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ZOWIE GEAR begins sponsorship of KT Rolster!
"ZOWIE GEAR announces the official sponsorship of KT Rolster
![[image loading]](http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/9903/ktzowie.jpg)
Today ZOWIE GEAR announces the official sponsorship of KT Rolster, the multi gaming organization of Korea, housing professional teams in games such as Starcraft and Special Forces, both of which compete in competitive leagues broadcasted on television throughout Asia.
The partnership will see KT Rolsters players heavily involved in the development of a new series of ZOWIE GEAR products, directly targeted at optimizing a gamers experience when playing Starcraft.
![[image loading]](http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/4426/ktflashzowie.jpg)
The parties expressed the following about the partnership:
James Banks – Marketing Department
“KT Rolster is an experienced organisation, having been around since December 1999. Although the name of the team may have changed, its principles have not. KT Rolster has always fought hard in Starcraft where they have achieved amazing results and awards which has gained them respect all around the world. It is because of this winning mentality and their effort to stay on the top of their game, that they are now awarded with a unique opportunity to assist in the development of competitive gaming gear for Starcraft gamers.
Lee Young Ho aka Flash – Professional Terran Starcraft Player for KT Rolster
“I am excited about the opportunity to assist in the development of products produced for Starcraft. Working with an international company like ZOWIE is a unique possibility that doesn't come every day. I believe that together KT Rolster and ZOWIE GEAR have what is needed to create the best gaming gear available.
The sponsorship between KT Rolster and ZOWIE GEAR symbolizes an increased effort from ZOWIE to reach the Starcraft community.
KT Rolster has some of the best Starcraft players in the world in its team, with years of experience and a professional attitude to gaming, they know how important their products are to their performance and with this in mind ZOWIE will ensure their ideas get realised so you can get a bit of KT Rolsters talent.
About ZOWIE GEAR
ZOWIE GEAR has no ambition to become the biggest manufacturer of competitive gaming gear. We just want to be the best. If we can develop products that will increase a gamers performance by just 1%, we will do it. Our goal is to be known as the company that redefines and optimize competitive gaming gear.
Be serious. It's not just a game.
About KT Rolster
KT Rolster is one of the oldest pro gaming teams around; formed in December 1999. They have players competing at the highest level of Korean gaming in the popular RTS game Starcraft and Special Force which is Koreas number 1 FPS title.
KT Rolster constantly sets standards and records with their professional attitude to gaming and strives to be the best team out there, with this in mind it is no wonder KT Rolster has been going since 1999."
You can find the full PR:here
So what does this all mean?
- There will be an upcoming tournament sponsored by ZOWIE GEAR for SC2.
- KT Rolster and ZOWIE will be working together to create original products aimed at the SC scene.
- More community aimed projects directed at the SC community.
- Signed prizes from the KT Rolster team.
Currently running
- Competitions run regularly with prizes up for grabs at our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Thought I would also add some exclusive pictures here at TL! Enjoy.
![[image loading]](http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/6885/img3693.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/6558/img3696w.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1065/img3695w.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9463/img3687l.jpg)
*Note, the pictures got taken a while ago, since then things have changed. That is esport, I hope people can appreciate the pictures still and will enjoy more that we will bring as and when we take trips over to see KT and vice versa.
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Woah thats pretty interesting! Thanks for the news  !
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What the hell is Luxury doing there? This feels a bit too late though. I'm pretty sure they won't get that much publicity since Brood War will die out.
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whyyy is luxury there lol
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Loli
60 Posts
Is that Luxury? What is he doing there? lol
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Gonna take a not-so-wild leap and guess you're the same JBanks in the article =P?
Regardless, neat info! Should be interesting to see what comes out of this.
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United States42695 Posts
Guess the photos are a few months old. Doesn't really matter, it's still awesome news.
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On July 27 2010 07:08 Loli wrote:
Is that Luxury? What is he doing there? lol
I was thinking the same thing. Is he just there because he won a Starleague, or something else behind this?
I'd expect we'll see a lot of new developments like this in the next few days.
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This is amazing news, and brings a great future oppurtunity for the SC2 Scene, with regards if Broodwar dying out or not =).
If anything fantastic news for the SC2 community
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The Spawn mousepad (P-TF) from Zowie is the best ever made...
