke to Andrew, you obviously have our premiere yearly tournament "Mash Di Button". Then there is foreign company called MVG that Triforce is introducing to Jamaica in hopes of being our first and primary international sponsor. Intcomex I think is going to be running a LAN tournament again. Then you have the big boys LIME and Digicel that will be hosting something again for 2015. Now that they have some time to prepare I think it’s going to be bigger and better this time around. Finally you have tournaments for League of Legends that I’ll be helping to run along with COD and more. 2015 is going to be a BIG year for eSports in Jamaica.

Q. Do you have anything to say in closing?

A. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me Zalgo_Cometh. I know you do a lot for Jamaica behind the scene. You’re invaluable and a huge player in this whole thing. I also want to thank the gaming at large, all the supporter both corporate and otherwise and finally my friends and family for supporting me and all I do.

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eSports in Jamaica

Retrospect on the movers and shakers in eSports in Jamaica

2014 has been an exciting year for Jamaica for gaming and the industries that surround it. The gaming communities have strived to bring competitive gaming to the forefront for years but has not really made any significant progress until now. I would like to take the time to look at the key players that have made a big difference in the gaming scene here in Jamaica. Here is my top 5 movers and shakers for eSports in Jamaica.

5. Dean Barnnett

If you play FIFA competitively in Jamaica then you will know who Dean is. Founder of the Silverbirds Steel Pan Band, Dean is also the Captain and Manager of Empire Arcadia’s FIFA video game team. Dean hosts monthly FIFA tournaments at the Silver Birds manor located at 21 WestLake Richmond Park.

Dean’s multi-talent in management between his band and eSports division has earned him respect throughout the gaming community and peers in business alike. His band is renown throughout Jamaica as well as his FIFA Division which not only won the International Caribbean Championship for FIFA in St. Maarten in 2013 but has also won the Digicel DigiCup FIFA eSports Championship in Jamaica over the summer.

Dean continues to host his monthly FIFA Tournament which you can find more information about here: http://bit.ly/1ugir4p for more information on Dean you can contact him on his team’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/EmpireArcadia or follow on twitter at: @EmpireArcadia   

4. Gregory Moore

One of Jamaica’s premiere retailers for video games is Str8Games; owned by Gregory Moore. Gregory has worked with countless companies in Jamaica to host a number of video game oriented events. From providing video game equipment to structuring the event itself, you name it and Gregory has played a part in it.

Str8Games is currently in the planning phases to set up a local tournament series in Sovereign Mall in Kingston Jamaica. With his experience in direct business sales via retail and business development Gregory is one of the key players in the development of eSports in Jamaica and is the one to watch out for. 

You can find out more about Gregory and Str8Games at the stores Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/str8games or follow him on twitter at @str8gamesja

3. Wayne Benjamin

It’s a shame that a lot of people in Jamaica have no idea who “Wayne Benjamin” is. The fact of the matter is, Wayne is single handily responsible for Jamaica’s sole gaming channel “The Lab Video Game TV”. Aired on FLOW Channel 100, the Lab Video Game TV show case some of the newest video games out to date along with what is going on in the video game industry.

This is a huge contribution to gaming in Jamaica on so many levels. Of late Wayne has been focusing his attention on eSports in Jamaica by lending his resources and multi-year talents in filming to help develop eSports in Jamaica from the media end.

Wayne recently launched season 6 of The Lab Video Game TV series which focuses on the core development strategies for laying down the foundation of eSports in Jamaica. You can view the episode here: http://youtu.be/H17D579S_90 for more information and video content on the Lab Video Game TV you can check out their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TheLabVideoGameTV?fref=ts  or follow on twitter at: @TheLabGameTV

2. Andrew Johnson

Andrew is no stranger to competitive gaming in Jamaica. Not only is he a competitor he is also Jamaica’s premiere tournament director. Andrew manages one of Jamaica’s largest online social communities for gaming via Fighter’s Allegiance Jamaica on Facebook.

Andrew’s passion to see Jamaica move forward in eSports is shown through his hard work and dedication as he self-funded the National Jamaican eSports Tournament “Mash Di Button” which he founded. Andrew is one of the core components in making eSports work in Jamaica as he was instrumental for bringing international support for eSports to Jamaica to help lay down its foundation.

Andrew is now working behind the scene with key eSports enthusiast of like minds to ensure that competitive gaming will be a huge industry in Jamaica. For more information about Andrew check out his Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fightersallegianceja/ or follow on Twitter at: @FAllegianceja  

1. TriForce Johnson

A Jamaican Native comes home to master mind a plan to put his home country on the map in the eSports world. Triforce has created a network with members in the Jamaican gaming community and major companies both in Jamaica and the United States.

