“Because of all the reasons I listed in the above question, this one has been expensive, I’m not going to lie. It’s amazing how much more efficient you are after you’ve worked with a material for a bit. I would say I’ve easily spent twice as much money on this project and maybe quadruple the amount of time as anything I’ve done before. In the end, I think it’s really taken on a life of its own, and even if no one else can appreciate it, I will have learned so much from it that it will all be worth

“Right now, I’m gearing up for Megacon. I’ll bring my Inara cosplay and I’ll be doing a Popstar League of Legends group cosplay with several friends of mine. I’m a HUGE Firefly fan so I’m pretty pumped to get some autographs! As for the rest of the year, Janna will most likely mosey out of my labyrinth for Metrocon and Supercon. I also love Holiday Matsuri, it’s just a really fun smaller convention that just feels so warm and friendly, I’ll be going back to it for sure again this year. We have yet to get a hotel room for Dragoncon (much to my dismay), so I’m not sure of the status on that venture y

And yeah, I know these $60, AAA titles still have some greed to work through (like $10 DLC for Titanfall that’s just three maps), but it’s all manageable, and Dota 2 is still the only game to do free to play right. Beyond Dota 2, The Last of Us just had a completely free multiplayer map pack released for it. It can be done. All gamers want is a model that fosters mutually and equally beneficial purchasing. Give it to them.

Arizona State took home top notch gaming systems for their runner-up finish. Heroes of the Storm may still be in beta until June, but its appearance on national television last night got the eSports scene some of the best mainstream exposure its had

We also received confirmation this week from NetherRealm Studios that long-time Mortal Kombat veteral Liu Kang will be joining the Mortal Kombat X roster. With just a few weeks left until release, the Mortal Kombat developer is releasing information at a rapid rate, so we’re sure to see even more reveals and rumors hit the streets s

Plants vs. Zombies 2 already has 10 “premium plants” for a total cost of more than $30 altogether, tax included. And that’s just plants. You can also pay for upgrades and in-game coins. To my knowledge, Plants vs. Zombies never went higher than $20 for the whole MOBA Game Tips, with no micro-transactions, so I can only assume PopCap is making a truckload off of this. Now I know people like to point out how less than 10 percent of people who play free-to-play games participate in micro-transactions. This makes it seem like the companies are doing what’s best for the player by offering a portion of their game for free, while only making a small chunk of change on the side to get by. It’s a compelling narrative that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. This number conveniently leaves out how much money they’re actually making from those ten percent of people who want a full gaming experience.

AHIII: I haven’t really put too much thought into which games to cast. I am aware that if I do want to pursue casting professionally, I’ll probably have to look at other games. There hasn’t been anything static like wanting to do BlizzCon; I would love to do BlizzCon but it’s not like once I do that, my dream is complete. I just want to continue to explore it and see where it goes. Just being here in this world and being myself, that is the dream to

AHIII: I would love to be able to cast at a professional level where that could be my career. Right now, I’m an IT guy; I’m a systems engineer and my job is really cool. They let me work remotely while I was doing [ Heroes of the ] Dorm . That was an experience because they all know what I’m doing but, conceptually, I’m on vacation, I’m not there. No, I’m working two full-time jobs. I didn’t really have much free time to really do anything. I just love what I’m doing h

It’s no secret that Valve’s annual The International competition is one of the biggest events in eSports. 20 million viewers can’t be wrong . Valve has slowly but surely built up the world championship for Dota 2 into an annual spectacle with a prize pool worth millions of dollars. With that said, Dota 2 arguably doesn’t have that big of a footprint the rest of the year, at least compared to some other eSports titles. For example, Blizzard’s Starcraft II and Riot’s League of Legends hold multiple regional events every year ahead of each game’s world championship that get a lot of attention. Dota 2 tournaments not named The International are out there, but usually don’t generate as much interest as the main ev

“Ah yes, Tempest Janna. I had just gotten back from Supercon down in Miami… over 4th of July weekend… wearing the demon hunter cosplay. I’m pretty sure I nearly died that weekend, parts are hazy. Putting traumatic repressed memories aside momentarily, many things occurred to me that weekend. For example, as character who spent some time in the netherworld fighting fiery demons, the demon hunter had surprisingly not been a choice bit of attire to brave the Miami summer. I had decided to start a new project, with perhaps a renewed outlook on the advantages of not wearing 5 layers of leather and craft foam. Around the same time, my boyfriend and I had been getting pretty into duo queuing bot lane together in League of Legends . The skin had come on sale, I had fallen in love, and the rest is histo