Show your support for the 7 eblacks competing in Chengdu, China at the World Cyber Games Grand Final 2009.
   
We will be updating the eblacks blog which is now on http://forums.gamerhub.co.nz/ with updates, photos and videos.

2009 eblacks team competing at the WCG Grand Final
  
• Byron “simcore” McLean  CounterStrike 1.6 (PC)
• Nicholas ”nick” Shaw  CounterStrike 1.6 (PC)
• Bruce "infidel" Lodge  CounterStrike 1.6 (PC)
• Feroz "evolution" Brouwer CounterStrike 1.6 (PC)
• Nathan “rapture” Holden  CounterStrike 1.6 (PC)
• Jacques “skunk” de Vries TrackMania Nations Forever (PC)
• Shane “AskewDread” Langley Carom3D (PC)
 

Post your support here

We are out of pool play for Guitar Hero 3, he has qualified first in his pool with an undefeated run!

Well Done Mason!

The opening ceremony for the World Cyber Games was held tonight and proved to be a spectacular event to say the least. The event started off with the preshow event which included an impressive performance from German rock band H-Blockx, while BMX bikers did various stunts on the purpose built halfpipe set slightly behind the main stage, following their performance the main ceremony began. The ceremony highlighted the WCG spirit of competition, the ideas of fairplay that bind the WCG into the worldwide event. The event incorperated opening speeches from both the president of Samsung and the mayor of Cologne who both helped to get the games underway. A procession of nations flags gave each country competing here at the WCG time to make their pressence felt. BOth the flag of the WCG and of the host nation Germany were raised as well as a symbolic passing of the WCG virtual torch which went from nation to nation over the past year in the road to the WCG. we were also treated to an opera rendition of the World Cyber Games hymn. Following the close to the ceremony the eblacks headed back to the village to get some rest before tomorrows start to the competition. On day 1 of the WCG we have both Mason "Massi4h" Maddox playing his pool play of Guitar Hero and our Counterstrike squad play in their pool as well both teams looking for a place in the final elimination part of the tournament.

H-Blockx guitarist struts his stuff

The lead singer takes to the crowd

The German flag enroute to its position to the left of stage

Connagh with the New Zealand flag

Connagh takes his place

The flag lineup

We take a look at the setup of the WCG Grand final as the event gets built around us. Check out the youtube video below.

This morning we took the time to have a quick chat to Mason about what he thought of the Main stage setup and his chances for his stage match against Germany tomorrow. Check out the youtube video below.

Today has become the day of practice for the eblacks today with everyone bunkering down in various locations around the city to get in some long, hard hours of practice for the coming tournament. Byron and the Counterstrike team have headed over to the ESL headquarters here in Cologne to practice using their facilities which include a ping sitting at around the 3 mark which is fantastic for the crew to practice at LAN speeds against some of the european teams. Wugga has joined Tetra, the singaporean representative for Virtua Fighter in his room for some sparring today to keep his game warm. Meanwhile Kowi and Massi4h have holed up in the New Zealand headquarters here accross the city in order to get some serious practice in. Kowi is practicing up some new strats to keep his opponants off gaurd while Massi4h practices his starpower timing and keeping his note streak up. The Halo team is sitting down with their australian counterparts to run some strats seeing as they are differant pools for the first part of the compitition. Connagh has not joined his team making the strats as he has been chosen for the honor of carrying the New Zealand flag at tonights opening ceremony. More updates on the opening ceremony tonight.

The Halo team taking in the venue

Mason and Kowi practice

 

Outside the Players Village

Mason chills out in the players lounge

The team waits for the next train

Kowi works on his zombie impression while Wugga shows off the beard

Kowi showing off his soft side in Dubai

This post is a little late due the the some of the Counterstrike team booking their shuttle bus for the wrong day and making us a little late.

We have just arrived at our first stop in Brisbane only been a few hours of travel so most of us are looking quite fresh at the moment.

