In the early 90s, Coktel Vision (which later became Sierra On-Line) released a quirky point and click adventure game titled Gobliiins which had players bouncing between three different Goblins to find a cure for good King Angoulafre.
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Barcelona, March 19, 2026 | The organizers of BCN Game Fest, RetroBarcelona and SAGA Saló del Gaming join forces in a new yearly video game convention which aims to become the largest video game event for both professionals and gamers in Southern Europe, SAGA Barcelona Game Fest, which will take place on October 9, 10, and 11, 2026, at the Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc venue, the same 14000 squared meters space where other international innovation-focused events happen, like Mobile World Congress. The event will be structured so the 9th will be a day more focused on activities for industry professionals, and the 10th and 11th will be oriented to the general public, this way the goal will be to bring together industry professionals, development studios, video game publishers, content creators, and fans. Some of the most successful games, studios and publishers present in the 2025 are Larian Studios (Baldur’s Gate 3), THQ Nordic (Gothic Remake), The Game Kitchen (Ninja Gaiden Ragebound), Devolver Digital (Cult of the Lamb, Skate Story) and Undercoders with their highly anticipated Denshattack!
SAGA Barcelona Game Fest has an expected attendance of 20.000 visitors for 2026, with a mixed approach that takes the best of the industry summit and a gaming convention models, the event aims to establish itself as the main gathering point for the video game industry in Southern Europe by combining activities for the general public with conferences, developer awards, and world-class networking opportunities for industry professionals.
In the industry professionals section, the event is expected to far exceed the estimated business transaction volume for 2025, which was €30 million. The organizers aim to host 1,300 business meetings thanks to the partnership with the MeetToMatch platform, with more than 300 companies and 5000 professionals attending. The game development oriented contents available will reach 50 activities: combining conferences, panels, and workshops, and it is expected to surpass the previous mark of 190 studios showcasing their games.
SAGA Barcelona Game Fest will include:
Video game exhibition booths with demos of new independent games.
Craft and handmade stands .
Merchandise sales areas.
An esports and competition zone.
A large area dedicated to the promotion and preservation of retro video games.
A conference program, talks, panel discussions, workshops, and podcasts.
An area with family entertainment activities and a food court.
At the same time, the event will also be a great opportunity for networking and exchanging ideas among industry professionals, and will provide visibility to emerging projects.
The organizers believe that this alliance will further strengthen the video game industry, as it will bring together in a single event studios, professionals, and companies that were already participating in one of the three conventions. This concentration can facilitate the creation of alliances and synergies between companies and industry stakeholders, and grow the presence of Catalan in video games: the language will be taken into account across the board in an event that will expand in booths, companies, attendees, and activities.
All the details of the trade show will be announced in the coming months.
From September 6-8 I was in Montreal for Dreamhack and I wanted to talk about the event. First thing is first, if readers have never been to a LAN or a Dreamhack event, I highly encourage everyone to do so because there are a lot of benefits to attendance.
For one thing, spectators can meet their online friends in person. When I first went to an event, I met some of the people that I moderate for. In fact, I met a lot of Starcraft people since that is why we were there. Awesome people like Temp0, Eseipha, ZombieGrub (who wasn't an official Blizzard caster at that time), Rifkin of BasetradeTV, and WinterGaming were all there that year. It was definitely an event that I'm glad I had the opportunity to make. This was also the first time I had KBBQ, which was a fantastic experience.
I would say the second thing that people go for is the atmosphere. Drawing a comparison, the esports scene is very much like a comic con. People are there for the same reasons as you, and they tend to be quite knowledgable about the game. Also, it's great to be able to nerd out about the things you enjoy, regardless of your level of play.
The last thing I will touch on are the promotions that vendors have. Sometimes there are discounts on merchandise like at Canada Computers that are only available during Dreamhack. Other vendors will host other types of giveaways. Even further than that, each year there is a treasure hunt that people can participate in.
While there are many benefits to attending an event like Dreamhack, there are certain things that are staple to the experience.
BYOC
The biggest attraction for many people in the gaming industry are the BYOCers. These people bring their rigs to the event to participate in the open brackets. At the back of the stadium, there is an entire large section devoted specifically for the BYOC players. In fact, they are allowed to sleep at the event and as such, there is a dedicated area where they cannot be disturbed. I've never had the pleasure of being part of a LAN where I wasn't working in some capacity, so I can't elaborate more on that.
