The Inquisitr » Steam

[VIDEO] The most amazing Modern Warfare 2 kill yet

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:00:33 +0000

Modern Warfare 2 has introduced throwing knives to the mix, leading to this frankly amazing round-winning kill:

Stroke of genius or miraculous luck? Whichever, it’ll take something to top that.

Modern Warfare 2 effectively banned in Russia

Chris Greenhough — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:39:16 +0000

[UPDATE: Turns out this story came from a dodgy translation, and that Modern Warfare 2 has not been banned in Russia after all. Activision clarified the matter with VG247, stating, "Reports that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been banned in Russia are erroneous."]

[SPOILER NOTE: While sales of Modern Warfare 2 would suggest that every human on the planet has played the game at least four times, my math might be out. Hence, this is a SPOILER notice - don't read on if you're still to play MW2 and want to keep the surprise element.]

So Modern Warfare 2 is out, and as we all predicted, is proving a controversy magnet for the ages.

If you didn’t already know, MW2 includes a highly controversial level set in a Russian airport, in which you, the player, can go about gunning down civilians willy-nilly. Consequently, the real Russia is pissed.

In fact, Russia is so pissed that every copy of the game has now been recalled from store shelves across the vast country. In an attempt to appease the Russian authorities, developer Infinity Ward has already released a patch for the PC and Steam versions of the game, completely removing the massacre from the title.

The console versions, meanwhile, will see an edited version re-released in under a month, though these will be subject to government review before being allowed back out on the streets.

A kneejerk decision? I’m yet to tackle Modern Warfare 2’s single-player (I know …), so will have to wait before passing judgment on the level. It certainly looks shocking, though obviously context needs to play a role in this debate. Here’s the level on its own:

[Hellforge, via Destructoid]

Left 4 Dead 2 appeal rejected in Australia, but awesome new trailer leaked

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:08:05 +0000

The rough most definitely came with smooth today for Left 4 Dead 2 fans.

We’ll start with the bad news first: if you’re Australian, you won’t be playing the Left 4 Dead 2 Valve wanted you to play. The original build of the game was recently refused classification by the OFLC, the body that grants age ratings to all of Australia’s games and films. An appeal was lodged against the decision, but was shot down today.

Fortunately, Valve saw this coming, and has already prepared a version with less gore and more kittens that does fit within OFLC requirements. Hence, that’s the game Australians will be playing.

And now here’s the good news, in the form of the MOST AWESOME VIDEOGAME CINEMATIC EVAR (NSFW, obviously):

Beautiful (though you can kind of see why the notoriously fussy OFLC wasn’t too keen on this).

[Via Kotaku and Joystiq]

Pre-order Left 4 Dead 2 now and get the demo early

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:24:16 +0000

Valve today announced release plans for the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, revealing that those who pre-order the game from retailers or Steam will get it first, on October 27. Looks like the Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters ended their lil’ foot-stomping session just in time.

It’s due to be set in “The Parish” campaign, and will even support four players online or via local play. That’s how you do a demo.

If you forget to pre-order the game, then you’ll be able to try your hand at zombie-slaughterin’ a week later on November 3, so long as you’re a Xbox Live Gold member. Impoverished non-Gold subscribers will be left waiting until November 10, with the full game due on November 17.

And I can’t bloody wait.

[Via press release]

Left 4 Dead 2 boycott officially brought to an end

Chris Greenhough — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:00:51 +0000

And hurray for that. Yes, the most pointless boycott in history is over.

Back in June, a group of Left 4 Dead fans announced plans to boycott Left 4 Dead 2, on the grounds that developer Valve was abandoning the first game, and the sequel was releasing too soon. Valve subsequently flew two of the boycotters out to its Seattle HQ, and continued to support the game with updates and bug fixes.

Now, however, it’s all over. The boycotters have decided to call it a day. Not that their organized hissy fit had much effect, obviously, because pre-orders for the sequel are through the roof. Anyhow, here’s boycott leader Agent of Chaos:

“The recently released Crash Course was just the start. Future updates will continue to roll in, and 4v4 matchmaking is first in line. Valve has confirmed to us that it’ll be available before the release of L4D2. Also don’t forget, we have another DLC pack confirmed for sometime in the near future and of course, there will be bug fixes. This is as good as it can get people.”

