This week’s Tech 5 is all about the games, however, with a little twist. This week, for all those who do not own a game console, TEENage introduces to you, online gaming. Online gaming is not only an enjoyable, relaxing way of gaming while surfing the Internet, but it also gives you the opportunity to make friends while doing so, through Lan gaming. Lan gaming is where you can play a game of your choice, and invite others, virtually, to join in on the fun with you. Although these are not the latest online games, here are a few of the most popular online games, we will start you off with.

This week’s Tech 5

1 Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is a multiplayer video game and the follow-up to Counter-Strike. Released in 2004, the game features updated character models, textures, maps, and other graphical tweaks as well as a single-player mission pack. Condition Zero also introduces the Counter-Strike bot. With its extensive Tour of Duty campaign and over twelve bonus single-player missions, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is a tremendous offering to lan gamers worldwide.

2 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. This game, however, has also entered the online arena as not only a single-player but also a multiplayer game and have gained the interest of many lan gamers. The game breaks away from the World War II setting of previous games in the series and is instead set in modern times. The story, in a fictional near-future with a radical leader ,has staged an execution order in the Middle East, and an “Ultranationalist” movement has instigated a civil war in Russia. The multiplayer portion of the game features various game modes and contains a levelling system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons, weapon attachments and camouflage schemes as they advance. Each mission features a series of objectives; the player is led to each objective with the HUD, which marks its direction and distance.

3. Unreal Tournament: This is a first-person shooter video game co-developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The game is based on the same technology that powered Unreal, but the design of Unreal Tournament shifted the series’ focus to competitive multiplayer action. The game was designed with head-to-head multiplayer death matches being the primary focus of the game. The game’s single-player campaign is essentially a series of arena matches played with bots. For team matches, bots are again used to fill the roles of the player’s teammates. Even on dedicated multiplayer servers, bots are sometimes used to pad out teams that are short on players. There are also six game types that should be looked out for when getting into the game: death match,team death match capture the flag, domination, last man standing, and assault.

4. Motocross Madness 2: This motocross racing computer game was developed by Rainbow Studios and published by Microsoft Games.

This sequel to Motocross Madness was released on May 25, 2000, with improved graphics, which included better textures and many landscape objects like trees, roadsigns and caravans. It has over 40 tracks in six event types, over 50,000 3D objects and a new career mode. The game also offers six types of racing: stunts, enduro, baja, supercross and nationals, and the campaign style Pro-Circuit Mode. Motocross Madness 2 also allows players to create terrains, known as maps, using Adobe Photoshop and the Armadillo terrain editor. These maps can be utilised by players who download them to their PCs. This game makes great for lan gaming as it allows players in the comfort of their homes, to sit back and enjoy health competition.

5. FlatOut 2: A racing video game developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by Empire Interactive and Vivendi Universal Games. It is the sequel to the 2004-2005 release FlatOut. The game is themed on street racing with three car classes: derby, race and street. FlatOut 2 also adds new mini-games, like a basketball game, where you try to drop your player through one of several available baskets, all with different point totals and a baseball game, where you try to launch the driver into the best possible spot on a gigantic baseball bat, and then watch as he gets clocked like a ball as far as you can go while trying to avoid landing in one of several giant-sized baseball gloves. In the multiplayer category, the game gives individuals across the board modes available on all versions of their PCs. Also, apart from races and demolition derbies, FlatOut 2 also includes the stunt mode which is inherently more fun when played against other people, so this is very much a welcome addition.