Indie Zone
James "Kaelaris" Carrol being funny
I would say the next biggest thing about Dreamhack would be the Indie Zone. Many game developers will showcase their games at Dreamhack and they offer players a chance to play. Not only do people get to play the games that might not be out, but they get the opportunity to speak query the game devs. This is a great way to engage with the prospective community, and for players, it's a great way to discover upcoming games. Once in a while, games that are already released are showcased at Dreamhack Montreal. I say this because it's the second year in a row that I've been meaning to play A Hat in Time and keep getting side tracked by other things. Whoops! Other games like Tech Support Unknown or The Darwin Project (which I did get to try out) have been featured at Dreamhack. As a person in the media, I love being able to discover new games in this way.
Cosplay Contest
The Rocket League Production Team
Of course, no event is complete without a cosplay competition. Each year I setup to record the cosplayers because they are amazing. This year, one of my personal favorite cosplayers was the gentleman that showed up as Cayde-6 from Destiny 2. While I didn't get everyone that was on stage, I did get several pictures and some clips for you guys to see that are included in my video below. Part of the reason I enjoy watching the cosplay contest is because people choose to showcase all kinds of characters, be it from movies or video games or anime. I also enjoy it because of the performances that people have. This year we had two fighting characters, a female Thor, and a brilliant cosplayer that portrayed Hellblade Senua. Not only does it take a lot of work to make these costumes but the performance adds to a cosplayers score. In the end, there are first, second, and third place winners. I'm sad that Cayde didn't win any of them. (It was all because he didn't have a crucial item to the character, imo. Watch the video to understand why.)
Major Esports
Jessica "ZombieGrub" C. and Nathan "Nathanias" Fabrikant
At every Dreamhack, there are various esports that can be seen. Not only do gamers get to see their favorite esport live, but they get to see the pro players. Sometimes, they can get autographs too!
The major esports shown at Dreamhack were games like Rocket League, Starcraft 2, Rainbow Six Siege, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Brawlhalla, Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat 11, Street Fighter Arcade, and Super Smash Bros Melee. There were areas dedicated to Clash of Clans and a stage devoted to a show match between Team Livid and Miss Harvey in CS:GO. Also, there was a Beat Sabre invitational that I sadly missed watching.
Each esport has their own brackets and Dreamhack had streams set up for many of them. Check out the various Dreamhack Twitch channels to catch up on the games from the last weekend!
Vendors
I can't write up something about Dreamhack without talking about some of the vendors and sponsors. As always, Dreamhack is sponsored by Omen, who always has an epic pillar which made me laugh for reasons I'm not going to go into. Also present were staple names like Canada Computers, MSI, Corsair, NVIDIA, Fire and Steel, and Monster (which you could get free drinks), just to name a few.
Of course, Loto Quebec has been apart of Dreamhack for quite some time because they sponsor the Indie Zone.
Left to Right: Me, FauxPawRL, and Liefx
And if I could say more more thing about the indies featured at Dreamhack, it would be that some of the showcased games can win awards! One title that had previously won the Pitch Championship is titled Mythic Ocean and they proudly tweeted about it in July 2018. For more information about the types of games that are on the list, please take a look at this site. Also note that on the list is a little game called Buoyancy which we recently reviewed.
Anyways, there are a ton of other vendors like ones that can customize any type of mousepad, pop culture LED lighting, and ModMyMods who have a prototype gaming desk specifically for streamers. A picture of that 300lbs desk is shown in the video below (with three monitors).
Overall Thoughts
I think this year I had the best time at Dreamhack. That may have been influenced by the fact that I had a lot to do, and I was able to watch Rocket League live, for the first time. (I've never made it to an RLCS or anything like that - shameful, I know.) I was glad to finally meet a bunch of people in the RL community.
As I said before, if Dreamhack has never been on your radar before, I highly encourage you to attend one. It's a fantastic time because you will be able to meet your online friends and perhaps chat with some of the pro players!
Check out Dreamhack's website, Twitter, and Twitch pages to keep up to date on the largest LAN event.
I wish I could say that it was a good thing to write Jaggy's Corner on a Tuesday but alas, that is not the case. And I wish I could say that writing for video games is always exciting and fun, but it's not. Writers also have to pass along news like the passing of an important personality in the gaming community. While the hardest post I ever wrote was the passing of another notable gaming personality in Starcraft 2, this one is equally difficult. I, like many others, sit in utter disbelief that Geoff "iNcontroL" Robinson passed away on Saturday July 20th, 2019 at the age of 33.
