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No joke, it's Portal's 'Still Alive' in Japanese
Nearly every fanboy knows about Portal's hit song "Still Alive". A Jonathan Coulton original song performed by Aperture Science's artificial intelligence GLaDOS that has been so popular, it made its way onto Rock Band. Well, now Japanese and not so Japanese Portal fans can experience "Still Alive" a new way, translated into Japanese and sung by Hatsune Miku, a character voice that's included as part of the Vocaloid software package. What more can we say? It's "Still Alive", it's Japanese, it's odd and it's hella' entertaining.
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup has a snake in a box
Interested in owning a papercraft Solid Snake, one that's guaranteed to elicit The Orange Box puns from all your nerdy friends? You can make your own here. Here are our picks for the week's best game-related webcomic. Be sure to vote for your favorite!Q*bert Adventures (Hilarity Comics)Fantasy vs. Reality (Tighten Up the Graphics)Doing the Impossible (Digital Unrest)Team Fortress Pooh (Fanboys Online)One Possible Explanation (Penny Arcade)Just What the Doctor Ordered (2P Start)
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: We're not PS3 developers, but Left 4 Dead might be on PS3 ... maybe
Most Valve Software fans would know well enough that the company is primarily a developer for PC games and a bit of Xbox on the side. So, it's not too startling to hear Valve Marketing VP Doug Lombardi say something along the lines of "We're not PS3 developers" -- it's just a great headline. What is interesting, however, is the possibility of Left 4 Dead, currently set only for PC and Xbox 360 release, getting ported to the PS3.Talking to CVG, Lombardi reconfirmed that Valve still sees Left 4 Dead for PC and 360 only; however, he did leave some glint of hope for a PS3 port in the future. When asked if EA would bring the game over much like what the company did with The Orange Box, Lombardi replied "Left 4 Dead doesn't have that guaranteed appeal yet - it's a new IP. If you mention a new Half-Life, people want to make as many versions of it as possible. If Left 4 Dead is big, then we may see a PS3 version later, or if and when we do a sequel, people may be more interested in that." In short, it all comes down to financial risk for whoever wants to take on the challenge of porting. As far as Valve is concerned, they're not the ones who will do it; someone else will do it if they want to, that is. Hopefully, Left 4 Dead does well on the other platforms; we could always use a zombie shooter on the PS3.
Valve distances themselves from PS3 development
Big Xbox 360 fanboy brownie points goes to developer Valve, not only for giving the 360 a superior version of the Orange Box, but because they openly diss the PS3. Now that's the kind of developer we love.Chatting with CVG at a recent Left 4 Dead preview event, Valve's Doug Lombardi was blatantly honest about why they aren't planning a PS3 version of the game, saying that "we're not PS3 developers - we're doing PC and 360 like with Orange Box." Zing! Lombardi explained that "EA came to us and said 'wow, Orange box was an incredible project, can we do a PS3 version?'", so that's why a (craptacular) PS3 version was created without Valve's magic touch. Though, it's still possible we'll see Left 4 Dead on the PS3 if it becomes a huge hit on the 360 and PC, just don't expect Valve to be involved ... mwahahahaha![Via NeoGAF]
Microsoft rejected Portal from XBLA lineup
GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Valve's Orange Box hit Portal was rejected by Microsoft after Valve made an effort to get the title on the Xbox Live Arcade.Valve's Doug Lombardi recently told GamesIndustry.biz that he'd "love to sell Portal on Xbox live" but that "the platform holders aren't doing that right now" because of "size limit and all kinds of other things." Because, if you recall, Microsoft has strict rules on XBLA games maxing out at 150MB in size. Though, Lombardi is optimistic about Portal hitting the XBLA, saying that "it always happens once it's been proven and I think it's been proven now on Steam, so I'm sure it'll migrate back to the consoles just like everything else does." Meh ...So, there you have it, Microsoft crushed our Portal XBLA dreams. Those evil monkeys. Maybe the N+ guys were right about MS and their iron-fisted rule over the XBLA. Maybe?
Valve: No Portal sequel in 2008
Sad news fellow Companion Cube lovers, Valve just confirmed that gamers won't be able to experience a second round of Portal fun anytime this year. The reason? They simply don't want to make it a rush job.Speaking with Eurogamer, Valve's Doug Lombardi broke down their decision by saying that they don't want to "quickly replicate it [a Portal sequel] and stick it out there - do the opportunistic thing and cash in on it", and will instead be sticking to a formula where a Portal "successor has to be equally as revolutionary as the first." Lombardi went on to say that "you won't see a new Portal at retail this Christmas because of that. That's the trade off. People want more, but we don't want to give them more of the same right away because that would just be boring."There you have it, no new Portal funnery this year. But we have a feeling a fully beefed out and revolutionary Aperture Science experience will be headed our way come 2009.
