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Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is coming to a 360 near you
Half-Life 2: Episode 3. The mere mention of the game makes our inner Valve-loving, Combine-hating, Crowbar-swinging heart go aflutter. That's why when mention of actual Valve supplied Episode 3 "Advisor" concept artwork appearing at E3's Into the Pixel art exhibition, we began to weep with excitement. Then we realized that the artwork had the descriptor reading "Platforms: PC, PS3 and Xbox 360". Our weeps soon turned into a joyous outburst of all out waterfall tears. Episode 3, it may be revealed at E3, but is guaranteed to eventually be hitting the 360. Yippy![Via IGN]
Half-Life: Episode Three may come to PS3
Although Valve's distaste of the PS3 is well-known, the Half-Life series has still found its way to Sony hardware courtesy of EA. It looks like the franchise will continue on PS3 as well, as this initial piece of Episode Three concept art reveals. The piece, by Valve artists Ted Backman, Jeremy Bennett and Tristian Reidford, shows an ominous advisor from Episode One and Two flying forward at Gordon Freeman in a stunning cavern. We can't grasp any real details on Valve's upcoming finale to the Half-Life 2 saga, but the platforms listed clearly include the PS3 as well.Check out Into the Pixel for a high-res version of this piece. PS3 fans would also take note to check out the spectacular high-res WipEout HD art also available in their gallery.[Thanks, MC Fresh Beatz! Via Shacknews]
Rumor: UGO-owned E3.net lists Kid Icarus, Alan Wake, HL2: Episode 3
Did you hear Alan Wake was confirmed to be shown at E3? How about Kid Icarus Wii? Half-Life 2 Episode 3? Doom 4? All these games have been listed on E3.net under the E3 Games tab. There's just one problem ... E3.net isn't the official E3 page. (If you're curious, here's the official site.) Take note of the top banner, the bottom collection of links and all the latest news posts: yep, it's an UGO site. We've put in a call to their PR to see if there's any affiliation with the media summit, but that said, we doubt Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve or id Software would ever let these high-profile games be revealed so unceremoniously. Chalk this up as wishful thinking in the meantime.
EVE Online meets Half-Life 2 in machinima masterpiece
Clear Skies is a groundbreaking machinima produced by Ian Chisholm, which takes place entirely within the galactic setting of EVE Online, known as New Eden. Any attempt to lump Clear Skies in with your run-of-the-mill machinima would be a disservice to the scope of the work; the film clocks in at just under 40 minutes and was a labor of love for two years in the lives of its creators. Clear Skies follows a trio of down-and-out misfits who've seen no end of bad luck. John Rourke is the obstinate captain of the Clear Skies, a Tempest class battleship manufactured by the downtrodden Minmatar race of New Eden. Rourke's attitude toward his hazardous chosen lifestyle is cavalier, although this does not sit well with his friends among the crew. Solomon Burke is the pessimistic ship's engineer, while Charlie Fodder -- a gunner with an ironic name -- does his best to keep the crew alive. Typical of life in New Eden, Fodder is doomed to remain a rather busy man.
Points>Life: Recap Edition
Each week, X3F tips gamers to the tricks of the trade of Achievement hoarding in Points>Life. Every week a new achievement is unlocked to help you continue your unhealthy obsession with the Xbox 360 meta-game. This week on Points>Life we're giving you nothing! Well, actually what we're doing is going back and recapping the tips we've given you and added a little postmortem comment. After releasing each feature the X3F Army shared best practices on other methods to obtain similar achievements. This week we go back to the last eight weeks of tips and tricks, so if you're new to Points>Life ... today is your day!
Valve hopes to make an MMO someday
In a discussion with the CVG site, Valve's Doug Lombardi revealed that the trend-setting company is always looking to new genres. Talking primarily about their hopes to someday make a game for the Wii, Lombardi offers up tantalizing hope for MMO-playing fans of their landmark first-person shooter titles. The site quotes Lombardi as saying, "Gabe (Valve co-founder, Gabe Newell) is a huge fan of MMORPGs and he's always wanted to make one ... But that's a big risk to venture out on." Developers in the company are also looking to make kids titles for Nintendo's console, a direct result of the aging and family development of the games industry.Lombardi goes on to say that these areas of interest would really stretch the company creatively, and they'd love to tackle them ... but that we probably shouldn't hold our breath. Their leap outside of the FPS comfort zone to the Wii or MMOs won't come this year or next. But it does, at least, give us some hope.
