Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Duane Mutu, founder and CEO of LetsPlay.Live. Esports is big business with the number of people playing competitively … Read more
It’s the new national pastime and New Zealand’s fastest-growing tech industry. Jonathan Cotton finds out how New Zealand is staying connected to this billion-dollar global opportunity. Gus, my 11-year-old son, will talk to you about gaming. He’ll talk to himself about gaming. Under the right circumstances, he’ll talk to a potted plant about gaming. And … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Political positioning intensifies over post-Covid future, decision coming on whether to leave lockdown, and schools and ECEs in spotlight. ‘Don’t politicise the crisis’, came the calls. Well, that’s out the window now. As the lockdown inches closer to a possible end (more on that later) we’re … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Quarantine announcement expected today for arrivals, John Tamihere accused of test-seeking dishonesty, and Cyclone Harold smashes Pacific. An announcement is expected today on mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arrivals at the border, in an effort to prevent outbreaks of Covid-19. That comes from Newshub’s political editor Tova O’Brien, … Read more
eSports is rising in prominence around the world and is set to be a one billion dollar industry by the end of the year. But should it be an Olympic sport? Olympian Nicole Forrester says no. Ever since the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris first expressed interest of possibly adding electronic sports to the Olympic … Read more
Half sports tournament, half trade show, all technology, all vaguely foreign to him. This is gaming editor’s Sam Brooks’ diary of the Intel Extreme Masters tournament in Sydney. If you don’t need to be convinced that eSports are a thing, skip down to Day One. If you need to be convinced, read on. The Intel … Read more
For years, the larger centres in Aotearoa have had a headlock on the competitive gaming scene. But with the Waikato Arena Rampage, that’s all about to change. Horiana Henderson reports. In the ‘80s cool cats toted big square box ghettoblasters around. Nowadays, top dogs of the New Zealand fighting game community carry a big square … Read more
This week sees the launch of a nationwide eSports league featuring more than 50 teams from high schools around the country. But is this whole thing legit? Like, are they actually going to let kids play computer games as a sport? We sent Eugenia Woo to the High School League open night to find out. Parents … Read more
This month planet Earth will shake as the League of Legends World Championships thunder across the globe. It’s the esports Superbowl and for the teams taking part there’s big cheddar to be made. Our LoL correspondent Eugenia Woo is covering the event all month with weekly round ups and standings, but first here’s a in-depth … Read more
Our LoL correspondent Eugenia Woo lists her teams to look out for after the first week of competition. If you’re new to the esport, have a look at her beginner’s guide to League of Legends. My standings are mostly based on the results from Week 1, but like any other sports fan I’ve got my … Read more