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Steam weekend: All Half-Life 66% off, Valve Complete Pack $90
If you've got some holes to fill in your Half-Life collection, or if you've somehow missed the series entirely -- perhaps the result of an interdimensional anomaly -- this weekend is your chance to catch up. This weekend on Steam, absolutely every Half-Life and Half-Life 2 product is available at 66% off. For instance, you can snag the Half-Life Complete Pack, which includes both Half-Life games, every Half-Life expansion, both Half Life 2 episodes, Team Fortress Classic and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch for only $16.99. If you'd rather pick up only a few individual pieces, most of them can be had for only a few dollars.Beyond the Half-Life games, the Valve Complete Pack – usually $99.99 – has been knocked down to $89.99. If you've missed out on Valve's brand of goodness over the last decade, this pack will bring you up to speed. Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead: You name it, it's in there. Use that $10 for a bag of delicious Arby's, and you've got a solid weekend of gaming bliss.
Valve researching sign language for use in Half-Life 2: Episode 3
Valve's Gabe Newell appears to have recently conducted a focus group with deaf individuals in order to learn more about sign language and how it can be applied to games, notably the upcoming Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Why? To help develop Alyx's character, and further the animation technology implemented in the Half-Life games. Newell explains: "[Alyx] had a crush on someone who was hearing impaired, so she taught Dog how to sign so she could practice. Something happened, maybe, the person is off fighting the Combine someplace else, but that's why she and Dog would start signing with each other when they wanted to communicate without making noise, or communicate without other people knowing ... It gave us the excuse to build the technology for signing." The focus group responds by noting the importance of facial expression whilst signing. While the Half-Life franchise has been known for its believable facial animation, it might take even more to fully realize the nuances necessary for authentic signing. It'll be interesting to see if Valve is up to the challenge.
Comic-Con 2009: Gordon Freeman and Ezio cosplay
During Preview Night at Comic-Con, we spotted two of the best video game costumes so far: Half-Life's Gordon Freeman, complete with Gravity Gun, and Ezio from Assassin's Creed 2. For a minute we thought we'd miraculously spotted former Joystiq blogger (and amateur Gordon Freeman lookalike) Ross Miller, and were set to pounce on him, but thankfully we noticed at the last minute and averted disaster. Click Gordon for a larger version, which includes his employee ID, and head beyond the break for Ezio. There's more cosplay going on here than at a LARP convention, and we'll be bringing you a lot more. Click through for Ezio and his blades, and stay tuned. %Gallery-68588%
DuPont crafts ultra longevous OLED materials, which likely won't be affordable
DuPont's been dabbling in OLED advancement for years now, and while the world waits for the introduction of market-ready big-screen OLED HDTVs, engineers at the miracle-working company are toiling away to make sure those very sets last quite some time. For anyone following the OLED TV scene, you'll know that luminance longevity has been a nagging issue, but if new developments pan out, stamina will be the least of our worries. In fact, the firm has crafted a green light-emitting material that can purportedly push onward for over a hundred years... continuously. Furthermore, the same scientists have engineered a new blue light-emitting material with a luminance half-life of 38,000 hours along with a red light-emitting material with a life of 62,000 hours. Unfortunately for the laypeople out there, we can't imagine this stuff being even marginally affordable -- but hey, it's great news for the sybarites!
Half-Life fridge magnets open portal to alternate 8-bit dimension
The world no longer has to wonder what the character sprites from an NES version of Half-Life would look like, as Etsy artisan ArcadeArt has given us the proverbial goods ... and they're magnets made out of beads. The three-magnet set sells for $20 and includes pixel art versions of bespectacled Gordon Freeman, the gray-suited G-man and a scientist with a bad case of headcrab. Their creator has even crafted a mock Half-Life NES box cover, included with each order. Should Valve's FPS classic somehow not be your thing, ArcadeArt also fashions similar sprite magnets based on Resident Evil, Pikmin and Super Mario Kart.[Via Wonderland]
Gabe Newell presents his vison for the gaming industry at D.I.C.E.
Long story short: Do it like Valve does it. Long story reasonably brief: Valve boss Gabe Newell wants to shake up the way the industry works by keeping pricing in flux, updating content more frequently and getting away from DRM as copy-protection, among other things. Newell also suggested leaning more on the release of concept art to get gamers excited, though we're not still not sure what effect that one Half-Life image is having on us.You can see more of the Freemanifesto that Newell delivered yesterday at D.I.C.E. right here. We'd love to know how closely your own view cleaves to his vision for the gaming landscape. Or, if you're feeling less cerebral: OMG Team Fortress 2 comics!