TriForce spent one year working behind the scene with Digicel while in the United States to set up the country’s Virtual World Cup tournament which has now created a rippling effect that has gained the attention of other major businesses in Jamaica to help spearhead eSports in Jamaica.

Continuing his work abroad, TriForce is slowly giving Jamaica international exposure in eSports to officially welcome the country to the industry. When at the Digicel FIFA Championships, TriForce dedicated his team Empire Arcadia’s; World Record for the most documented Tournament wins for a gaming team to the country of Jamaica in respect to his late mother who was buried in Jamaica in 2012. 

For more information on TriForce you can visit his Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/EMP.TriForce.GameMaster or follow him on Twitter at: @EMP_TriForce_GM

The future for gaming in Jamaica is bright and I would like to know your thoughts on other movers and shakers in Jamaica for eSports. So please leave your comments below and tell me who you think should have made this list. I’m really interested to know who else out there is helping to push the cause because they need the recognition as well. You can also follow me on Twitter at: @Mr_Gamehead and visit my Facebook page for more news on gaming in Jamaica and worldwide. 

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Question Time With The Emperor

Welcome to another Monday blog installment. Thanks for sticking with me in this transitional period of me not having any idea about what I want to write. So I have been ridiculously busy working in real life both at my day job as a VoIP engineer and my side job as a gamer aficionado to the world at large. For about a year now I have been trying to set plans in motion to embark on a journey to bring eSports to Jamaica on a corporate level. Months later and here we are with the world ambassador and advocate of competitive gaming Isaiah 'Triforce' Johnson as Digicel Jamaica becomes the first corporation to embrace the world of competitive gaming. I sat down for a quick Q & A with the man himself so others can get an understanding of who he is and what he brings to the table.

1. What is your full name and how did you get the name Triforce?
My full name is Isaiah TriForce Johnson. I added TriForce to my first name because a lot of my friends know me for being a huge Zelda fan. At first my friends just wanted to call me Zelda but I told them that is the Princess of the game and they did not agree with calling me Link. I’m not a bag guy so Ganon didn’t fit. Originally they did not like calling me GameMaster because in the arcades I use to put up TGM. It was my friend Robert Billings who then suggested TriForce and I agreed with it and the name stuck. I was able to still use TGM in arcades and if it allowed 4 letters I would put TFGM. It wasn’t until around 2002 I started putting EMP as my tag instead but that is because I wanted to pay tribute to my gaming team that I formed. 

2. Has your family always been supportive of your gaming and vision for the future?

Not my Mother so much but my Father does support and encourage me a lot to pursue my passions in gaming. In fact it was my very own Father that started it up for me as a gamer. He himself use to play Pac-man in the cab station that he use to take me to when he was working and getting ready to take me home from school.


3. Why do so many people feel the need to judge you as a bad person in the FGC?
I’m not from the Fighting Game Community and my outlook on a lot of things gaming never meshed with their sub-culture. I could go into a long drawn out story about it but to be honest, I’m at a point where it doesn’t even matter anymore. I have supporters and non-supportive people in the FGC and I’m fine with that. 50/50 is not bad and you can’t please everyone so that as good as it will get for me. What matters is that my fellow Nintendo gamers support my love for Nintendo and we share that common goal and bond. N4L

4. List 5 of your favorite or most respected non-EMP FGC members (Players/Organisers)?
Jason Cole - @AfroCole
Seth Killian - @sethkillian
LI Joe - @thisislijoe
Mr. Qurate - @MrQuaRate
Mike Ross -  @ThatMikeRossGuy

5. Why?
They all keep it real and hustle their passions hard.

6. Why did you decide to call your organization Empire Arcadia?
Arcades is where it really started for me. Yeah I played some game & watch, some table tops etc. however the whole culture behind it hit me at 4 for the arcade. All I saw was just people putting quarters in arcade machines and playing. I had to stand on crates to watch and I was memorized. As I got older I considered people who hung out at the arcades, “Arcadians”. Like American’s are to America. When I decided to give an official legal name to my community now turned organization, my goal was to create an Empire from born from the era of the Arcades. “Empire Arcadia”.


7. What exactly is Empire Arcadia and its function?
Empire Arcadia is a development organization that utilizes the talents, passions and innovations of its gamers to help further develop new and old elements in gaming such as, Fashion, Art, Music, Media, Education, Health, Competition, Technology, Entertainment etc. in Gaming. We just so happen to use our gaming team as the marketing team since winning draws attention.

