Episode 3 - HeatoN Counter Striker Tips and Tricks - Flash and Smoke plus links to tips 1 and 2

QPAD, the Swedish company famed for its premium gaming gear, today announced the release of the third episode of the video series of Counter-Strike tips & tricks starring Emil "HeatoN" Christenssen. The latest episode is called "HeatoN Counter-Strike Tips & Tricks Flash and Smoke"

HeatoN Counter-Strike video game Tips & Tricks videos

The release of a video series of Counter-Strike tips & tricks starring Emil "HeatoN" Christenssen. The video series is called "HeatoN Counter-Strike Tips & Tricks"

128 teams to compete for £1,000 in Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4

From Monday 5th October to Sunday 11th October two tournaments will take place, each offering the winning team a superb prize of £500 cash offered by Alienware. In a winner takes all format, 64 teams will battle it out in both Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike Source, making this one of the largest tournaments to date on Esports Heaven.

128 teams to compete in Counter-Strike: Source and Call of Duty 4

From Tuesday 15th September to Sunday 27th September two tournaments will take place, each offering the winning team a superb prize of five ATI Radeon 4850 512MB graphics cards, providing the kind of graphical power any gamers wants in their computer - when you combine the ATI Radeon 4850 series GPUs with SAPPHIRE’s know-how you get a graphics card than can propel you deep into your gameplay with seamless frame rates and high resolutions.

The SAPPHIRE Call of Duty 4 tournament will kick off on the 15th with over 1,200 hours of gaming in just 6 days, with this feat repeated the next week for a different 64 teams, competing in the SAPPHIRE Counter-Strike: Source tournament, which commences on Tuesday 22nd September.

“It’s great to be working with SAPPHIRE again after their great involvement with our event at Gadget Show Live 2009,” said Adam Godfrey, Business Development for Heaven Media. “SAPPHIRE has long been the favoured graphics card brand for gamers due to the high and reliable quality of their products.”

“We believe that helping esports continue to grow is a very important goal” said SAPPHIRE’s Adrian Thompson. “We’re pleased to be supporting Esports Heaven’s September Madness, and are looking forward to some great games taking place!”

These SAPPHIRE tournaments will be covered by Cadred.org and Tek-9.org, two of Europe’s most influential esports coverage sites.

Newly unveiled Alienware M17x Laptop up for grabs!

Heaven Media are pleased to announce that gamers will have the chance to compete for the ultimate prize, to celebrate the new top-of-the-range gaming laptop from Alienware.

The new Alienware M17x laptop combines brains with brawn to give you the ultimate Hi-def mobile gaming and entertainment powerhouse.

With mind-blowing graphics, the latest generation of processors and its new industrial design, you'll have the universe bowing before you.

The first of two stages of the competition, “Frag ‘till you drop”, takes place in the Outer Perimeter of Area-51 – and qualifying through this stage will require both a steadfast aim and an unyielding endurance. Each contestant will have to play on official Area-51 ranked Counter-Strike: Source deathmatch servers, and the top 51 will proceed into the next stage of the tournament.

These 51 highly talented gamers will be Inside Area-51, battling to prove themselves as the best of the best, as they follow the basic instruction: “Don’t get Left 4 Dead!” Contestants will be facing hoards of zombies in the popular Valve first person shooter Left 4 Dead, with a score table based on achievements and kills.

In addition to this competition, the Enter Area-51 mini-site will feature exclusive features and interviews on Alienware, and what has made them the world’s leader in gaming computers.

“This is our second gaming event with Alienware, after the success of Easter’s Gadget Show Live,” said Adam Godfrey, Business Development for Heaven Media. “With the previous event limited to professional players only this event opens up to the masses, anyone can take part and stand a chance to win a fantastic M17x gaming laptop.”

Anyone can register for the competition now, and find out more about Alienware, at http://Area51.Cadred.org

Counter Strike World Record - become part of history

QPAD, the Swedish company famed for its premium gaming gear, today announced that they will host the first Guinness World Records attempt in Counter-Strike at Dreamhack, the biggest lan party in the world, taking place between 13-16 of June.

Compete against HeatoN in the world record attempt.