Valve's Lombardi: No Portal 2 in 2008
We're making a note here: huge disappointment -- since Kim Swift's February interview with X-Play, where she mentioned the existence of a Portal 2 project, we've been salivating at the thought of the continued adventures of Chell, GlaDOS, WC³, and the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. Unfortunately, it seems we'll be wearing our spit guards for quite some time -- according to a recent Eurogamer interview with Valve's Doug Lombardi, any sort of continuation of the beloved franchise will not be hitting store shelves this year.Lombardi expressed Valve's desire to create an equally "revolutionary" successor to the lightning-in-a-bottle first person puzzler, rather than cash in on the franchise at the height of its popularity with a quick and dirty sequel. Oh, Lomby, can't we have both? We're all about instant gratification -- especially gratification involving cake, and a particular silent, springheeled heroine.
New games this week: Portal edition
Yeah, it's old. But it's also Game of the Year, so we figure it's probably worth noting when the incredible, delectable Portal finally moves out of her parents' house and into an adorable studio apartment of her own. It's a good week for PCs all around actually, with the excellent Assassin's Creed arriving in a "director's cut" form. Oh, and this week's "Game That Sounds Like it Was Named by Us As 8-Year-Olds and Then Sent Through Time Into the Future Award" goes to Mini Copter Adventure Flight. We would have traded our Chris Sabo rookie card and a half-empty packet of Lik-M-Aid for a game with a name like that in a heartbeat. There's a full list after the break.
Individual Orange Box games hit retail April 9
Perhaps you've been burnt by digital distribution in the past, and now refuse to even touch the likes of Steam. Perhaps you found one or more of the games in Valve's critically acclaimed Orange Box to be lacking in a peel. Perhaps you'd like us to stop with the excruciating puns you jerks and report the news already geez.So, have at it: Valve has confirmed to Joystiq that the individually boxed Orange Box PC games are due to hit physical shelves on April 9th. The separate SKUs, which will be available worldwide, consist of first-person puzzler Portal, caricatured multiplayer romp Team Fortress 2, and a crowbar double-whammy in the form of Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two. Valve has yet to officially announce pricing details, but retailers currently list Portal at $19.99 and the other two packages at $29.99 each. Expect more details soon.
Bethesda designer creates new Portal map, Ren_Test3
Having already upped the ante in Portal challenges with Ren_Test2 in November, Bethesda's Daryl Brigner has returned with a new custom-made map aptly titled Ren_Test3. The download, available at TWHL, also includes Ren_Test 1 and 2 as well as Step, Time and Portal challenges for the maps.We haven't had a chance to play it yet (such is the crazy, fast-paced life of a blogger), so tell us what you think in the comments below. Let's hope Valve finds a way to pool some of the best custom maps for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners, too.
Valve: More Portal coming 'for sure'
Though we'd be GlaDOS can be to have another slice of Portal's topsy-turvy displacement gameplay, we'd almost certainly be unsatisfied with a quick 'n dirty content boost to our 2007 game of the year. Thankfully, Valve's Doug Lombardi has told Eurogamer that the developer isn't looking to simply throw a handful of new puzzles at us. "There'll be more Portal, for sure," he said. "But the details of that, to be honest, we're still working out."Also being worked out at Valve headquarters are the continuing adventures of crowbar-wielding physicist, Gordon Freeman, who's due to appear in Half-Life 2: Episode Three. "With Episode Three we want to live up to the promise of where we are taking things to; there's a lot of work being done to make sure we deliver on that promise." If you're dying to learn more about where said things are being taken to, you're going to have wait a bit, "probably months not weeks." And don't even get us started on how long you might have to wait for the actual game.At least you'll have some upcoming Team Fortress 2 content to keep you busy which, as per Valve's desire for all its additional content, will be free.
Valve confirms more Portal to come
It's a good thing too, because most of you would like to see more Portal. Speaking to Eurogamer, Valve spokesperson Doug Lombardi confirmed that there will be more Portal and, furthermore, it won't simply be "a bunch of new puzzles." When exactly we'll see the next installment of Portal remains a mystery. Also a mystery is exactly what form it will take. At this point, it's unclear if Valve intends to create a full blown sequel or if the company plans to stick to an episodic format in the vein of Half-Life 2. Speaking of Half-Life 2, Lombardi notes that Episode 3 details are still a long way away -- "months not weeks," according to Lombardi. Lombardi also reasserts that Valve wants additional content for its games to be free. That's a good to hear with new Team Fortress 2 content in the pipeline.Now that we know there will be more Portal, allow us to create a subtitle for the sequel: The Quest for Cake. What would you call it?