Not sure when i will post an update but I am guessing the hour in Dubai will give me a chance.

Eblacks @ Auckland International Airport.

The timetable for the eblacks for the Grand Final has been announced and is as follows in New Zealand time and dates

For the full listings of the timetable in German Date/Time please click here and to see the broadcast schedule please click here

To discuss this please click here

Quick wrap-up with eblacks after prize giving.

It is my honor to announce that New Zealand has come First at the 2008 WCG Asian Championship, cleaning up all opposition and taking home the grand prize, the Asian Cup as well as 6 medals in total and two awesome oversized novelty checks. This ends our coverage of the 2008 WCG Asian Championship. Thank you for all your support over the last few days and be sure to keep up with the site and look out for our coverage of the Grand Final in Cologne in November as well as numerous other events. In the meantime look out for the video of the team interview. Morden out.

 Team Interview

Massi4h on the Podium

MCC takes out Silver

The New Zealand Team on Stage

The Asian Champions

Team Photo

The Asian Cup Now Coming Home to New Zealand

It is a pleasure to announce that MCC has managed to win Silver at the 2008 WCG Asian Championship. The final match against China was an intense affair with the New Zealand team making the chinese fight for every inch of the field of battle. A huge congratulations to MCC for their fantastic performance at this years Asian Championship.

DOTA Results

New Zealand vs China 0 - 1

Silver Medal for New Zealand

The Chinese Opposition

The Commentators

The Team in Action

As I write MCC plays in the Final vs China after beating a strong Malaysia. The boys are in high spirits and at this very moment are beating back the Chinese. Its anybodies game at the moment and the minute we get results we will post them. Stay tuned. A win here would mean a second gold medal for New Zealand.

Slava Waits

MCC Plans Ahead

Our boy Massi4h has taken out the Gold Medal at this years WCG Asian Championship for Guitar Hero 3. A fantastic effort by Massi4h during his final match vs the Phillipines led to New Zealands first ever Gold Medal at an international gaming event. Let me tell you it was close right to the end and it ended the only way a Guitar Hero tournament could, with "Through the Fire and the Flames. A huge congrats to Mason, a wonderful achievement for New Zealand.

Massi4h at his Best

Mason Soaks in the Winners Limelight

MCC has just had their match against the Australians and has happily showed them how its done bringing yet another victory for New Zealand. This puts them withn reach of a medal here at the 2008 Asian Championship. A very intense match with MCC playing very safe until they knew they had to upper hand and could claim victory. More on their progression as it comes.

DOTA Results

New Zealand vs Australia 1 - 0

MCC Playing Australia

Massi4h has just played the Singaporean representative and i am proud to report has won the match progressing through to the finals, to face either Korea once more or the phillipines both of who are tough opponants but Mason is confident he is up to the challenge. The match was intense. The three songs each providing a challenge for both players. The Singaporean player pulled ahead in Welcome to the Jungle before Massi4h pulled ahead in both Pride and Joy and Minus Celcius to take out the match. The video of the match will appear below once the uploading is done and in the menatime check out these shots of Massi4h in action.

Guitar Hero Results

New Zealand vs Singapore 1 - 0

New Zealand Through to the Finals

New Zealand vs Singapore

Massi4h Proudly Raises the New Zealand Flag

Massi4h once again has progressed to the next stage of the competition, now in the semi's after the australian player fell ill and could not play his match leaving massi4h in a position to take on one of his toughest opponants yet, The Singaporean player.

Guitar Hero Results

New Zealand vs Australia 1 - 0

Massi4h Looks Forward to the Semi's

After a very fast paced match between New Zealand and Japan we pull the players aside and have a chat to them about the match and the future of Virtua Fighter.

Virtua Fighter Roundtable

Wugga just had his match against Japan and while his performance was admirable the Japanese player managed to pull through with some impressive combos and some incredibly fast take downs. We watch the match and give you some insights into whats going on.

