EPTWhile Sundance immediately offered help hooking up IPL with some trucks for satellite internet and Dustin Browder went to work making sure important internet hubs are protected by destructible rocks for future events, the task of saving esports was left in the small but capable hands of the IGN beast crew. Of these heroes, I was introduced to 3 over the course of the day. Lani, Buddy, and “Atlas”
I didn't catch his name, so I'll call him Atlas because he was carrying the weight of the esports world on his shoulders in the form of a liveU 3G backpack. The internet was down all around them but beast crew was still tethered to the internet with a casino full of interesting people eager to give interviews and learn
Buddy; steady hands, steadier fist bumps. He really knew how to work the camera and interject for comedic effect. It could have easily looked like the blair witch project with a less experienced cameraman following Lani around the twisting maze of casino corridors, but they had Buddy.
Now when it comes to esports, I've only been in love twice before. The first was when I discovered the day9 daily and the second was when I saw the furry muse behind ZenexByun's triumph over Bomber and mass adoption of the panda marine portrait on bnet. Lani is amazing! She was hilarious, took viewer questions from twitter, and is a real fan of the game and the players.
It's never great when there are internet problems at events like this, but I think it worked out pretty well with Beast Crew streaming and an impromptu series of brood-war matches over LAN featuring players like Boxer and Huk. I also really like where IGN prime and MLG silver/gold membership is going... this kind of thing is definitely worth it. I'm really looking forward to Saturday/Sunday.
-Fritz