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Photos are from a while ago guys, I thought it would be worth a post and a shame to waste the pictures regardless. This deal is a long running partnership with KT and I am sure we will see changes.
and yes Cow, I am the same JBanKs, I aim to work directly with you guys, the community, to bring prizes, competitions and tournaments directly from ZOWIE to you.
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Wait KT changed their black uniform to the White/Black ish ones so this photos might have taken before the scandal trials.
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On July 27 2010 07:13 JBanKs wrote:
and yes Cow, I am the same JBanKs, I aim to work directly with you guys, the community, to bring prizes, competitions and tournaments directly from ZOWIE to you.
I do love the sound of that :D
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On July 27 2010 07:13 JBanKs wrote:
Photos are from a while ago guys
As Banks said, these are from a while ago; but in agreement shame to waste the photos either way
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On July 27 2010 07:15 Cow wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 07:13 JBanKs wrote:
and yes Cow, I am the same JBanKs, I aim to work directly with you guys, the community, to bring prizes, competitions and tournaments directly from ZOWIE to you. I do love the sound of that :D
IDD, it's great that you managed to actually get the whole communication with the team part working, but I must say lol luxury...
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Some bad PR in those photos. :D
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On July 27 2010 07:23 Disregard wrote:
Some bad PR in those photos. :D
haha, serious? It's not bad pr, i think it shows willing that match fixing has proved to be bad and the players removed yet the sponsors still have faith in keeping the teams and games alive by supporting KT after the match fixing situation.
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Cool, are the products specifically for SC not yet made?
I can't seem to find detailed specs on the mice.
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Obligatory "Should have sponsored SKT instead of KT" post. :p
Fantastic news!
Luxury in that photo did make me do a double take though lol. Thought maybe it was S2 instead...
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On July 27 2010 07:33 SuperXlax wrote:
Cool, are the products specifically for SC not yet made?
I can't seem to find detailed specs on the mice.
The current products we had were made in cooperation with Counter-strike legends HeatoN and SpawN, the SC products are being made with KT but are not finished yet as we want the players to be happy with it before it goes out.
We believe that this approach makes us very unique and gives us a real close connection with the gamers we make the products for.
I hope I can answer any of your questions, though a lot of the information is on our website.
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are there any plans for KT Rolster to build up a sc2 team or even switch their sc team to sc2?
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
*Twitches over the painfully bad quality photos.* UNF. Clearly they chose ForGG because he is a hottie, and not because of MSL or anything...
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wait what? i dont see Luxury -_-
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On July 27 2010 08:09 imperator-xy wrote:
are there any plans for KT Rolster to build up a sc2 team or even switch their sc team to sc2?
Don't take this as a quote from KT Rolster as we are working together on products not choosing what they do but I guess it all depends on what leagues, tournaments ect go on in Korea. I personally think it would be interesting to see everyone switch to SC2 and see how it plays out. Just my personal thought
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On July 27 2010 08:29 Kenpachi wrote:
wait what? i dont see Luxury -_-
Changed the picture as people complained  ! Added a couple of others up. Think Russki pretty much hit it on the head though.
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wow those are some baaad photos... Sponsors will flock to sc2 once it hits the millons of units sold..
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This is awesome! =D Another shot to the arm to boost Starcraft's longevity.
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Damm when KT Rolster gets the gear from ZOWIE GEAR, and get that incease of 1% in performance then
+ Show Spoiler +
To beat them in the prolaegue finals 
But i like that the proscene is taking a small step to spread outside of South Korea
I just would have wished Blizzard would have had so close contacts with proplayers in the development of sc2
Props goes to ZOWIE GEAR for using feedbacks from proplayers.
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Sweet new gear for KT. Progamers =/= models though
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Are you the only game accessory manufacturer that is sponsoring a Korean progaming team?
If that is indeed the case...you can really make it big there.
On July 27 2010 09:06 GhoSt[shield] wrote:Sweet new gear for KT. Progamers =/= models though
Lol, yeah. Like I said, SKT would have been the better bet...Bisu/Boxer. :p
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On July 27 2010 09:10 dukethegold wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 09:06 GhoSt[shield] wrote:Sweet new gear for KT. Progamers =/= models though Lol, yeah. Like I said, SKT would have been the better bet...Bisu/Boxer. :p
I think Boxer is the primary model for some new tank tactics game for the PC. Will search for it in teh forums. Yes Boxer looks great now...but in the Air Force days not so much.
Also, I think iloveoov should be the model for Banana Republic.