Half-Life 2 mini-series blows minds on a dime
We've found some fairly unwise applications for $500 in the past, including (but not limited to) a few pyramid scheme investments and a number of unused gym memberships -- if only we'd followed the example of the upstart indie filmographers at Purchase Brothers, who recently spent five Benjamins on an extremely worthwhile cause: Producing the first two episodes of a Half-Life 2-inspired miniseries, titled Escape from City 17.The Purchase Brothers recently dropped the first episode onto an unsuspecting internet -- we've got it posted after the jump. If you've played the series (we find it difficult to believe there are people who haven't, at this point), you really need to check it out. A touch of naughty language and a healthy dose of gunshootery might make it a bit NSFW, but we think you'll agree -- it's worth risking your employment to watch this video with all available haste.[Via DailyGamesNews]
Durham University uses Valve's Source Engine for fire drill simulation
Researchers at England's Durham University recently found a use for Valve's Source Engine that doesn't involve crowbars, headcrabs or unsettling, suited men -- using the engine's relatively simple tools, they've begun making fire drill simulations by recreating some of the university's departments, then coating them in virtual flame. The simulations are designed to not only teach users good fire safety practices, but to see how users react when confronted with snarling, searing death.On that note, the gaming community should feel particularly proud of the results researchers have witnessed when gaming veterans go through the simulator -- according to one researcher, "if a door was on fire, they [gamers] would try and run through it, rather than look for a different exit." Just in case they weren't aware, we feel compelled to bring the fellow denizens of our cultural niche this important PSA: Fire is hot, and it hurts when you touch it.
Mario Kart Source: made by fans, for fans
If you're a fan of PC games, then of course you've heard of the Source engine. It powers Half-Life 2, which is the bee's knees. Well, an ambitious bunch has decided to use the Source engine to code a new Mario Kart racing game, Mario Kart Source. The best part about this project is that the team is looking at all of the previous games in the series and is attempting to take just the best bits for their new game. Our verdict? Awesome.Sadly, Nintendo won't likely be as excited to hear about the project, so we're sure they'll step in at some point or another and intervene. [Via Go Nintendo]
HL Source mod generates $3m; Valve reveals retail sales numbers
Half-Life application Garry's Mod celebrated its two-year anniversary of being on Steam last week. On his blog, creator Garry Newman celebrated by divulging the sales figures of the software so far on Steam: 312,541 copies. At about $10 per copy, that amounts to over $3 million. Not too shabby for the 26-year old English developer -- even if Valve takes a piece of the pie. Maybe now he can make a suit of money.Speaking of Valve, who as a general rule is very secretive with its sales figures (especially regarding Steam), the company has released its worldwide lifetime-to-date retail sales (via Gamasutra). Pre-Steam release Half-Life is on top at 9.3 million, followed by Half-Life 2 at 6.5m and Counter-Strike at 4.2m. These figures don't include Steam sales, which CEO Gabe Newell has said he expects to typically surpass retail sales. Full list after the break.
Fan-made Black Mesa trailer reinvents original Half-Life
It's been over ten years since Valve's Half-Life was released on PC, changing FPS gaming forever. In 2009, the fan-made Black Mesa will do more than just revisit the classic Valve game – from the looks of this newly released trailer, Black Mesa will reimagine the game with modern tech and modern production values. (Update: The project was originally called Black Mesa Source, but Valve requested a name change to not as confuse it with an official Valve project.)The spirit of Black Mesa is true to the original; however, we're stunned by the ambitious goals for this project. The new character models and textures used in this Source Engine-powered mod urge us to give them money. The addition of multiplayer modes, such as co-op, make us think Valve will downright buy the team (if they haven't already!).Black Mesa won't require Half-Life: Source to play. So long as you have any Source Engine game on your PC, you'll be able to download and play this amazing total conversion when it comes out.[Thanks, Andrew H.!]%Gallery-38225%
Gordon Freeman receives crowbar, will defend raging Hadron
They found him! The Large Hadron Collider is now under the vigilant protection of the world's least communicative hero, Gordon Freeman. You have the folks at Reddit to thank for equipping him with an iconic weapon, originally intended as an ominous gift before the potentially apocalyptic Collider was fired up for the first time. We wish Gordon the best of luck as he trains in the fine art of bludgeoning parasitic creatures to a pulp.He has until Spring 2009 (view his progress in this photo gallery) -- that's when the Collider is expected to stop being broken.
