Tell us about yourself.My name is Awais Saeed, I’m 22 at the moment and I play by the alias “wAzZuP”. Counter-strike has been quite a part of my life since the last 4-5 years. Just like everyone, I too took gaming as just a hang-out activity but who knew that this was much more than that!

How did you get in to gaming?It was the last day for my O-levels and there was this gaming café called “Coliseum”, I went there with a couple of friends of mine and we played “Unreal Tournament” for a week. This was the beginning of the gaming era in Lahore. There were two major gaming cafes, one was Neo-Matrix and the other was Portal 47 at that time. For the first time going to gaming cafes was just random but then with the passage of time I started enjoying this and went there more often. My house was quite far away from the DHA at this time so it was not that easy for me to come here however I did manage to come here once a week.

What was your first Lan game at a gaming center?I played “Unreal Tournament” for a while but then I started playing “Counter-Strike” and it seemed like a really nice game! I was good at it, better than my friends so I preferred playing this game over any other. Then I heard about another gaming café called “IGX gaming” which is located in Garden Town, this was a bit more convenient for me so I started going here.

What was your first Clan and and do you enjoy clan matches?While gaming, I met a couple of boys from UET who later became really good friends of mine and we managed to come up with a team and kept on with the flow, the team was called “TnT”, my first ever clan. Then when Neo-Matrix 2 opened, life became much easier because for a gamer quality computers and a good rate means a lot. Me and my team mates started coming here on a regular basis, we started playing matches and tournaments which were quite fun at that time! This was the time of GC, Havok, Heat and such clans, they were active and playing on a regular basis, imagine that! Probably the best time of this game in Lahore. Then one day there was a match going on in Neo2 and I was there too, the match was between Havok and GC, Havok was one player short so DOT asked me to play for them that day. This was how I took the next step of my gaming career after this I joined various clans such as “Ra|”, my first A category clan as we would call it nowadays! We even qualified from Lahore for the big event at that time, I’m not sure if it was WCG or ESWC but I couldn’t go because of a clash of dates between my A-levels and the event.

WazzUp

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GAMER OF THE MONTH

Name: Awais SaeedAGE: 22CITY: LAHOREGAME: CS1.6SKILL: AWPER

How was your experience at the Professional Tournaments like ESWC and WCG?

Well, I played in Going Clutch and Demise for quite some time. I played the World Cyber Games ’08 with Demise and lost badly. In Counter Strike, teams from Karachi were more experienced as compared to teams from Lahore. Then ,I think in May ’09, a friend of mine formed a team called “United5” [U5] and I was part of it. The time that I spent in this team and the matches we played and the level we achieved was by far the best part of my gaming career. We won the World Cyber Games ’09 National Event that was held in Lahore and then went to China to represent Pakistan in the Grand finals. Playing here against Karachi teams in the qualifiers and there at such a big platform was quite a feeling and perhaps the biggest achievement in my gaming career.

How are the Lahori Counter Strike teams compared to the Karachi teams?The best part about teams from Karachi is that there is a sort of rivalry between the Karachi and Lahore teams which makes the matches and gaming more intense and interesting! This year we went to Karachi for the National Finals of World Cyber Games, we lost the finals unfortunately but again it was quite thrilling and fun!

How do you see the future of Lan Gaming in Pakistan?Gaming as a profession and as an activity both has been enhanced quite a lot in the past few years, mainly due to the efforts of Neo-Matrix in Lahore but then again the uncertain economic and political conditions make it quite difficult to promote this activity. I wish Neomatrix and all the gamers good luck and hope to see a better future for gaming.

Play hard go pro!

Cheers

wazzup

WazzUp

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More on

Yes, as the name describes it, we are talking about the champions. With more than 200 participants every year and an uncountable number of spectators, Neomatrix proudly presents its best event each year in the starting weeks of January, The Champions Trophy.

