Tonight we've got two AEF teams taking it up on a brand new map. Erdenberg will be the battlefield for a rematch between Impact Gaming and belgian Fraternity! On AEF these two teams fought it out in the first round of the Winner Bracket, which Impact won 4 to 0, but it surely wasn't such an easy win as the scores might make you believe. Belgian Fraternity went on to beat Overload, while Impact made it to the finals.

Tonight we will see the same two teams in a friendly (really?) showmatch to present the community the new map by sani, Erdenberg b1. You can read all about this new map here.

Impact Gaming

R0SS
sqzz
hayaa
TBA
TBA

belgian Fraternity

uNDEAd
AL1
chizz6l
TBA
TBA


Next to two top teams we will also bring you the one and only owzo, who shined through as he casted numerous spectacular games at AEF. Not only will he be casting this match on an entirely new map (which ought to be a challenge), he will also be holding a postmatch discussion with both teams' captains for a broad analysis of the map and its architecture!

Now don't be shy and tune in this evening at 8:30 CET. In the meanwhile you can already test this map out on Killerboy's server: /connect 213.108.29.119:27960 ; password cbmatch

With the finish line for the Alienware Challenge in sight the latest challenge is similar to last weeks. In week 5 the contenders had to create a viral video and spread it as fast as they could, with the most hits being the victor.

The video theme continues this week, with the intrepid travelers being asked to recreate their favourite gaming moment in a video. Who knows what we will end up seeing.

The description on the Alienware Challenge Website was as follows:

Quote

The finish line is fast approaching so it is time to throw another challenge at our contestants. Last week we asked them to make an advertisement and viral video and make sure it spread as quickly as possible. This week we are staying in the same direction but are taking a slightly different approach.

The contestants need to create a video reenactment of the most memorable gaming scene in their life. They need to think about what is the most memorable gaming scene they have witnessed and reenact it on video. Could it be Link saving Princess Zelda or could it be something else, it is up to the contestants. They can go out and find costumes, actors, props and more to make their video the best possible but they need to be involved every step of the way. This challenge has two parts. Part one is the creation and publication of the reenactment and part two is a seperate blog explaining their choice and methods used.

Oh and here is a video of a good example by Remi Guillard ;-)

For people wanting to vote on who they thought had the best viral video, which will also play a part in deciding the overall winner of the challenge, then you need to cast your votes here.

Source: AlienwareChallenge.com

The Antwerp eSports Festival has finished and became a great success. Every team, every player and every admin liked the event, which resulted in the announcement of another ET LAN in Antwerp. Now it's time to look back and round up all the work that got ET to this event in the first place.

It all started with a column after CIC7. A lot of players wanted to have more LANs, more events for ET after the success story that CIC7 was. A retrospection on ET and its community lead to the ignition of the AEF project. Read back with nostalgia how all this came to be - ET is 7 and what is this? It didn't take long before we put things in motion with the follow-up column - Time for Antwerp!

The road towards AEF wasn't an easy one, and has had many struggles and set-backs. Some players doubted the possibilities of ET and its community - Can ET Compete Against COD4 and CSS At AEF? Yet we've proven them wrong, with 24 teams that paid we can surely be proud of ourselves that after 7 years we can still boast a decent top international playerbase.

Tomorrow the Antwerp eSports Festival is going live. Today however we're setting stuff up.

Getting up at 6:30 was nothing short of torture if you ask me, but it's paying off. The venue is looking more and more like a true eSports-festival site.

If you want to have a quick glance how it's going, head over to the tek-9 coverage to check out some pictures!

http://www.tek-9.org/gallery/aef_build-up_photos_part_1-140/

Check out the Favourites Preview by Killerboy.

According to the recent poll there is no doubt Dignitas will give this away, but the players themselves are not so sure yet. With everything still up for grabs, head over to the article section to make up your mind:

http://www.crossfire.nu/?x=article&mode=item&id=224

These are the groups for the Antwerp eSports Festival:

Group A
Dignitas
Belgian Fraternity
DreaM
myRevenge
CbZ
TAGGroup B
Impact Gaming
Zero empathy
Gamerz Connexion
TAG.AEF
Titanz
Team GenuineGroup C
Rockit
Team-Speedlink
aestas
+Forward
Saiko
Mighty DucksGroup D
Overload
Acsi-eSports dNan
Almighty
Famas
dev1ous.net
Unpatched unit
You can view the schedule here: Schedule Clicky!

I'm delighted to announce that every team which asked for a later start has been accomodated. The seeding of the teams was based on the combined rankings of all attending teams.

With only two weeks to go until the Antwerp eSports Festival, it's time to release some more details.

First off, it's very important you bring your drivers and other software on a USB stick. There's no guarantee that your PC will have a cd-rom drive, thus you're down to using the USB ports. You will have NO INTERNET on the gaming pc's.
When you forget to bring your drivers on a USB stick, you won't be able to download them on your PC, nor will the games be delayed because of it.