This is going back to the OG Twitch days...
I can't even express how awful this news is, knowing that the passing of John Bain - an amazing friend of Geoff and co-caster in Starcraft 2 - only happened a year prior. They were both the same age when they passed. It's a fact that doesn't go unnoticed. You see, both of these men who were highly respected and loved passed away at an age younger than I am. Both of these pillars in Starcraft 2 and gaming helped so many people in the community. And both of them were the most generous and kind people; ones to be looked up to.
Having lost two strong personalities in gaming really hurts. I can't even fathom what the heck happened, even as I watch the rerun broadcast of Geoff playing Apex Legends with friends on the same day he passed away from a blood clot in his lungs.
I'm going to take you guys down memory lane.
My first introduction to Twitch was through Starcraft 2. At the time, I wanted to understand the game that my brother invested hours of time playing. When it came to my brother and I with RTS games, I was better at Warcraft where he was better at Starcraft. At some point, I wanted to learn more about this game that my brother devoted so much time. He sent me Husky and Carbot videos which hooked me on the game. This led to my looking up information about build orders. I ended up in Demuslim's Twitch stream. At the time, Demu was a professional player for Evil Geniuses and Geoff was the captain of the team. This is how it all started for me. Demu's stream lead to everything.
The way Demu would explain his thought process during ladder games put the difficult RTS into perspective for me, but it was the whole team that kept me invested in Starcraft. Specifically, Geoff's sense of humor and calm demeanor caused me to consume all content related to EG in Starcraft 2. It eventually led me to LowkoTV's stream where I ended up being a chat moderator for several years. And I was hooked after watching what became one of my favorite and goofy sponsorship YouTube videos with Geoff and Jaedong.
Throughout my time in the Sc2 community, I followed the careers of all the players. This lead me to State of the Game, which I only discovered closer to the end of its run. Two videos come to mind from that series; the first of which is Geoff telling the origin story of Whitera's Special Tactics. However, my absolute favorite video moment of Geoff's will always be the last episode of State of the Game where Sean "Day9" Plott laughed his guts out.
As an EG fan, I discovered what was known as the "EG Curse", which was well known in Sc2. After players were recruited onto the team, they would start performing terribly. In the video below, Geoff talks about the "EG Curse" to a new player on the roster, and it still makes me laugh. Anyways, that new player went on to obliterate his opponents and ended up becoming my all-time favorite Sc2 Zerg player for many years to come.
I remember later on watching "Good Game",
a documentary about the EG Starcraft 2 team, where Geoff had talked about pro
player Idra and his progression as an esports professional. One of the
things he said was that Idra's reaction to esports fame and his terrible interactions
with fans made sense because he (Idra) lacked the same socialization
skills as others at his age. And it was because of this documentary that I really started to
both respect and understand the sort of person Geoff was.
While I never met Geoff, I watched his career over the course of 7 years (I know this because that is how long I've been following his channel. In fact, that's right down to the month). And I recall clearly an interview with Cyan Esports. During the interview, Geoff said some very humbling things that struck me. In fact, I had tweeted about the interview a day after it went up on YouTube. Some of those important things were: "You don't go to college and get an esports degree. You have to work for it. You have to ask people to do things for them in order to make it in this industry. Esports is about years of raw passion to carry you forward and then eventually there is a chance you can make a career out of it." I was very inspired by that section in the video because at that point I wanted to be more than just a chat moderator. And while today this might not make sense because of how big esports are, consider that Geoff started in esports when there were no sponsorship deals, there wasn't an esports work visa, and there weren't courses in colleges and universities about professional video gaming. Geoff was one of the OG personalities from before all of this happened. And he started around the same time as notable casters like Artosis and Tasteless, or Day9 when he was still doing YouTube beginner videos.
If I could remember where the story was told I'd link it but, Geoff had talked about his beginnings of esports. A friend of his took a chance on him by allowed him to live in his parents basement just to pursue the esports dream at a time when there was no guarantee of a career. You want to know why Geoff was a pillar in the community? That right there is everything you need to know, but I digress...
