Registration is open for the Digital Games ladders until July 27. Hit the registration link to sign up and get started! 

This morning I had a chance to catch up with current North American Trackmania Nations Forever leader G2_Wolf about his TMNF exploits, as well as some gaming history. Luckily for me, I ambushed him just before he was about to head into a game of Project Powder.

Real name: Dakota Watterson
Age: 16
Occupation: Student

GGL: So I see you’ve played a bunch of games competitively; what motivated you to join the Digital Games for Trackmania Nations Forever?

G2_Wolf: Actually, I was bored and looking for some competition in Trackmania :S. I haven’t been playing competitively in many games lately.

GGL: Why specifically Trackmania?

G2_Wolf: Well, why not Trackmania? I had tons of fun playing in TMN and have tons of fun playing in TMNF. (And because I’m good at it, unlike with my Warsow attempt).

GGL: Is there anything in particular that attracted you to TMN/TMNF in terms of features of the game?

G2_Wolf: It’s unique with jumps and wallrides and loops and all kinds of other crazy stuff, and it’s a fast game that takes a lot of skill for most tracks. And with no collision detection, no griefers :). Continued…



My last interview with Matthieu Dallon opened up the question of what the “pure FPS” game should be at the 2008 Electronic Sports World Cup. And it opened it up big time, since it does not seem like there is a clear favorite to win the race, but it seems like Quake 4 will not be it.

Traditionally, the ESWC has always hosted a 1v1 shooter competition, and more often two shooters from the Unreal Tournament and Quake franchises. The event’s creators understand and love deathmatch, and have always been willing to support it whenever it could be justified. The duality was broken in 2006, when UT2004 failed to provide enough reasons to stay.

Today, it is Quake 4 that fails to provide enough reasons to convince anyone. Personally, I don’t think it makes sense to have it at the ESWC. By this summer, no one will be playing that game, let alone someone interesting enough to watch a tournament for. Continued…