It’s 1998, a friend of the family buys a new computer.  It’s a Time PC (remember them?).  I get a call to go round and help ‘set it up’ for them.  In the box with all the cables there’s the usual ‘Nero Burning Rom’ trial CD’s but with the graphics card came a free game.
It was Half Life.  I’d never heard of it – but as thanks (and because it was a PC for office use) I was given the CD to take home with me.

Fast forward 13 years.  I still think it has the best and most effective introduction to any video game to date.  Allow me to take you on my 16 minute journey as we plunge headfirst into the work of Black Mesa, Gordon Freeman and crowbars. Read the rest of this entry »

Edit: Looks like Glados are “booting” Portal 2 early if it gets enough “CPUs” playing each of the games in the Potato Sack bundle. .  Check it out!  http://www.aperturescience.com/glados@home/

Remember our tongue in cheek ‘make your own Valve rumour!‘ article last year?  Valve have made sure we don’t need to any rumours up, with Valve launching their Potato Sack bundle on April Fool’s Day, offering 13 indie games for 75% off.

Before long, ARG-enthusiasts and feverish Steam-Forums members began to notice potato-themed easter eggs hidden the games from the bundle. .   Read on more about that (in fact read EVERYTHING you could possibly want to read about that on the Valve ARG (Alternate Reality Game) Wiki.

That will bring you up to date with this myserious count-down timer, which surfaced over the past 24 hours:

What are they up to?

Here at Sudogamer, we’ve come up with our popular theories:

1. No reveal at all? -  Not likely, as the uproar backlash would be terrible.  Terribly amusing.
   
2. Black Mesa (community mod / reworking of the original) – Not likely, again.  As this isn’t made by Valve, however we haven’t heard any news for them in a year. . .
   
3. Episode 3? – Slim chance but, they did put a short portal game in with Half Life: Episode 2 so Portal 2 with “Episode 3″ thrown in would justify a full price. Only problem here is that it would somewhat ‘devalue’ the Half-Life “brand”.   At best it could possibly be a HL:EP 3 announcement.. . ?
4. Half life 3? – No chance. . .just.. not gonna happen.
5. L4d2 meets portals? – A merging of left 4 dead with the Portal universe, messing with the zombies heads with portal-based fun.  This would be awful, I’d hate to see this.
   
6. A “Lost Coast” style demo of something NEW – This is my favourite theory.  A release another of their tech-demo levels, showcasing a new Source engine, which will end with a release date for Half Life 2: Episode 3.

Only 5 and half hours to go before we find out, until then – any other theories or comments? Let us know, below.

New Portal 2 advertorialised video – watch it here now.

It’s about Portal 2 and it’s fun. Watch it here first or again if you have seen it already.

Portal 2 is out in this month about the 21st depending where you live and can be prepurchased on Steam here.

Also keep up with Valve’s official blog here.

Check out the all-new Brink gameplay video, “Ready and Able,” showcasing some of the Abilities players can unlock while upgrading their persistent characters.

Brink is slated for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in North America on May 17, 2011 and across Europe on May 20, 2011. For more information on Brink visit www.BrinkTheGame.com.

How hard is it to create your own Valve rumour?

[singlepic id=143 w=320 h=240 mode=web20 float=center]

We’re dead-against people spreading rumours / creating fake images to spark false hope interest in possible future titles . .  we’ve had Episode 3?  Counter Strike 2?  Back To The Future 4: “McFly and Freeman take on Biff with a crowbar”? perhaps not. .

But how easy is it, to create your own little slice of Half Life conspiracy? Easy!

This took about 10 minutes to do, and doesn’t look that great, but with time I can see how easy it might be to create something more believable!

1. Extract half life font from Counter Strike folder:

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[singlepic id=142 w=320 h=240 float=center]

2. Look for appropriate artwork on Half Life 2 web site:

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3. Steal (copy) Valve / Steam logo’s from same site.

4. Fire up Photoshop.  Add Half Life logo.  Colour it Orange. Add large-spread drop-shadow, bevel.

[singlepic id=139 w=320 h=240 float=center]

5. Add art work from above, drop opacity. Add logos.

Done.

Upload to teh Internets (steam forums?) and watch the conspiracy hand-grenade explode!

After the cancellation of the Portal 2 event for a “surprise” – now this image surfaces. . .

edit: and turns out to be fake. .! Ah well, the PC gaming community can relax once again. Just to mix things up; there are some screen grabs of (probably fake) emails from Gabe Newell also doing the rounds.  One jokingly suggesting L4D2 Episode 1 (what a horrible thought), and another saying it isn’t episode 3.

The episode 3 rumours are flying once again with the circulation of this image (click to make large):

[singlepic id=137 w=320 h=240 mode=web20 float=center]

..and without going all X-Files, perhaps most controversially is that if you run the image through Photoshop, and mess with curves/levels you can more or less make out the shape of Gman’s face?

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Oooh, spooky? What can it all mean? Surely Episode 3 is a dead cert, now?

Let us know what you think in the comments box, all speculation welcome!

COUNTER-STRIKE: SOURCE UPDATE NOW IN BETA

Available immediately, Valve has launched an extensive update to Counter-Strike: Source, now in beta.

The update includes a host of new features and functionality developed in collaboration with Hidden Path Studios. These include 144 new achievements, a new domination and revenge system, player stats, and more.

This beta will run for a limited time, and once complete, the update will be deployed to all Counter-Strike: Source owners for free via Steam.

According to Valve, here are the new features…

* 144 achievements added
* New lifetime player stats and summary screen
* New match player stats and summary screen
* New end of round display with MVP and interesting fact about a player [Whaa...?  Get outta' my head Valve!]
* Updated scoreboard with new icons, visual style, MVP stars, and avatar pictures
* New cinematic death camera
* New domination and revenge system
* Added avatar icons to voice chat, scoreboard, and end of round display
* Incorporated many source engine updates

For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.

Valve today announced that nearly a half million members of the Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) community have voted to add a permanent new Mutation (aka game mode) to L4D2; Realism Versus. Realism Versus combines the rules of Versus and Realism Modes to create a Versus game that requires the best in Survivor teamwork.

With the release of the DLC “The Passing” last month, L4D2 has seen weekly new Mutations released every Friday.  The excitement and response to Realism Versus was so overwhelming a Poll was added for the in-game blog which simply asked: “Should the Mutation be permanent?”

This week’s Mutation is “Follow the Liter.” The rules of Scavenge have changed. Only one group of cans spawn at a time, so survivors know exactly where to go. There is only one problem; the Infected know exactly where they are going.

The weekly Mutations are available to all owners of Left 4 Dead 2′s “The Passing” DLC, available on PC and Xbox 360.

For more information, please visit www.l4d.com

PETROL HEADS: START YOUR ENGINES!

Dirt 2: Even Dirtier

Another great weekend deal from Steam offering Codemasters best racing games all for the super low price of £12.50. Try filling your car for that much!

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/4060

Apple Mac to be Steam powered from May 12

Valve have just announced the release date that will see Mac gamers utilizing the power of Steam. Steam will be release on the 12th May 2010, just 13 days away…

Are you a Mac gamer? Let us know your thoughts.