Have you been wondering just exactly what Portal: Still Alive for the XBLA is going to be? Well, wonder no more. According to Valve’s PR, this is a standalone version of Portal that comes bundles with the Orange Box, but with some additional non-story levels tacked on. So don’t expect any GLaDOS in the extra levels.
No word on pricing just yet, but I’m wondering if Valve will offer any price breaks for people who already own The Orange Box. Since Still Alive is basically the same thing with new maps, maybe they’ll offer the expansion pack as a cheaper download for those who already have the game? Only time will tell.
Not those kind of loads you sick bastards. Loads of PC games. Over 40 titles in all are being made available for download.
Assassin’s Creed is now available for pre-purchase via Steam. In addition, Ubisoft is bringing many of its award-winning brands to Steam, including games from the Tom Clancy series, the Heroes of Might & Magic® series, the IL-2 Sturmovik collection, Far Cry®, and much more. Digital packs of many of these franchises will also be made available in the coming weeks.
Like I said before, if you’re into PC gaming and you don’t have Steam, you need to get with the program. Buying games at the store is so 1986.
Following up with Atari joining the Steam camp, Epic will be putting a large portion of their games onto Steam.
The Epic hits now available on Steam include Epic’s debut classic, Unreal Gold, as well as Unreal II: The Awakening and the Unreal Tournament series of games, including the recently released Unreal Tournament 3, which has shipped over one million copies to date.
All of Epic’s titles available on Steam are offered in the Unreal Deal Pack, an incredible value for just $59.95. And, to celebrate the launch, all of Epic’s games on Steam are available for 10% off their regular price.
I think we’ll be seeing a ton of Epic games now and in the future on Steam, except Gears of War. Since Microsoft has the publishing rights, I have a feeling it’ll be sticking to Games for Windows Live. A shame, really, since Steam is much better.
In case you don’t want to spend all that cash on The Orange Box just to play Portal, you’re in luck. Starting April 9th, Valve will be selling each part of the game on Steam.
Portal will run you $19.99, while Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Team Fortress 2 will run you $29.99 each. Considering The Orange Box costs $50, it’s pretty steep for each one if that’s the route you want to take.
Sorry console players, this won’t apply to you. If you want Portal or Team Fortress 2, you’ll have to shell out the $60 for the game on your Xbox 360 or PS3.
The Orange Box was worth the price of admission for Portal alone. The innovative gameplay was a breath of fresh air for the industry, leaving gamers and critics clamoring for more. The wait will soon be over, as Valve has confirmed Portal 2.
Kimberly Swift, lead designer for Portal, let the cat out of the bad on last night’s episode of X-Play on G4.
No time frame was set, but expect the sequel either later this year or early 2009.
At 7pm ET tonight, you might want to fire up your Steam client if you own Team Fortress 2 on your PC. A pretty big, and free, update is coming your way. Here’s some the things can expect from the update:
Plenty of updates to the Source Engine, including fixes for networking, graphics, and player statistics, plus improvements to Source TV for tournament viewing.
Three of the currently available maps (Dustbowl, Granary, CTF_Well) will see updates for enhanced performance and gameplay.
A new map, Badlands, a new map that pushes control-point gameplay onto vertical landscapes.
Did we mention all this is free? So if The Orange Box on PC is your thing, start prepping your shooting finger and that FPS mouse.
No word on console patches or updates for this content. Requests to Valve for this information were not immediately returned.
Tis the season to spread good cheer and overall shenanigans. Here is a happy holidays greeting from our friends at Valve and a funny one that at. Check it out and be sure to drink before noon this holiday season because if you ain’t first, you’re last.
Let me start by saying that I have been waiting for this game for what I consider to be far too long. I had only played HL2 VERY briefly but, of course, fell in love with it. I suppose I could have bought it for my computer at home. But to be completely honest I’m not all that crazy about keyboard controls (everyone tells me I’ll get used to them-piss off-I won’t). It has been almost four years since the PC release. I’m sure by now there are a handful of people that have lost interest in Valve’s epic creation. Those people are morons. Let me tell you why.
Oh, and make sure you’re comfy. Having five games on one disk can make for an extended review.
Gabe Newell threw down the gauntlet and banned his employees from playing BioShock on either PC or Xbox 360. Not forever mind you, but only until Half-Life 2 Episode Two and the Orange Box are done and shipping, which is scheduled for mid October.
“We had to ban Bioshock from our offices,” Valve boss Gabe Newell told us. “Nobody gets to play it until Orange Box is done - that’s our reward to ourselves as a company; everyone gets a copy of Bioshock.”
At least everyone will get a free copy from Mr. Newell. I know I wouldn’t be able to wait until mid October for BioShock.
IGN today released some new screenshots for the Xbox 360 version of Half-Life 2 (specifically the Orange Box, since these are of the main game).
I have to say, these look no better than the original Xbox version. I just fired up the game on my PC and it looks much better, and I haven’t upgraded any of my PC components in over 3 years. I’m imagining the PS3 version will look just as bad.
Someone at Valve better put their foot down on this and get some people working a little harder, or this is going to be a major disappointment for them.
We're like Spaceballs... we're making Loot Ninja everything. Coming soon we'll have hats, shirts, hoodies, possibly banana hammocks if one Editor has his way...
Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