Everybody is welcome to participate, just sign up at the QPAD booth on location. The rules are simple! Stay as winner in a King Of the Hill for as long as you can. The contender who first reaches 10 points stays and meet the next challenger. The player with most points throughout a 6 hour period will set the new world record and end up in the official Guinness World of Records 2010 "Gamer's Edition" book. The living gaming legend Emil "HeatoN" Christensen, who is known throughout the world for his achievements in the Counter-Strike 1.6 pro gaming scene, will be the first challenger to try and get the world record. There will be two attempts during Dreamhack Summer 2009. The first one will take place on Sunday 14th of June to be followed up by a last chance during Monday 15th of June. You are only allowed to participate once. The world record attempt will be played on the classic QPAD aim map used in the QTOUR Championship 1on1 tournament.

Download the map
http://www.qpad.se/aim_qpad_2007.zip

All-girl Counter-Strike Source team joins Reason Gaming

Female Counter Strike Source team previously known as ‘Feminized’ have become part of Reason Gaming’s expanding PC division. With a strong track record behind them the girls plan to build upon previous successes and represent Reason Gaming to the highest level in the European community.

With an undefeated record in the Femina Source League the previous Feminized line up have already displayed their potential with a flawless record. Reason’s new lineup will be taking part in the next season of the Femina Source League, SGL’s Benelux Premier Division and Enemy Down’s ladder in addition to planning boot camps and LAN’s in coming months.

The squad consists of five core members recruited from UK, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark bringing together the greatest female gaming talent in Europe, "We are proud to become part of Reason-Gaming! After finishing top in the first season of the Femina Source League undefeated, we knew it was time to move on to competitive mixed tournaments including LANs” remarked Kelly-Anne Chapman squad leader. “We have recently strengthened our team with a new 5th, and we look forward to continuing our success with great results under the Reason tag. Joining Reason will make our goals a reality, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to become part of their success story!"

“After venturing into female gaming earlier this year we were pleased to see so much interest and activity. Feminized had an impressive track record and with our other teams representing Reason at a European level we knew that the dedication and skills shown by these players were exactly what we are looking for.” noted Ben Dalloway, General Manager.

Multiplay Sell 1,500 BYOC i34 tickets in just 3 weeks

Multiplay, organisers of the UK’s largest LAN parties for over 10 years, have sold 1,500 spaces for their i34 event this August, just three weeks after tickets went on sale. i34 is the most ambitious computer and video games event ever to be held in the UK and can be described as “the Glastonbury of gaming”. It takes place at Stoneleigh Park from 8th - 11th August 2008.

The Bring Your Own Computer ticket allows gamers to take their PC’s to the event and set up for a marathon gaming session lasting the entire weekend. At 2,000 available spaces i34 will be the largest BYOC LAN ever held in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.

With only 500 spaces left the event is due to sell out in record time and those wishing to enter competitions such as the Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike: Source tournaments are being urged to get their tickets as soon as possible. Each tournament has prize funds of €12,000 and demand is expected to be high.
For the first time at an i-Series players can also pick their own seats meaning that those who have paid early can also have the first choice of seating.

A whole festival of gaming, i34 will also include other activities such as paintball, quad bikes and other sports. A huge attraction will be the mammoth exhibition being held where over 3,000m2 of floor space will be filled with the industry leaders showcasing the cutting edge of games technology and hardware.

“With affordable on-site accommodation and eateries i34 will be the most comfortable and luxurious LAN party around” said Craig Fletcher, managing director of Multiplay. “We are really pulling all stops out for i34 which has already had an amazing response from the gamers, selling more in the first three weeks than we could ever have hoped for. It’s shaping up to be an unforgettable and unmissable experience”.
To find out more about i34 and how you can get involved visit http://www.multiplay.co.uk/i34

£15,000 a year . . to play computer games

A Liverpool teenager has become one of Britain’s first full-time professional computer game players.

Adam Brown of Formby is now being paid £15,000 a year to enjoy his favourite pastime.

The 19-year-old former pupil of Merchant Taylors’ school in Crosby was head-hunted for this dream job, which will take him all over the world.

Fellow Merseysider David Kelly, 18, from Maghull, is joining him in a new game-playing squad to take on opposition from different countries.

Both play for a team called Birmingham Salvo and compete in the Championship Gaming Series.
League organisers are trying to increase the profile of gaming so the public will regard it as sport with the same popularity as football or rugby.

Adam today said being a professional game player was his first proper job.

He said: “I didn’t think when I was at school that I’d end up doing this for a living.

