E3, MVPs, H-Hour, Chicago, PS4 so much going on

So it has been a crazy week for Urgent Fury with E3 and all but so much more is going on too… We recently posted a video recorded with NO_Fear and myself talking about what community meant to us, strolling down some Socom memory lanes, H-Hour and such:

E3 was by far one of the most exciting which should not be a surprise since it was in fact probably the biggest console releases in gaming history with XBox and PlayStation going head to head this year. We saw many games on all consoles and PC and played plenty as well. I know I can be labeled as a PlayStation fanboy time and time again, but that is my personal preference and has been thanks to Socom. To each his own.

Since there have been millions of posts about the console wars I won’t dive deep into it, and even as I finally write this, Microsoft has done a u-turn on some of their policies after the out crying of the gaming community and frankly horrid preorders. I really think they just approached the concept the wrong way and well PR was a complete disaster. I actually support getting control of the used game market and ensuring that publishers get their due from retailers. I do not support publishers going after Joe who sells his game to Johnny over like Craigslist or eBay, only businesses that make billions off of giving Joe $5 for a game and then turning around and selling it for $5 less than retail.

I did get my hands on some PS4 play with Blacklight Retribution and I am very happy with the Dualshock 4. It was very well thought out, comfortable and not an overwhelming change. I would say it is a natural evolution.

Blacklight Retribution, a F2P Shooter, was pretty cool. It will release with PS4 I believe from Zombie Studios.

Walking the floor there are several blockbusters coming to current and next gen consoles, so prepare to be broke this holiday season no matter what console you choose. Honestly between the meetings and such, I did not get to experience near enough games this year.

Of course you have seen us all over the announcement of H-Hour: World’s Elite’s KickStarter by SOF Studios. We really talk in the video above how much of an impact the early Socom Games had on all of us, and how David Sears is looking to bring back that style of gaming we have been looking for. Make sure you head over and support this project with a pledge http://bit.ly/ufsupportshhour

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We also announced that this Saturday, June 22nd we will be hosting a live Q & A with David Sears on our Twitch Channel, so get your questions ready… we will have the chat on a limiter to make sure that we are not getting spammed.

We can’t forget that we have added a PS4 Giveaway. To clear it up, we are giving an actual PS4 away, we are doing the pre order and will ship to the winner. This is limited to the US. Sign up now: http://bit.ly/winaps4

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Along with all of this going on at E3, in a PlayStation blog post today (where you can see my ugly mug) Kristine outlined our involvement as MVPs for PlayStation at E3. It was an amazing experience for all the MVPs, especially those that were at E3 for the first time. We had some very direct feedback sessions with PlayStation as well as some get sessions with several developers. This program provides engaged members of the PlayStation community direct access to the right people. With this access your voice can be heard through the MVPs.

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Now that we are done with E3 and all, we turn our attention back to the competitions at Urgent Fury. We have the Urgent Fury on Tour Chicago event coming right around the corner. Get your teams signed up, this is a guaranteed prize pool, so if only 8 teams sign up they are all going home cash in hand, if only one team shows up they are getting $7500 for doing almost nothing, we might make them play the staff lol. Remember there is a 64 team cap, we will not increase this, so it is first come first serve. We have now had a few teams register this week and expect to end up with a waiting list when it’s all said and done. Team Pre Registration is $280 and will be $320 at the door if there are any spots left.

 

 

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Banning Modded Controllers vs Weapons for UF on Tour

There has been a recent rise in the eSports world about the FAL and competitive play. In the case of MLG, they have opted to ban the weapon as they allow modded controllers such as the Scuff Controllers.

In our case we have decided to let the player’s skill be the determining factor for a player by banning all controllers. We will provide the controllers on site ensuring all players are on the same playing field when it comes to hardware. If a player is truly more skilled with a certain gun, then let them shine on it. But if a player is artificially skilled by using a modded controller then they better get to practicing.

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What are your thoughts on our decision to level the playing field? Let us know below.

Urgent Fury on Tour is scheduled for August 3rd, 2013 and will be held at GamePazzo in Downers Grove, IL.

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POW II Intel Sponsored by BradyGames

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Last time we introduced POW II and talked about the new Interactive TacMap . Today we are going to go in-depth and show you an example of how the Intel will look when you click on a territory in the TacMap. BradyGames a long time sponsor and partner with Urgent Fury has been gracious enough to offer the best Intel in the business to further enhance your TacMap experience.

Each Territory will include the Map, the assigned mode and will also include particular information that relates to that.