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.
Rock Band 'Still Alive' DLC will always be free
Just in case you were worried about not being able to grab the new "Still Alive" Rock Band downloadable content for free before it's promotional period (you procrastinating bum), you can rest easy now. Major Nelson just confirmed that Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive" will forever be a free DLC download off the XBLM. That means future Rock Band purchasers will be able to get their GLaDOS fix for free, whenever they get around to downloading it. Applause to Microsoft, EA, Harmonix and Valve for working together to make this happen. Teamwork FTW!
Rock Band: 'Still Alive' DLC tomorrow ... for FREE!
We have super, fantastic, amazing, glorious, superb and geeky Rock Band news for you today. Hmxsean just announced tomorrow's Rock Band downloadable content (seeing that it wasn't announced last Friday) and folks, it's finally here. Revealed back during GDC, Portal's hit song "Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton will be available for download tomorrow off the XBLM for (get this) 0 Microsoft points. Yes sir, they're offering the "Still Alive" Rock Band DLC for FREE! And even though it's April Fool's day tomorrow, we don't expect this announcement to be a fool. Because, if it were, Harmonix employees would have to fear for their lives. We just have to say it again, but this time in caps ... "STILL ALIVE" WILL BE A FREE ROCK BAND DOWNLOAD TOMORROW! W00T!Also, just to fuel the fanboy fires, the rockers over on the Playstation 3 will have to wait a few weeks to get their "Still Alive" DLC fix. Mwahahaha, enjoy![Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
New Team Fortress 2 PC content due mid-April
A fresh batch of content for the PC version of Team Fortress 2 is set to arrive during the week of April 20th, according to Shacknews. The update will add a new map,"Goldrush," to Valve's multiplayer shooter, along with unlockable weapons and a strong desire to succumb to the cartoonish mayhem all over again just when you thought you shook the addiction and got your life back on track which was becoming increasingly dominated by thoughts of playing the game which in fact you are considering right now at the expense of your ability to avoid run-on sentences somebody please please help us.Ahem.Goldrush will be the first map to support "Payload," a new game which tasks teams with pushing a mine cart (loaded with explosives, natch) into the opposition's base. In a stunning nod to real life, the cart will go faster when it has more players pushing it through the inevitable barrage of gunfire. Just so you know, most of that will likely be aimed at the Medic, the first class expected to benefit from the addition of unlockable weapons.
The Orange Box gets mysterious 128MB patch [Update]
Fans of Team Fortress 2 have discovered a mysterious undocumented 128MB patch for the PS3 version of The Orange Box. Valve's compilation of Half-Life games was bashed by the gaming community for its lackluster transition onto the PS3: the port not only came weeks after the Xbox 360 and PC counterparts, but featured framerate issues that plagued an otherwise stellar experience.[Update: Fixes listed, after the cut.][Thanks, Jeff M.!]
PS3's Orange box gets 128MB mystery patch
As if five great games in one little box wasn't enough bang for your gaming buck, EA has just released a mysterious 128MB patch for the PS3 release of The Orange Box. That's like a whole PSN game in patches! We say "mysterious" because, well, it seems like nobody has any idea just what's included in that patch.If you'll recall, EA took care of porting The Orange Box to the PlayStation 3 while Valve concentrated on the PC and Xbox 360 platforms; unfortunately, the PS3 release was not only delayed but it also suffered from some (perhaps exaggerated but nevertheless serious) framerate issues. While everyone is waiting for some sort of official changelog from EA, we figured we'd ask if any of you have noticed an appreciable difference following the update. Well, have you?[Update: Official changelog from EA posted after the break, for your edification.]
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.