“It’s probably something I’d be doing anyway so it’s pretty good to be paid to do it.”
Adam is paid to play the “shoot ‘em up” Counter strike.

He has been playing the PC game for nearly seven years and practices for at least four hours a day. Adam, who lives with his mother in Church Road, said: “She’s always been a bit weird about it and doesn’t understand it really, but I don’t think she minds.
thing I’ve always enjoyed.”

The Championship Gaming Series, launched this year, is the only worldwide professional video gaming league.

To get in the Birmingham Salvo team UK gamers had to attend a four day interview and compete in tournaments.

Some of the players will feature in a televised show on Sky 1 due to be aired some time before Christmas.

Source: Liverpool Echo

Teenager paid £245,000 to play computer video games

A plymouth teenager has just been made one of the UK's first full-time professional gamers.For the layman, this means Pete Wright, aged 19, gets paid to go to LA and compete against the best gamers in the world for a sweet $500,000 (£245,000).

For the gamer, this means the man's razor-sharp reactions make him one of the UK's five specialists at Counter-Strike: Source, a tactical first-person shooter video game.

He claims he's nothing like the anti- social, nerdy, unwashed and vaguely freakish stereotype which springs into many people's minds.

But he still managed to fight off hundreds of competitors to be selected as part of the UK's first Championship Gaming Series team to compete in the World Finals, against teams from the USA, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Australia.

"I was working for a laptop manufacturer and saw this opportunity and thought 'I've got to try my best'," Pete explained.

"It's a dream come true. Lots of people love playing computer games, but I get paid money to play.

"I'd love to do this for the rest of my life," he added.

Pete travelled to Birmingham for a four-day gaming job interview where he competed in tournaments to impress the general managers of two franchises.

He made the last 40 and travelled to London where Sky TV filmed a series of shows about the hopefuls which is set to be on Sky One at 9pm every night in the week running up to Christmas.

Pete's skills got him drafted into the Birmingham Salvo franchise as part of a five-man Counter-Strike force.

His teammates are from York, Liverpool and Brighton.

Pete explains that the game is played on the internet and requires quick reactions and good communication with your colleagues.

"It's teamwork; everyone has got to be on the same page. You can be doing really well, but if someone in your team isn't you could lose."

Pete has been playing Counter-Strike for four years.

"People think we're nerdy and sit in front of a computer all day every day," he said. "That's not the case. I play about four nights a week from 7pm to 10pm."

But in the run-up to the contest in Los Angeles Pete's training regime will get more intense, with sessions of up to seven hours a day.

The Championship Gaming Series is the only worldwide professional video gaming league and a joint venture between BSkyB, US satellite TV provider DirecTV and Star, broadcasting by satellite to viewers in Asia.

Pete is set to head out to LA on November 25 and said the UK had a good chance of winning the 500,000 though he would also receive a 30,000 (£14,700) gaming contract and would be able to attract more money through sponsorship.

"Previously the UK hasn't been that good next to the Scandinavian countries and Asia, but we're good now. Latin America and the USA are our biggest challenge," Pete said.

"Australia tend to be the worst because their time zone means they don't get much practice against European and American competitors."

Online games hours dropping...

Statistics show an overall drop in hours played for top ten games

Average hours spent by Xfire users daily playing World of Warcraft have dropped by nearly 18 per cent from August numbers, according to data from the community and data application for the month of September.

It sets a pattern which is mirrored across many of the other top ten MMOs, with second-placed Guild Wars showing a 13 per cent drop and third-placed Silkroad Online falling over 27 per cent.

One of the likely main reasons for the drop is the end of the summer holidays for schools and colleges across Europe and the US.

Other key MMO titles remained relatively static, with MapleStory, Flyff and Eve Online taking fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively. Lord of the Rings Online remained in eighth place.

The top ten first-person shooters have also fallen across the board, although there was no change in the top five most played titles.

Call of Duty 2 Multiplayer and Counter-Strike Source took the top slots convincingly, although they lost around 12 per cent and 18 per cent of their audiences respectively.

Battlefield 2, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Counter-Strike 1.6 rounded off the top five.

September's bonus statistic compared all World War II games, and unsurprisingly Call of Duty 2 Multiplayer was also top of that list, with other Call of Duty titles also taking third and fourth places.

Xfire is an application which tracks gameplay statistics for its user base of over 8 million, based mostly in Europe and North America.