PSA: Half-Life now available for $.98 on Steam
Valve has taken a crowbar to the price of the original Half-Life on Steam. Originally priced at $9.99, the award-winning, if-you-haven't-played-it-don't-talk-to-us FPS can now be had for $.98. No, that's not a typo – Ludwig checked.On the opposite end of the spectrum is the $99.99 Valve Complete Pack, which, as we reported earlier, contains all of Valve's games – even the newly released Left 4 Dead – plus Peggle Extreme. But seriously, if you haven't played the first Half-Life, do yourself a favor and spend 1/100th of that on the game. You won't regret it. We promise. (It's ninety-eight cents!)
Valve may show Half-Life 2: Episode Three this year; release still a ways off
In an interview with Kikizo, Valve's Doug Lombardi says we won't have to wait long for ... our first glimpse of Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Quizzed on whether the dev would have something to show in 2008, Lombardi plainly said, "We may at the very end of the year." So, yay – a (possible) Half-Life Holiday.As for when the game will actually ship – er, not so soon. "The next time you play as Gordon will be longer than the distance between HL2 to Ep1, and Ep1 to Ep2," Lombardi confirmed. We're guessing he didn't mean all of that time distance combined. Still, given that Episode One hit in June of '06 and we didn't see Episode Two until October '07, we're likely looking at an 18+ month wait for Episode Three. That would put its release ... around May or June 2009. Or, in comparative terms, sometime around the debut of the next new Lost episode.
CERN: Only one crowbar received, Gordon Freeman 'impossible to find'
Even more terrible news, folks: CERN, the group responsible for the Large Hadron Collider, have only received one crowbar. In a message to Joystiq, "Large Hadron Rap" creator alpinekat (who also happens to work with CERN on the project) told us, "To my knowledge, there has been only one crowbar sent to CERN. I tried to track down that man, but he's impossible to find.""That man" she is referring to is the Gordon Freeman, of Half-Life infamy, we saw in the picture above. The Large Hadron Collider is currently halted until Spring 2009 due to a "magnet failure" ... or was it? With a supposed malfunction and a missing Gordon Freeman, we need not worry: at least he's got a crowbar.
Terrible news: Gordon Freeman spotted near Large Hadron Collider
Well, that was fun, wasn't it, human race? We had a good run, didn't we? Had a few laughs? ... Oh, why are we saying goodbye to everyone we know and love? Well, as you can see in the picture above, Gordon Freeman was recently spotted at the Large Hadron Collider, a device with the capability to create a world-ending black hole.Sure that's troubling enough, but here's the beautiful part: They're turning it on tomorrow. Yeah, and Gordon Freeman is there, so there's absolutely no way it's going to go well. We just want to be the first to say: We called it.
Gordon Freeman invades Animal Crossing
We guess the incident at Black Mesa opened up more portals than the crowbar-wielding scientist could have known. One of which clearly led to Animal Crossing: Wild World, as evidenced by the image to the right. Along with Gordan, you can see a Combine soldier standing about. Why that Combine soldier is probably waiting to knock over a can and force Gordon to dispose of it in the nearest receptacle!Other cool dress-up scenes include Call of Duty 4, Brokeback Mountain and the Mario brothers' kitchen. Oh, and Hitler. You can't have customization in a video game without creating the world's most evil dude.
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]
The Digital Continuum: Player abuse, redemption and revolution
Lets go back about ten years or so to the original EverQuest. Now it isn't my intention to pick on any one game, I just happen to be more familiar with it than Ultima Online or Meridian 59. For the sake of immersion let me assume the role of a 1999 copy of EverQuest that you happen to be playing on your gaming machine back in the last year of the last century.You just died in EverQuest. How dare you die! Since you had the nerve to be defeated in combat, you'll now be required to run from your binding point -- which could potentially be very far away -- to your dead body, which contains all of your equipment and bags that just happen to hold all of your inventory. If you fail to do this, then you lose all of these items. Oh but you've already lost some experience and possibly de-leveled if you happened to have recently leveled up.Hey! Why are you logging out? So what if you think you'd rather play Half-Life right now, this is the game you're paying for monthly. Don't you think you'd better get the most out of it? Hah! See? I knew you were only bluffing. All right, now get to running, noob.
