IEM Poland
It’s one of the biggest eSports events on the planet, and it’s like nothing else you’ve ever seen.
ESL and Intel spend the year touring the world with Intel Extreme Masters events, but they culminate in three days of epic gaming and PC hardware in the city of Katowice, in southern Poland. Nestled amongst grim, leafless winter forests and the remains of abandoned coal mines, it’s an odd place to find such an event, but there’s no denying that this is one of THE biggest dates in the eSports calendar.
Imagine a location like the old Entertainment Centre, or the more modern venues around Sydney’s Olympic Park, and now fill it with massive screens to replay all the action, and a truly adoring public. Get dozens of the best teams and players from around the gaming world, and pair it with a huge technology expo next door, where punters can get their hands on the latest PC tech and games. Run it over a weekend, with lines around the block each day, and you’ve got an idea of the event’s scale.
There’s also a lot happening behind the scenes, from special VR extravaganzas for visiting journalists, to training to areas for teams competing, and a lot of hobnobbing between hardware vendors. Possibly the odd night out after a long day of interviews and hitting the show floor. I couldn’t possibly comment, but can recommend the Old Cuban Cocktail bar as a damn fine place for a drop if you ever find yourself in the heart of Katowice.
The virtual reality zone was a particular treat. Not only did I finally get to play Star Trek Bridge Crew (which set my phasers to stun, if you know what I mean), but there were some really neat setups for other VR games. There was a Virtuix Omni so you could run on the spot and exhaust yourself fleeing from zombies, the always-present racing rig – though this was a fully hydraulic one that looked like lots of fun, and probably the most unique VR setup I’ve ever seen: a sailboard mounted on a gimble, so that you could virtually hit the waves without getting your feet wet.
Hardly a practical, in-home solution, but a great way to show off virtual reality’s capabilities.
The preliminaries and some sideline competitive events run all weekend, but it’s not until the finals on the last day that things really start to go crazy. CS: Go and League of Legends were hotly fought, but it was the semis and finals for Starcraft 2 that caught my attention – two lonely gamers on stage, head to head, noise-cancelling earphones clamped over in-ear audio so they can hear the game, but not the audience or booming, sports-style commentary. The concentration on display was intense, as each player tried gambit after gambit – a rush to destroy the enemy economy here, a long-play toward late game tech there, and each able to switch tactics and strategy at a moment’s notice.
I’d be either ragequitting or in tears – these guys just calmly accepted each defeat, and went into the next match. All the while, the game’s being played on huge displays on either side of the arena, the crowd cheering at each major conflict, at each clever stratagem. And with the introduction of each new player, roaring flames, major-chord rock music, and announcers yelling like they’re at a UFC event.
The announcers are handy, though. Starcraft 2 is pretty fast-paced, but I’m so far off the boil with my Counter-Strike (in my youth, I played competitively, but that was a looong time ago) that I really needed someone yelling at me about what was going on. And I was even more at sea with LoL, because I am old and just don’t get MOBAs.
But even so it’s impossible to not get caught up in the action, and if all of this sounds like a heckin’ good time, the Intel Extreme Masters is coming to Sydney in May! You can learn more about that even here – en.intelextrememasters.
com/season11/sydney – and we recommend you give a go!
the most unique VR setup I’ve ever seen: a sailboard mounted on a gimble