Walk into most Internet cafes in Taipei, and you'll be assaulted by the sound of gunfire and the command "lock and load!" You've just entered the world of Counter-Strike (CS), the computer game that has changed the face of interactive video gaming. Relatively unknown six-months ago, it has taken Taiwan by storm, and the country is now producing some of the world's top players in the game.
A new standard
It's 6pm on a weekday and the cafes are filled to capacity, with kids taking a break between regular school and cram school, businessmen before they go home, students, occasional players and professional "killers." Most of them are admitted CS addicts. The action carries on around the clock, as many cafes are open 24 hours a day.
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF UNALIS
In the world of computer gaming, CS falls into the category of the "first person shooter," in which the computer presents a player's view (usually at the end of a gun barrel) of a virtual world. It engenders a very first person response as well.
Eric Chung (鍾誠芳), a department store public relations officer when he's not playing CS, says, "Behind every character there is a real person, so it gets to be about honor. Stay calm, stay cool, be cold-blooded and shoot them in the head."
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
For all its visceral appeal, CS is not the only first-person shooter around. Quake III, Team Fortress and Unreal Tournament all offer enhanced graphics and fast action, but it is the importance of teamwork, strategy and character that distinguishes CS from the other games.
CS is the world's No. 1 online action game, according to most gaming industry magazines and Web sites. Log on any time and there are around 5,000 games taking place over the Internet, with any given game drawing up to 36 players from anywhere in the world. When you take into account the number of local area network (LAN) games being played -- which are far more popular because of the connection speed -- it is clear the game has become a phenomenon.
The first version of the game appeared a couple of years ago as Half-Life, with a storyline by horror writer Marc Laidlow. Half-Life was good, but it is how the game mutated into its present form that has made it special. Led by a programmer called Gooseman, the game was systematically upgraded through playing and testing online and getting feedback on the updates from a Web site that was set up specifically for the purpose. The add-on modification, or "mod," of the original game was distributed free of charge over the Internet, but is now being produced commercially.
CS is more than just a makeover of Half-Life, however, it is a complete transformation. The game has greater detail and characterization, it is more like "real-life," players say. More importantly, the modifications made the game more team-oriented. Unlike other games, CS isn't about being cut off from the world, but being part of it and in the most tangible way. Friends can join a LAN game, or play against strangers around the world over the Net. Players also assume monikers such as "Algorewithavengeance," "Feel no pain," "Masked salad tosser" and the Hoho twins ("hohokiss" and "hohjack"). Or, join a team and take on a team called the Ulster Defense Force. Players say the combination of personalized aliases and elements from the real world blur the line between reality and the computer world more than any other game.
Undoubtedly, one of the game's best selling points is the realistically rendered violence, a point which may also help explain why most players are young men. But to stay alive requires strategy, and to win tournaments, teamwork is essential. The best CS players, some say, are like chess masters.
Entering the fray
Simply put, it's hunt and be hunted, kill or be killed. The game is so fast-paced it can be daunting and life expectancy is generally short. There are an array of controls and commands that require dexterity, but for a seasoned "fighter" most of the moves become second nature. As the makers of the game proudly announce: "We are immersed in the frightening and intense world of counter-terrorism."
There are two sides in the game -- the terrorists and the counter-terrorists. There are two different types of scenarios in the game. In the first, the counter-terrorists' task is to rescue hostages before being killed by the terrorists. In the second, the terrorists must plant a bomb before being killed by the counter-terrorists. At the start of the game you can buy an array of realistically actualized armaments like the MAC 10, the Steyr Aug sniper rifle with telescopic sight function, flash and smoke grenades. Choosing the right weapons according to the opponent, terrain and battle plan is essential.
One of Taipei's aces, "Aska," is in the virtual courtyard arming up with his fellow counter-terrorists at the beginning of a new round. He buys a Kalashnikov, extra ammunition and some Kevlar body armor. Lightning flashes across the sky as Italian "three tenor" music plays.
The team -- made up of anyone who has logged onto the game, and which can include both friends and strangers -- moves cautiously up a cobbled avenue, keeping together, covering each other. When sniper fire picks off one of the team everyone dives for cover. Aska crouches behind some crates, while another teammate throws a grenade toward the sniper. There is smoke everywhere and as the scene begins to clear Aska sees the sniper through his scope. He takes his shot and checks he has made the kill. He switches to a pistol, pushes open a door, picks up a machine gun from a terrorist sprawled on the ground and enters a house.
"Stick together, team," says a voice from a teammate. There is the sound of footsteps. Aska crouches behind a wall and waits. The enemy rush by. He takes aim and squeezes off a couple of rounds into two men's backs. Moving off, jumping and zig-zagging to reduce the chances of being picked off himself, he passes through the corridors of the flock wallpapered house, past a picture of Edvard Munch's The Scream and up another corridor. Suddenly there is the sound of gunfire, a dash of red on the screen and Aska goes down, out of the game.
Aska, whose real name is Long Chai-fu (
"If I have problems I play the game and they all go away," he says and admits to losing his previous job because of CS.
The competition
Long is now head of a cartel called T.I.C (Team Iron Cross), numbering around 30 players. He says the best teams are not necessarily the best players, but have the best tactics.
Aztec (戰略高手) is the biggest Internet cafe chain in the country, with 40 branches in Taipei, each with between 50 to 300 computers. Aztec -- along with a burgeoning number of independent operations -- are expanding on the crest of the CS wave.
Last year Aztec opened two new stores a month to keep up with demand, and though the company is now forecasting slower growth, it has developed a sophisticated business model that is being copied everywhere. Membership cards, free drinks and snacks, a bright high-tech environment, with magazines and comics and attentive staff are buying loyalty.
Prize money for the Taiwan CS Open, held on Jan. 1 at Aztec's flagship center near the Taipei train station was NT$300,000, shared between six teammates. Ten thousand aspirants for the CS crown were whittled down to 180 teams for the final and of these 1,080 contenders "Storm E" emerged as Taiwan's undisputed champion. Ironically perhaps, he is unavailable for an interview as he has just started his military service.
Kevin Lai, who works at an Internet cafe in Taipei says the attraction of CS is that "it is like a true world. In Taiwan we have to do military service and we get given a gun, just like CS. The thing is we are not against a machine, but against other people. That's why it's like real-life."
Kevin says some of the best CS players in the world are from Taiwan, because of its popularity and the degree of fierce competition. In October the Global Cyber Games will take place in Korea and it is a safe bet that a Taiwan team will be battling for top honors.
CS represents a revolution in the industry because it transcends the program and the odds are that it will spawn a new generation of 3-D, first person shooter games that will fulfill the early promises of virtual world enthusiasts, who boldly predicted they would inherit the entertainment earth.
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