In the example below we are showing below, we have Meltown in the War Zone Configuration. War Zone Territories will make up the majority of the TacMap Territories and are Search & Destroy.

You will see the routes for both attackers and the defenders along with the location of both plant locations and various info like ladders, directional arrows etc. All of this can be found in the Official BradyGames Black Ops 2 Strategy Guide.

POW II Intel by BradyGames

For more details about POW II and information on how to register head over to Urgent Fury for Details.

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United Mercs Crowned the Urgent Fury Dust Champion on Starhawk

UNIT brings home the gold after a long hard battle to comeback and win it.

After a grueling 12 weeks, we had 6 teams that entered into the Dust Championship. Normally we expect a smooth playoff but not so much this time. Teams were faced with the dreaded XMB Kick randomly, teams cheating and for one team an endless battle of fatigue. But in the end a champion rose from among the ashes to be crowned the UF: Dust Champion for Starhawk on PlayStation 3.

United Mercs gained entry into the Dust Championship by winning the second of six deployments serving as the preliminary events leading up to the championship followed by a long battle in the championship ending with a final record of 4 wins and 1 loss.

Their only loss came from Mech Warhawk Society which by far was the most handicapped team with the majority of their members are in the UK making the match time in most cases 3am BST. After facing and eliminating Killer Instinct, UNIT returned to meet MWHS in the Semi Finals is a win or go home situation. UNIT held strong winning the Semi Finals only to have to return Friday night to face MWHS again, now a third time. At this point both teams had a 1 – 1 record against each other and whoever won would be crowned a Champion and the team that loss would have to settle for second place.


Watch live video from Urgent Fury Gaming Live on TwitchTV

Each team set their fate by choosing their maps, modes and loadouts for the finals, here is how it was laid out:

  • Map 1: Scourge- Conduit – CTF – Air Superiority – Chosen by UNIT
  • Map 2: Dust – Outlands – Team Death Match – Lone Wolf – Chosen by MWHS
  • Map 3: Space – Orbital – Zones – Lone Wolf – Chosen by UNIT
  • Map 4: Dust – Outlands – Zones – Ground Pounder Blitz – Chosen by MWHS
  • Map 5: Cypress – Orgin – CTF – Classic Beta Blitz – Chosen by UF

In the final match Unit was given home field advantage so their two maps came in the first three rounds, which being the best of 5, that played in their favor.

Round one: Unit took the map 2 – 0
Round two: MWHS took the map 65 – 57
Round three: Unit took the map 2935 – 917 Time Expired
Round four:  Unit took the map 1401 – 1146 Time Expired

Both teams fought hard to reach this point and we commend them as well as Killer Instinct which received the MVC (Most Valuable Clan) award.

Over the next week we will be announcing the next line up of tournaments for Starhawk including the Starhawk King of the Hill Series. The series will include a King of the Hill set up for each of the team based modes where teams can challenge the King and attempt to take his crown.

We will also detail the next league which will run on Tuesday and Thursday Nights every month. So get over to www.urgentfury.com and get your teams set up.

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Urgent Frequency Ep. 97 – UF:Dust SITREP / EXCLUSIVE Interview w/ AkilleezMight

Commander Fury gives us an Urgent Fury: DUST (Bravo 2 Deployment) SITREP, and then talks to AkilleezMight….Season 3 winner of The Tester!

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Urgent Frequency Ep. 96 – Urgent Fury: DUST “SITREP” (Alpha-1 Deployment Week 1)

Commander Fury talks with Urgent Fury CIO Shane Bell about how hard it is to please all the people, some of the time. Plus, he gives you a Week 1 rundown of the Alpha-1 Deployment of Urgent Fury: DUST for Starhawk.

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StarHawk has been awarded the Urgent Fury 2012 Multiplayer Tournament Title of the Year

Back in September, we previewed StarHawk for the first time on UFreqTV in PlayStation Home for our fans. Even before this, right away Jack (UFreqTV’s Host) pointed out at E3 that we need to keep an eye on this game. He talked about how the “Build & Battle” would bring a whole new element to our tournaments when the time comes.

Then came the Private Beta in November, and boy Jack was not kidding. Right out of the gate we were ecstatic when we saw that a user could create a Sever/Lobby with a custom title. We had not seen this in a game since Socom: Confrontation. Though many will say, so what, that is not any thing new or special.

Well they are correct  it isn’t anything new, the ability to create a custom lobby was all but a tail from the past until now. Clans putting up Recruiting Rooms, Practice Rooms and Tournament Communities having the Room labeled “UF Blue RVN vs 101” showing the world the clans were battling in a tournament.