And here’s my translation:

“Look guys, I hate to say it, but Left 4 Dead 2 looks like the cat’s pajamas, and if you think I’m seriously ignoring it, think again. I’ve got my free tour of Valve and, despite our claims, Valve defied my expectations by supporting Left 4 Dead after all. Oops!”

[Via Steam]

Buy World of Goo for … whatever price you want

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:10:03 +0000

World of Goo was one of the best games I played in 2008, bar none. The premise of this clever, gorgeous physics-based puzzler was simple: use tiny, anthropomorphic goo balls to build huge, teetering structures of goo to reach the goal in each level. Though it may not sound it, this was hellishly addictive.

In related news, World of Goo turned one year old today, so the game’s developer 2D Boy is celebrating by selling you the full PC game for whatever you want to pay. A cent. A million bucks. Whatever. In other words, they’ve done a Radiohead.

I paid around $15 for my (Wii) version of World of Goo, but would have paid at least twice that by the time I finished.

Then again, I understand the temptation here. The temptation is to be a tightass and pay a cent for this sublime bit of software. That’s fine. Apparently, 2D Boy wouldn’t mind that. Alternatively, you could not be a jerk, and pay something more deserving, because if any game deserved your support, it’s World of Goo. Whatever you decide to do, go here to get your goo on (though note that the site is currently very shaky).

Oh, and in other related news, 2D Boy has confirmed an iPhone version is in the works:

Hotness!

[Via 2D Boy]

Less gory Left 4 Dead 2 cleared for release in Australia

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:03:48 +0000

If ever a screenshot could be called prescient …

A few weeks back, Australian censorship body the OFLC (here represented by the chap smacking Australia in the gob) refused to classify Left 4 Dead 2, banning the game from being sold anywhere in the country. In the OFLC’s view, the zombie shooter “contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 to play.”

Publisher EA and developer Valve are still in the process of appealing this decision, but if that falls through (a verdict is due on October 22), Valve has a solution: censor the hell out of its game.

Valve’s Gabe Newell has revealed that a heavily edited version of Left 4 Dead 2 has now been submitted, and has passed the OFLC test gaining an MA15+ rating. Says Newell:

“We think Left 4 Dead 2 is a lot of fun. It’s a game for adults. But we’re aware that different countries have different restrictions, and we want to make the choices that make the game the most fun for that country.”

As it turns out, some big cuts have been made in this sanitized version. News.com.au reports that the OFLC found “the game no longer contains depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment.”

So Left 4 Dead 2 WILL be coming out in Oz now, though it’s likely to be a nicer, less gory version, with more kittens or something. The original build could still make it out, but we won’t know until a decision is made on EA and Valve’s appeal. It’s plain which version Valve want to see released, and Newell was quite clear about this:

“Our goal is not to ship this second version. The goal, of course, is to get the original version through the Board via the appeal process. If that fails, then the edited version is the back-up plan.”

Obviously, the elephant in the room is the OFLC’s inefficient rating system. Australia desperately needs an R18 classification for games, and until that happens, expect this story to be repeated again and again.

[News.com.au, via VG247]

You WILL buy Left 4 Dead 2, dammit

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:27:56 +0000

Is anybody out there still boycotting Left 4 Dead 2? If so, two things:

1. You’re ridiculous.
2. Valve intends to test your resistance with the mother of all marketing campaigns.

That’s right: Valve has announced it’ll be spending a cool $25 million pushing the sequel to its utterly brilliant zombie co-op shooter.

That means billboards, banner ads on gaming sites, and televised advertisements that run during Monday Night Football and UFC events. Noice. Over in Europe, there’ll be more of everything, with extra print, television, and website ads. In Australia, that means … oh.

Anyway, I guess we can put all of this down to the wild success of the first game, which is fast approaching 3 million sales on all formats, largely thanks to a glowing critical reception and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Left 4 Dead 1’s ad budget of $10 million is dwarfed by the campaign for the follow-up, and I for one am glad to see the game getting the big push it deserves.

[Via press release]

Weekend gaming special: F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin plus the Reborn DLC

Steven Hodson — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:46:10 +0000

When the game F.E.A.R. by Monolith was first released it created quite the stir in the gaming community and still maintains a high approval rating at Metacritic. I remember when it came out I lost more than a few hours getting myself killed in the game.

At this point I haven’t played any of the follow-ups to the game but that may change given this weekend special at Valve’s Steam game store. They are having a 50% off sale of both F.E.A.R.2: Project Origin and F.E.A.R.2: Reborn DLC.

