SK Gaming has released the third and final part of their 1on1 interview with Shane "rapha" Hendrixson. rapha talks about his journey from a 13 year old watching John "ZeRo4" Hill at QuakeCon to becoming a world champion. He sees his route as almost "scripted from Hollywood".

rapha is asked if his IEM IV World Championship final against Anton "Cooller" Singov bore any kind of reversed resemblance to the plot of Rocky IV. Which Rocky movie does rapha instead reference?

Will rapha continue on in Esports beyond his playing career and if so in what capacity could he see himself? A brand name like Fatal1ty?

The interview can be viewed at SK Gaming, as well as parts one and two.

SK Gaming has released the second part of their 1on1 interview with Shane "rapha" Hendrixson. The IEM IV World Champion talks about the experience of playing in front of "all those people standing and sitting".

Find out how throwing up a fourth time allowed rapha to decide to attend the IEM IV American Finals. The man with five tournament wins under his belt also talks about that period of time, after losing at the American Finals and in the Silent Gamers Cup to domestic rival Tim "DaHanG" Fogarty, in which some were suggesting he was no longer the #1 Quake Live player.

rapha also references the infamous "five steps ahead" comment, referenced often on ESR, when it comes to which quality he defines in the world of Quake.

The interview can be watched at SK Gaming.

Part one for those looking to catch up.

IEM IV World Champion Shane "rapha" Hendrixson is featured in the first of a three part video interview in the SK Gaming 1on1 series. QuakeLive's #1 player talks about his rise from an unproven up and comer to the top of the competitive scene in around a year and a half.

How did the experience of losing amongst other things at his first event, ESWC Masters Paris, help him? What part has practice with ZeRo4 and av3k played in rapha's progression as a player? Asked to pick three maps for a tournament which one current rotation map does he select and which two from Quake 3's past?

The interview can be watched on SK Gaming.

Russia's Quake maestro Anton "Cooller" Singov talks in a video interview following his semi-final victory at the IEM IV World Championship. In that series Cooller managed to defeat Maciej "av3k" Krzykowski for the first time in a playoff series, with the Pole being a player who has been the thorn in his side eliminating him at each of the last two major events.

Cooller talks about his dodging as well as addresses the recent controversy over restarts in his IEM IV European Final match-up with av3k which prompted the younger player to speak out in a recent interview. This time though Cooller is of the conclusion that he was the lucky one in coming through the semi-finals.

The interview can be watched on SK Gaming.

After defeating Anton "Cooller" Singov in the IEM IV World Championship final Shane "rapha" Hendrixson gave a video interview talking about the thrilling four map series.

rapha goes over the close and crucial moments which saw both he and Cooller in positions to win all of the maps played. He also discusses his elation and satisfaction with winning a major title in such a storybook fashion: from two maps down against cypher to beating a Quake 3 legend in the final.

The interview can be viewed on SK Gaming.

The third and final part of the 1on1 interview conducted with Anton "Cooller" Singov has been released. The Russian Quake king talks about his uncanny ability to break an opponent's control as well as the importance of analysis to his game.

Did Cooller give up any kind of sporting aspirations to dedicate himself to Quake? What does Anton do outside of gaming on his PC? What does Cooller think of people taking the opinion that he is arrogant when he refuses to answer a question?

The interview can be watched on SK Gaming.

The second part of SK Gaming's three part 1on1 interview with the Quake dueling master Anton "Cooller" Singov has been released today. In this video interview Cooller explains his thoughts on putting ZeRo4 out of the 2002 WCG by dropping a game in the group stage, b100.death's role in that decision and whether he'd do something like that again.

The two time ESWC champion also offers his analysis of uNkind's WCG victory, and how luck may have aided him in a specific area, as well as his fellow Russian's perhaps wasted potential in light of Cooller's own legacy. With Fatal1ty having retired before Cooller reached the top of the international scene does he wish he could have knocked him off just as he knocked off ZeRo4 on his route to the top?

The interview can be watched on SK Gaming.

At the 4:55 mark Cooller and av3k exchange ggs cos they both know even if Cooller gets complete control av3k can run for the remaining timelimit/play out of control and super defensive.

For about 90% of the games on the streams from this event someone has said "and that's game" between 7 and 8 minutes. So basically a QuakeLive game now lasts like 5 minutes of real action, then the guy in control goes semi-defensive/only runs powerups and then after that 2 minute window it's game over.

Talk about anti-climactic.

A few years ago (anywhere between 2 and 4 seems reasonable) a guy posted in a thread on this site a link to a .zip file or a host which had a pack of immortal and Makaveli Q2 demos. There were maybe 30+ of these and about 1/3rd of them were practice games against each other, the rest were matches (practice or official) against other players.