I only saw Geoff in passing once. It was at Dreamhack Montreal a couple of years ago for the WCS circuit. At the time, I was talking to Maynarde and ZombieGrub about life, traveling, if they were excited for the matchups, etc... I wasn't doing an interview or anything, I was just chatting with them. This occurred before they would be casting all day. It was then that Geoff had walked by - a few meters away from me - and sat down on the couch behind Maynarde and ZombieGrub. I vaguely recall mentioning that I wanted to say Hi. Just once. My god, I wish I had.... Anyways, not long after that, the makeup artist swung by to prepare the casters for the cameras and I promptly took my leave. Throughout the rest of the event, I didn't see Geoff in person again. I imagine he ducked out before people could swarm him. (I mean, that's what you get for playing Protoss...)
There is so much more I could say about Geoff, having watched his career over the course of 7 years, but all of it comes from the perspective of a fan, an observer, and a chat moderator for various Sc2 channels. Geoff was never a man that I knew personally, but he was someone integral to many people's careers and to several communities besides Sc2. He loved tabletop games like Warhammer 40k, he played Dungeons & Dragons, he streamed video games like XCOM 2 without mystically raging, and he still managed to be an amazing role model for many people in esports. He remained humble and kept a smile on everyone's face.
I can't envision how the people closest to him are feeling right now - many of them are casters who are at events or at home streaming. I do know how some feel because of their posts like Nathanias' or ROOTCatZ's, the Tweets, and the Video tributes. Nothing prepared me for Day9's stream, clipped below:
Over the last few days, Geoff's Twitch channel
has been playing rerun broadcasts of past streams. Many
people have stopped by the stream to express their thoughts and grief. If Geoff meant anything, perhaps stop on
by to share some memories with the community. We're all trying to process and grieve a man who supported so many people in the gaming community.
Geoff loved his dog Barristan, his bulldog, so it stands to reason that he loved a bulldog rescue group. Consider taking a look at the SoCal Bulldog rescue that Geoff supported.
I have one final thing to say. Until next time Geoff. Please give John our love. We miss you dearly.
Alright, this week I'm unloading both barrels into esports because of the absolute garbage that made it into my feed. The topic is racism in esports and I'm disgusted that it is still a problem.
The first sighting of racism this week was when I read an article about Rick Fox leaving team Echo Fox because of racist statements made from their investors to his business partner Jace Hall.
For those that are unfamiliar with Rick Fox, he is a retired NBA player, an actor, and an esports franchise owner. The man is well respected and, in my opinion, is needed in esports. But don't just take my word for it, an article published by For the Win – a division of USA Today – in October of 2017 said this:
However, when Fox was asked about all of this — changing the culture of eSports — he said that his organization isn’t the first to do things like pay attention to fitness and explore ways their players can get competitive advantages, but he did say that he believes they’ve “enhanced” and “been an amplifier to the conversation” because of their pro sports backgrounds.
Echo Fox was excelling as an esports team and they had expanded into games like CS:GO and Super Smash Bros. Later they moved into other esports and they have the backing of an investment company Vision Venture Partners, a company that Rick Fox is a partner in, and will be discussed later on.
Anyways, Richard Lewis tweeted about Rick Fox leaving team Echo Fox from an email he sent to all the major stakeholders stating:
This is an official notification of my intention to exit the Echo Fox organization as a shareholder and participant as soon as I am able to facilitate a transaction to do so. The recent outrageous and abhorrent display of pure racism by a significant Echo Fox shareholder as well as threats to my family have made it impossible for me to continue to remain associated with the company
Are you kidding me right now? The string of profanities that just entered my mind over that article would cause people to grab a bottle bleach for their ears... Anyways, let me break down what he just said in plain English:
He's leaving the organization, not because he was forced to, but because other people are racist dicks.
Rick Fox's family received threats, presumably because he stuck up for his business partner.
There doesn't appear to be any recourse against the jackasses that made the racial slurs to begin with. Although, not for lack of trying.
You want to know why this is insane to me? It's because Echo Fox was founded by Rick Fox after he retired from his NBA career with the LA Lakers. It is owned by Vision Venture Partners (VVP) – the company that worked with the racist individual that drove Rick Fox to dissociate with any subsidiaries of VVP, which includes not only leaving the team, but selling off his company shares. For esports, VVP is affiliated with Vision Esports, Twin Galaxies, and team Echo Fox. This is important to know because Jace Hall is a key figure for both team Echo Fox and Twin Galaxies. And as we know, he was the main target of the disgusting racial remarks.
