UMG10k - Black Ops II Tournament

Since I live fairly close to Downer's Grove, Illinois, I was fortunate enough to make an appearance at the $10,000 Black Ops II Tournament at Game Pazzo this past weekend. I was able to attend both on Saturday as well as on Sunday. I believe Friday they conducted some of the FFA matches due to such a large number of players entering the FFA portion of the Tournament.

It turned out to be a very large venue with 60+ teams (4 players each), a lot of 2 player teams for the 2v2 Tournament portion, and 40+ FFA players for the FFA Tournament portion. I myself entered the FFA Tournament but didn't do very well (I still had a blast entering). Some of the professional MLG teams that were in attendance included;
OpTic Gaming
compLexity
UNiTE.NA
Fariko
FeaR
EnvyUs
Obey
I can't list them all and to be honest I am not totally familiar with the competitive COD (Call of Duty) scene as this was my first appearance at a Tournament. This event wasn't sponsored by Major League Gaming (MLG), it was only a local LAN but with that said the turn out was enormous. You can check out the bracket for the tournament HERE.

In the 4v4 portion of the Tournament, Team OpTic Gaming ended up taking the prize. There team consisted of NadeShot, Scump, BigTymer, and Merk. They played Team compLexity late Sunday evening. CompLexity recently won the Frag Cup 4 and were expected to sweep through the winners bracket but took a loss on Saturday in the second round against an up an coming AM Team, SoaR, and had to fight their way back within the losers bracket.

In the 2v2 portion of the Tournament, Team Big Reindeer, who consisted of BrianSaintt and SoaRMethodz (twitter handles), pulled off the victory over Team New Breed who consisted of FolsomnV and nbShamRokz (twitter handles).

The winner of the FFA portion of the Tournament went to Ricky Stacy, @MLGRickyyy (twitter handle) according to a tweet I received from UMGGAMING. I also received a confirmation via twitter from Ricky.

You can check out all the pictures I was able to take at the event HERE. I also have plenty of YouTube videos I am working on of LIVE footage I took during the event.

-Ubu out

Elgato Game Capture HD Software Update - Version 1.2

Elgato Game Capture HD software has been updated to version 1.2.

For those that are unfamiliar with what an Elgato Game Capture HD device is, it allows for recording of un-encrypted HDMI signals and also now for Live Streaming to Twitch.tv. It has a USB 2.0 interface which is compatible with Windows 7/8 and Mac OS X 10.7 or newer. Inputs include Xbox 360 (un-encrypted HDMI), Playstation 3 (A/V In), and Wii-U (un-encrypted HDMI). It outputs via an HDMI pass-through. Supported resolutions are 1080p (simultaneous 60 fps pass-through and 30 fps capture), 1080i, 720p (60 or 30 fps capture), and 576p.

The software has been updated to include live streaming straight to Twitch.tv as well as still allowing you to capture simultaneously. It now has a built in Live Commentary feature where it can record any microphone connected to your computer. You can find a balance with the game audio and even automatically lower the volume of the game when you speak.

Now you can also connect a standard definition gaming system to capture and even stream retro gaming systems. You can use the included component adapter to connect the composite output of your console, and still leave your TV connected via HDMI.

You can even capture your iPad or iPhone gameplay and even automatically crop the capture to the size of your app. With digital gain, you can now better control the volume of your game audio. There's a lot you can tweak, but with collapsible section and the new tabbed settings window, you'll see that finding options you want has never been easier.

Download the updated application HERE.

-Ubu out