Worst thing is I had all those demos but rather than back them up I was working my way through them one by one when I felt in the mood, but of course forget about them for a few months and then had a virus which meant I had to format and couldn't save anything.

Does anyone still have this pack or the demos in question?

Really can't remember who had them/suggested them and the site he hosted it/them on was a personal file host so there's next to no chance of being able to find via google.

Quakecon and Gamescom champion Shane "rapha" Hendrixson has given an interview to SK-gaming prior to the Global Challenge Dubai, for which his first game is scheduled to be played on the 18th of October. rapha talks about the Dubai event, Q3 legend Cooller and his fellow Americans. Find out why he considers DaHanG "a force to be reckoned" or l1nkje someone who "can't be taken lightly". Here is a teaser:

SK-Gaming: Cooller has been at least half out of shape for the past couple of years and seemingly only capable of winning a great map here or there in comparison to his form of old. What is your take on the current iteration of Cooller? Is he ready to reclimb the mountain and become one of that very small but elite handful of players again do you think? Do you feel as though he is a player who could rediscover the drive which once made him close to unbeatable?
rapha: I think he just needs the right motivation again to start putting in the time and effort needed to be at the top , he just needs something to play for. Maybe it's more $, maybe it's something else. There's no doubt that he could do it again, it's just a matter of whether he be willing to do it :) because knowing him, he hates losing.

If that tickles your fancy, check SK-gaming to read the full interview.

The guy with the blond hair HAS to be trolling right? LOL

Every 1/3 or so times I connect to a server (usually for a pickup via an IRC URL) I get my mouse input failing (DI AQUIRE FAILED or something similar) If I do in_restart then the mouse works again but now feels faster. So basically I either have to keep reconnecting to the server (sometimes have to do this 2 or 3 times) or play with a different mouse feel/speed every time this shit happens.

I am using:
* Logitech G1 (with SetPoint drivers, set to SetPoint implementation)
* Low mouse acceleration (but set via Setpoint drivers, not in QL)
* default in_mouse (1)
* Vista64
* An accel fix reg file

Is there any kind of fix that will let me just have the identical mouse feel I get on the 1/3 times this shit doesn't fail?

Also does anyone know why it would feel faster? (Perhaps it is doing something with the accel since people who don't play with accel seem to find in_restart fine apparently)

The Quakers from Mother Russia celebrate as blood run gets the QL treatment.

1. Is the sound in QL worse than VQ3?
-When I play duels on qzdm13 I find it really difficult to distinguish the exact direction/position my enemy is coming from. Like if I am at the RL and he is coming from the jumppad next to the MH room sometimes it's hard to tell he isn't coming from the MH room or the YA. The level he is on barely sounds different.
-I have just bought a new PC so in theory it could be that since I'm using the onboard sound that is somehow uber inferior but I can't imagine it could be that much worse than a standard sound card like I had before which worked 100% well in terms of pinpointing in-game sounds in Q3/CS.

2. Do many of you get input errors where the mouse doesn't work and if so then with which mice?
-I've found a couple of threads on the ql forums about this and how to fix it, in theory, using in_restart.
-Basically every 1/5 or so times I load a game it will disable the mouse and say some shit like "DI INPUT NOT ACQUIRED OR DISABLEDblah blah", something to that effect, with a whole string of numbers/letters.
-I'm using a logitech G1 with the setpoint drivers installed, not exactly the most quixotic setup known to man.

3. Is the movement in QL identical to that of VQ3?
-Maybe I'm just utterly appalling after not playing for a fair while but after watching stermy demos he seems to move with barely any inertia while for me it's like running in treacle right now.

4. Does anyone know of any QL pro/good player who is using Vista?
-I've used a 'mouse fix' type patch which in theory defucks some of the accel but it's still taking me a while to get used to playing on this OS vs. XP where I just applied the cpl mouse fix and then I knew exactly what I was dealing with. Using vista to in theory take advantage of the 4gb of ram and multiple CPUs so I hope it isn't gonna fuck me in games as a result.

This concludes my questions/disguised psuedo-whine.

Is there any way to check the individual weapon stats for a specific map? I can only find the overall stats for all the play on my account. No command like in OSP?

Does anyone know roughly what kind of railtrailtime is close to the Q2 style default rail?

For those of you who saw the recent and much lauded Pro-gaming documentary FRAG there is a detailed analysis of the movie over at WinOut. Any documentary which claims in its promotional materials to bring the viewer the "true story of professional video gaming" is billing itself as something quite spectacular indeed.

All the major elements of this documentary go under the microscope from performance enhancing drug use to the difficult nature of gamers' relationships with their parents. The five page analysis comes from a highly critical perspective, breaking down each of the major topics addressed in the documentary and outlining problems the author had with their portray. Ebert & Roeper this ain't!


If you're curious to find out more you can read the whole thing on winout.net.

