STACK April 2017 Issue 150

56 / 97

56 APRIL 2017
One of the esports Aussies
do best in overseas is Call of
Duty, placing as high as fourth in
the world championships. That’s
mostly thanks to team Mindfreak,
which almost didn’t win the local
competition this year. Tensions
were high at the Sydney qualifier,
as former Mindfreak member
Denz was headhunted by rival
team Tainted Minds. If that wasn’t
enough drama for your llama,
Tainted Minds injected 50 CCs
of dramamine by refusing to
shake Mindfreak’s hand before
the match. Mindfreak lost to TM
early, before battling through the
lower bracket to beat its nemesis
in a nail-biting Battle of the Minds
grand final, 3-2.
It hasn’t been a great month for
Tainted Minds. Its former League
of Legends squad has taken legal
action against the organisation
over unsafe, dilapidated housing
conditions. Owner John McRae
also oversees the new
LoL High School League
in New Zealand, and after
Riot’s mediation efforts
with players were delayed
several times, the spotlight
is on the conflict of interest
of a business partner
owning a team in the
flagship competition.
While McRae may have
bitten off more than he
can chew, rival org Avant
Garde is the one with a
new Maxibon sponsorship,
in what it claims is the "first ANZ
organisation to nab a consumer
brand as a sponsor." We think
Intel and Immunity’s decade-long
relationship may have something
to say about that.
Elsewhere, there were positive
signs from Aussie team
Nomia in the Heroes of the
Storm HGC Western Clash in
Poland. Showing absolutely
no respect, Nomia stunned
the German favourites Misfits
by taking – and winning –
teamfights everyone expected
them to lose. It was a poor
decision to dive onto the
enemy core too early that cost
the glory, but a hyper-aggressive
performance against the #1 pick
made the world take notice.
Each month, STACK takes a brief look at what’s
happening in esports, both locally and overseas.
esports Round-Up
Junglist
with
Is the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller worth the upgrade?
Call of Duty
visit GAMES FEATURE
Pro controller allows everything to be more
spread out, and is more familiar for those
accustomed to conventional controllers.
You no longer find yourself passing over
other buttons to access the joysticks or
ABXY buttons, and the + and – buttons are
also noticeably easier to find and press.
The distance your fingers have to travel
is reduced, with the Switch Pro controller
almost matching the design of an Xbox
controller. Even the triggers on the top are
easier to reach and less fiddly than their
Joy-Con counterparts.
It is worth keeping in mind that you
can’t use a Pro Controller for everything.
Games like 1-2-Switch – which use the
Joy-Cons as part of the main attraction –
won’t support it, but it is overwhelmingly
more comfortable to use for long periods
of time, especially on The Legend of Zelda:
Breath of the Wild.
The Pro controller also has a longer
battery life, a more stable connection than
the Joy-Cons, and amiibo compatibility to
boot – the odds are stacked in its favour.
Last month, we finally got our hands
on Nintendo’s mysterious NX console
– now known as the Switch. It comes
bundled with two Wii Remote-like Joy-
Cons, and a Joy-Con Grip, which the two
controllers fit nicely into if you want a more
traditional controller experience.
However, if you too have a Switch,
and want to take it one step further, you
should check out the Nintendo Switch
Pro Controller. Although it doesn’t
come bundled with the console
itself, it’s well worth the
investment if you’re
looking for the comfort
offered by classic console
controllers.
The biggest change
the Pro controller makes
to your kit is the button
layout. While the Joy-
Cons possess a more
vertical, up-and-down
design (especially when
they’re in the Grip), the
Nintendo
switch
pro controller
League of Legends