Counter-strike is the most crowd pulling LAN game ever. In Champion’s Trophy, eight teams participated last year. After an intense competition, all the way to the finals, U[5] from Lahore became the champions. Owais a.k.a Wassupand Yousef a.k.a Carnage were the two main leads in U[5].The final match was played between U5 and 5K. U5beat 5K in the finals.

In Call of Duty 4 tournament, Clan [LLG] tool the top spot. LLG was well lead by Usman and later the top COD4 player Boom also joined the team in the final match.

In Mohaa Spearhead tournament, ‘DaddYz’ won Champions Trophy 2010 by beating ‘D-Edge’ in the final match (3-1). The man of the match was ‘Noori Power’. From D-Edge, ‘Cany’ showed excellent Spearhead skills.

In DOTA, clan [VZ] won the 1st prize by beating [U5].

With few weeks left for the Champion’s Trophy 2011 to start, every one is talking about this event. Let’s see who wins this time.

Previous winners – 2009 -

Champion’s Trophy

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THE HYPE OF

The champion’s trophy judges the best potential of gaming through this tournament. Honestly this festival runs by fans, for fans. Some like to call us a convention, others like to call us a party. Both of these are somewhat accurate, but really, Champion’s Trophy is always been a unique experience. This prestigious event includes most popular LAN games, Counter Strike 1.6, Call of Duty 4, DOTA and Medal of Honor Spearhead.

VZ

U5

IMZ

Counter-Strike is a first-person shooter in whichplayers join either the terrorist or counter-terroristteam (or become a spectator). Each team attemptsto complete their mission objective and/oreliminate the opposing team. Each round startswith the two teams spawning simultaneously.

A player can choose to play as one of eightdifferent default character models (four for eachside, although Counter-Strike: ConditionZero added two extra models, bringing the total toten). Players are generally given a few secondsbefore the round begins (known as "freeze time")to prepare and buy equipment, during which theycannot attack or walk/move (a player can still takedamage, having the player drop from a certainheight during freeze time was the only way a mapdesigner could control the players starting "HP").They can return to the buy area within a setamount of time to buy more equipment (somecustom maps included neutral "buy zones" thatcould be used by both teams). Once the round hasended, surviving players retain their equipment foruse in the next round; players who were killedbegin the next round with the basic default startingequipment.

Standard monetary bonuses are awarded for winning a round, losing a round, killing an enemy, being the first to instruct a hostage to follow, rescuing a hostage or planting (Terrorist)/defusing (Counter terrorist) the bomb.

The scoreboard displays team scores in addition to statistics for each player: name, kills, deaths,and ping (in milliseconds). The scoreboard also indicates whether a player is dead, carrying thebomb (on bomb maps), or is the VIP (on assassination maps), although information on players onthe opposing team is hidden from a player until his/her death, as this information can be important.

HOW DOES SCORING WORK?

COUNTER STRIKE

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Killed players become "spectators" for the duration of the round; they cannot change their names untilthey spawn (come alive) again, text chat cannot be sent to or received from live players; and voice chatcan only be received from live players and not sent to them (unless the cvar sv_alltalk is set to 1).Spectators are generally able to watch the rest of the round from multiple selectable views, althoughsome servers disable some of these views to prevent dead players from relaying information about livingplayers to their teammates through alternative media .

About

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PART 1 - PUNJAB

This is just a small collection of legends and leets. We will be adding many morein the next edition of Gamer’s Hype e-magazine.

WhiteShadOW (SPEARHEAD)

CARNAGE (CS1.6)

MANI (SPEARHEAD & CS)

MAV (SPEARHEAD)

DOT (CS1.6)

STUD (WC3)

VICI (SPEARHEAD)

GISPATO CAT (DOTA)

NooRIPOWER (SPEARHEAD)

PRETENDER (CS1.6)

NICK (CS1.6)

SASUKE (CS1.6)

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Neomatrix.

Wait, did someone say Neomatrix ?. THE Neomatrix? The magnum gaming café in Lahore ? Yeah Yeah, I know the place. Let’s embark upon a boring tale right now.

