STACK #149 Mar 2017

GAMES FEATURE

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Each month, STACK takes a brief look at what’s happening in esports, both locally and overseas. esports Round-Up Junglist with

M uch like real football, FIFA’s competition structure places Australia in the extensive “Rest of the World” region. There’s Europe, the Americas, and “Rest of the World”. As such, our FIFA competitors recently found themselves up against challengers from Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, right in the middle of Sydney’s sweltering heatwave. But unlike real football, this FIFA is very much owned by EA, which can alter the competitive format to suit its bottom line. At a time when mainstream sporting franchises are investing in FIFA as an esport, EA chose its Ultimate Team mode to carry its biggest ever competition -- featuring a $1.7

million prize pool (quadrupling its “main” mode) and unprecedented production values in commentary and highlights. Ultimate Team is a popular, yet provably pay-to-win mode in which you collect (or buy) a football dream team of stars, past and present. Competition finals are played on special

FIFA 17

the final, but no further. While history will forget those who didn’t belong, it was the Saudi Arabian duo Khalid “The Royal” Aloufi and Abdulaziz “A8drafwz” Alshehri who won the PS4 and Xbox One sections of the Sydney final. Longtime Aussie pro Kieran “Muzza” Murray picked up a 3rd place finish, and Mark “MarkoHD” Brijeski’s new Red Bull sponsorship gave him enough wings to reach the quarter-finals for a 7th place finish.

with your own team, built on your own dollar. It’s a similar issue to

World of Warcraft ’s Arena, which never blossomed as an esport outside of Blizzard- hosted events. Competitors could pick from an unlocked pool of items, but actually getting to that stage required

thousands of hours of grinding for high level gear on the public ladder. In the case of FIFA Ultimate Team, it’s possible to buy your way into

consoles with everything unlocked, ostensibly levelling the playing field -- but earlier stages of the tournament are played at home

Corsair Harpoon M65 RGB Gaming Mouse

Let’s take a look at Corsair’s Harpoon RGB Gaming Mouse

I f you’re becoming increasingly bored with military-grade PC mice with an overwhelming button layout, Corsair’s latest wired mouse may just be your calling. It would appear Corsair are pitching the Harpoon as a solid, entry-level mouse. The excellent price point and the simple set-up makes the Harpoon the perfect choice for anyone just entering the PC gaming market, or a gamer simply searching for a competent and accurate FPS mouse with all the bells and whistles. Corsair’s Harpoon is small for a mouse with a good build quality, which is actually a refreshing departure from some of the larger models on the market. It comes with your standard left, right and centre buttons, as well as two additional

where your palm would be while you’re gaming, but still looks good sitting on your desk. The colour panel can be customised with one of up to 16.8 million colour combinations, and can be set for likes of DPI profiles or just waves/flashes of light. Possibly the most appealing part of the Harpoon is its sharp price point. At only $69 it’s really hard to fault, particularly when you put it up against its $200+ competitors. The Harpoon is an affordable mouse for the budget-conscious gamer that’ll do the job, and do it surprisingly well.

programmable buttons on the inside left. There’s even a DPI switch that lets you flick between your six pre- programmed DPI settings. Being a Corsair product, it features RGB lighting. The only panel on the Harpoon sits beneath

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MARCH 2017

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