Gordon Freeman crank calls Coast to Coast AM
A theoretical physicist named "Gordon" called up the conspiracy wonks at Coast to Coast AM to tell 'em all about a mysterious government agent – a "G-Man" if you will – that he keeps seeing around. We don't want to spoil too much so hit up the audio embedded after the break and kids, take notes. This is how you do a crank call. Now if only "Alyx" would call Dr. Cooper Lawrence's show and ask what's up with that strong but silent boy she knows. [Thanks, Colin]
Team Fortress 2 to get 'Badlands' map remake, medic tweaks
New changes are coming to Team Fortress 2. Speaking to Shack News, Valve's Robin Walker reconfirmed that two new maps will be coming in the next two months for the PC version, including a remake of the TF Classic map Badlands. Walker couldn't confirm if those maps would arrive on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions of the game.Walker also said that modifications to the medic class are coming soon, possibly before the maps. Although unspecified, Walker said, "It's a large scale modification to the core of the game. It'll debut in a limited fashion through the Medic first, but it'll be affecting all classes eventually." Our guess? They're taking away the Medic's ability to heal - boy, would that change the game! But seriously, they'll probably just put a floating sign over medics that reads "shoot me first."[Image from BioWare's Halloween]
Portal 'First Slice' extended demo free for NVIDIA customers only
Have any NVIDIA hardware installed on your machine? If so, you're entitled to a free extended demo of Portal, the best game of 2007. Entitled Portal: First Slice, the demo features more content than the normal demo, and is available free to all NVIDIA customers through a new partnership between Valve and the hardware manufacturer.The offer is accessible through Steam, which will scan your computer to confirm the presence of NVIDIA hardware before making the offer available (creepy). Game|Life also reports that in addition to the Portal: First Slice, demo, NVIDIA customers can also download Peggle Extreme, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast for free through the same offer. Not too shabby.
Steam's last-minute Christmas sale: 10-50% off everything
Valve's Steam service is having a last-minute holiday sale from today until January 1, with everything on the online store reportedly 10% to 50% off. While all they have to do is make one game 50% and the rest 10% to make that statement valid, there are some good deals going on. Highlights include: Orange Box - $37.45 (25% off) BioShock - $37.45 (25% off) S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - $22.45 (25% off) id Software Super Pack - $52.45 (25% off) Psychonauts - $9.95 (50% off) There are very few hours until Christmas. On this coast, most stores are closing down. Wouldn't be great if you could find the perfect gift for the ones you love? How about a downloadable copy of Psychonauts (no, we don't shut up about this game) for only $10? And while we're at it, you can afford to purchase Rag Doll Kung Fu ($13.45) and Bookworm Adventures ($17.95).
More Half-Life games confirmed; nobody surprised
In perhaps an over-exaggeration of the term "world exclusive", StuffWeLike.com has revealed that Valve intends on continuing the Half-Life series after Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Big news, we know.When Stuff We Like asked Valve's Doug Lombardi about the possibility of a Half-Life 3, he responded that nothing has been announced, but that Half-Life "won't end at Episode Three." Originally, Stuff We Like reported this news as "OMG WORLD EXCLUSIVE HALF-LIFE 3 CONFIRMED" (we're paraphrasing, of course), but has since recanted, admitting that all this means is that the series will not conclude with the third piece of episodic content.We're curious to see whether Valve intends on continuing to release episodes connected to Half-Life 2, or whether they will in fact move forward with a third title in the series (episodic or otherwise). No release date has yet been confirmed for Episode Three.
Orange Box PS3 vs. 360 video
We know, we know, these comparison videos are sort of old hat nowadays, but with numerous reviews citing problems with the PS3 version of The Orange Box, this particular 360 vs. PS3 video is pretty interesting. The two videos posted by GameVideos compare Portal and Half-Life 2. For the most part, the games look virtually identical, as we've come to expect from more recent titles. Where the games differ is in the frame rates and loading times. In both instances, the PS3 version loads more slowly, though it takes much longer in Portal. Like, long enough to hike to the kitchen and grab a snack. Also, the PS3 version of Half-Life 2 seems to have some frame rate hitches, especially during autosaves. But enough blather, watch both videos after the break and judge for yourself.
Today's most comparative video: Orange Box PS3 vs. Xbox 360
Curious how the two Orange Box versions stack up? GameVideos have put the PS3 and Xbox 360 next to each other side-by-side - literally, it's a pretty impressive split-screen effort - of Portal and Half-Life 2. In fact, the visuals look very similar.The major difference, where one might consider the PS3 version "downright unplayable," is the load times. For video HL2, the loading difference shown is not as great, but Portal's comparative load time shown is rather drastic. See for yourself after the break.
The Orange Box: video side by side [Update]
You've heard the reports that The Orange Box may be downright unplayable on the PS3. Is that true? Well, this well-made comparison video from the 1UP team should clarify a few things. Pay attention, as they highlight the differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Valve's critically acclaimed shooter.We recommend downloading the HD version to really appreciate the differences. While it's true the PS3 version is more sluggish, especially around water -- is it unplayable? That's for you to decide. If the PS3 is the only system you have, hopefully this won't deter you from experiencing one of the best games of the year.Update: Portal has been added, after the break. Chances are, you won't notice a difference between the two versions in this video.