F.E.A.R.2: Project Origin – $24.99

F.E.A.R.2: Reborn – $4.99

Left 4 Dead gets patched, new stage to arrive September 23?

Chris Greenhough — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:27:25 +0000

When I switched on my Xbox 360 to play Left 4 Dead earlier today, I was invited told to download a new update for the zombie shooter. This patch, I later learned from my L4D-playing friends, seemed to fix several of the game’s minor glitches, and provided the odd visual tweak to the game’s heads-up display.

More interestingly, it also added ten as-yet-unnamed new Achievements. Why is this interesting? Because any day now, Left 4 Dead is supposed to be getting a brand new stage, and it looks like these new Achievements could be linked.

That’s right: after almost 12 months of playing through the same four (admittedly giant) campaigns, we’re finally getting a downloadable fifth level, entitled “Crash Course.” This was announced as a September release a couple of months back, and now this latest update seems to pave the way for its imminent arrival.

Furthermore, Microsoft has announced that a “Game With Fame” session (like this one) will take place on September 23, with players getting the chance to play through Crash Course with Tennessee rock band Paramore.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but to play through Crash Course with Tennessee rock band Paramore, you need Crash Course, which inevitably leads to only one conclusion: Crash Course is coming. On September 23. I know, I’m the goddamn Master of Logic.

[Via Steam forums]

Yarr! Celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with free copy of Monkey Island

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:26:37 +0000

Ahoy, me hearties, etc. In case you weren’t aware, September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Celebrated since 1995, I’ve already lived through enough ITLaPDs to find the whole affair rather tedious and memesy.

On the up side, companies occasionally use the date to give away free stuff, like LucasArts and Telltale Games are doing this year. This Saturday, you can acquire a copy of the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island for the low price of zero, simply by pillaging a code from the company’s website. Not only that, but the whole opening season of five episodes is available for five bucks less.

Easing you in with a free copy of the first chapter is a sneaky move by LucasArts and Telltale, because Tales of Monkey Island is awesome, and they know it. Try the opening episode, and I don’t think you’ll be able to resist buying the rest.

Also, from right this second and until September 21st, you can pick up Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition at Direct2Drive and Steam to $5, or the iPhone version for a reduced price of $4.

[Via 4cr]

Left 4 Dead 2 banned in Australia

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:55:28 +0000

If you live in Australia and desperately wish to play Left 4 Dead 2, prepare for some bad news.*

The OFLC, the notoriously hard-to-please censorship body that classifies all of Australia’s films and videogames, has given Valve’s shooter the banhammer. Officially, the game has been granted a “Refused Classification” rating, meaning it cannot be sold anywhere in Oz. Publisher EA had this to say in response:

“[We] are still working through the submission process with OFLC and want to explore all opportunities before making any comment.”

Sucks to be Australia then, but maybe this is for the good. After all, Aussies can easily import a copy from other PAL regions, and this news could reignite the debate about how badly Australia needs an R18 classification for games. Because seriously, it does.

* If you live in Australia and desperately wish to boycott Left 4 Dead 2, you’ll now have to find something else to whine about pointlessly on the Internet.

[OFLC, via PALGN]

Get your gaming deal on with Steam and Star Wars

Steven Hodson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:24:32 +0000

Over the last little while Valve’s Steam store has been adding LucasArt’s game titles to their store and today they’ve announced that their most recent addition is a package of Star Wars games. To celebrate the complete package of five games are being offered for a special price of $19.99. Included in the package is:

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith
Star Wars: Dark Forces

As well they are having a special on their LucasArts Adventure Pack which will get 4 games for $9.99. The games in that package are:

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Loom
The Dig

New Left 4 Dead 2 campaign enjoys all the fun of the Carnival

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:50:57 +0000

“You must be this tall … TO DIE!”

That’s the awesome slogan for new Left 4 Dead 2 campaign “Dark Carnival.” Having already wowed us with reveals of “Swamp Fever” and “The Parish,” Valve showed off this new stage at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, exposing us to new weapons and enemies.

It looks hot, not to mention full of potential giggles. Eurogamer got its foot in Valve’s office door for a brief preview, and revealed you can:

- Whack the undead with an electric guitar.
- Fight off zombies dressed as clowns (who can in turn call other infected to the fight).
- Whack the undead with an electric guitar!!
- Earn an Achievement for honking a clown zombie’s nose.
- WHACK THE UNDEAD WITH AN ELECTRIC GUITAR!!1!ONE!