Wii Fanboy interviews High Voltage on The Conduit (continued)
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/High_Voltage_reveals_gameplay_details_on_The_Conduit'; Stylistically, it's been compared to Half-Life and Perfect Dark. What games have inspired design choices in The Conduit?Rob: One of our goals from the very start was to make a fast-paced accessible FPS. To that end we looked at and stole shamelessly from mega-hits like Halo and Half-Life, recent titles like Resistance: Fall of Man and Metroid Prime Corruption, as well as classics like Goldeneye for the N64. We wanted to pick the best features from these titles, the things that made them fun and memorable and have features like those in The Conduit. Matt: We've done art direction for so many different titles, and we've learned a lot about establishing a strong and cohesive visual style. The Conduit's art direction has come mainly from taking real world styles and locations and combining them with our own alien technology concepts and aesthetic design preferences. I suppose that it looks similar to those other games, but in the end it's The Conduit's own unique premise that has largely driven the artistic vision. When combined with the features that are specific to our engine tech, The Conduit will look stunning by the time it reaches the player's hands.Will there be a calibration option, so we can "aim down the sights?"Rob: One of the things we learned in our development process was that customization of controls is essential to an enjoyable gameplay experience. To that end, we allow players to customize sensitivity, dead zone sizes, as well as control layouts. But, if you mean, can you actually use the iron-sights of your guns, that answer is "not exactly". The reason being that several of our weapons are alien in nature and don't even have iron-sights... but you will have sort of an alien vision mode with some of the weapons.Matt: There'll be on-the-fly, in-game look sensitivity adjustments, as well as a fully map-able control scheme, down to the button, in the game's front end UI. Players will be able to map the game's controls completely to their own liking. There'll even be a couple of alternate control methods for those that don't care as much for the Wii pointer style of directional turning. There'll be lots of options for maximum playability.%Gallery-25003%There hasn't been much word on who the publisher for The Conduit is. Rumor has it, Nintendo is actually going to publish the game. Can you comment on that? Can you announce one at this time?Matt: I can neither confirm nor deny this, senator. ;) All I will say is that thanks to the explosion of interest in this title, we've had a lot of publishers knocking on our door.Control-wise, will there be options for other methods outside of the Wiimote and nunchuk? Will it support the GameCube controller? Classic controller?Dan: There are movement and weapon functions in The Conduit that require the Wii Remote's pointer, accelerometer, depth, and cursor rotation functionality in order to perform. The Conduit isn't your standard ported-over-to-the-Wii style of game. Using the Classic or GC controller kind of defeats the purpose of what we are looking to do.Matt: With The Conduit we want to redefine first person shooter controls. Hard core FPS gamers that have played the game have told me that they are now convinced that Wii is the best system for the genre. When you play it you'll realize very quickly that the Wii Remote is an incredible control device for this type of game. It just feels amazing to play.Rob: I think if you are buying a Wii, you're buying it to make use of its motion sensitive controls, which are tailor made for an FPS game. Aside from the controls, what are the game's strengths that separate it from other existing PC/console FPSes?Rob: I would say that would be the ASE or "All Seeing Eye" device. In game, this piece of hardware allows a player to adjust the "phase state" of things. This makes invisible enemies and hazards not only visible, but able to take damage. It also makes invisible cover and platforms become solid, leading to more gameplay. We also reveal secret puzzle locks that must be solved to get to special weapons.Dan: We've put a solid amount of effort into enemy AI for The Conduit. A pet peeve of mine is single player FPS games where the enemies just stand there getting blasted, and don't seem to be reacting to the world around them. In The Conduit, our bad guys can hear and see, understand the use of cover, have variable levels of aggression, use grenades effectively, advance and retreat, and can determine when the player is susceptible to attack (i.e. reloading, exposed and moving in their firing cone). I think focusing a higher than normal amount of the dev time on AI makes our single player experience better than most other FPS titles out there. Of course, the overall look we're able to achieve with our advanced engine tech is also something the makes The Conduit a superior FPS game IMO.Matt: I think that going back to the Wii Remote, The Conduit has a unique control system that feels more like a VR experience than the typical spring loaded joystick controlled videogame. I also agree that the ASE device offers a unique style of gameplay that hasn't really been seen before in other games. Having the ability to discover and phase useful objects into the environment to assist with combat is a lot of fun. Beyond that, it's