Gametime Went To Our First eSports Tournament And It Was...Wild?
(Rainbow 6 Siege: Operation Para Bellum Sneak Peak below)
A few weeks ago we got the invite to check out the Rainbow 6 Siege Pro League World Finals in Atlantic City, NJ. We’ve never been to a live eSports event, and didn’t know exactly what we were gonna capture other than a behind the scenes test of new gameplay coming out in June. Hell, we didn’t know if there was anything TO capture other than what could be taken off a stream. Well, we were wrong. The line 1,000 people long outside the auditorium an hour before the start only proved the point. Inside the joint it was even more electric. Brazil, Germany, Latin America, North America, Southeast Asia, Japan, and other teams duked it out for global domination in a two day donnybrook.
The only thing I can really compare it that I’ve seen is European Darts and Euro Darts FUCK:
“It’s highway robbery in alley talley!”
For real though, if they had booze and gambling at Esports events then it would be the most electric atmosphere this side of the pond.
As far as the gameplay we were invited to test out, the last time I played a first person shooter on PC was…Doom? We’re talkin’ those late ’90’s going to the strip club in Duke Nukem days. So, yeah, it’s been awhile since we’ve been maneuvering the board. I don’t think Dev faired much better, but once we got the functions down it was game over…for us, still. Even so, the preview of the gameplay was some solid stuff.
There are two new classes Alibi and Maestro and we played on a quaint Italian Villa map aptly named: Villa (you can read more about the new functions here). The entire set is called “Operation Para Bellum” and releases in June…but you can get the ol’ sneak peek here, along with our first PC gaming experience…
These Esports events ain’t going anywhere. In fact, they’re set to be a premier source of live entertainment for decades to come. Shit, they kind of already are:
We’re going to be diving dick deep into the scene if there’s tournaments around in all walks of virtual live. We’re talking Overwatch, NBA 2K, League Of Legends, Mario Kart. Everything. And we need squads to root for and/or against, so if you have any thoughts or suggestions by all means let us know. We’re coming for those asses, you slaymakers at Fusion – Philly’s Overwatch squad.