counter-strike-1.6 posts

In 1999 a team based multiplayer mode for Valve's first person shooter Half-Life was first released to the public. The creation of Minh "Gooseman" Le the mod was called Counter-Strike and its design (terrorist vs counter-terrorists in round-based gameplay) was an instant hit online. In fact the original version of the game continues to be one of the most played online shooters on the internet 11 years after the first beta mod version was released. In 2000 Valve bought the rights to the mod and turned the game into a commercial title later that year. In December 2008 Valve announced that the commercial version of Counter-Strike had sold a total of 4.2 million units in retail stores (the numbers do not include copies sold via Valve's Steam service).

Le was hired by Valve (along with Counter-Strike's co-creator Jess Cliffe) after the rights to Counter-Strike were bought by the developer. However after working at Valve for several years Le decided to leave Valve to work on an all new game. Working with developers in South Korea, the fruits of his efforts have resulted in Tactical Intervention, a Source Engine based multiplayer shooter that's being published by FIX Korea and will enter closed beta testing in the US on May 28.

In one of the first interviews about the game, Le talks about leaving Valve, the differences between Counter-Strike and Tactical Intervention and other topics.

One of the few remaining pro gaming tournament organizations with tournaments in the US is the World Cyber Games. Recently the organization announced which games will be the official tournament titles that will be used in the WCG championships.

Some of the games have been used before like Counter-Strike 1.6, Starcraft: Brood War, and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The WCG will also use the PC version of FIFA 09, Carom3D (a billiards title) and the MMO game Red Stone. In an unusual move, the WCG have also added the racing game Trackmania Nations Forever as a new official title in tournaments. Regional and national tournaments will be held throughout the year all over the world. The WCG World Championships will be held in Chengdu, China on Nov. 11-15

It's looking like the organizers of next month's E For All Expo are moving the consumer gaming event more into the pro gaming tournament (or e-sports) arena. The event was previously announced as the host for the US finals of the 2008 World Cyber Games and today it was announced that yet another similar event will be held at E For All as well.

The event in question is the Intel Extreme Masters league who will hold tournaments that will give out $80,000 in total cash prizes at E For All on October 3-5 at the LA Convention Center. Teams will play in World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike 1.6 matches and the top teams, besides winning prize money, will move onto the world finals of the Intel Extreme Masters in Germany during CeBIT in 2009.