oXKryptoniteXo
06-30-2006, 09:32 AM
So yeah i was on aol this morning and there was a pop up and it had halo 2 on it and yes i had to click and see what was up and i found this w00t.
A Girl's Salute to Capture the Flag
A simple kid's game turns into a very adult activity.
BY LIBE GOAD, AOL GAMES
It was a typical Texas August in 1986 -- 100 degrees and humid, the sun scorching our skin. Hidden amid the dense pine forests nears the Texas-Louisiana border, Camp Pine Cove introduced me to many things, among those a little game called Capture the Flag.
Of course, they didn’t call it Capture the Flag. Instead the camp counselors opted for a History Channel take on the game and called it ‘Gestapo.’ The game was played at night and went like this: kids rushed for a flag which sitting in the middle of a wooded area, right beneath a crudely built tower and topped by a manually operated search light. Anyone spotted by the light would have to go back to the edge of the woods, sit out for a minute and then try again. To add to the peril, free-roaming camp counselors armed with flashlights acted as the guards, so while you were so stealthily making your way through the trees toward the tower, counselors could come up from behind and flash you with light, meaning a time out and starting over again. I never got my grubby hands on the flag, (partially because all the guys got smart and used team tactics to get the flags, while me and my friend snuck around willy-nilly in the woods,) but it was a fantastic experience and, unknown to me, a foreshadowing of my future.
Next stop: Paintball. We joined a group of near-strangers in the City early one summer morning in 1998 and drove three hours to some backwoods paintball course where we were subjected to the joys (and pain) of paintball. We donned oversized camo suits and headgear and set out to the Connecticut woods to blast the hell out of each other with plastic balls filled with neon paint. While lying face-down in an overgrown patch of grass, avoiding a 12-year-old with a souped-up automatic paintball gun, something occurred to me. This was just Capture the Flag – with paint! I marveled at the thought until the little punk with the machine gun spotted me and unleashed a volley of paintballs at my head.
Then ‘Quake’ entered the picture. Someone at work showed me this crazy violent video game with a soundtrack by … Trent Reznor!? We dove into the game, and it was easy even for the novices to pick up because it was just Capture the Flag – on a computer! It was the same game we’d all been playing for decades, just with far more firepower than either a $3 plastic flashlight or $200 paintball gun. Memorize a few maps, locate the shortest shortcuts to the BFG and the fragging commenced. Boy, did it commence. We played during work; we played after work; we played on weekends.
The girls eventually got good enough to mow down the guys we played with, and then it dawned on us – this was the first time we played Capture the Flag without the annoying male vs. female thing hovering in the background. Not that we’d really noticed that kind of thing before, but the concept was novel -- this Capture the Flag was the great equalizer.
In a short time since, an entire culture has emerged around the video game version of Capture the Flag. First, in newer and better games like ‘Counter-Strike,’ ‘Unreal Tournament,’ and the excellent ‘Battlefield’ games from Electronic Arts. Pro gamers play these games to win cash in large tournaments, and women play in them too. In fact, women are getting more vocal about playing these kinds of games. There are on-and-off FPSers, like myself, and women in tight-knit groups, like the PMS Clan and the Fragdolls, who follow strict boot-camp-like practice sessions and play these games for cash and a taste of fame.
Suddenly, Capture the Flag turns into a very grown-up proposition. The simple childhood game turns into a full-time career and gender bender and even then, before we get too serious, gunning for that elusive flag’s still the one of the best ways to forget a long day of work.
Here's the link to the other articles.
http://videogames.aol.com/canvases/articles/_a/an-appreciation-of-capture-the-flag/20060627191309990001
A Girl's Salute to Capture the Flag
A simple kid's game turns into a very adult activity.
BY LIBE GOAD, AOL GAMES
It was a typical Texas August in 1986 -- 100 degrees and humid, the sun scorching our skin. Hidden amid the dense pine forests nears the Texas-Louisiana border, Camp Pine Cove introduced me to many things, among those a little game called Capture the Flag.
Of course, they didn’t call it Capture the Flag. Instead the camp counselors opted for a History Channel take on the game and called it ‘Gestapo.’ The game was played at night and went like this: kids rushed for a flag which sitting in the middle of a wooded area, right beneath a crudely built tower and topped by a manually operated search light. Anyone spotted by the light would have to go back to the edge of the woods, sit out for a minute and then try again. To add to the peril, free-roaming camp counselors armed with flashlights acted as the guards, so while you were so stealthily making your way through the trees toward the tower, counselors could come up from behind and flash you with light, meaning a time out and starting over again. I never got my grubby hands on the flag, (partially because all the guys got smart and used team tactics to get the flags, while me and my friend snuck around willy-nilly in the woods,) but it was a fantastic experience and, unknown to me, a foreshadowing of my future.
Next stop: Paintball. We joined a group of near-strangers in the City early one summer morning in 1998 and drove three hours to some backwoods paintball course where we were subjected to the joys (and pain) of paintball. We donned oversized camo suits and headgear and set out to the Connecticut woods to blast the hell out of each other with plastic balls filled with neon paint. While lying face-down in an overgrown patch of grass, avoiding a 12-year-old with a souped-up automatic paintball gun, something occurred to me. This was just Capture the Flag – with paint! I marveled at the thought until the little punk with the machine gun spotted me and unleashed a volley of paintballs at my head.
Then ‘Quake’ entered the picture. Someone at work showed me this crazy violent video game with a soundtrack by … Trent Reznor!? We dove into the game, and it was easy even for the novices to pick up because it was just Capture the Flag – on a computer! It was the same game we’d all been playing for decades, just with far more firepower than either a $3 plastic flashlight or $200 paintball gun. Memorize a few maps, locate the shortest shortcuts to the BFG and the fragging commenced. Boy, did it commence. We played during work; we played after work; we played on weekends.
The girls eventually got good enough to mow down the guys we played with, and then it dawned on us – this was the first time we played Capture the Flag without the annoying male vs. female thing hovering in the background. Not that we’d really noticed that kind of thing before, but the concept was novel -- this Capture the Flag was the great equalizer.
In a short time since, an entire culture has emerged around the video game version of Capture the Flag. First, in newer and better games like ‘Counter-Strike,’ ‘Unreal Tournament,’ and the excellent ‘Battlefield’ games from Electronic Arts. Pro gamers play these games to win cash in large tournaments, and women play in them too. In fact, women are getting more vocal about playing these kinds of games. There are on-and-off FPSers, like myself, and women in tight-knit groups, like the PMS Clan and the Fragdolls, who follow strict boot-camp-like practice sessions and play these games for cash and a taste of fame.
Suddenly, Capture the Flag turns into a very grown-up proposition. The simple childhood game turns into a full-time career and gender bender and even then, before we get too serious, gunning for that elusive flag’s still the one of the best ways to forget a long day of work.
Here's the link to the other articles.
http://videogames.aol.com/canvases/articles/_a/an-appreciation-of-capture-the-flag/20060627191309990001