Just in case you thought this was bad, another piece of information plagued my twitter feed, and that was something in Rocket League. A player was banned from all Psyonix operated tournaments for a full year after repeatedly violating the player code of conduct. While this action was not taken lightly, the player who was banned because of his repeated infractions was not the only thing to anger me about this particular incident.
After the announcement was made, the Rocket League player posted a Tweet about his life being ruined, as well as statements that caused many to worry about his safety. (After doing a small bit of poking around, the player has not done any harm to himself, although, my understanding is that he's mentally in a tough state – as one would expect when a future is put on hold because of mistakes made.) What really set me off were the reactions by the community which were equally abhorrent. Yes, what the player said were terrible statements that were made in the heat of the moment. No, I don't condone anyone making comments like the ones captured in screenshots. However, the community reacting with statements like,
“lol just move on..”;
“he's just trying to manipulate people to feel sorry for them...” and;
“You made your bed now lie in it. Honestly, this tweet makes you sound like a weak-minded bitch.”
* me foams at the mouth *
Now granted, the last line I quoted finishes with: “grow up and then come back a better person”, which is ultimately a good thing to say, I'm angered by the fact that the Tweet began with an insult. When someone is already down, insults don't often cause people to take your statements seriously. And, considering the toxic comments people made to the player does NOT make esports look good to the rest of the world. In fact, based on the Rick Fox incident, it makes celebrities and advertisers want to back away from esports entirely.
Until we, the largest entertainment medium in the world right now, take our professions seriously, the rest of the world will not. What people fail to realize is that the more our community shows its immaturity to the general public, the more esports suffers. And ultimately it will become more apparent as we are given less investment deals, less tournaments to attend, and less opportunity to make any career path in esports viable. Let that sink in.
So, to esports communities, stop showing the world your toxic attitudes and behaviors. Stop ruining it for the rest of us and figure things out.
* drops mic *
Until next time.
PS: The Rocket League player did issue an apology to the community, even though I don't believe he will be given leniency because of his actions. Although, I do believe that Psyonix made the right decision in his case. Take time to work on your attitude and your skills, then come back stronger.
Ten countries are competing to take part in the international grand final played live at Roland Garros: get ready for game(pad), set and match!
Paris, 12th February 2019 – Roland Garros, BNP Paribas and BIGBEN are delighted to announce the second edition of the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas, an e-sport competition played on the Tennis World Tour video game, which will crown this year’s world tennis gaming champion.
The qualifying rounds will be launched in ten different countries in February to decide which national champions will take part in the international final, which will be played during the Roland Garros tournament. Pretenders to the title can enter now on the official website: https://RGeSeries.BNPParibas
“Following on from the enthusiasm shown for the first Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas, we wanted to go one step further this year with the second edition of this international e-tennis tournament, to offer fans and gamers the best possible experience. I’m convinced that this new worldwide competition and its new features will incite great enthusiasm in participants from the competition’s ten host countries. We are proud to share this ambition with our partners BNP Paribas and BIGBEN, and are eager to get this new season started!” explained Stéphane Morel, Deputy CEO of the French Tennis Federation’s Marketing and Business Development department.
Qualifying rounds held worldwide for a spectacular international final
This year, the tournament is even bigger! Germany and the United States are joining the eight countries from the 2018 line-up: France, China, India, Brazil, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy and Spain. For this second edition, the Roland Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas is forging new bonds with the tennis world by organising certain national finals off-court at some of the tour’s tournaments, such as the Internazionali BNL di Roma and the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes de Lyon. BNP Paribas will also host national finals in its premises in Shanghai, Bombay, Frankfurt and London.
The national qualifying rounds will be launched on theTennis World Tour’s online mode on PlayStation 4, to open the competition up to as many people as possible. The eight best players in each country’s first qualifying phase will then come together in person to play a final qualifying round in their respective country. The winners of these national finals will be invited to represent their country in the grand final, which will decide the winner of the 2019 Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas.
Two special tournaments will be organized. One is reserved for registered members of the French Tennis Federation, and the other is an online tournament for members of the We Are Tennis by BNP Paribas platform. Held during the first week of Roland Garros, this tournament will decide who takes the last place in the final.
For the second year in a row, this international grand final will be held during the Parisian Grand Slam, with spectacular staging that is designed to immerse the participants in an atmosphere that echoes that of the most prestigious professional tournaments. The participants will share an exceptional cash prize of €10,000, half of which will be awarded to the winner!