8. What job would you have liked to pursue and why if you had not started Empire Arcadia?
Regardless that I created Empire Arcadia, I’m still going after that Community Manager and or Ambassador position for Nintendo. No if and or buts about it.

9. How has your overall experience in Jamaica been?
It’s spiritually invigorating to be home.

10. Any final words to the various gamers in Jamaica but also the world as per the future of competitive gaming and what it holds for the masses?
Everyone on the planet plays games and it is my obligatory duty to open as many gaming platforms, in as many countries in as many cities, in as many communities as I can in the world. Bless up Jamaica.

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Everyone Be One Be On Dat Soccer Hype

Welcome to another random Monday blog. Feel like i'm running out of topics I wanna actively talk about on this blog on Mondays so this kind of devolved into a recap or summary type of thing. So the big thing for the last couple weeks and going forwards for now is the 2014 FIFA World Cup. You know this shit is serious when even a country like USA that doesn't really give two shits about Soccer comes out in support of their national team. Personally there is only one team to back which is Argentina but let everyone have their fun in the spirit of competition. Shit is so real even corporate business places are filled with the gasps, sighs, and cheers of workers watching the matches and enjoying the hype in the typical work day. Shit is so intense my department has a betting pool going on for each stage of the tournament. I tried it out for the first section but they upped the stakes from $500 to $1000 so I had to fall back from that cause i'm not about that life. Hopefully your team that you are carrying or bandwagoning with is still currently in the tournament; if not then tough shit better luck next 4 years. Here is the current standings as of typing this blogpost:

Switching gears a bit but still on Soccer news; Digicel is spearheading an e-Sports related event in tandem with the current World Cup fever sweeping the world. I present to you the Digicel FIFA 2014 World DigiCup Ranking Tournament sponsored by Digicel Jamaica; endorsed by Empire Arcadia and organized by Fighter's Allegiance Jamaica. This tournament is Digicel's first venture into the realm of e-Sports and competitive gaming in Jamaica. This tournament will see 32 selected finalists compete in a virtual world cup with each finalist representing one of the 32 teams qualified for this years World Cup competition. The eventual winner of the tournament receives $100,000 and a Samsung Galaxy S5 courtesy of Digicel Jamaica; second place walks away with $50,000 and third place takes home $25,000. Digicel Jamaica is the leader of technology and innovation in the telecommunications field and as such saw it fit to take it upon themselves to be the first major corporation to take the initiative to join the world of e-Sports. Check out this wrap up footage from the event by one of the attendants:

Anywhore i'm going to just leave this here as this is and go test this El Gato capture card I got. All the best and hope to see you come out and support the event on the various tournament dates on July 5th, July 6th, July 12th, July 13th. Stay tuned to our Facebook fan page, Fighter's Allegiance Jamaica and Empire Arcadia for further news concerning the event. Quick side note; I realize my life is getting a bit more hectic and as such I doubt I will be ale to do video game reviews every week so ill be aiming to do one game review every two weeks instead. Thanks for understanding and as always "keep on gaming"...

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The Answer Lies In The Heart Of Battle

Welcome to another random Monday blog here on In The Mind Of My Mind. Your friendly neighborhood gamer Zalgo_Cometh here with some interesting news for one and all. The FGC (Fighting Game Community) of Jamaica is holding the islands biggest gathering of epic proportions. Anyone can be a member of the FGC from the young to the old so its no surprise to see both young and old at events like these. Our little island of Jamaica has been home to some pretty epic events so it seemed only natural to add an event of this caliber to our roster. So I sat down with the Fighters Allegiance Of Jamaica for an interview to help educate the masses on who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. So without further ado...

Tournament Play, though it has been around for a while, has only recently reached the mainstream spotlight. For some titles, such as Starcraft, the rise to prominence is truly remarkable. The rise of Major League Gaming has made strides to legitimize video games as a sport, and it's not uncommon to see game tournaments awarding cash prizes in the upwards of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, this rise in popularity has not gone evenly across the board. Completely distinct from MLG or "E-Sports" is the Fighting Game Community—a niche which is slowly but surely becoming more "mainstream", changing the video game community quite a bit. It is now time for Jamaica to stand up and be counted with the world in yet another battle of skill and prestige. As a famous man once said "The answer lies, in the heart of battle..."

https://www.facebook.com/groups/fightersallegianceja/

PROUD SUPPORTERS OF THE VxG

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