That brings me to the second part. The schedule will be pretty tight, which means that we'll apply a very strict policy on the starting times. All the matches will be forced to start on time, whether you're there or not. That means that if you're only with 4 on the server at starting time, the game will start anyway (this does not apply to technical issues that aren't your fault).

When you do have technical issues with your pc, do not try to fix it yourself. A tech admin is always nearby, and asking him to solve a problem will be a lot faster than if you messed around with the PC yourself.

Installing software on the PC's that has nothing to do with ET and your match is not allowed and will be penalised. That means no HoN intermezzo's and so forth. Also, when all your matches are finished you are required to leave the players area to make a more fluent transition between the matches, which is to everyone's benefit.
You're however not allowed to leave the players area when you still have upcoming matches. If you do and you're not around at game-time, your match will start nevertheless.


There are also some teams that are looking for a replacement team. If your team is still interested, you can send me a pm and I'll forward you to those teams. You might even get a discount if you play it smart ;)


Now for the scheduling, if your team is not sure it will be at the venue in time (which is 9:00 am on Friday), drop me a pm and I'll see what I can do. I'll try to help out as many teams as possible, but logically I can't give any team guarantees.

The tech specs, schedule and seeding will follow soon.

With 45 days to go until the Antwerp eSports Festival in Antwerp, Belgium, we now have the complete list of teams that will attend this event. The total number of teams now stands at 24, but this number could still increase if the interest is there and enough slots are available. The official maplist is also near completion with 5 maps already fixed, and one map which can be added if the participating teams would want so.

The 5 maps for AEF are:



As been mentioned, one more map might be added (but this does not mean it will), based on popular demand.

It's also possible that within the next week(s) 8 more slots will be added to the tournament. That means 8 more teams might be able to attend. But that's only if there is enough interest left from the community. If your team is still wishing to go to AEF, please send me a pm with title "Interested for AEF". Remember to add your teamname and full lineup.
You can also still subscribe for the AEF newsletter & updates via mail, by sending a mail to krosan at gmail dot com with subject "Notify me for AEF".

As it stands now, these 24 teams will go to Antwerp this Summer:

Heaven Media are proud to announce "The Alienware Backpacking Challenge", a two-month competition that will see four gamers, selected from hopeful applicants from across Europe, to travel all over the continent.

Kitted out with an Alienware M11x laptop, a video camera, and a set of camping equipment, the four lucky participants will blog their way over mountains and seas, crossing borders and time zones, completing challenges before going up against each other in a weekly public vote.

With thousands of hopefuls expected to apply, competition will be fierce among the budding bloggers, and in the Alienware M11x they will find the perfect partner, providing the latest laptop technology in a stylish eleven-inch package, ideal for the long road ahead.

Ever wondered how many countries it’s possible to visit in a day on a budget? The best way to enjoy a high-adrenaline session of gaming while travelling at 300kmh, or while looking up to the heavens at an altitude of 3,500 feet? Wonder no more! For the entire two-month period, the four contestants will be blogging, video-blogging, tweeting and uploading pics, all hosted on their own individual site within the competition web site.

As each week goes past, everyone at home following their journeys will be asked to vote on that week’s winner, based on performance in the challenges, imagination and creativity, and blogging talent among other criteria. But these votes aren’t just for a weekly pat on the back. When the four meet up at the end of the eight weeks, at GamesCom in Cologne, only one of them can be crowned the Alienware Backpacker of the Year 2010, taking home the cash prize of $5,000!

Kicking off at Disneyland Paris, during the Electronic Sports World Cup, the bloggers will be released into the wild on June 30th, having received their first challenge, giving them until August 22nd to win the public over to their side.

To find out more about the Alienware Backpacking Challenge and for your chance to enter please visit www.alienwarechallenge.com

Grab a unique chance to relive the battle of Waterloo thanks to a special competition by Intel, tones.be and SEGA.

Intel, tones.be and SEGA are offering the readers of Heaven Media a VIP opportunity to relive the battle of Waterloo on June 20th, live on the historic battlefield located in Belgium. Three thousand re-enactors from all over Europe will re-enact one of the most captivating battles in history.

Intel, tones.be and SEGA will on site be promoting Napoleon Total War. With this PC game from SEGA, launched in 2010, you can step back in history and virtually relive the period. Optimized for the new 2010 Core Processor Family, now you can even chance the outcome of history yourself. Learn more...

You can win one of the 5 sets of duo-VIP tickets to the event (spread out over our partner sites) which will allow you and a friend to come down to Waterloo, Belgium (on your own expense) and enjoy a VIP treatment on site.

The VIP package (worth 150 € per person) contains:

• Private parking
  
• Luxury breakfast from 8u00 until 9u30
  
• First class seating to follow the live spectacle
  
• Luxury reception from 12u00 until 13u30

The second round has finished, and the next 8 teams have signed up. We're now looking into the option to get even more slots to reach that golden 32 teams trigger.

The following teams are supposed to pay within 48 hours (ends Tuesday at 19:00 CET):

omnibot
epsilon
dream

Teams who signed up (pending teams included):