Virtua Fighter Results

New Zealand vs Japan 0 - 1

Knocked Out

Match Vid New Zealand vs Japan

Wugga has a tense match in just a few minutes with the Japanese player, one of the best if not the best in the world, so we have a quick chat with him to see how he is feeling about the whole thing.

Interview with Wugga

Good morning from Singapore on the third day of the 2008 WCG Asian Championship. There is a fantastic lineup of matches to look forward to today including Wuggas elimination match against the Japanese representative who is arguably the best in the world. The continuing rise of Massi4h through the ranks of the Asian Championship players and MCC as they continue to plow through the opposition in the DOTA tournament. as with the other days we will have up to date information posted here. As soon as we know you know. atch the video for a rundown of the days catchup.

Good Morning From Singapore

Ok and the results are in for the second match for the DOTA boys and they have taken it out with a solid victory against Thailand. you can get the replays from www.garena.com. you must have the Garena Client and watch through GGTV.

Results

New Zealand vs Thailand 1 - 0

MCC at Play

Here I am harmlessly interviewing various gamers when I come across a group of Cosplayers attending the Championship and am treated to a dancing lesson wit ha differance. Watch to see the whole thing in glorious youtube definition.

Crazy Cosplaying

After his awesome performance today in the pool play here in Singapore I lean against the wall with massi4h to discuss the days happinings. he will be progressing tomorrow so keep an eye on his progress on the final day of the Asian Championship. Video below.

Interview with Massi4h

The first match for MCC today in their pool play for the DOTA competition here at the Asian Championship was a stage match, one which gathered a huge crowd of supporters and spectators. Their first match was against the Indian team who provided them with little challenge as their brood mother led strategy dominated the indians and gave them a fantastic victory in front of the huge live audiance. A triumph for New Zealand gaming indeed. All of the lads performed incredibly well and are looking forward to their matches later on tonight. We do have a stage match video which is a fantastic watch and will be uploaded the minute we get back to New Zealand. in the meantime enjoy these shots of the boys in action.

Results So Far

New Zealand vs India 1 - 0

More to Come

The Stage Match Draws a Crowd

The Team Holds their Tongues

Epic Concentration

The Indian Team Leader

Slava

DOTA Noob JK

Victory for the eblacks

MCC Bears the Flag Proudly

Patrick had his first races this evening in his pool for NFS with interesting results. Each of the three compeditors in the pool lost one match and won one match making it an even first place for all, which has provided some confusion as to who will be progressing out of pool play. more on the situation to come as we know.

Results NFS pool play

New Zealand vs Australia 1 - 0
New Zealand vs Singapore 0 - 1

Patrick Prepares to race

Patrick gets in the Zone

Samsung today at its booth hosted some competitions designed to bring the whole family into the fun side of life with some dance offs and sing off's. Check out the pictures below of that and some other haps around the event. Meanwhile the eblacks chill after their games and prepare for the evenings lineup. Plenty more coverage to come tonight following the DOTA stage match and the NFS pool play.

A Crowd Gathers at the Samsung Stand

Mr Samsung Takes Centre Stage

Family Fun

Young Boy Watches the Excitment on Stage

This afternoon is quiet for the eblacks everyone has headed off to grab some food before the DOTA matches, begining at 4pm Singaporean Time. in the meantime i've checked out the mainstge and had a look at a few more of the sponsers stands, so check out those videos and we will have results from the DOTA and NFS matches as we get them as well as the DOTA stage match so keep tuned.