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On July 27 2010 09:16 GhoSt[shield] wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 09:10 dukethegold wrote:On July 27 2010 09:06 GhoSt[shield] wrote:Sweet new gear for KT. Progamers =/= models though Lol, yeah. Like I said, SKT would have been the better bet...Bisu/Boxer. :p I think Boxer is the primary model for some new tank tactics game for the PC. Will search for it in teh forums. Yes Boxer looks great now...but in the Air Force days not so much. Also, I think iloveoov should be the model for Banana Republic.
Boxer is the primary model for the game Fort Fire, here is the direct link to Boxer in all his glory:
http://ff.nopp.co.kr/event/FinalCBT/TeamBattle.aspx
Seems like a RTS. It's still in beta I do believe.
The only team more suitable for modeling purpose is ACE, but of course advertisement is something that will never be on ACE's agenda.
Edit: Typo. Spelled "never" as "ever" lol
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+ Show Spoiler +On July 27 2010 09:23 dukethegold wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 09:16 GhoSt[shield] wrote:On July 27 2010 09:10 dukethegold wrote:On July 27 2010 09:06 GhoSt[shield] wrote:Sweet new gear for KT. Progamers =/= models though Lol, yeah. Like I said, SKT would have been the better bet...Bisu/Boxer. :p I think Boxer is the primary model for some new tank tactics game for the PC. Will search for it in teh forums. Yes Boxer looks great now...but in the Air Force days not so much. Also, I think iloveoov should be the model for Banana Republic.
Boxer is the primary model for the game Fort Fire, here is the direct link to Boxer in all his glory:
http://ff.nopp.co.kr/event/FinalCBT/TeamBattle.aspx
Seems like a RTS. It's still in beta I do believe.
The only team more suitable for modeling purpose is ACE, but of course advertisement is something that will ever be on ACE's agenda.
Thanks for finding that. 7 minutes, TL.net community is great.
Now that Reach is leaving Ace though, he could probably get a modelling job due to the sheer eleveation of the manliness level when he enters a room
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Philadelphia, PA10406 Posts
ZOWIE FINGERBOOM!
On July 27 2010 08:31 JBanKs wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 08:09 imperator-xy wrote:
are there any plans for KT Rolster to build up a sc2 team or even switch their sc team to sc2? Don't take this as a quote from KT Rolster as we are working together on products not choosing what they do but I guess it all depends on what leagues, tournaments ect go on in Korea. I personally think it would be interesting to see everyone switch to SC2 and see how it plays out. Just my personal thought
I beg to differ.
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At first I thought it was a pretty interesting development, but after some time, I don't think in the end it's something that makes a Brood War fan that happy. A bunch of these new sponsors like this one and Korean Air already have plans to transition to SC2, and seem to be getting into BW sponsorship just for an early foothold before SC2 (they expect) becomes big.
Yeah, even JBanKs here, the marketing rep, thinks it would be "interesting to see everyone switch to SC2" - not only is this a disappointment to us, but even while trying to put aside my biases, I really don't think SC2 will play out the way everyone expects in terms of "eSports".
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Never heard of the company, but I guess this is pretty good for both of them.
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On July 27 2010 10:52 Zona wrote:
At first I thought it was a pretty interesting development, but after some time, I don't think in the end it's something that makes a Brood War fan that happy. A bunch of these new sponsors like this one and Korean Air already have plans to transition to SC2, and seem to be getting into BW sponsorship just for an early foothold before SC2 (they expect) becomes big.
Yeah, even JBanKs here, the marketing rep, thinks it would be "interesting to see everyone switch to SC2" - not only is this a disappointment to us, but even while trying to put aside my biases, I really don't think SC2 will play out the way everyone expects in terms of "eSports".
Can't know unless you try.
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I went to your home website. Apparently your company is sponsoring a great deal of gaming teams and e-sport related events. I see that your company is trying to establish a foot hold in a potentially booming market. Prior to this point, I have never heard of your company before. I think you are on the right path to spread your name out to the communities.
As for how big SCII will become...we'll see about it. My biggest problem with it is that the armies look too small due to the higher screen resolutions and better unit A.I. But this is a broodwar forum. We'll see.
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does this mean that KT gear will be available to the foreign community? such as packs, Jerseys, mouse pads, etc.?
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As long as you sponsor Sc1 I'll get my next mouse pad from you guys mine is getting a little worn out.
