From China comes a story of how the police are using Counter-Strike to help train their officers. The whole story can be found at this link.

Quote:

Keyboards ready, headphones on, Chinese police moved in for the kill.

More than 300 police officers in China’s northern port city Tianjin were “mobilized” to an Internet cafe Wednesday for a three-day competition of the terrorism-themed computer game Counter-Strike.

“The competition is organized to sharpen anti-terrorist skills of Tianjin’s police force, as we find the nature of the game very similar to that of our daily practice,” said officer Zhang Bin, one of the organizers.

End Quote:

It seems that more and more law enforcement agencies (and some military) are turning to computerized training.  This offers a low cost alternative to “live fire” events that can get expensive.  It cost a lot less to fire off a few thousand rounds in counter-strike, as opposed to real life.  But of course, nothing can replace real, hands on experience.

Posted under Counter-Strike, half-life 2

A member of youtube by the name of Mangwold has posted a video about how many times the G-man is spotted in Half-Life 2.

SPOILER ALERT - if you have not played HL2, then you might not want to watch this video. But then again, you might want to know where to keep your eyes open at.

Special thanks goes to Mangwold for taking the time to make this video.

If you wish to comment on this video, either go to the youtube page where this video is posted and post a comment, or visit the Team Fortress Forums and post a comment there.

Posted under half-life 2

From the Games Industry.biz Website comes an interesting article. “Interesting” might not be the correct term, its more along the lines of sad, or out of touch with reality.

The opening paragraph start like this - “Frontier founder and creator of Elite, David Braben, has said that he thinks HMV’s move into selling pre-owned games is “shocking”, and that the increasing emphasis on the pre-owned market is a serious threat to the games industry.”

Lets use a little comparison, what if there were no used car lots? Thats right, lets think about this just for a second - what if every time someone needed another car, they were forced into buying a new car. This would be great for car companies, but it would be a poor financial decision for the car owner.

Now lets think about what happens when a car company makes a car that nobody wants - the used car sector is flooded with trade ins.

Now lets think about what happens when a car company makes a quality product that everyone wants - the used car sector will dry up. Simply because people will keep the car and not trade it in.

Read More…

Posted under Game Industry

From the Steam News Page, Fallout 3 is now on ready for purchase and download.

Vault-Tec engineers have worked around the clock on an interactive reproduction of Wasteland life for you to enjoy from the comfort of your own vault. Included is an expansive world, unique combat, shockingly realistic visuals, tons of player choice, and an incredible cast of dynamic characters. Every minute is a fight for survival against the terrors of the outside world — radiation, Super Mutants, and hostile mutated creatures. From Vault-Tec, America’s First Choice in Post Nuclear Simulation.

• Limitless Freedom! Take in the sights and sounds of the vast Capital Wasteland! See the great monuments of the United States lying in post-apocalyptic ruin! You make the choices that define you and change the world. Just keep an eye on your Rad Meter!
• Experience S.P.E.C.I.A.L.! Vault-Tec engineers bring you the latest in human ability simulation — the SPECIAL Character System! Utilizing new breakthroughs in points-based ability representation, SPECIAL affords unlimited customization of your character. Also included are dozens of unique skills and perks to choose from, each with a dazzling variety of effects!

Click here to read the rest of the article.

The original Fallout was developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1997. At that time the game requirements pushed modern computers to the edge. Even though Fallout 1 had some high system requirements, a loyal and dedicated fan base developed. These fans have been waiting for a long time for Fallout 3 to be released, and today is the day.

Discuss this article in the Team Fortress Training Forums.

Posted under The Steam Store Updates, fallout

The truth about beta testing! What your dev’s and beta’s really do to test the game! Be sure to visit the Fortress-Forever Youtube Page for more videos like this one.

If you are looking for a discussion forum for Team Fortress or Fortress-Forever, Visit the Fortress Training Forums and the Fortress-Forever Forums.

Posted under Half-Life 2 Modifications, fortress-forever