I can safely presume that my association with Neomatrix spans more than anyone who is reading or will read this excerpt of mine. Neomatrix opened to a packed house on the 1st of December, 2002. What some of you don’t know is that the soft opening was held on the 15th of November, 2002. No Points for guessing who was there. That’s right; It was yours truly.

Upon entering the locale, I was greeted by Mr. MajidMahmood, the Manager Operations at Neomatrix, with whom my friendly affiliation still exists even to this day, though I have yet to receive magnanimous discounts. Anyways, so there I was, timecode in hand and ready to log in. (Milestone Alert : I was technically the FIRST customer that Neomatrix had). Yes Majid Bhai, I know “Nraged” was there but as I have pointed out to you countless times, I was the first one who entered the timecodeand started gaming. Please do not deny. ( =D ).

I would rather see any youngster spending an hour or two playing Counter Strike and improving his talent than loitering somewhere aimlessly, with a cigarette or a hard drink for company. The rise of drug abuse in the city and the country in general has reached alarming statistics and it is activities like these that can successfully ward off vices such as smoking etc. Neomatrix has a strict No Smoking Policy and courtesy of their regular gamers, it is also implemented throughout the café. Studies have also shown that gaming enhances the sharpness of the brain which none of you will take as a bad thing I am pretty sure. You can say that too much of everything is harmful and yes, a number of hours spent regularly on gaming will surely cost you a trip to the eye doctor;

Enough about my self-obsessed yarns. Neomatrix is the brainchild of Mr. Salman Rashid, an IBA Alumnus who has a pertinent passion for gaming. He has a passion for kite flying as well but then again, who’s ever heard of a kite flying café ? However, he decided to give life to his plan of opening a gaming café that not only boasted the latest hardware and peripherals but also sported a welcoming and eclectic ambience for all the gamers within. At the time of Neomatrix’s inculcation into the social scene, LAN gaming had already started to make an imprint in the youngsters’ agendas so the timing could not have been more impeccable.

What started out as a meager time pass soon turned into an obsession for a number of cyber warriors as they combated in various virtual arenas with their counterparts for bragging rights and digital domination. Throw in some regular tournaments with attractive cash prizes and that was all the rave in Lahore back in those days.

As far as social impositions and worldly taboos are concerned, Cafés in general are considered to be a “Not-so-Suitable” place for youngsters by their parents and all adults alike. I find this to be a disturbing notion as I have, over the years realized that what Mr. Salman Rashid, Mr. MajidMahmood and Neomatrix are promoting as a whole is a platform for young talented gamers to come onto and perform.

Neomatrix has provided me with a lot of fond memories and a plethora of great friends and acquaintances as well.

DIARYBy: Ahmer aka ‘Kichooo’

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The management has done a remarkable job over the years to solidify it’s clientele and take care of their regular gamers. The friendly attitude and welcoming aura all but signifies the quality of Neomatrix as a bona fide gaming café in Lahore. Personally speaking, Neomatrix has provided me with a lot of fond memories and a plethora of great friends and acquaintances as well. My association has been a lively one and I hope to continue it in the long run.

May the Force be with you, team NEO. And for all those out there who have yet to feel the Ultimate Gaming Experience …..

Get Your Game On @ Neomatrix.

Happy Fragging. !

Ahmer “Kicho0o” Mubashar.

Do bear in mind that even a regular cigarette a day can cause cancer in patients with a mediocre immune system (21 Percent Probability), whereas an hour of Counter Strike or D.o.t.A a day will not harm your eyes. (There is a 5 percent chance of someone weakening their eyesight with this pattern). The statistics now speak for themselves I believe.

Pakistan’s representation in International events has also spurred the interest of all the gamers alike. Neomatrix’scollaboration with well-known brands such as Wateen, Djuiceand Samsung has enabled them to highlight the presence of Pakistan in international gaming events, such as the prestigious WCG (World Cyber Games) and ESWC (Electronic Sports World Cup).