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Calgary25980 Posts
On July 27 2010 08:13 NeverGG wrote:
*Twitches over the painfully bad quality photos.*
Why do you always have to come in to threads where people try their best and put them down? Is it to promote yourself again?
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On July 27 2010 12:03 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 08:13 NeverGG wrote:
*Twitches over the painfully bad quality photos.* Why do you always have to come in to threads where people try their best and put them down? Is it to promote yourself again?
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On July 27 2010 12:03 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 08:13 NeverGG wrote:
*Twitches over the painfully bad quality photos.* Why do you always have to come in to threads where people try their best and put them down? Is it to promote yourself again?
I know what you mean, but I can understand a photographer being irritated at, frankly, badly taken images being used as part of a press release. I don't think it's necessary to cause drama.
That said,
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Shouldn't we be used to the fact that most photos used for e-sport purpose are badly taken?
I mean, in the winner interviews, the guys never smile and most photos always seem to be taken randomly. Nobody bothers to pose or whatever. It's one of the biggest problems I have with e-sport.
Those photos aren't too bad. It's just the guys don't look too happy while using the gears. Then again, it's norm with the e-sport kids.
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can you purchase these yet?
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This is great! We need more foreign recognition of StarCraft
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On July 27 2010 14:41 eSen1a wrote:can you purchase these yet?
looks a lot like a Deathadder (that's a good thing, love the shape). Or maybe it looks like the Intellimouse Explorer Also good, I have both
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On July 27 2010 11:27 KiLL_ORdeR wrote:
does this mean that KT gear will be available to the foreign community? such as packs, Jerseys, mouse pads, etc.?
In the long run that will be the plan for gear and products ZOWIE GEAR develop with KT Rolster.
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
GL to Zowie, but please get a decent photographer next time. It would be so much nicer to showcase the product if the photos were clear. I did not notice that the poster was actually involved in this project. However, my opinion of the photos still stands.
It would be great if people could get hold of the KT gear. I got one of their free t-shirts from the last MSL finals, and even for a cheap freebie it was nice quality cotton and good printing. I've touched the uniforms (and examined the bags.) before and they're full of little extras which make them feel very high quality. (Unlike those older orange/white uniforms with the weird toggle sleeves.)
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On July 27 2010 14:41 eSen1a wrote:can you purchase these yet?
The EC series will be available around August time as we have recently released them/
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Should have gotten stats in on the photos. I'm sure the bag will complement his chin very well.
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FUCK YEA, love you flash forgg and zowie
I plan to buy much stuff from there
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KT some awesome <3
wonder if you could make any KT player register on TL, I swear to god, jus tell them that their foreign fanbase will most likely skyrocket (tell them about how it went with Yom Bo Sung aka Sea).
This awesome, a new sponsor for the best team <3
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
On July 27 2010 14:33 dukethegold wrote:
Shouldn't we be used to the fact that most photos used for e-sport purpose are badly taken?
I mean, in the winner interviews, the guys never smile and most photos always seem to be taken randomly. Nobody bothers to pose or whatever. It's one of the biggest problems I have with e-sport.
Those photos aren't too bad. It's just the guys don't look too happy while using the gears. Then again, it's norm with the e-sport kids.
I have to really disagree with this from a personal perspective, and also as someone who has taken those photos for two years. Have you never seen one of Fomo's B-cuts? Some of them are downright beautiful. Especially those done for finals. There are posed photoshoots for multiple players after every single match. Not to mention the fact that Mr. Kang is responsible for 90% of the promotional shots used on the official home sites.
Plus back when ESForce was in circulation there were themed photoshoots for progamers coming out once a month. Sadly it's now out of print, but I still own a few issues.
The interview photos you see on translations at TL are a tiny proportion of the photos which are actually taken at events by Fomos, Daily eSports and a few smaller sites.
Also 90% of my own work is photoshoots :/ I'd like to think that they're not badly taken.
However, most of the non-Korean proscene photos aren't done by specifically eSports related journalists - so a lot of the time they're not posed, and are not good quality. It depends upon the company/people present. Korean proscene photography is definitely not badly produced imo.
The gamers are often quite shy because they're so young, so not all of them know how to pose, but most photos of veterans are excellent as long as they're taken by someone who knows their way around a DSLR.
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does this mean kt will get a new name?
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On July 27 2010 18:54 pred470r wrote:
does this mean kt will get a new name?
No, KT will keep KT Rolster as their name, we are here to work side by side with them on creating professional gaming gear across all the games KT Rolster supports including SC, it also does not matter what version of SC they play, the support will continue.