And though the Private Beta is a very slim view of what is yet to come, it already has all that is needed for Urgent Fury to launch a full Tournament Offering. The tactical requirements that a team will have to use in this game will make for some nail-biting matches. Throw in the Urgent Fury TacMap element where clans are competing over territories for 13 to 24 weeks to become the champion and you have a recipe for “EPIC”!

We are pleased to present the 2012 Tournament Title of the Year to StarHawk, exclusively on PlayStation 3. Be sure to stay tuned as we begin to announce tournament details and how to sign up.

On top of all the great tactical play LightBox Interactive and SCEA Santa Monica Studios are actually involved with the community responding to bugs, suggestions, gripes and praises. Not only that as one fan pointed out, there were more updates in the Private Beta than in the entire Call of Duty Series. Now we cannot confirm if that is correct, but I will say we saw updates daily and even multiple updates in a day when there was an issue.

The public beta will being on January 17th, 2012 and you can find all the details on the PlayStation Blog. And rest assured you will see at least one UrgentFury.com server up and running almost daily.

Also keep your eye out for Episode 93 of Urgent Frequency as Commander Fury is joined by Sr. Producer Harvard Bonin as they sit down via SatCom and discuss StarHawk and what Harvard’s job really is in the grand scheme of things. This episode is due to release on January 15th.

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Urgent Frequency Ep. 90 – The 2nd Annual URGENT FREQUENCY VETERANS DAY THANKSGIVING CALL OF DUTY MIDNIGHT LAUNCH PARTY Episode

Commander Fury is Urgent Fury’s “boots on the ground” for the biggest game release of the year!!!

As he finds himself braving the cold & crowds at his local GameStop to celebrate the launch of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for the 2nd Annual Urgent Frequency Veterans Day Thanksgiving Call Of Duty Midnight Launch Party Episode. Get all the intel about the most anticipated game of the year…including gametrailers.com‘s full review of the game, and an overview of Call Of Duty: ELITE.

Plus, we wrap things up with the Thanksgiving classic….Arlo Guthrie’s – “Alice’s Restaurant“.

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News from the Endurance Front Lines

We are only 2-Weeks into the first Urgent Fury Socom 4 tournament and we are already halfway complete with the first campaign. With 36 wars played, the standings are as follows: TNU leads with 10 points followed closely by 101, ReD, $K$, cKs, and 26* with 8. In the middle of the pack we have LPK with 6. Rounding out the field we have RVN, <N>, and WDA each with 2 points and IX still looking to pick up their first W. This tough field of competitors proved to be too steep as R2H never made it in by failing to submit their roster.

Going into week 3 of the first campaign, TNU looks to continue its winning ways after a rough start due to typos on their roster which cost them their only loss. Being the highest ranked clan in the tournament on the Socom in-game ladder, TNU has proven that they know how to win by leading the field with the most points.

A match between the current #2 and #3 seeds, 101 and ReD, resulted in a tie during the second night of wars when there was an glitch in the ladder system. Each team took a match in the first two but for some reason the game sent both teams back to their lobbies instead of sending them to the third match to determine the overall winner of the war.

$K$, cKs and 26* all locked up with 8 points each will be working to catch the current leader in hopes of capturing the top seed and a bid to the playoffs later this fall. After a close match against TNU and ReD, LPK looks to bounce back after a bumpy start. With only 6 wars remaining RVN, <N>, WDA, and IX hope to make up some ground after a very tough 2 weeks.

The Endurance format is much different than what most UF clans are used to. Previously each night would feature one war on a predetermined map and mode. Due to the lack of a party system, UF was forced to use the in-game ladder system to conduct the wars. When asked about the best-of-3 format for wars a few of the clan reps had this to say. darth_cedaus from Canadian Killing Squad said, “Love the best of 3 format. Much better than the 1-map wars back in the day.” ShadowOfaSolja from Threat Neutralizing Unit said, “Best of 3 is the only way to go :)”

With a party system just around the corner, we will found out whether or not traditional 1-map per war formats will ever be possible again.

None of the clan reps had too much other to say about the tournament other than they really appreciate the great sportsmanship shown by UF clans. Respecting all of the rules set forth by tournament staff, participating clan are able to play Socom 4 without having to worry about exploits, cheating, Grenade Launchers, or Double Rounding in Bomb Squad.

Time will tell as we see how the wars play out to determine the winner of the first Socom Endurance Campaign.

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Urgent Frequency Ep. #86 – HACKED (The Anatomy Of The PSN Outage)

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