> Registration Open For Counter-Strike 1.6 Season 3 > CMN3 - The Latest In Cheat-Detection Technology > Thermaltake Your Best Shot Contest, Win $500 > Mouse Review: MX518 vs. G5 > eSC (eSports Chat): Interview with TsN's Bill "Vradi" Ehardt > eSports Modded: Black Mesa Source
The greatest online league for customer-support, anti-cheat, quality gameplay and prizes is ready for another exciting season! Registration is now open, until March 18th, for Season III of our Counter-Strike 1.6 league. This event features two weeks of preseason matches, an eight-week regular season and then playoffs for over $20,000 in cash and prizes. Matches are all played with the CMN, our professionally developed cheat-detection client that ensures fair outcomes in all our events. Also, as a CEVO team you'll have access to live support nearly 20 hours per day, through our website, IRC, or on our Ventrilo server. We're here to serve you and provide the best gaming experience possible. Take your team and eSports to the next level. All this and more for the small event registration fee of $15 per player (about the cost of a pizza!) To register for this event go to cevolved.com. If you are a new to CEVO, you will need to create a free personal account through the account registration page. Once you have an account, you must login to your control panel through the top-right corner of the website. Once you are in, click on "Manage Teams" to either join create a new team or join an existing team that a teammate of yours has created. For further details, go to cevolved.com and scroll down in the news, you'll see the full announcement there. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please contact us. We are available through Ventrilo ( ), IRC (#cevo-support on GameSurge), or through "Contact an Admin" in the user control panel.
We're very excited to announce the "CMN3", a revamped and recoded build of the highly successful CEVO Match Network (CMN). The CMN is a cheat-detection client that runs while competitors play their matches. Utilizing a variety of independent scanning methods, the CMN ensures legitimate and fair game play in all our events. The CMN3 has been six months in development by professional programmers with over 20 years experience in coding. The latest build includes remarkable improvements in efficiency and performance. Also, the software is easier than ever to install and use. The CMN has been rewritten in cross compatible language across nearly all Windows Operating Systems. Further, the installer now includes all system software that is needed. Changes and improvements include:
Together with the community we're continually looking to take gaming to the next level. As always, we've taken your feedback and suggestions seriously and believe that the CMN3 will greatly exceed your expectations. We're looking forward to exciting future events and hope that you'll join us.
In association with Thermaltake Technology (www.thermaltakeusa.com), CEVO is excited to launch the Thermaltake Your Best Shot Contest! Demonstrate your talents in video effects and movie editing to expose amazing shots in Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter-Strike Source, or Call of Duty 2, and you could win $500 cash. The total movie length must be less than 2 minutes (including opening & credits) and less than 150 megabytes (mb) zipped. You will be able to submit your entries from March 6th to March 20th at cevolved.com. Once submissions are closed the community will have one week to vote for their favorite entries. Every night of the voting period, one ThermalTake Blue Orb Heatsink will be randomly awarded to a registered CEVO participant who voted in the contest. Everyone has a chance to win either through entries or just being a registered voting member of CEVO. Show us your hot shots and then Coolall your life with Thermaltake.
