Pyromania!

Part 3 of Valve’s Team Fortress 2 Pyromania update is finally here: Meet the Pyro!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhOnX8qt3I] (more…)

Diablo III Starter Edition and Other News

Diablo III launches tomorrow.. woop!

For those who aren’t planning to buy the game right away, there will be a Starter Edition and Guest Pass!

Information about this was originally leaked, as Battle.net account holders discovered they had access to the Diablo III beta client.. and that they were able to create characters tagged with a Starter Edition label.  Blizzard have since taken the beta down to address “an issue affecting the beta accessibility”. (more…)

Confirmation of Half Life 3?

Develop Online have posted an article linking to a podcast from Seven Day Cooldown in which Gabe Newell talks about “a game that fans have been waiting for”.

Concept changes are being blamed for the delay to the project, and Valve prefer not to let people know too much about development which is still subject to change.. they believe it’s fairer to fans to say nothing than “drive people more crazy”.

Personally, I’m glad to just know it’s in development after all.. and I’m happy to wait for the awesome game I expect this to be 🙂

Valve Developing “Steam Box”?

A rumour is circulating that Valve may be developing their own console!

This console would play PC games, use Steam and perhaps even competing services.. and would use The Big Picture, which offers easy-to-read and simple navigation designed for the TV, controlled by either a gamepad or mouse and keyboard.  Game developers wouldn’t have to pay for a license to develop for the platform, unlike for other consoles.

In an interview with Penny Arcade earlier this month, Gabe Newell made mention of Valve building their own hardware to make use of their own innovations.. which may include biometric measurements and augmented reality games.

Is there room for another box under the telly?  We have a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and a media PC already.  I think I could make room for something that brought interesting augmented reality games along.. games that react to how you are feeling, or allow players to see the state of other players in multiplayer, like in the special build of Left 4 Dead.  Though.. I think I’ll stop short of the skull implants 😉

Are we being exploited by DLC?

Spurred on by the debate around the Mass Effect 3 DLC, I started writing some thoughts down.. but it quickly turned into a definite TL;DR with DLC, online passes, pre-order bonuses, retailer exclusives and the fight against used games.. as well as the all-too-common cry that customers are being exploited.

So.. I’ve split it all up, with this part mainly being about DLC, in-game purchases and other bonuses, and another part to come about the fight against used games.  I’ve mentioned a few games or companies in my examples here.. either because they were the first or best example to come to mind, or because I know that product better.  I’m sure I’ve missed some great examples, and although I’ve checked my facts, I may have something wrong or out of date in here.. so feel free to let me know in the comments 🙂

The first Mass Effect 3 DLC pack appeared briefly on the Xbox Live Marketplace last week, and stirred up quite a debate about exploitation.

One complaint against DLC is that it provides an incentive for developers to withhold part of the game to charge more for it later.. or even on the same day, in the case of Day 1 or unlocks of content from the game disk itself.  You can’t return DLC if you don’t enjoy it, nor can you sell it on as it’s usually tied to your game account.  Other complaints are about price (Modern Warfare 2’s ‘Stimulus Package’: £10 for 5 maps, two of which were re-releases), or the worth of the DLC (Oblivion’s Horse Armour), and then there’s the idea that it’s only being produced to milk consumers for every last penny. (more…)

Steam Outage

The Steam services seem to be down this evening, with no reason or explanation given at this time.

A message from @Steam_Support on Twitter states that they are “investigating reported outages”, whilst a post by a community manager on the Steam forum noted that they are “working on getting everything running again as soon as possible”.

Update, 8.55pm: The Steam outage is down to a failure at Valve’s data centre.  They are now working to get services restored as soon as possible.

Update, 9.25pm: Steam is starting to come back online now.

Steam Hackers May Have Taken Credit Card Details

Valve have posted a new message from Gabe Newell about last year’s intrusion of the Steam forums.

During their investigation of last year’s intrusion, security experts have learned that the intruders may have obtained a copy of a backup file with information about Steam transactions between 2004 and 2008.  This backup file contained user names, email addresses, encrypted billing addresses and encrypted credit card information, but not Steam passwords.

Valve are still investigating the incident.

Blizzard appealing Valve’s use of the DOTA trademark

Blizzard are appealing against Valve’s use of the DOTA trademark, on the grounds that the trademark carries with it all the goodwill generated for the original DOTA mod and Warcraft III, which it was based on.

Valve are currently developing DOTA 2, which will be a standalone game available on Steam.

In the appeal, Blizzard argue that they supported the original DOTA mod, and that it was built using the Warcraft III engine, characters, items, spells, artwork and textures, and that Valve should therefore have no right to use the name.

Blizzard are currently developing their own version of DOTA: Blizzard DOTA, a custom game for StarCraft II.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx1JDEnrVK8]

Like other DOTA-style games, this is a team-based competitive game where each player controls a powerful hero with unique abilities, and must work with their teammates to invade the enemy’s base.  More information is available in the DOTA FAQ.

Skyrim: Creation Kit and High Res Texture Pack Available Now

Bethesda have now released the Skyrim Creation Kit on Steam, and along with it, a free high-res texture pack!  The Creation Kit will be available when you next log into Steam, with the texture pack an optional extra.  A wiki for the Creation Kit can be found here.

You can also now browse the Steam Workshop.. and discover another little surprise: Fall of the Space Core, Vol. 1!

To celebrate the opening of the Steam Workshop for Skyrim, Valve and Bethesda have teamed up to bring you the Space Sphere mod, which’ll let the aggressively space-centric little robot tag along on your adventures in Tamriel!

Steam for Mobile Devices

Valve have today announced the launch of a Steam mobile app for iOS and Android!

The free app will allow customers to access the gaming news feeds and check out games on the Steam store, as well as connecting with friends through Steam profiles, chat, and Steam groups.

The app is currently in beta, and you can express interest in joining by signing in to Steam through the app.  New users will be rolled into the beta at a later time.