MLG Orlando: Pre-Game Report and Booths!

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MLG Orlando has begun! This is Dustin Steiner for GameZone reporting to you live from the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, FL. Right now, players are warming up for Pool Play which gets underway at 5:30 EST tonight – but for now, let’s take a look at some of the booths of MLG Orlando, as well as some of the players that will be at this epic event.

The Booths

Sony – The Sony booth had some interesting giveaways in which you register and recieve a card. This card is then used to scan on monitors with various productst that get added to your wishlist. At the end of each day, there is a giveaway for the various products featured. Also on display were the new 3D TVs being released later this year for use with the PS3, the Sony Vita and the Playstation Move including how this interacts with upcoming titles such as Resistance 3. I didn't get a chance to try this out, but it looks like an innovative feature using some sort of gun periphrial.

The new PS3 3D displays with Uncharted 3.

Playstation Move with Resistance 3 Demo Station

Stride Booth – Stride's booth had an autograph session with Liquid'Tyler formerly known as Nony. I just missed him, but folks looked happy to speak with the Starcraft Brood War legend and current Starcraft 2 hopeful.

Liquid'Tyler

Team MadCatz booth – MadCatz was on hand showcasing their latest arcade sticks and controllers. As they are the preferred periphrial brand of MLG, they had the new MLG branded Arcade Sticks and Controllers on hand for show, as well as stations with Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Tekken 6 for demo purposes of these new products.

Astro Gaming – Astro, a reletively new periphrial company, was on hand showcasing their PC wares including headphones, mice and keyboards. Check out this photo below.

The Players – Warming Up for Carnage!

Liquid'Sheth – I ran into Sheth, almost literally, out in the courtyard of the Gaylord Palms resort. This approachable fellow even consented to a quick interview, which you'll be able to find here on GameZone after the Day 1 Recap is posted tonight! He was getting ready for lunch, which is good, as he has quite the fierce amount of competition which will kick off with STBomber tonight at 6:00PM EST on the main stage.

We'll be cheering Sheth on from the sidelines for sure here at GameZone!

Destiny – Starcraft 2 – Destiny was signing shirts and taking photos with folks before his warmup matches began, and I had the chance to shake his hand and ask a few questions. No proper interview forthcoming, but he did mention that he's glad to be with his new team, Quantum, and he's looking forward to the fierce competition that starts later today.

Destiny warming up for battle later this evening.

oGsMC – Starcraft 2 – MC flew all the way from Korea to be at this event – and its no surprise! I'm sure he flew in early to enjoy Orlando's many amenities. MC is a favorite to at the very least go far in this tournament, despite his recent slump and loss at IPL3. He's going to be going up against some pretty stiff competition as this tournament's pools and open brackets are some of the fiercest I've ever seen.

TheSTC – Starcraft 2  – Notable for beating several top tier pros such as IdrA, MMA and White-Ra in IPL3. So you definitely cannot count this gentleman out for a shot at the finals!

EGPuma – Starcraft 2 – Puma, the self-exiled Korean as he's fondly come to be called by fans, has his work cut out for him tonight as his pool is filled with some very stiff competition, with his first two opponents being Bomber, champion of MLG Raleigh in SC2 and Kiwikaki, the recent competitor in IPL3. But… I think he's more than up to the challenge.

Halo and Call of Duty: Black Ops – Teams were mostly still arriving at time of this writing, but here's some pictures of folks warming up below.

This all female team can come to any Halo night I'm hosting, anytime 😉

Many different Call of Duty Black Ops teams warming up.

Speech by Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO of MLG

Sundance took the stage to give a brief word on the future generations of gamers and how much the eSports scene will be apart of everyday life for these gamers. I feel he raises an extremely valid point – for those of us who didn't grow up with eSports, it's new, exciting, yet still somewhat of a novelty. This will just be a fact of life for these new gamers, and will take the eSports scene to the next level when these folks come of age.

That's it for now – be sure to check back later on tonight for the Liquid'Sheth interview and for our Day 1 wrapup. But for now, this is Dustin Steiner signing off.

Dustin Steiner is GameZone's eSports Correspondent! Follow him on Twitter @SteinerDustin