Preview of the new Roland-Garros on Tennis World Tour
In this second edition of the tournament, the participants will play each other on a pre-release version of the latest Tennis World Tour - Roland-Garros Edition video game, which is due to be released on 16thMay on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch™ and PC. It is a unique opportunity to discover the game’s new features, in particular the newly-renovated Philippe Chatrier court, centre court at Roland Garros.
“We are delighted to extend our partnership with the FFT and to support the RG eSeries by BNP Paribas for the second year running. For several months, the studio has been working on improving the gaming experience and enabling this tournament’s participants to play each other on the famous Philippe-Chatrier court that will feature in the Roland-Garros Edition of Tennis World Tour, which is due to be released in May. Eagerly-awaited by the community, this online competition is an integral part of the game, so we are delighted to be part of this fantastic tournament,” announced Thomas Carpentier, product manager at BIGBEN.
BNP Paribas, the bank for “all branches of tennis”
This year once again, BNP Paribas are confirming their commitment to supporting “all branches of tennis” by continuing to develop innovations and new practices connected with video gaming.
“The organisation of this second edition of the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas, in collaboration with the FFT, was a logical step for us. As a long-term sponsor of tennis, the bank has always supported the innovations developed in this sport, especially ones that concern the younger generations,” explained Vincent-Baptiste Closon, international sponsorships manager at BNP Paribas.
Follow all Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas updates live on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. For more information or to enter the qualifying rounds, please visit: https://RGeSeries.bnpparibas
About the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas
Created in 2018, the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas is the world’s first ever tennis gaming tournament. With qualifying rounds held in ten different countries, this tournament gives e-tennis fans from all over the globe the chance to play each other on the Tennis World Tour game, published by BIGBEN. Roland Garros is breaking ground as the first Grand Slam tournament to organise this type of competition.
About Roland Garros
In the eyes of sports fans, and indeed the general public, the Roland Garros tournament is an unmissable event that enjoys immense prestige. The 2018 French Open attracted more than 480,000spectators and was broadcast in 223 countries worldwide, confirming the tournament's status as a first-class international sporting event. Organised by the French Tennis Federation, Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam tournament to be played on clay, one of the oldest and most noble surfaces in the history of tennis.
About BNP Paribas and tennis
BNP Paribas is today the number one partner to tennis worldwide, with a commitment, unrivalled in sport, which goes back all the way to 1973. The Group’s support covers all levels and dimensions of the game all over the world, including singles, doubles, team tennis, wheelchair tennis and family tennis, ranging from beginners’ training to the top professional tournaments.
Professional Tennis: Official sponsor of the French Open at Roland Garros; title sponsor of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas; title sponsor of three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments – the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Italian Open) in Rome; partner to the Open 13 (Marseille), the Parc de Lyon Open, the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open and the Fever-Tree Championships (Queen’s Club, London), European Open (Anvers);
Wheelchair Tennis: BNP Paribas Open de France; BNP Paribas World Team Cup;
Junior & University Tennis and Academies: The Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas; the Master’U BNP Paribas;
Amateur Tennis: Sponsor of the BNP Paribas Family Trophy; also providing support to over 1,000 amateur tournaments around the world through partnerships with more than 20 national tennis federations; also working with dozens of tennis-based charities such as Yannick Noah’s charity organisation ‘Fête le mur’; as well as being the mainspring of a number of ground-breaking social projects linked to tennis;
The ‘BNP Paribas Young Talent Team’ mentored by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, sponsored in association with the French Tennis Federation.
Having entered into all these partnerships, BNP Paribas set up in 2011 a programme called We Are Tennis, whose purpose is to promote interest in the game of tennis all over the world. The wearetennis.comwebsite and its social network accounts bring together a community of tennis lovers and dedicated fans from all continents who are keen to obtain the latest news from the ATP, WTA and ITF circuits. Furthermore, in 2015 BNP Paribas created the We Are Tennis Fan Academy, which enables fans to express their passion for tennis as never before. BNP Paribas also supports local tennis through crowdfunding campaigns designed to finance projects.
In addition, the Group initiated in 2015 a charity programme called ‘Aces of the Heart’ to assist young hospital in-patients and their families. The programme seeks to improve the daily lives and reception facilities at children’s hospitals and arranges for the children to attend tennis tournaments sponsored by BNP Paribas.