Valve hopes to release upcoming TF2 DLC for free
More news on the Team Fortress 2 front as Valve busily plans the release of a new set of DLC and how they are planning on offering the content for freeSpeaking with Eurogamer, Valve's VP of marketing Doug Lombardi mentioned that their development team is hard at work on new TF2 multiplayer maps for the 360 version and that their plan is to offer the content for free. Lombardi tells Eurogamer that "free is the way to go. The gamers play the game, they want to keep playing the game, so we've collected their fifty bucks at the start, and once they're in the park, they can ride any ride they want in the park. So, for us that's been the philosophy." And a DLC philosophy we whole-heartily agree with. But nothing is set in stone just yet as Microsoft has certain rules pertaining to free content and we all know how much Orange Box publisher EA loves to make a quick buck off of DLC. In a perfect world we would see TF2 DLC for free, but we have a feeling we're in for another Hidden Fronts disagreement either between Valve and Microsoft or between Valve and EA.
Valve gives us Team Fortress 2 update specifics
Yesterday, we mentioned that a new Team Fortress 2 title update was released via Xbox Live but that we were in the dark pertaining to any of the specifics. We went as far as to call out Valve on their lack of information support surrounding the Orange Box for consoles. But today, we eat our words. Valve developer Kerry hopped onto the Xbox.com forums to inform the masses about the TF2 update and tell us exactly what it fixes. We've posted Kerry's complete list of changes after the break as we're sure our fellow TF2 exploiters are ever so curious to know which exploits in their vast exploit arsenal are no longer effective. Anyway, check out the update list as we go on to officially retract out "evil Valve" comment that we made yesterday. We acknowledge that our name calling was a bit much, but we still stand behind our request at having some sort of Valve supported news hub for getting Orange Box updates. We still cool?[Thanks, Will]
Latest Team Fortress 2 update is now live [update]
Update: We're now more informed about the changes that went into effect with this latest update. Check out all the details here.Recently, Valve's magical Orange Box received a title update with its sole purpose being fixification of Team Fortress 2. Though, sadly, we don't know exactly what changes the update made seeing that Valve has no central news hub for Xbox 360 Orange Box owners. All we get are PC centric updates like this. Evil Valve. But we're guessing the update has something to do with changes that were mentioned a few months back. We're also hearing from our oh so reliable X3F tipsters that the TF2 update adds the option for 14 player games, auto-balance management and other general class enhancements. Again, we can't be exactly sure what modifications were made seeing that Valve doesn't have a central news hub. Did we get that point across yet? Ahem, Valve, we need you to update us on things like this. Mmkay? And until they do, if while surfing the internets you spot a list or breakdown of what changes were put in place with the latest auto-update, please drop us a line. Thanks much.[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Video: Coulton performs Rock Band DLC 'Still Alive'
Our Joystiq pals just posted a video of Jonathan Coulton's Friday night performance of (recently announced as Rock Band DLC) "Still Alive" at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. Coulton brought a few folks on stage including tech guy Leo Laporte and Mahalo's Veronica Belmont to participate in the "Still Alive" performance. Their Rock Band skills are lukewarm at best, but we get the general idea and can't wait to sing to "Still Alive" from the comforts of our Rock Band setup at home. And in even more exciting news, Joystiq got a chance to chat with a few Harmonix employees who attended the concert and learned that currently (though subject to change) the "Still Alive" DLC single will be downloadable for $.99. For that price, no true Rock Band'er or Portal'er should be without GLaDOS' mega-hit.
Sunday Deals: H3, BioShock, Lost Planet and more
Hey, it's Sunday and that means its time to surf the internets, open those newspapers and look for the best gaming deals this week. But we've already done the work for you, so please, allow us to share ... This week, Best Buy has two decent offers, one being that you can get a free $10 gift card with the purchase of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and the other being $10 off Call of Duty 4. Heading North to our Canadian Best Buy friends, not only can you grab Kameo for $15, but they're also offering BioShock for free with the purchase of an Xbox 360. And remember, Xbox 360 prices in Canada recently dropped (Pro: $349, Elite: $449 and Arcade: $279), so that's a very juicy offer. Next up, Circuit City. They've heavily discounted Lost Planet to $20, cut the price of Conflict: DO to $40 and have taken 20% off the price of BlackSite, Kane & Lynch, Turok, Halo 3 and BioShock dropping their price to $48 each. Finally, this week at Target stores, they're selling PGR4 for $30, Scene It? for $50 and The Orange Box or NFS: ProStreet for a cool $40. That's all the deals we could spot this week, but feel free to share with your fellow fanboys any other offers you spot while out and about this week. Happy shopping and stay safe.
GDC08: The cake is a line
Oh, did you want to see Valve's Kim Swift and Erik Wolpaw deliver a Portal postmortem? We hope you like making your way through the digestive system of this rather large attendee snake. We'll keep you up to date -- just as soon as we figure out how to get down from this ladder.
