A Counter-Strike Game That Spills Real (Fake) Blood

Most of us kill a lot of people in digital worlds, and don't think much about the consequences of death. Artist Riley Harmon addresses that topic with "What it is without the hand that wields it," a sculpture on display at the University of Oklahoma School of Art until April 4th.

Completely interactive, a Counter-Strike Source server is attached to the sculpture. When someone dies in the game, it shoots leaks a stream of "blood" across the wall, a "physical manifestation of nebulous kills" in the words of Harmon. Players who would like to participate in the exhibit can do so by using the command "connect 129.15.76.103:27015" in CS.

Sculpture on Exhibit [riley.harmon via MAKE]

Valve Still A Little Unsure On Counter-Strike 2

With Counter-Strike 2, there's a big question between, do we go start over from scratch and build a whole new game, do we do something that looks more like Team Fortress 2 that is rooted in the old game but has a ton of new stuff, or do we just sort of take everything that's new that we've released and put that out in a new box.

The New York Post, not exactly a bastion for accurate and fair reporting, decided that "sick shooter" Steven Kazmierczak's interest in Counter-Strike three to four years ago made a better headline than the fact that he was off his medication when he decided to go on a rampage in an Illinois classroom.

The man who gunned down five people and wounded 16 in an Illinois classroom rampage was a loner who preferred studying to partying and was obsessed with an ultra-violent video game, dormitory mates said yesterday.

Stephen Kazmierczak, 27, played the wildly popular game Counter-Strike while studying sociology at Northern Illinois University in 2003 and 2004.

"He played a lot of video games, especially Counter-Strike, really loud," said dorm mate Ben Woloszyn, 24.

What they failed to mention was what dorm mates likely told them next, or at least told the Northwest Herald, that just about everyone in the dorm played the game.

Brazilian Government Bans Counter-Strike, EverQuest, Fun

The South American nation famous for its ability to create great soccer players, attractive swimsuit models and land that used to be rainforests has brought the banhammer down upon two of the world's most popular online games. Both Counter-Strike and EverQuest, each now nine-years old, were said to promote "the subversion of public order, were an attack against the democratic state and the law and against public security" by the judge enacting the ban.

According to the AFP report on the matter, the prohibition on selling CS and EQ was actually passed in October of 2007, but was only recently enforced by PROCON, the national consumer protection agency. Good work, Brazil. Glad all of your problems are sorted out now that the video game police are tackling the tough issues!

Members of the Kotaku Brazilian Connection wrote in to let us know about the ban. Their letters are after the jump and provide some insight into the local video game market.

CS Source Ads Invade Korea

Valve Bringing More Achievements to Steam, Soon

Achievement whores, rejoice. Valve will be adding more achievements to Orange Box via Steam. This note comes from the Valve forums, an email response to a fan, from Valve.

We're planning on adding achievements to all of our games you touched on in your mail [Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Day of Defeat: Source and Counter-Strike: Source]. We're just now coming out of the post-shipping haze, so these should start showing up on Steam pretty quick here.

We're also planning on adding a bunch more to TF2, starting with an achievement pack for the Medic in the next week or so.

What Makes a Gaming Landmark?

Chinese Police Like Counter-Strike

Valve has opened the floodgates on its Steam Community upgrade to the digital delivery platform, giving Steam users a chance to beta test its new social networking capabilities available from within any Steam-based game. Users can opt in to the Community by going to File > Settings > Beta Participation and downloading the latest client update. They'll then have access to new features like Friends, Groups, Chat (via IM or voice) and Events, allowing gamers to schedule matches and tournaments. The rest of the new beta features are listed in the press release after the jump.

Who's up for some Counter-Strike tonight?

Free Steam Games For Radeon Owners

Valve Keeps DLC Free

"You buy the product, you get the content," Team Fortress 2 designer Robin Walker told us. "We make more money because more people buy it, not because we try and nickel-and-dime the same customers."

LAN Parties: Beware The Photographers

Valve Gets Into Skill-Based Gaming For Cash

Clip: Jack Thompson Gets Hardballed

Ads Hit Counter-Strike

The Ballad Of Black Mesa

On Germany's Spreading Game Violence Law

Counter-Strike Meets Shadow of the Colossus