In the world of consumer laser and optical mice, it seems that Logitech and Microsoft are battling it out for supremacy just like ATI and Nvidia. When it comes to gaming mice, most everyone agrees that Logitech is the way to go. Recently, Logitech created the successor to its extremely popular MX-518 mouse called the G5. The main reason for the upgraded model is the new technology associated with true lasers and not just "optical". However, closer review reveals that a great deal separates these two mice than just the pointer eye technology. To start, the G5 sports a max dpi resolution of 2000 (dpi stands for dots per inch). The difference between 2000 and the 518's max of 1600 is negligible. Playing both of them at maximum dpi, it is difficult if not impossible to truly feel a difference. Both support on the fly resolution changes. The main difference in this feature is that the G5 has an onboard indicator for what dpi you are using. While that might not appear to be a major difference, it's a nice function and helpful at times. The G5 has one less thumb button than the 518. I personally did not use both thumb buttons on the 518 so it didn't affect me, but I have heard from many different players that the second button is a major reason they did not upgrade to the G5. The G5 has placed only one button for your thumb, but it is in the perfect spot for my tastes. Also to spice up the mouse's feel, Logitech opted to change the surface of the sides of the mouse to add friction to the feel. I definitely prefer the way the G5 feels in my hand over the 518. I recommend going to a local Best Buy or similar store to feel the difference. It was the first thing I noticed and one of my favorite upgrades. While there, take care to notice the wire for each mouse. The G5 has a very lightweight and pliable wire, while the 518's wire leaves something to be desired, as it easily gets twisted and can get very frustrating if you use very low sensitivity. I must come right out and say it; I hate the wheel mouse on the G5. Logitech, in their effort to include right and left movement for the wheel, ended up ruining the great wheel that the 518 had. Sometimes when I use mouse wheel down and mouse wheel up nothing happens. It's the most bizarre thing. It worked fantastic for a week and then it become so poor that I use keyboard keys instead of the wheel to change weapons in CS:S. This is not an improvement at all. In fact this is the single most disappointing part about the G5. I am not sure what benefit I gain from the wheel going left to right besides in a more professional role. It's not an addition I would have made. Now to my favorite addition: Weight! I have been dying for that mouse that feels like a slick brick in my hand. Slides effortlessly on the surface of my preference, yet doesn't feel like I have a child's toy in my hand. There is a slot under the mouse that you can custom add weight to a plastic card. Logitech provides the customer with 8 slots in the card for the small 4.5g and 1.7g weights they included. I loaded it up to its max and I haven't looked back. Prior to upgrading to the 518, I used Microsoft's Explorer 3. This thing was heavy and I loved it. Everything about the 518 was great except how light it was. Overall, both are great mice and have differences that can make or break the purchase for a consumer. For the G5, I instantly wanted it because of the weights. However, for the 518, many will stick with it because of the second button. The G5 has a much better aesthetic look to it, no longer having strange fake dents all over it. The 518 is a time tested piece of hardware with a deep backing. If you don't have to upgrade, I would hold off. If the G5 has everything you always wanted like me, be sure to consider the loss of a good wheel mouse in the process.
The eSports Chat is an interview series with those who support the eSports community without the use of weaponry, such as team managers, organization leaders, writers and more. In this week's eSC, CEVO|Waldt talked to the Team Sportscast Network (TsN)'s Bill Vradi. Bill is the Station Manager at TsN and a shoutcaster of highlight Counter-Strike 1.6, Source, Call of Duty 2 and Quake4 matches. Read the interview to learn about Bill's motivations, history and what its like to be a popular shoutcaster and more in this exclusive interview. Let's start this off with an easy one. For those who may not be familiar with you, please introduce yourself. Sure, I'm Bill "Vradi" Ehardt from the Team Sportscast Network. I currently am the CS Manager at TsN and I have recently been broadcasting CS (both 1.6 and Source), Call of Duty 2, and Quake 4. In the past I have casted most games that TsN has done since I've joined, but people first starting listening to me when I was casting Soldier of Fortune 2 and Enemy Territory. Obviously we know you cast for TsN, but outside of that, what other things do you do for fun and do in your spare time? I'd say the usual stuff. I go out with friends, hit the bar on Friday night, but recently my new passion has been poker. I'm not all that great yet, but I'm a winning player. I'd love to make it to the main event of the World Series of Poker some day but I am still about 9,000 short in my poker bankroll. How did you first get into gaming/casting and is TsN the first online media agency you have been worked for? The first game I started playing was Doom. We had local LAN get-togethers using coax network cards, so you can tell that was a bit ago! The first game I started actually competing in however was Soldier of Fortune II when I played for one of the top teams in the game, Deviant Objectives. At the time I enjoyed listening to Wonderdog broadcast our matches, and I started getting hooked on TsN. Warwitch, Wonderdog, and JeffT's Mandatory Metal show were my favorites! (I still yell at JeffT to bring back his show once a week or so). About this time, one of my friends I knew from SOF2 had a radio station that he was messing around with. This radio station had a DJ that I was listening to one night, and after talking with her a bit we became friends. She convinced me to try and DJ some to see if I'd enjoy it, and eventually I was following her to a game broadcasting station. I had been broadcasting with this other station for about 6 months when things started getting rocky. I started speaking more with Warwitch, Wonderdog, and JeffT and they showed interest in having me join up. I had reservations about joining TsN at first, but when I finally agreed I realized it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Fast forward almost two years later, and I still love doing what I am doing! Have you ever considered stopping your casting to pursue something else? If so, what? If you are referring to doing something else in the gaming scene then no I haven't. There had been times I've tried to come back and play competitively again, however I was always so busy with TsN that I couldn't put in the practice time needed to play at a high level again. That was okay with me, as I wouldn't give up broadcasting for anything. While working for TsN, what are some of the things you have learned about the gaming community as a whole that a regular gamer might not see everyday? I would say the main thing is that a lot of top gamers are put on a pedestal and are seen as some larger than life figure. In the end you learn that whoever you meet, from a CAL-O CS player to Jason Lake to Fatal1ty, everyone is just normal! I just tend to snicker a bit when people AIM me and ask about meeting Fatal1ty, what he's like, what jeans he wears (I got scared at this point.), etc. What are the kinds of preparations that must go into place before each match is shout-casted by yourself or another caster? A lot of it depends on the match and the teams involved. With the amount of games and teams we can cast at TsN, it can be hard to know every detail about all the teams out there. Before any matches I broadcast I try to talk to get recently history about the teams, get season records for the teams, standings for the leagues, etc. Basically we all try to do our homework to give everyone relevant and up to date news on these teams and the league we are broadcasting. How does yourself, or TsN for that matter take the criticism set out by the community? Do you ever take it personally? Is there anything you'd like to say to all the critics out there? Well you learn very quickly that no matter who you are, some people will say "Bill you are the best caster ever" and others will say "Wow! Bill is TERRIBLE at casting." In the end we are just trying to bring the best coverage possible to the gaming community, which I think from game to game TsN delivers. The only thing I would say is if you can do it better, feel free to join TsN and show us ;). Where can you see gaming in the future and what are some of the things you think need to occur before it takes off? I think the sky is the limit for professional gaming. The gaming industry is bigger than the movie industry already, and I don't think we've even begun to scratch the surface of what gaming could be. The main thing holding back gaming right now I think is corporate involvement. I'm not speaking of the nVidia/Intel's out there, but rather the Coke, Pepsi, Snickers, etc. I think once there is a way to get these sponsors involved (perhaps more on TV?), then gaming could really take off. And lastly, this may seem like a tough question to answer, but where can you see yourself in say five years down the road? Or perhaps what do you want to be doing in five years? I would like to say in 5 years I'm on TV weekly in high stakes poker games! Ok honestly, I'd love to be working for TsN doing what I am still doing. It would be my dream to still be broadcasting with everyone here and to make a good living doing it. I have always felt that someone out there will make it mainstream. The question I always asked myself is, "Why not us?" For the record, I do expect and hope to be working for TsN in 5 years. If I can at the end here I'd also like to give thanks to JeffT, Wonderdog, and Warwitch for believing in me and giving me a chance to join up with TsN. Also, I do have to give special thanks to someone. Thank you Kris, you believed in me and convinced me to start broadcasting, and without you I wouldn't be where I am today. Also a final thanks to everyone who tunes in to my broadcasts. I'm not always sure why you do, but I appreciate it anyway ;)
Through the past month I've been searching for quality game modifications for a variety of games, and ironically, I came upon a beautiful one at that! The mod is Black Mesa: Source and it has got to be one of the most detailed modifications I've come across for a while. Not so much in the idea behind the mod, but more along the lines of physical environmental detail within the game. With some released media excerpts such as screenshots, 3D modeled gun renders, and audio clips, Black Mesa Source is shocking people all over! To give you more of an idea of what Black Mesa: Source really is, I'll summarize it rather quickly. In 2004, the BMS Development team decided to do a remake of the original Half-Life, but this time with greater detail, breathtaking environments, and all in all, a more enjoyable experience. As many of you have seen, Valve released Half-Life: Source which was supposed to be a great remake to the legendary classic Half-Life. But unfortunately, the community received a rather less than average upgrade. And like many of us, the BMS Development team was disappointed, thus creating a new version entitled Black Mesa: Source. There's a lot of content that the BMS Development team has already released and it can be found on their official website, www.blackmesasource.com! With astonishing map remakes, unbelievably detailed character models, this modification will be worth taking a look at. Currently there is no set release date as you can guess, this type of work takes time. The BMS development team is at an internal alpha stage, but is looking to release in 2006 some time. For now, all we can do is drool at the beauty of the great work that the BMS development team has already done and continues doing! You received this newsletter as a registered member of CEVO (cevolved.com). |