The new Special Infected enemy is simply known as “the Jockey.” He’s a tiny zombie who can hop on a survivor’s back and steer them towards dangerous areas. This, observes Eurogamer, means “the Jockey can ride them further and further away from the main group, potentially costing the team even more vital time, health and ammo.” In a nice touch, some of the parlor games you’ll find at the overrun carnival actually work, and the finale takes place on a merry-go-round.

So yeah, it’s official: anybody still boycotting this game is a madman. Soak up some carnival atmosphere in the screens below, and hurry up November 20th!

[Via Eurogamer]

A fall sale of all Strategy First games

Steven Hodson — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:25:00 +0000

The really nice thing about Valve’s game store, Steam, (besides supporting PayPal payments) is that they are always offering all kinds of deals. Starting today they are having a fall sale of all of Strategy First games with half off.

The games up for grabs are

Space Empires IV Deluxe
Dangerous Waters
Jagged Alliance 2
Disciples II Gold
Jagged Alliance 2 / Disciples II Gold Combo
Birth of America
Iron Warriors
Space Empires V
Classic Naval Combat Pack
Complete Naval Combat Pack
Ghost Master, Vegas – Make It Big
FlatOut
Making History: The Calm and The Storm
Space Empires IV and V Pack
Ducati World Championship
Alien Shooter: Vengeance
Culpa Innata
DarkStar One
Jack Keane
Sacred Gold
Exodus From the Earth
Perimeter 2
SlamIt Pinball: Big Score (hmm might have to check this one out)
SFI Complete Pack
BC Kings
Port Royale 2
Ankh – Heart of Osiris
Ankh – Battle of the Gods
The Ankh Pack

This might be a good time to check out some different games without it hurting your wallet.

Catch Swamp Fever in Left 4 Dead 2

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:26:33 +0000

Despite the (wholly premature, if you ask me) outrage of a vocal minority over Left 4 Dead 2, Valve will be shilling its zombie shooter at this week’s Comic Con convention in San Diego.

This means we’ll be seeing another stage from the brains-hungry sequel: the murky Swamp Fever. This bog-based campaign contrasts sharply with the blue skies seen in the previously revealed The Parish; you can see just how gloomy things get in the new screens below.

There’ll also be a peek at the “Spitter,” one of the new special Infected (also pictured below, and she’s a real looker). Apparently, she’ll be able to gob great clouds of acid over the Survivors, infuriating anybody who’s developed the habit of camping in corners (guilty as charged). She’ll be joined by “Mudmen,” essentially common Infected who scamper about on all fours in the swamp, aiming for a chomp on your delicious, fleshy knees.

Oh, and attendees will get to try out a bunch of new weapons, including an AK47, a grenade launcher, and the potentially hilarious cricket bat.

[Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Gamers: Time to score big – specials galore on Steam

Steven Hodson — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:36:59 +0000

If you are a gamer and you want to score yourself some great games over the next week, and holiday weekend, then you need to head over to Valve’s game store and start prepping your download folder for incoming.

Starting of the specials we have the complete 2K Huge Game Pack which includes the following

Bioshock
CivCity: Rome
Civilization IV: Warlords
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Freedom Force
Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
Prey
Railroad Tycoon 3
Railroad Tycoon II Platinum
Shattered Union
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization
Sid Meier’s Pirates
Sid Meier’s Railroads
X-COM: Apocalypse
X-COM: Enforcer
X-COM: Interceptor
X-COM: Terror from the Deep
X-COM: UFO Defense

Now if you were to buy all those games separately you’d be looking at forking over $229 but if you buy the complete pack you can get them all for $59.99. Not only that but if you really hurry their giving another 10% off until July 7th.

On top of all of that goodness there is an even better deal that is only on for the weekend. For those of you that really like the good old FPS type games (with maybe a bit of RPG thrown in) the Steam store has Fallout 3 on a half-price special. So instead of forking over $49.99 you only need to dip into your wallet for $24.99

For those of you that are maybe a little more sports oriented there’s a special running until July 10th that will let you pick up Virtua Tennis 2009 and save yourself 10% on the store price.

So what are you still doing here .. git … it’s the weekend … it’s gamer time .. git.

Gamers pissed at Valve, boycotting Left 4 Dead 2

Steven Hodson — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:50:00 +0000

When was the last time you ever heard of anyone wanting to boycott a company because they wanted to bring a new product to market?

