The German eSports station known as GIGA is set to cease operation by March 2009. The news broke out from CEO of GIGA, Stephan Borg who announced the news on his blog. For the time being, GIGA will only be showing re-runs of previous shows up until its demise this coming March. Overall, GIGA has been a huge success in the eyes of its viewers, and has had growing popularity over the recent months. The problem came to be though, when it becamedifficult to make their “TV programming relevant” with the ease of ability to gain their news off of websites that brought content on a quicker scale.

Stephen had this to say on the subject: “The time now is certainly not the same as before, it is therefore easy to understand the decision. Even though the organisation has been stronger these days, the challenges were too great.”

With the station ultimately ceasing operation, the website and community are still up in the air. From what has been announced, plans of future progress with possible partners are in the works to keep the remaining areas alive.

The UKeSA (United Kingdom eSports Association) which recently increased the overall prize pool for the Dell XPS Premiership has released the teams that will be competing in the upcoming inaugural season. The list consists of the best of the best that UK has to offer with former 4Kings roster Team Dignitas and former Ubers3xuals, now Trademark Gamers. The teams will be battling it over for £5,100 (equivalent to $6,500). The action starts February 19th, 2009 and will continue for 7 weeks.

UKeSA Cheif Executive, Ray Mia had this to say: “The selection of Dell XPS Premiership teams was extremely difficult given the high standard of many of the Championship teams. I’d like to thank the experience and contribution of the senior community members who assisted in the selection process. These squads selected represent the very best in the UK and some of the most talented players in Europe. I’m looking forward to an exciting first season of the UKeSA.”

The following are the registered teams that will be competing:

 Crack! Clan
 Nervous Gamers
 Team Coolermaster
 Team Dignitas (frm. 4Kings)
 The Imperial
 Trademark Gamers (frm. Ubers3xuals)
 Weapons of the Rebelion

Source: GotFrag

Dr Pepper and Major League Gaming have gotten together to create the 2009 Dr Pepper Ultimate House contest. The contest will have 4 grand prize winners and they will recieve a home makeover valued at over $5000. The winners are chosen based off of video submission with a explanation in the video as to why they deserve to win the Ultimate Gaming House.

The following are given to grand prize winners:

– Top of the line LCD TV
– Surround Sound Audio System
– Latest Gaming Consoles and top Games
– Astro A40 Headset System
– A new Computer
– MLG Merchandise (Hoodies, Tshirts, Hats, etc.)

The following are the runner-up prizes:

– Dr Pepper Gaming products
– Major League Gaming products
(Total value for runner-up prizes are $50)

As stated above, there will be a total of four winners which are split up into 4 submission periods. The current submission period started on 2/12/2009 and ends 2/27/2009. After each period, a winner will be chosen by the MLG Staff Members based on uniqueness and originality of the video submission. So its time to whip out the camcorder, put on a song and dance and show MLG and Dr Pepper why it is you deserve a new gaming home!

For official information and submission information go: HERE

Source: GotFrag

World of Warcraft Director, Jeff “Tigole” Kaplan has decided to leave the WoW team as of yesterday. The announcement came unexpected however there is definitely good cause for the recent departure. It appears Jeff will be leading the recently announced and currently untitled MMO that Blizzard is in the works of creating. For over 6 years Jeff has lead the World of Warcraft team as their main director and will be shifting his role over to a new project.

Kaplan had this to say about the recent role switch and his tenure with the WoW team:

“I wanted to take a moment to let the community know that I’ve switched roles here at Blizzard to work on our upcoming, unannounced MMO. World of Warcraft has been such a central part of my life these past six and a half years, and it’s success would not have been possible without the tremendous community around it, so I wanted to say thank you to all our players who’ve shared this amazing experience with us so far.”

With the great success WoW has displayed over the last years, being a leading MMO and a game that has brought families together, friends closer and even gotten a few people hitched.. We can only expect great things from Jeff and the new MMO product.

Source: WoW-Insider.com

SK Gaming, the organization infamous for having more gaming divisions than any other organization could ever imagine, has added a Halo 3 division.  The newly added team played together under the name Project X and enjoyed incredible success winning numerous European Halo 3 tournaments.  Ironically, three of the four players are Swedish with the oultier being Norwegian.  SK’s new Halo 3 squad is already signed up for i36 in April and plans on attending more events throughout the year.

The mastermind behind the highly anticipated sequal; StarCraft 2 is soon to enter beta-testing. With Diablo 3 on the horizon shortly after StarCraft 2 is completed, Blizzard is looking to control the gaming circuit from all angles. The only thing left for this powerhouse of entertainment is to conquer is first person shooters and with the creative geniuses behind 3 of the most popular games to ever grace a hard-drive, it may not be far from reality.

Chief Operating Officer, Paul Sams had this to say on the upcoming beta stage: “The beta will be played on a basic version of our new Battle.net architecture, which will give us the opportunity to test the game and the service in a live environment. Over time, we’ll be adding features to deliver a second-generation Battle.net experience.”

Beta-testing is scheduled to start “in the months ahead” Sams added further, but no exact details have been released however, when it is announced — you guys will be the first to know.

Stay tuned.

Source: SK-Gaming

 Popular e-Sports figure Markus “djWHEAT” Graham, who has made a name for himself through the CGS and various online video blogs, recently sat down with “shagrath” from SK-Gaming.com for an interview.  They spoke about numberous subjects including: His show Live on Three, Epileptic Gaming, and anything else that could be deemed controversial.  Slowly but surely, It can be assured that djWHEAT is making a name for himself around the community.

“Epileptic Gaming is back after over half a year on ice, but now you have your new esport show “Live on 3″ to accompany it. What’s the concept behind these two shows?”

“Let’s start with Epileptic Gaming. Epileptic Gaming began back in January 2003, it was basically my outlet to talk about video games. It covers all aspects of gaming including consoles, arcades and PC.

I guess when it started I never expected it to live for over 6 years, but it’s gone through an awesome evolution and to date we’ve created over 400 episodes. What’s great about Epileptic Gaming is that it really is a no BS approach to gaming. It’s gamers talking about gaming the same way you would sit around and argue and discuss with your buddies. I think that’s been the big draw to Epileptic Gaming and why it’s been able to live for so long.

As for “Live On Three”, it’s the eSports show I always wanted to do.

When the CGS closed, I realized that I was no longer handcuffed to any particular league or organization. I felt like it was finally the appropriate time to begin my own show about pro-gaming and one that wasn’t going to be biased. I personally believe that pro-gaming is in a fragile state right now and I feel like we need a voice and opinion out there that’s not going to sugar coat things… we need truth… we need answers. That’s the main focus of LO3: to educate and “expose” pro-gaming, how it works and how we, as a community, can help make it great again.“

Source: www.SK-Gaming.com