It was the team(s) from Lahore who won the National Qualifiers for both Counter Strike 1.6 and Defense of the Ancients last year. The Dotateam was able to repeat their feat in this year’s qualifiers

as well, but were unable to participate in the event itself (being held in Los Angeles, California) due to inevitable unprecedented circumstances. The Counter Strike team from Lahore (United5), though, was able to make a mark on the international level last year in Chengdou, China where although they bowed out in the group stages of the competition, they defeated Arch-Rivals India in an epic battle and also gave well renowned teams like eG(evilGeniuses) a tough time.

Neomatrix currently has two branches; one being in T Block, DHA while the other is situated in Ahad Arcade, Liberty. It is somewhat of a general notion but usually, the DHA branch is labeled for matches pertaining to Call of Duty; Medal of Honor Allied Assault (SpearHead) and Counter Strike 1.6. The Liberty branch is taken to be the abode of Warcraft : Defense of the Ancients fanatics. Be that asit may, be sure to always find some competitive battle going on every time you set foot in Neomatrix.

Kichoo in “Bandits”, one of the earliest MohaaSpearhead Clans .

Yours truly

Gaming

U5 INCREDIBLES

MIX

CLAN OR 5K

METAL

Gaming

Daddyz D-EDGE LIVEWIREZ

RAPTORS KILLERS

CLAN [VZ] CLAN [U5]

FARRUKH & BABAR

RANK TITLE PLATFORM

1 CALL OF DUTY MODERN WARFARE 2 XBOX 360

2 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS . WII WII

3 WII SPORTS RESORT WII

4 WII FIT WII

5 MARIO KART WII

6 WII PLAY WII

7 CALL OF DUTY MODERN WARFARE 2 PS3

8 WII FIT PLUS WII

9 HALO 3 : ODST XBOX 360

10 POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION NDS

11 MADDEN NFL 10 XBOX 360

12 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS NDS

13 MARIO KART DS NDS

14 ASSASSIN’S CREED II XBOX 360

15 MADDEN NFL 10 PS3

SOURCE: ESA

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 attempts to capture the insanity and life-and-death situations of real-life combat. Once again you hop between several engaging story arcs as you globe-trot on missions to stop a war and ultimately bring a madman to justice.

Neomatrix has two branches in Lahore. One in Defence (near DHA Cinema) and the other in Gulberg (near Liberty Shopping Center). Both of these gaming centers feature Dual Core

processors and top notch graphic cards including nVidias 8600GTs & 9600GTs.

A BIT ABOUT

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Web: http://www.neomatrixgaming.com

Neomatrix Gaming Network opened its first branch in Defence Housing Authority , Lahore, in December 2002. In that very year, a good number of gaming centers had started operating in different areas of Lahore with the main concentration in Defence. It was a craze that youth could just not ignore. Multiplayer gaming came out with a bang and gamers had a great time socializing and competing with each other.

While most of the gaming centers were concentrating on providing LAN gaming, Neomatrix strategized to provide quality gaming with great emphasis on ambiance and the gaming environment. It provided top notch PCs with top of the line motherboard and video card combinations that simply beat out competition.

With regular tournaments and sponsorships from some of the big name companies, Neomatrix won the hearts of the gamers of Lahore. When Neomatrix started,

Over time, a number of multiplayer games are now played at gaming centers. These include, Counter Strike, Call of Duty 2 & 4, Generals, Need for Speed etc. The most played games at thi s time are Counter Strike and Call of Duty4. DOTA comes next.

Get your game on at Neomatrix!

The top two clans in the early days of Neomatrix were ‘MAUT’ and ‘FRONTLINE’. Extremely competitive Spearhead tournaments became a feature at Neomatrix.

Top Mohaa Spearhead Players like WhiteShadow, Subculture, Big hurt, nRaged , Mani and others were the talk of the town.

Most of the gamers started shifting to Neomatrix for regular gaming. And that was the beginning of our network.

the most popular game in Lahore was Medal of Honor Allied Assault. In fact, Medal of Honor was Punjab’s top played multiplayer game all the way from Lahore to Islamabad and Peshawar.