http://www.europeanspeedste...
In just over 24 hours, the European Speedster Assembly 2014 is starting. Hosted by Ludendi in the small locality Skövde in central-Southern Sweden, not too far from Gothenburg, ESA is an annual, weeklong live marathon of speed runners and gaming enthusiasts playing the games they are good at. There have been two previous installments of this event, although it's getting bigger each year. It all started out as a pure speed running event, but it has since evolved to include a slightly broader spectrum of gamers.
ESA can be viewed as the European variant of Games Done Quick ( http://gamesdonequick.com/ ), a bi-annual speed run event in America, run by the people behind Speed Demos Archive. While the gamers are playing their games, anyone may donate for the cause of the year. In 2012 the cause of ESA was Hand in Hand International ( http://www.hihinternational... ). Last year, they raised US $20,155.63 across 1517 donations for Doctors Without Borders ( http://www.doctorswithoutbo... ), which will also be the donation cause this year.
Now why would anyone donate their hard earned money to these wonderful organizations, you ask? Along the way, the speed runners implemented a thing called donation incentives, which are prizes that you may win for donating. All donations are tracked and donations made during a specific game or bracket are also eligible to win any of the prizes for that bracket, given the minimum donation is reached. There is also a grand prize for the entire event, for those lucky enough to run away with that one.
This year, there will be two streams in order to fit in all games. They are dubbed 'blue' and 'yellow' for your convenience. Please feel free to take a look at any time. The streams will be available after the event if you missed or couldn't be watching during your favourite game.
In closing, some practical links:
[ Schedule ]
http://www.europeanspeedste...
All times should be rendered in your local time zone.
[ Blue stream ]
http://www.twitch.tv/ludend...
[ Yellow stream ]
http://www.twitch.tv/europe...
[ Blue stream tracker ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...
[ Yellow stream tracker ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...
[ Blue stream prizes ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...
[ Yellow stream prizes ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...
[ Twitter ]
https://twitter.com/ESA_Off...
[ Facebook ]
https://www.facebook.com/Te...
[ IRC ]
irc://irc.quakenet.org/ #esamarathon (requires a registered username)
Release date and expected launch time for when the Fallout 4 next-gen update will come out along with how to download.
This is a huge release being treated like a patch update but really it’s a monster in disguise…Bethesda being Bethesda, no actual release times or pre load available or file size info, sigh. All that said, clearing space on the SSD and putting the PS5 in rest mode while at work so I can play later, fully expecting snail download speeds as millions bang on their servers.
WTMG's Leo Faria: "A Difficult Game About Climbing is obviously frustrating, and I don’t exactly think it’s a fun pasttime, but it’s exponentially more enjoyable than the horrendous Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy. It’s actually beatable with enough trial and error. Its mechanics, whilst not exactly polished to the brim, work as intended, with no intentional input lag. It’s still clearly meant for Let’s Play youtubers to film themselves losing their minds over it, but it can still be a passable challenge if you’re up for the task."
WTMG's Oliver Shellding: "Overall, I think Stitch is an ultra quaint title that oozes warmth and welcome in gameplay and visual presentation, and is just such a decompression tool after a long day doing literally anything. It gives me such joy and relaxation to bring together the numbers and colors until I’ve made a bicycle or a nutcracker or whatever. I’ll do Christmas puzzles in April, it’s fine and the game doesn’t judge me. Unlock more and more pieces, don’t wait for power ups or villains because there are none, and just keep making yourself happy. If games are art, this one is a sweater my mom made for me, and I’m wearing it to keep out any and all chilly elements. But, just like mom, I’ll only pretend to listen."