just rock solid action all throughout the game. There'll be fierce enemies, bad ass weapons, and white knuckle battles. It's going to be a hell of a lot of fun.Does the game run at 60fps? 30fps?Matt: If we can hit closer to 60, then that will be great! But for right now we are shooting for a steady 30fps, with zero drops in framerate. The whole team swears by the fact that a solid 30fps still feels great. Even our studio's most hard core PC FPS gamers think that The Conduit feels just right at 30fps. The quality will be there, and the game will look and run amazing by the time that it ships.Dan: The game will run absolutely solid at 30fps. For HVS, choice is either to have less visual splendor and run at 60fps or achieve the look we want for the game and run at 30fps. 30fps is a frame rate that is plenty responsive for FPS gaming and we are valuing the increased visual detail we can offer over the slightly smoother gameplay we might otherwise get by scaling this back.High Voltage has made an adventure game/minigame collection for the Xbox (Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, also on PS2 and PC), and now they're making an FPS for the Wii. Is this ironic or strategy?Rob: I like to think it's beautiful strategy. At the time Magna Cum Laude came out, the Adventure game market was woefully barren. So we found a title and a publisher willing to take the risk to revitalize that genre. Now we're trying to do the same thing with FPS's on the Wii. We feel that The Conduit will be like rain in the desert, which seems to be the case judging by the online response.Matt: Diversity is key. We don't like to sell ourselves short by sticking with one genre or style of game. High Voltage knows that it's okay to try new things. We've learned a lot after 15 years working with so many different publishers, developers, and licensors. I could go on about how licensed game restrictions, publisher mandates, and drop dead unmovable release dates ultimately affect the quality of your game, but this project is very different. The Conduit is something completely new for our studio. This game will rock! The company seems very (vocally) confident about the ability of The Conduit to revolutionize Wii gaming. Was it always in the plan to build up so much hype, or was the hype a natural product of enthusiasm? Has the hype been more than expected?Rob: The hype has certainly been more than I expected and I am grateful for it. However, it is a two-edged sword. While the hype has helped give us the pick of litter for a publisher, it does mean we have a LOT to live up to. But I think we are up for the challenge. =)Dan: There aren't many large scale multiplayer games for the Wii at this point, nor any that push the Wii graphics HW to the extent we are. So, from these standpoints – The Conduit will be revolutionary for the Wii gaming market. It is HVS's belief that although there are great FPS games on the 360 and PS3 – what they all lack is the kind of unique motion sensing based control schemes that makes The Conduit for the Wii more fun to play. Giving gamers a great looking, great playing, great controlling FPS title is something we feel is worth hyping!Matt: The plan all along was to maximize the potential of the system, and then build a game that showcases the engine tech and the fun of the Wii Remote. Every developer talks big about their own game, but no one at High Voltage could say for sure how well our audience would react to the screenshots and gameplay video release. We've always just been focused on making a great game, and the result is that The Conduit seems to be building its own hype. And we're very appreciative of all the kind words and support we've received from the Wii community.Is The Conduit sharing tech with Animales de la Muerte? Where did the concept for that one come from? Is it still on track? Really, anything we could learn about Animales de la Muerte would be wonderful.Dan: Animales is using the same engine tech as The Conduit, but in a much different way since it's a 'toon shaded game.Matt: I don't want to say too much more about the title until it's closer to completion, but I will say that it's going to be bloody fun. By the way, much respect to our friends in Mexico. However, screw PETA...no animal in this game is safe!Anything about multiplayer? Many of the folks interested in the game are looking to have some kind of online multiplayer, preferably something on-par with Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. Are you trying to implement Wi-Fi compatibility? Local multiplayer?Dan: We are working closely with Nintendo to be able to provide the kind of multiplayer gameplay that we know the market wants.Matt: Nintendo has been really helping us out with technical support but we still have more questions that will need be answered before we can release any specifics about our multiplayer modes. Obviously we want to be competitive with the other online console games, but we'd rather wait until we've got something great to show off before we make any announcements about this very important feature.Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! When not writing about games, we enjoy talking to the people that make them. Be sure to check out our interview with Wii mastermind Johnny Lee, as well as our chat with Didian Malenfant from Ready at Dawn on Okami for Wii. Oh, and don't forget our chat with Hudson's Mike Samachisa on Deca Sports.