The Asian Championship Stage

The eblacks show their support for Massi4h

Wugga Battles Hard

This morning at the Asian Championship massi4h has made a huge dent in all that have faced him in a series of matches that can only be discribed as seat of your pants stuff.His first match vs india was over in seconds as the Indian player was so terrifid of Mason that he refused to show up, leaving Mason to handle more worthy opponants. The first of which was Chinese T, which proved to be a very close match however Massi4h managed to pull trough and claim victory to the roaring shouts of the other eblacks. The final Match vs Korea was the closest with the Korean player taking out the second song by senses fail and mason gaining the lead in Knights of Cydonia and Raining Blood by Slayer. A Fantastic result from Massi4h and we all look forward to seeing more of him tomorrow as he ventures out of pool play and into the big leagues.

Guitar Hero 3 Results - Pool play

New Zealand vs India 1 - 0

New Zealand vs Chinese Taipei 1 - 0

New Zealand vs Korea 1 - 0

Massi4h faces Taipei

Pj had a rough lineup this morning with both of his matches in FIFA being some of the best in the world. PJ went up against the best in the world and did admirably. his first match against the Phillipines was a tense battle of skill which in which the Phillipines player eventually got the upper hand and bested PJ wit ha score of 5 - 4. An incredibly tense match to watch. Following that he faced the hardest opposition in the competition in the form of China and did well making the Chinese player work for every point with a final score of 7 - 0. That means that sadly PJ has been knocked out of the competition but leaves having built a great deal of respect for himself and New Zealand.

FIFA Pool Play Results

New Zealand vs Phillipines 4 - 5

New Zealand vs China 0 - 7

Knocked Out

PJ Awaits his next Match

Wugga Has just finished his two pool play matches and im pleased to say that he has made it through to the second part of the tournament and will be playing in the elimination tomorrow for a spot in the final three. His first match against Hong Kong was a very close, tense battle of wit and skill which ended in the Hong Kong player coming slightly ahead and taking out the first game. The second game against Vietnam proved to be Wuggas best match so far with him crushing Vietnam's representative and securing him a place in the top 8. More on Wugga tomorrow. Keep tuned.

Results

New Zealand vs Hong Kong 0 - 1

New Zealand vs Vietnam 1 - 0

Wugga Awaits his Next Match

Wugga Wishes Luck to the Vietnam Rep

Day two is here and the Asian Championship begins in earnest here in Singapore. Today the New Zealand eblacks face a tough lineup with Wugga facing two opponants in his pool today in Virtua Fighter, Mason faces three including Korea in Guitar hero while the other begin their matches later in the afternoon. Patrick awaits his first NFS match in the evening as do the DOTA boys. Keep an eye out during the day for more posts, live updates on our progress as well as more video footage of the event here in Singapore. Morden out.

The opening ceremony for the 2008 WCG Asian Championship has just finished, and what an event it was, incorperating members from each of the 14 competing nations in the proceedings. The ceremony began following the prizegiving for the Singapore National Finals which rewarded the best of its players with a chance to compete in the coming weekends event. To begin distinguished guests from all of the major sponsers of the event including Samsung and Microsoft gave  small prepared speech about what the WCG has become and how it brings players together in the spirit of healthy competition and friendship. Following that the flag bearers from the 14 nations were bought onto the stage and their national flags planted. Wugga held the honor of bearing the New Zealand flag and reciting the gamers oath of fairplay thereby reaffirming their nations commitment to the notion of balanced and friendly competition. following that the ceremony came to an explosive close and the eblacks began to think about their games tomorrow.

