Counter-Strike Online, of course, is the newest incarnation of the highly popular mod to Valve’s Half-Life franchise. The MMOFPS first saw the light of day in South Korea and, thanks to Nexon, has since expanded its reach to Japan and China.

Recently, Tian City, operator of the online shooter in China, announced a breakthrough, which online games portal 17173 was able to pick up:

Tian City announced that the PCU (Peak Concurrent Users) of CS Online has reached 150,000 during the traditional Chinese New Year.

CS Online is an MMOFPS based on the widely popular FPS series Counter-Strike. The online version brings in a brand new gameplay—human versus corpse—which attract more players to the game world.

Here’s the trailer for Counter-Strike Online’s Korean launch:

Post from: MMOtaku

First off, I’d like to thank MMOtaku’s avid readers, those who visit the blog every day, those who come and go for a dose of MMORPG news, reviews and what-have-yous, and those who have dropped in just to take a gander at what we have to offer. Without your constant support, MMOtaku would have floundered a long time ago.

Second, I’d like the acknowledge the inputs and help of several key people in the life of MMOtaku. To Mike Leaño, former b5media Video Games Channel editor, for putting trust in my abilities to bring the blog to life; to PJ Punla, pioneer blogger and player of Granado Espada Southeast Asia, for showing me that love for video games extends beyond playing them; to Siege Malvar and Alcarcalimo, for keeping me on my toes, a constant reminder that MMOtaku does have readers who crave insights on MMOs available in the market today; and to Joyce, my wife, for being the rigid wall off of which I throw my ideas to see if they stick.

Third and last, I salute the growing online games industry in Asia for giving us topnotch games (yes, despite Mike Leaño’s opinion that MMOGs developed in Asia are, ehem, excrement. These games are getting better, and they’re grabbing the attention of MMOG players in different parts of the globe.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I give you the best of MMOtaku:

November 2008
Granado Espada SEA pioneer pooh-poohs IP e-Games’ ‘mishandling’ of game
Zhu Xian: I came, I saw, I … got disappointed
Endless fun with Perfect World character customization

October 2008
Beach Volleyball Online: The latest craze
Florensia: Kill-stealers and other dregs of society are moving in
RF Online to go offline in November

September 2008
E-Games clamps down on Cabal botters
Perfect World: Bots popping out of the woodwork
NBA Street Online: Soon, real soon
Requiem Bloodymare: New race, yes, but what’s there to like?

August 2008
MMO Etiquette: Stop poking me!
Granado Espada fails to please Chinese market

July 2008
9you crushes Audition shutdown rumor
China’s online games market: 147 million players!
Dragon Nest: The King of MMORPGs

June 2008
Perfect World inks deal with IP e-Games
Requiem Bloodymare launched
Perfect World: Jump hack? Stop crying wolf

May 2008
MMO Etiquette: Pay it forward
Fly For Fun Penya Hack!
Khan Online Philippines bows out

April 2008
Philippines to host Ragnarok World Championships
In this part of the world, MMORPGs and cosplay go hand in hand
Pandora Saga to grace Philippine shores

March 2008
Fantasy Westward Journey online posts 166 million concurrent users
They’re cute and cuddly, and they’re coming to your PC
Not so supa anymore

February 2008
RF Online Crimson Dawn is now online
Blog post on Perfect World clan too hot to handle?
Third job classes coming to Ragnarok Online
Blog post on Perfect World clan’s struggle stirs hornets’ nest

January 2008
GigaMedia bags license to operate Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Reign of Revolution: No rules, just power
Counter-Strike Online to give other online shooters a run for their money
Top Ten Thursdays: Best MMORPGs in the Philippines

December 2007
China’s Perfect World claims strong presence in Asian MMORPG capital Korea
What’s in a(n MMOPRPG) name?
The Vista Trap: How to make your Asian MMOs work on Microsoft’s latest baby
FlyFF Philippines launches Volcane Legends
MMO war: Korea versus China

November 2007
Craving for a slice of Zhu Xian
Asian MMO, meet world

Screenshot taken by Joel from the online game Perfect World, developed by Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd. and published in the Philippines by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

Better late than never, I always say. Counter-Strike Online, the latest incarnation of the highly popular mod to the Half-Life franchise, has just enjoyed a successful three-day closed beta test, developers Nexon of South Korea and Valve of North America recently told Game Watch.

At least 170,000 South Korean Counter-Strike players, most of whom have already made the big leap from the first-person shooter to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre, participated in the closed beta of the upcoming, heavily localized and Steam-free version of the game.

Counter-Strike Online is touted as the Asian edition of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. It’s aimed at pleasing the Asian market with modifications to gameplay such as new weapons, maps and player models.

Here’s a list of the new weapons: USAS-12 automatic shotgun, K1A sub-machine gun, MP7A1 sub-machine gun, FN Scar rifle, XM-8 rifle, VSK-94 sniper rifle, SVD semi-automatic sniper rifle, and QBB-95 machine gun.

There are eight new player models available in Counter-Strike Online. For the terrorists, we have the Red Beret Condittiere, the Asia Red Army, the National Liberation Campaign, and the Vigilante Corps. For the counter-terrorists, on the other hand, we have the South Korean 707, the Taiwanese Police Special Forces, the Chinese Devil Squad, and the Japanese SAT.

Counter-Strike Online is scheduled for release in Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan.

Post from: MMOtaku