*   *   *

SERVICES is a one-hour documentary about the global online phenomenon of Counter-Strike: a multiplayer-only "first-person shooter" computer game in which players join opposing squads to fight it out in a pitched modern infantry battle.

Shot in gritty digital video, SERVICES goes deep into this "violent" combat game. While it does look at the conventional aspects of tactics and weapons, it does so in an unconventional way. It pulls the viewer into the underlying emotional and strategic dynamics of the game. It goes beyond the simulated shooting, killing and dying to explore the feel of play; the nature of the chaotic combat environment it simulates; the surprisingly complex strategy and teamwork the game demands; the intrinsic conflict between the team ("Everyone rush!") and the individual (so-called "campers") that always arises; and the larger implications of the game. SERVICES looks at the enigma of Counter-Strike.

But that isn't to say it isn't action packed!

SERVICES revolves around an informal tournament between one of the best street-level “clans” in Toronto - the self-titled “Dogs of War” – and a team of co-workers at a dot-com company called The NRG Group. They meet one night at The NRG Group’s open-concept office to battle it out.

The two teams have radically different styles...

The Dogs of War train at a shadowy LAN joint (a present-day video arcade) in the Toronto core. They're from the fringes of society – from the shadows, you might say. Counter-Strike serves as a focal point for them - they are a circle of friends built around the game. And they play hard. They move with tight command-control - indeed they have a squad- and rank-system to which they conform. And their team culminates in an overall commander - a natural leader who maintains their cohesion. Their style seems intrinsically at odds with the self-centredness of much of today's mainstream. They are strict, rigid, selfless team-players - and very very effective. Their world-view is on the margins - but perhaps now returning to favour...

At the opposite extreme is the NRG squad: a group of friendly co-workers at a dot-com company who play obsessively after work on their office network. They are sealed away from the larger online Counter-Strike world - on the internet - by their firewall. They are educated, upwardly-mobile, business talent - more a loose affiliation of individuals than a strict team. They move intuitively, with no centre of command but with a fluid ability to improvise. Does this fluidity, this messy democracy – a strength in their office atmosphere - become a weakness in the chaotic environment of Counter-Strike? Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe what they lack in cohesion they make up for in the skill of their individuals - some of whom are excellent.

While The Dogs of War is a platoon, NRG is a tribe.

Who wins...? Well... Tune-in to find out!!!, as we go deep - deep into the world of Counter-Strike.