Well apparently this is the situation that Valve is finding itself in with some pretty serious gamers who are really angry that the company is bringing the next version of the popular game to market only a year after the original Left 4 Dead was released. They have even set up a Steam Group within the Steam (Valve’s game store and community) Store community pages.

The opening paragraph of their statement to both the gaming community and I would image to Valve itself is this

The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott is a group of individuals who have pledged to boycott Valve’s upcoming release of Left 4 Dead 2 on November 17th, 2009. We have assembled a manifesto outlining the basic concensus of many members of our community. (Note: this manifesto is a new version, which we have recently posted to keep our manifesto in line with the middle ground of our members. This is the correct group for the boycott)

They go on to list out their whole – for a lack of better words – manifesto.

WE RECOGNIZE:
-Valve is a company with financial needs and cannot be expected to survive without the release of new games.
-Judgment cannot be passed on the quality of Left 4 Dead 2 until its release.
-Left 4 Dead was, and is, a quality game which deserves the praise of the entire gaming community.

WE ARE COMMITTED:
-To holding Valve to its promise of free, continual updates to Left 4 Dead in order to build and sustain the community.
-To keeping the Left 4 Dead community together in order to improve the quality of online gaming.
-To supporting the model of continual updates Valve has set forth with its staple products like Team Fortress 2.

WE BELIEVE:
-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming.
-The announced content of Left 4 Dead 2 does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead.
-Left 4 Dead has not yet received the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered.
-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will make Left 4 Dead an obsolete purchase and inferior piece of software after only one year since release.

WE REQUEST:
-That Valve honor its commitment to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead.
-That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners.
-That Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content.

Therefore, we – the members of this Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott – promise to abstain from the purchase of Left 4 Dead 2 until our requests are addressed.

I got to admit this is the first time I have ever heard of anything like this – especially when it comes to gaming. Talk about passionate.

[hat tip to Technologizer]

[Breaking] Sony MMO Library of Games now on Valve’s Steam Store

Steven Hodson — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:25:50 +0000

Just saw this come across the wire from Valve’s Steam Store news. As of today the following titles from Sony Online Entertainment will be available at the Steam Store for purchase and download.

EverQuest
EverQuest II
Vanguard: Saga of Heros
Pirates of the Burning Sea

From the press release

Jan. 16, 2009 — Valve Corporation and Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announce the availability of some of SOE’s extensive library of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) titles on Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games and digital content with over 15 million accounts around the world.

The SOE developed and/or published titles now available include the complete EverQuest® (EQ) and EverQuest® II (EQII) collections, as well as Vanguard: Saga of Heroes® and Pirates of the Burning Sea™. To kick off this monumental event, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, EQ Secrets of Faydwer and EQII Rise of Kunark are being offered by Valve at a special introductory price for the first 10 days the games are available for purchase on Steam. New SOE game accounts for the game purchased will also receive 30 days of gameplay included with purchase (this offer excludes existing game and Station Access accounts).

In addition, the recently released expansions EverQuest® Seeds of Destruction™ and EverQuest® II The Shadow Odyssey™ are available for purchase.

As someone who just signed up for the Steam store because they support payment using PayPal this is going to be good news and another reason I didn’t need to increase my game titles. for other gamers this once again provides some more great game titles available via a great way to get all those new games.

Google may have acquired Half-Live creator Valve

Duncan Riley — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:30:30 +0000

The Inquirer has published a story claiming that Google is about to announce the acquisition of computer games developer Valve, the company behind Half Life.

If you’ve just thought WTF in the same way as I did when I read the report, there’s some semblance of sanity behind the move and Google isn’t interested (well we think) in developing computer games; Valve also offers Steam, a content distribution service described by the Inquirer as “amazing.”

Wikipedia describes the service as follows:

Steam is a successful digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute and manage (sometimes exclusively) a wide range of games entirely over the internet, stretching from one-man independent efforts to some of the world’s most popular. Steam is set apart from its peers in terms of functionality primarily by its residency in the system tray, and the desktop tasks that the client software performs, which will be detailed in the article, to make use of that position.

As of 2008-09-11, over 440 games are available on Steam, and as of 2008-02-07, there are over 15 million active user accounts.

Google Games, or Google content distribution? makes sense when you consider Google’s current strategy of trying to be everything to everyone everywhere. Still, can you imagine how ugly Half-Life 3 will look once the Google engineers get involved