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On July 27 2010 19:02 JBanKs wrote:No, KT will keep KT Rolster as their name, we are here to work side by side with them on creating professional gaming gear across all the games KT Rolster supports including SC, it also does not matter what version of SC they play, the support will continue.
Really great news. Hope to see some good quality SC gear in the close future. Glad to here that the support will continue even if KT Rolster decides to maybe switch to SC2.
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Good to see foreign involvement
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Razer has the worst quality in the world, steelseries is way too expensive and logitech does only the casual shit. i think zowies approach is really good, having the pro gamers involved in the production cycle. They don´t think about all the marketing aspects of a product, they just want the best shape and super fast buttons to click. those two mice look good especially the left one. I got 5 mice and 4 keyboards at home and i tested way more at work, so im really picky when it comes to this stuf
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While this is totally awesome, the photos are extremely bad, and I'm wondering why they went with them. They make it look pretty amateur and don't promote the product/partnership well at all.
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On July 27 2010 23:23 heynes wrote:Razer has the worst quality in the world, steelseries is way too expensive and logitech does only the casual shit. i think zowies approach is really good, having the pro gamers involved in the production cycle. They don´t think about all the marketing aspects of a product, they just want the best shape and super fast buttons to click. those two mice look good especially the left one. I got 5 mice and 4 keyboards at home and i tested way more at work, so im really picky when it comes to this stuf
I won't comment on the other brands, we all have our opinions but I think our way of having the gamers make their own gear using our expertise gives us a big advantage and giving KT Rolster the chance to do this will only benefit gamers more with a different outlook on what is needed in products.
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Hopefully you guys will offer some KT Rolster branded merchandise for all of us nerds. If so, the mouse must be named the "Finger Boom."
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Fuck yes, more support for SC1. This is a very good sign, people.
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Fuck yeah. Is KT going to change name again ?
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So are you organising your own tournament? Or are you the HDH2 sponsors?
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On July 28 2010 16:38 endy wrote:
Fuck yeah. Is KT going to change name again ?
I have already answered this question and that is a no, KT Rolster will stay as KT Rolster
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On July 28 2010 17:32 Saechiis wrote:So are you organising your own tournament? Or are you the HDH2 sponsors?
We will be having a ZOWIE.SC2 tournament for the community.
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On July 27 2010 11:19 Redmark wrote:Show nested quote +On July 27 2010 10:52 Zona wrote:
At first I thought it was a pretty interesting development, but after some time, I don't think in the end it's something that makes a Brood War fan that happy. A bunch of these new sponsors like this one and Korean Air already have plans to transition to SC2, and seem to be getting into BW sponsorship just for an early foothold before SC2 (they expect) becomes big.
Yeah, even JBanKs here, the marketing rep, thinks it would be "interesting to see everyone switch to SC2" - not only is this a disappointment to us, but even while trying to put aside my biases, I really don't think SC2 will play out the way everyone expects in terms of "eSports". Can't know unless you try.
At the cost of the death of the BW scene, no.
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Never heard of ZOWIE before this announcement but I will definitely check out their products when I am getting a new mouse. Wondering if mouse + mousepad will be designed to help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome or hand injuries in general.
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LMO with zowie paintjob coming on the pro scene? lol
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Doesnt Razer sponsor WeMadeFOX?
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Maybe this will help BW survive... but it is still just my crazy dream. Its as unlikely as  BoxeR playing in the Proleague match agains STX
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On July 27 2010 23:23 heynes wrote:Razer has the worst quality in the world, steelseries is way too expensive and logitech does only the casual shit. i think zowies approach is really good, having the pro gamers involved in the production cycle. They don´t think about all the marketing aspects of a product, they just want the best shape and super fast buttons to click. those two mice look good especially the left one. I got 5 mice and 4 keyboards at home and i tested way more at work, so im really picky when it comes to this stuf
Razer has the worst quality in the world?
My salmosa has lasted for several years now and i've never had an issue with it. Dunno how you can get much better than that.
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On July 30 2010 04:13 Lightningbullet wrote:Maybe this will help BW survive... but it is still just my crazy dream. Its as unlikely as BoxeR playing in the Proleague match agains STX
BW will not die out anytime soon...in Korea.
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Leave it to Flash to set new precidates in an 11 year old game
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EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.zowiegear.com/images/up_images/ec_mouse/DSC_1906s.jpg)
