Ooh, that’s Dwight’s desk! Remember when Jim filled his phone with coins, so it got incrementally heavier? When he took them out, Dwight hit himself in the face? And Pam’s old desk. I have a small confession: I like Erin a bit more… What? Hmm, sorry, I got a bit lost in fanboying over a video of a Counter-Strike: Source map that recreates the American version of The Office. Oh, that’s where Oscar, Angela and Kevin sit… (more…)

Last week we took a look back at Major League Gaming Providence, the final event for North America’s largest e-sports circuit. This time, we’ll look at last week’s big event: Dreamhack Winter 2011. See ESFI World’s on-site coverage of the event here.> (more…)

Ah, so maybe we do have CS:GO beta keys after all… We’d probably better get on with playing that. (Also Tribes: Ascend, which we haven’t quite caught up with yet either.) Anyway! I am sure a few of you are already saving up for Desert Eagles, while the rest of the internet will have to make do with a few measly minutes of game footage here and there, such as that found below this post. I’ve also dropped in a comparison video which compares the Source version of CS with CS:GO. It certainly looks pretty, and I am sure Hidden Path/Valve are making a decent job of the manshoots, too. OR ARE THEY?> (more…)

Last time we brought you news of Counter-Strike: GO (go go!), we were able to show you nine new images from the game. Nine! That’s a lot of global offense. This time, prepare for an offensive overload because there is over an hour of footage waiting for you below, in the form of a competitive match between the United States and Europe. I wouldn’t spoil the ending even if I had managed to watch the whole thing, but I have found myself riveted to it for a while – partly to stroke my chin and pretend I’m picking up on every difference, no matter how minute, but also because I’m keen for the Old World to represent itself well in the ancient and storied sport of man-shooting. Scarves, rattles and chants at the ready…

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Valve are a canny bunch. They know that remaking Counter-Strike is sure to be met by cries of “THIS PIXEL IS ONE NANOMETRE TOO FAR TO THE LEFT!” So it makes good sense for them to look at the best mods that have created the largest audiences, and work them into the new version of the game. So it is that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will feature an “Arsenal Mode”, based on the CS: Source mod, Gun Game. Oh, and we have nine brand new images of the game.

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Valve just released a batch of screenshots for CS:GO, so here they are. Click for full size. Some of them seem to have already been released in some capacity, but others are new to me, at least. I do like a good balaclava. (more…)

Friday saw the sudden news of a brand new, all-formats Counter-Strike game, which in PC gaming news terms is probably the equivalent of simultaneously swearing in a crowdpleasing new president and announcing a world war. The coming months will be characterised by both excitement and rage, I don’t doubt. What we don’t know is much about it, other than that it’s broadly going to be CS with new stuff. Turns out, Valve have been quietly showing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (I don’t know how long it’s going to be until I stop initially typing ‘Global Agenda’) to pro-gamers to get their thoughts on how it’s shaping up. Craig ‘Torbull’ Levine from ESEA is one of the lucky few, and he’s shared a few details on what to expect from a game Valve are claiming will fit alongside, rather than replace, CS 1.6 and CS:S.
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As rumoured this morning, there really is a new Counter-Strike coming. And it’s not some side-project: this sounds like a major sequel-come-relaunch of Counter-Strike for a new generation of manshoot fans. Valve have just solemnly and officially declared its existence to the world – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, aka CS: GO, is indeed its war-lovin’ name. It will feature new maps, modes, weapons, characters and social gaming features such as matchmaking and leaderboards, on top of assorted updates to tried and tested stuff like de_dust.

It’s due on PC and on the two fatter consoles. Which, I think, means this is Valve looking Call of Duty square in the eye and telling it to step outside.
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A thread on the Steam forums seems to confirm that rumours about a new Counter-Strike game – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – are true, with commenter “Cliffe” (who is Valve designer chap Jess Cliffe) saying “Global Offensive”. There have been a bunch of other references to it, on Twitter and so forth.

And update on the ESEA Facebook page reads “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive… More info in the morning.” So it looks like we can expect something later today.

This week in our ongoing retrospective series on games journalists’ most formative games, we very proudly welcome Eurogamer‘s god-king and operations director Tom Bramwell to the word-stage. He’s here to tell you about his long years spent with arguably one of the most definitive PC games of all time, and what for one generation of gamers was a global obsession that today’s shooters, no matter how much bigger they might be, just can’t seem to match…>

I also wanted to write this about Grand Theft Auto, and I might still do that another time if RPS will have me back. There were probably other factors, but no one game is so singularly responsible for my being a games journalist (or at least having been one) as DMA Design’s original PC game. But I’m really here today to bang on about Counter-Strike>, and I owe that game a massive debt too, because it’s thanks to Counter-Strike that I don’t play Call of Duty or Battlefield or Medal of Honor or any of that stuff on the internet nowadays for a moment longer than my job requires.
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