About BIGBEN
BIGBEN is a key player in video game publication and the design and distribution of smartphone and gaming accessories, as well as audio products. Renowned for its innovations and creativity, the group’s ambition is to become a leader in all of its fields of expertise. www.bigben.fr
All month Blizzard has been running the 20th Anniversary of Starcraft. Some familiar faces are present at a celebration event. People like Day9, Artosis, Whitera, Ret, TLO, and iNcontroL have been recalling Starcraft moments over the coarse of 20 years. This prompted me to talk about Starcraft and the impact it has had on my gaming career.
I wouldn't be a writer for Chalgyr's or Ginx Esports TV if it wasn't for Starcraft. Truly.
Many years ago, my brother and I would play both Warcraft 2 and Starcraft. I remember at the time I was terrible at Starcraft and decent at Warcraft. So, it made sense that I transitioned to World of Warcraft where my brother stuck with Starcraft, then BroodWars, then Starcraft 2. He would occasionally show me videos of Husky Starcraft casting replays of professional players' matches. I had no idea what was happening most of the time.
Then there was one video of Husky Starcrafts' that tipped me over the edge. I think it was not long after the video for Pylo the Pylon's short life span. It was at that point I stumbled onto Twitch TV for the first time. I landed in Demuslim's stream, a well known Terran player, who I appreciated because he was always humble while playing, but he explained what he was doing and why. For a person who had played some Starcraft but had sucked horribly, this was the best stream for me to end up in. The only drawback to his stream was the fact that I have always been a zerg player. Eventually, I had to find a streamer that could help me with specific builds.
I found out about Fenner's Fundamentals and LowkoTV at about the same time. Both of these players had YouTube videos that helped new players with the basics of Starcraft builds. I ventured into Lowko's stream first and I became addicted to watching the streams for many hours each day. Six months later one of the mods decided to step down because he was getting back into Dota 2. Lowko asked his chat, "Who wants to be a mod?" I said nothing at the time. The chat blew up. In the end, he gave me mod status because I always chatted with people and was nice.
To make a long story short, that was the first of my many swords on Twitch. As such, I worked hard to learn about the bots, potential spammers, using IRCs, etc... I'm now at 40+ channels and it's still one of the fun things I do because I am always learning new things and meeting people. But nothing prepared me for a chance encounter that would ultimately change my life for the better...
Once in a while I channel hop. I get bored of the same game, so I actively seek out new games and new streamers. Often, I'll pick someone at random who doesn't have a ton of viewers, especially if it's 2am. Anyways, one of those choice encounters was hopping into Scheist's stream. On the first day I was there, he talked about needing a bot for his channel. Me being me asked what he wanted. After some discussion, he modded me. From there, he asked me in private what I wanted to do in life, which was to write for esports. He talked to a woman that ran her own esports website and that led to my getting the position.
Starcraft Memories
I remember a lot of fun things because of Starcraft. I remember clearly Eseipha and I getting Temp0 to say something to ToD in french. He did it flawlessly and we laughed our guts out when ToD said, "Do you know what you just said to me?"
I remember going to IEM in Toronto where everyone in the crowd yelled out "HOI HOI HOI" for a map called Catellena. The whole reason for that was because of BasetradeTV map intros... I'll just let you enjoy the intro if you've never seen it before...
Also at IEM Toronto a bunch of us went to an after party where Poizon and I played pool. Then I got owned by some Smash Bro Melee pros. Later still, a bunch of people played Cards Against Humanity. It was a great night.
All in all, the Starcraft LAN events have been awesome.
I think the hardest memory of Starcraft for me was the day I wrote an article about the legendary JaeDong's retirement. #Imnotcrying #yourecrying. I have no idea if that article was as impactful as it was to write it. I know the editor could tell how important of a player Jaedong was to Starcraft. You can see that here
I could never truly explain how much I owe to the Starcraft community on its 20th anniversary, but needless to say, it led me to writing. I'm forever grateful for the impact this game and community has had on my life.
Of course, I'm not the only one who has been impacted as a result of this game. There are countless examples like Day9, HuK, LowkoTV, DJWheat, itmejp, and many many others. Here here is a preview video called Starcraft is Life – A 20th Anniversary Celebration
I'm excited to watch this when it launches
If you are a Starcraft fan, what have been some of your best memories? Let us know in the comments.