WCG Asian Championship Nations Lineup

Wugga affirming the Gamers Oath

The Asian Championship Head Referee Reads the Oath

Guest of Honor

Wugga Proudly bears his Nations Flag

This afternoon proved to be an exciting one so far with the exibition hall buzzing with people and excitment with all the major sponsers setting up some impressive stands as well as many other vendors and organisations turning out to show the international guests the best Singapore has to offer. Let me tell you they are impressive. Samsung has shown up in force as well as other major companies to show off their latest toys and gadgets some of which are amazingly cool. Keep a lookout for our walkaround some of the stands appearing later on tonight for a look at some of the new gear out there. The New Zealand team all had to be present for media interviews and were all submited to a barrage of questions by various other media from countries all accross the asia pacific region. After the interviews however the team split up to go their various ways. The DOTA boys all went out to eat and are off investigating Singapore til the Opening Ceremony tonight at 6pm. Wugga is practising bearing the New Zealand flag for tonights festivities as he has been chosen as New Zealands flag bearer, a huge honor. Massi4h is busy impressing the crowds over at the Samsung stand with his Guitar Hero skills, the crowd seems to be growing minute by minute. People are begining to see that he is the player to beat at this years compitition. PJ and Patrick are keeping a low profile and scouting out their Singaporean opposition as they finish off their national finals today. more to come keep an eye out for some of the video footage from the stands today. Check out the rest of the post to see Massi4h struting his stuff. Another post to come after the Opening Ceremony tonight.

Massi4h Pulls a Crowd

Put your Grrrr Face on

Fingers of Fury

Massi4h's Fangirls

Massi4h Basks In The Glow of The Xbox and Laughs at the Opposition

Interview with EJ the General Manager /CEO/Big Kahuna of Gamestah.

eblacks Interview @ Asian Championship 2008

Its Friday morning and the Asian Champs is now right on our doorsteps. The 9am bus ride to the Suntec Plaza the venue for the WCG Asian Championship means its an early rise for our intrepid team of Gamers. After a harsh rise and shine delivered by me at 8am the Gamers slowly rose and began to prepare for the first day of the event. We all picked up our gear and moved to the foodcourt located right next to the players village. Some of us grabed the local food while others went for McDonalds and Ice Milos, a must for anyone visiting Singapore. The Bus ride took us through some of the Singapore CityScape to the doorstep of the rather impressive venue for this weekends event. Following the Team registration to make sure that everyone has shirts and tags for the event. more to follow later today on the happinings here in Singapore.

Outside The Event Venue

Up the Stairs to The Conferance Centre

Patrick Pumped For The Event

The New Zealand eblacks Featuring The Mighty Woogarine

After 10 gruelling hours of flying with screaming babies and a limited range of entertainment options, we have arrived in Singapore, home of this years Asian championship. After the initial heatwave upon leaving the airport we were taken to our hotel to settle in and transform our area into the New Zealand HQ for the event. Complete with flags to complete the patriotic look. After a team briefing outlining how the event was set out everyone went their seperate ways to explore the surrounding area. The DOTA boys went and caught up with the australian team, their old rivals and chilled for the night with some of the other DOTA teams. The Costa Sands resort which serves as the players village is an interesting place at the moment teams from various nations all wandering around the place, checking out this and that, chatting with other teams, old friends and trying to avoid the torential downpour that welcomed us to the country. Wugga has settled in for some hard Virtua Fighter practice with Massi4h while the others have gone to explore our surroundings and see that they can find. Its all a very surreal experiance. Patrick and PJ have both went to find some food and settle into bed for what is going to prove to be an exciting day tomorrow.

The Team Arrives at Singapore

Slava broods over The Team Draw Amidst the Dust

Wugga discovers the differances in Singapore Power Sockets

TV3 had an article on Nightline lastnight about the eblacks leaving for Singapore.

On this cool, quiet Thursday morning the eblacks have all assembled at Auckland International Airport to fly to singapore to take part in the Asian Championship 2008. Hopes are high around all around the board with the DOTA players ready and waiting to take all comers from all over the asia pacific region. Wugga having trained hard over the last months is feeling confident that he can perform to the best of his abilities while overseas and Massi4h is looking forward to his first international gaming event. Pablo is looking forward to taking all comers in NFS while PJ has faith in his epic FIFA skills. The team assembled at 9am at the airport luggage in hand ready to check in to the their flight at midday. TMdude and DeeZilla leading the team busy milling around making sure everything runs smoothly and as planned.

The New Zealand eblacks

PJ Puts on his Camera Face

David Farrier interviews PJ