In a recent press release, Tournament.com announced they have struck a deal, becoming the only site officially licensed to host Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Counter-Strike: Source matches with cash prizes. Players will be able to compete against others and even place small stakes on their own skills. Users’ skills can be viewed and monitored thanks to a ranking and handicap system, and to ensure responsible gambling, err…gaming, players are only allowed to stake $10 per match and can only deposit a maximum of $150 per month. That means you’ll just have to lose the rest of your money in Vegas.

With Warhammer Online looking for beta guilds, it’s time to take a look at a fresh batch of screenshots and art from the upcoming MMO. If you haven’t thought about giving this one a try yet, you most likely will after you see these.

Mythic Entertainment and EA are looking to pre-made clans and guilds to help Beta test the realm vs. realm capabilities of the upcoming Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. To apply, guild leaders need simply fill out the application form between now and May 4. If selected, the guild leader will receive instructions and codes to distribute among their members. Be aware that all testers must be 18 or older and agree to the standard beta NDA. Furthermore, if any member violates the NDA or code of conduct the entire guild gets the boot.

Wouldn’t it be great if the code of conduct was ridiculously strict. System Message: “Your healer has pulled the boss while attempting to rez the MT. Your guild has been banned –EA”.

via Kotaku, via some guy, via a series of tubes

Midway and Turbine have officially released Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar to an eagerly awaiting public. Well I know they were eager, but after the massive open beta it’s not like we could say they were waiting. Fans from the beta will finally get to see Tolkien’s world the way the developers wanted them too as the low-rez graphic gloves are off, and the level 15 cap has been removed. While I don’t know if this will become the One MMO to Rule Them All, it will at least give the non-WoW gamers a viable fantasy-MMO option. No I did not forget about Vanguard, the key word was “viable”.

Most gamers today realize that consoles hold the lion’s share of the gaming market. Some of us recall when that was not the case, and recent numbers indicate that PC games are making quite a comeback against their console brethren. The NDP Group, an independent research firm, says that for the first two months of 2007, PC game sales have jumped to $203 million, a 48% increase compared to the same period last year. While they point to the success of World of Warcraft as a prime example, Anita Frazier, an industry analyst for the NPD Group says, “The robust performance we’re seeing in PC game sales can be tied to several key titles across several genres.” One thing I would be remiss in not mentioning would be the recent efforts of Microsoft to spotlight the PC as a gaming platform. Sure, it’s in their best interest, but you have to admit that the Games for Windows tag is a pretty darn good idea. Especially when you consider that they plan to tie the PC and console gamers together using Games for Windows – Live in the near future. I wonder who will win those online contests?

Everyone knows that America’s Army is a great shooter, and everyone knows that it’s produced by the US Army. This June, the US Army is set to sponsor a channel at the website of the Global Gaming League, and anti-recruitment groups are slamming the Army for these plans. “It is part of this campaign for the last 20 years to invade youth culture with militarism,” says Project on Youth and Non-military Opportunities co-founder Rick Jahnkow. “It affects the way young people think. It affects their world view. That is a very dangerous thing.” Oskar Castro of the “admittedly anti-war” American Friends Service Committee said, “You don’t have ‘game over’ and start again. ‘Game over’ means you come home in a body bag and a casket,” in a statement he made decrying the practice of using games as a recruiting tool.

I’m fairly sure that anyone who falls into the ‘Teen’ category (the ESRB rating for America’s Army) is well aware that you don’t get to get up and go home after being killed in a real war. Why is it that these people get worried about how games affect someone’s world view, but they never mention the violence in TV, movies, or even the news? Besides that, what’s wrong with a young person anting to join the military? It’s a job that pays well, has great benefits, and allows that person to travel. Granted, it may not be quite as desirable a job with a war going on, but kids today are aware of the war. It’s not like they don’t see it on a daily basis from every news outlet.

It’s time for people to realize that games are not the brainwashing machines that the mainstream media thinks they are. On that note, these activist groups should stop using games as a prop for their cause.

While we’re talking about LotR Online, before the launch date has even arrived, Turbine has already announced their first free content update, Shores of Evendim. This update, billed as the “first of many free updates,” will allow players to journey to Evendim, and to adventure there. They’ll even get to help Aragorn in his quest to reforge Narsil.

This update will include new monsters, new quests, new zones, and even changes to the music system. It will also add a raid encounter. In many cases, announcing new content prior to launching a game is highly suspect, but if this update is what we can expect from Turbine, maybe LotR Online will break that paradigm.

With Lord of the Rings Online launching in the US this Tuesday, April 24th, Turbine is teaming up with Gamestop to host “Midnight Madness” launch events at five Gamestop locations throughout the country. Fans who show up at these events will not only get their copy of the game, they’ll get to meet members of the development team as well. There will be contests to win signed posters, pre-paid game cards, and exclusive event t-shirts. Heck, they’re even holding contests for the best LotR themed costumes, with each location awarding prizes to the three best costumes. The only downside to this is that the five locations are: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle. If you’re not close to one of those locations, you’re out of luck. If you can’t make one of these events, which run from 11:00PM – Midnight on the 23rd, the game will be available in stores nationwide on Tuesday, April 24th.

Everyone has heard of MaddoxX, the hacker who has stated that he hacked the Steam servers, gaining access to Valve financial information, user information, and even credit card numbers. However, in an interview at 1up.com, Doug Lombardi, director of marketing at Valve, says, “There has been no security breach of Steam. The alleged hacker gained access to a third-party site that Valve uses to manage the commercial partners in its Cyber Café program. This Cyber Café billing system is not connected to Steam. We are working with law enforcement agencies on this matter, and encourage anyone with more information to e-mail us at Catch_A_Thief@valvesoftware.com.” The hacker continues to states that he has credit card information, and even posted photos of credit card info from game sales dated March 12, 2007. Valve maintains that Steam is secure, but what do the consumers think? You’ll have to tell us that.

The fine folks over at Stratics sent me an email the other day to let me know about their upcoming “Star Wars Galaxies House of Commons Dev Chat.” This was quite the surprise to me because I didn’t know SWG even had Devs, much the same way I didn’t know that the Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, or House of the Dead movies had a director. Adding fuel to my fire, Stratics later informed that the SWG chat had been postponed. I guess finding actors that are knowledgeable on all things Star Wars and at the same time willing to stand behind SWG is a little tougher than you thought. The LotR Online chat however went of without a hitch and can be found here.