WinOut has conducted an interview with SK's AWP ace Dennis "walle" Wallenberg. He discusses his team's recent form in beating mTw.dk at Dreamhack WGT finals, his brother miniwalle's career and the breaking news of get_right joining fnatic.

Teaser:

At the aforementioned WCG you took home your second silver medal. What level of frustration was there involved with coming second again in such a big event? Both were in similar circumstances being as you were playing perhaps the hottest team of the year each time (mTw.dk in 2008 and PGS in 2006) Your career seems to have been marked with the problem of winning events which in terms of competition are prestigious but then placing 2nd/3rd at the major events in terms of size or prize money which end up defining each year of CS.

Dennis "walle" Wallenberg: I was frustrated with losing to mTw.dk and PGS because of the way we played the deciding maps. Both times de_train, and both times we weren't able to get into the match at all. It's very frustrating having won silver medals at all the majors: ESWC, CPL and WCG twice. I've been so close, yet far and it's gotten to me at times. I hope to get another chance before I call it quits though.

To read more click here.

WinOut has an interview with Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen who recently rejoined Finland's best CS team, who have just split with their organization GamePlay. lurppis discusses his return, the team's performances without him and how the new line-up stacks up against the rest of the international elite.

Teaser:

Due to a packed tournament schedule GamePlay have a bunch of results without you as a member. That line-up seemed highly confusing for observers and analysts alike as over the space of 6 major events they were able to beat SK.swe twice, fnatic four times and mTw.dk twice without winning any of those events. Even though their victories might have made people consider them a top 3-4 team in the world the fact 5 other teams (SK.swe, fnatic, mTw.dk, mouz, MYM) won big events kind of precludes them from that grouping. What can you say about that line-up, their chemistry and performance? How do you account for those wild fluctuations?

Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen: I guess our playing style has always been a little more random than other top teams, and the team without me couldn't put in practice for the life of them so their style became more and more random as time passed by. I hear pretty much all their pistol round strategies were created during restarts and they basically had about 3-5 strategies they would run during a half, most of them pretty fast. That combined with people describing us/them as a team who would always ruin a top team's tournament yet almost never win a tournament. That being said, even during our horrible showing at KODE5 we beat mouz (who had just won EM II) and ruined their tournament so I guess we just always manage to take down one of the big dogs but still fall short of the title.

You can read the rest here.

In the wake of JMC's announcement of their new 1.6 lineup WinOut conducted an interview with new member Erik "da bears" Stromberg. After 2 years in the CGS da bears and his team-mates will be making their return to the highly competitive world of international 1.6 competition. In the interview da bears breaks down the new lineup, his role within it and their task of competing with the Europeans.

Some of you are returning to 1.6 with star power names which seem a little less bright thanks to the 1.6 community's distaste for all things CS:Source and the limiting factor of the franchise structure in CGS' impact on your successes. Do you worry about any of JMC having lost a step when it comes to 1.6 competition or are there perhaps any things you've picked up as CS:Source/CGS players which have enhanced your approaches or developed them further?

Erik "da bears" Stromberg: I think it will just be a matter of time before we will compete for the top, the biggest challenge I would say is playing on LCD monitors. It has completely changed the game of CS I think, it's harder for people to hit moving targets on LCD so now you see everyone running around and relying on people missing shots and that is something that is completely the opposite of what it was in the day. As for losing a step everyone seems to be ridiculously good online and it's pretty annoying playing against players who seem to not have smokes. It all comes down to the LAN environment and I think this is a team that will excel on LAN more than online.

If that tickles your fancy read the rest here.

Gametype: Duel
Map: ztn3tourney1 - Blood Run
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: ZeRo4
How to play back Q3 demos


John "ZeRo4" Hill takes on Victor "Makaveli" Cuadra in this WCG 2001 USA qualifier match.

The first half of this demo is a real thinking man's ztn game, both competitors equally matched at every turning point. Considering the amount of powerups ZeRo4 manages to secure this demo makes you respect Makaveli's game even more, intelligent prediction aside he certainly had a hell of a rail too.

There's action in the latter part of the demo for you fragfreaks too.

Gametype: Team Game
Map: E1M2 - Castle of the Damned
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: Angua
How to play back Q1 demos


cMF star Angua can be found here playing with fOm in a practice game against Slackers. The demo starts out slowly but once Angua gets a rocket launcher he goes completely nuts. Many quad runs to be seen also.

(Like most tdm games this demo is an MVD so you can view any pov you wish, but trust me Angua's is the one you want to see for this demo)

Gametype: Duel
Map: pro-q3tourney4 - Vertical Vengeance
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: Blue
How to play back Q3 demos


Rail god Blue tears XSR founder and Frag 3 champion Hakeem a new one in this classic matchup from Blue's amazing tourney4 map rolling streak at Razer CPL.

