counter-strike posts

As promised earlier this week the official Tactical Intervention web site is now offering folks a chance to try out the next multiplayer shooter from Minh "Gooseman' Le, the creator of the original Counter-Strike. The site has also posted up a YouTube video showing off gameplay from the title for the first time. You can check out the video after the jump

At the moment the closed beta test is scheduled to begin on May 28. The game's minimal and recommended hardware requirements are listed below:

Minimal requirements
CPU: Intel P4-2.0 or AMD CPU of the same capacity
RAM: 1 GB or above
VGA: ATI RADEON 9200,NVIDIA Geforce 6200
OS: Windows XP
Recommended requirements
CPU Intel P4-2.4C or AMD CPU of the same capacity
RAM: 1 GB or above
VGA: ATI RADEON 9550, NVIDIA Geforce 7200
OS: Windows XP or Vista

Several months ago we reported that the creator of the original Counter-Strike, Minh "Gooseman" Lee, was working on an all new multiplayer shooter called Tactical Intervention. This morning we received a press release from the game's publisher FIX Korea announcing that the game's North American web site has launched and that they will take sign ups for a closed beta test on May 14

The closed beta is expected to last two to three months before the game itself is release later this year. The game's European publisher Mayn Interactive will also have their own closed beta which will run around the same time. As we have reported before Tactical Intervention is like Counter-Strike in that it involves team play with terrorists and counter-terrorists. It will have some new features such as better AI civilians and support for using dogs, helicopters and more.

It's been a few months since we have heard anything new about Tactical Intervention, the upcoming Source Engine-based mulitplayer shooter from Minh "Gooseman" Le, the creator of the original Counter-Strike mod. Today word got out that Mayn Interactive will be handling the game's publishing and the game will be released via the Mayngames.com web portal sometime this summer.

Mayn has already launched a teaser site for the game as well as a Facebook page. Folks who post on the Facebook site will be eligable to win access to the game's upcoming beta test which will begin "soon". Minh Le himself is answering a few questions about the game from fans on the Facebook page.

A few months ago, word got out that Minh "Gooseman" Lee, the lead creator of Counter-Strike, was working on an all new multiplayer shooter called Tactical Intervention. Today a little more info, as well as some new screenshots, from the new game has been revealed by the game's publisher FIX Korea.

Like Counter-Strike, Tactical Intervention will feature players controlling teams of terrorists and counter-terrorists in matches that will have some new features such as improved hostage AI and support for K9 units. FIX Korea has licenced the game to be published in the US and Europe and the game is expected to go into beta sometime in the first half of 2010.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

The evolution of the modern first-person shooter is on-going. Each iteration of technology has brought the genre to more and more people, and the multiplayer components have only been growing. First came Doom, with LAN-based gameplay. Then came Quake, with some of the first internet support amongst first-person shooters with QuakeWorld. After that, it was a join effort between Quake, Unreal, and Half-Life to bring mods and easy internet play to the masses. The next game in the cycle, however, would cause a massive explosion of players into the fold of internet gaming unseen since Doom. Counter-Strike is that game, and for quite a long time it reigned loud and proud as the king of online shooters and online games in general. Even now it takes up a significant share of the market, with both it and its sequels being heavily played casually and professionally at all skill levels. That's a game with longevity.

Once upon a time a Half-Life mod maker named Minh "Gooseman" Le launched the first version of his multiplayer mod Counter-Strike. The team based gameplay was something totally different than the normal deathmatch or capture the flag modes and its popularity grew and grew until Counter-Strike became far more popular to play than Half-Life. Half-Life's creators Valve bought the Counter-Strike mod and turned it into a full fledged commercial title. Counter-Strike is still one of the most popular games to play online 10 years after the first mod release.

While Le worked with Valve for a while (which apparently included some time on a canceled Counter-Strike sequel) he eventually decided to leave Valve to work on a totally original game. IGN now has the first brief preview of that game with the somewhat ungainly title Tactical Intervention. While there are apparently similarities between Counter-Strike and the new game (both are team-based shooters) there are new elements such as AI civilans that react to events and can be taken hostage. Rounds are also faster than in Counter-Strike (around two minutes on average). The game is expected to go into beta testing "soon" with a released planned for the end of 2009.

Update: 4Gamer.net has some new (and watermark lacking) screenshots from the game that we have reproduced here

Germany is still one of the biggest territories to sell PC games but according to what GamePolitics is reporting the country's government may be moving to ban both the selling and the production of games with violent content. According to a number of German language news reports, all 16 of Germany's Interior Ministers have asked the country's main legislative body the Bundestag to vote to ban such games.

The story states that the move may have been prompted by a local school shooting on March 11 where a 17 year old boy killed 15 people before killing himself. News reports have linked the boy to playing games like Counter-Strike and Far Cry 2 before the shooting took place. Germany already bans a number of games with violent content from being sold in stores. However if this move was to take place it could force local game developers like Crytek to move their development out of the country.

Independent Minds aims to take various aspects of indie gaming and present them to you each week. From game round-ups to design elements to interviews with prominent members of the scene, it's an exploration of what makes indie gaming great as well as what makes someone an indie.

For the game developer, nothing is more important than the longevity of a game. Will people be playing your opus a year after release? Ten years after release? The answer should be yes, but the ways to extend the life of a game are often overlooked. There are many different methods to add replayability, including multiple story paths, procedurally generated content, and non-linear gameplay. However, the best way, and the one that has ensured the survival of games like Unreal Tournament or Half-Life, is allowing players to fiddle with the content themselves. The more your players can tweak the game, the more they will play it, and that's a lesson all developers should take to heart.

The economic news in the real world isn't good and it looks like its going to get worse before it gets better. While corporations go bankrupt and more people lose their jobs as a result, we at Big Download have to ask ourselves, "Why don't business people take more hints by playing games?"

Yes, there are a ton of different economic models in various PC games over the years. You can manage to grow a whole city from nothing in a game. You can even grow an entire nation or even a vast space empire through the use of managing your money and available resources. Indeed the in-game activities of certain MMO games can actually be felt in the "real world." Here's a quick look at how managing your money in certain games is a good thing. Perhaps our current political and economic leaders can learn a thing or two.

Click on the image above to continue reading Money Mattters - Finances and PC games

There have been thousands of PC games released in the past few decades but let's be honest: Most of them are not that original. Oh sure, some are professionally made and even entertaining to play but in the end very few bring anything new to the table.

There are some games, however, that attempt to break the envelope of normal gameplay and take things in new directions. Sometimes these games are big hits. Other times the ideas are used and refined by other titles even if the original game wasn't a sales success. These titles influenced many other titles since their original release.

Big Download has decided to give our picks for the top 20 most influential PC games of all time. These selections are not necessarily the best selling games ever made or even the best from a developer's point of view. However they all have elements that were original and/or popular enough to see their designs used in many other games. We are counting down from 20 to 11 today. Be here on Thursday when we reveal our selections for the top 10.

Click on the image above to continue reading about the top 20 most influential PC games (20-11)