Gametype: Team Game
Map: DM3 - The Abandoned Base
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: ParadokS
How to play back Q1 demos


Slackers starplayer ParadokS shows why he is widely considered one of the best DM3 players in the world as he puts up huge numbers in this mix game. As well as generally carrying his team his quad runs in particular are a thing of beauty to watch. When this guy has the quad and an lg crazy things happen, as you'll soon find out.

(Firing Squad player Razor appears to be on the other team)

Gametype: Team Game
Map: q3dm6 - The Campgrounds
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: czm
How to play back Q3 demos


If ZeRo4 was the Ali or Tyson of North American Quake then czm was undoubtably the Michael Jordan of it. In this demo he shows the extent of his insane aim from snap 90 degree vertical rail shots to lging multiple opponents like he was painting his fence. There are so many times when 2-3 enemies rush him and he health is in the red but still he slaughters them all, often in embarassing fashion, and makes his way to safety.

The real point to be made about this demo is that while some legendary Q3 TDM players like say stelam used the rail in a very task-orientated fashion and often purposely waited for shots they were certain they could hit czm's style if one of complete aggression - he goes for every shot when he has the rail out, regardless of difficulty, and this makes for very enjoyable viewing as he puts together a one man highlight reel in this demo.

Gametype: Duel
Map: Q2DM1 - The Edge
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: Blue
How to play back Q2 demos


Before playing his exhibition game against the EDL champion Shub Makaveli was offered some warmup practice in the form of young rising star Henrik "Blue" Bjoerk. The map is the classic Q2dm1 and Blue certainly helps getting Makaveli nice and warmed up to the European style of play.

Don't be alarmed by the age of this demo: Blue displays a variety of circle, strafe and doublejumps which have since become a staple of the fast newschool Q2 game we all know and love.

No trailer, no seizure-inducing effects, no anticipation-crippling cliched synching, no eco frags and no linkin park. Instead I offer you col, 3D, Rival, Catch-Gamer, astralis, SK.dk and more being decimated to a soundtrack of brutal intensity. Featuring a player who placed 3rd at the WCG in '01, 4th at CPL Summer '04 and most recently 8th at CPL Winter '05 this movie displays a comprehensive showing of his talent in major Counter-Strike tournaments.

The piece's subject, Joona "natu" Leppänen, had this to say regarding it: "This could be the proof that I can actually hold a mouse in my hand regardless of past accusations of being overrated"

This is raw, intense, unapologetic and ridiculous - this is natu.

Runtime: 12:32
File format: .wmv
Size: 295mb

I can't remember if the pov is right but I'm semi-sure. A pickup team of top European players take on American clan K9 who had just lost the finals of KIT I think. Anyway assuming you can handle mildly dated demos you should find something enjoyable in it and a Euro-US game is always good to stir up some passion.

Gametype: Team Game
Map: DM2
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: autoview
How to play back Q1 demos


It's the finals of NQR, slackers have just won 2 maps straight and are posed to win their 3rd to seal the best of 5 series. There's 1 minute left, 19 frags required by disorder to save themselves from defeat when aKKe graces us with the kind of play that's made him a QW god in his own time.

Commentary included, synch it up yourself.

It’s getting faster, moving faster now, it’s getting out of hand

Gametype: TDM 2v2
Map: q3dm6 - The Campgrounds
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: Blue
How to play back Q3 demos


Are the air rockets he hits as impressive as the ones he almost hits? You tell me friends.

Gametype: Free for all
Map: q2dm3
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: Purri
How to play back Q2 demos


So you're intrigued by this Purri fellow? Check.
So you like the railgun? Check.
So you enjoy seeing newbs raped senseless in a ffa enviroment? Check.

Step this way then sir and enjoy the show.

Gametype: Team Game
Map: N/A
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: Immortal
How to play back Q2 demos

Immortal plays for Deathrow vs Abuse...by himself! Watch one of the greatest quake 2 players of all time take on one of the best american quake 2 clans by himself, on a map with no health pickups. Tension and entertainment lie within.

Update: Unfortunately this file is no longer available on ESR.

Gametype: N/A
Map: de_dust
Mod: N/A
Viewpoint: HeatoN
Version info: 1.1
How to play back CS demos

The final of CPL Berlin the mighty NiP against a much revived and on form SoA. NiP had powered through the tournament in their usual style and SoA had taken down some big names to reach their Swedish (sorry X ;) nemesis including the likes of aT.

This demo shows HeatoN's awesome spray skills as a ct, he time and time again can take out 2-3 players with one spray. Watch and learn.

Great demo, one of my favourites...the ease with which HeatoN despatches SoA players is quite alarming.

Resolution: 640x480

Update: Unfortunately this file is no longer available on ESR.