According to an announcement from Gabe Newell, the steam version of Counters-Strike: Source will be available around next week. The actual Half Life 2 (single player) will be locked until the legal issues concerning Valve and Vivendi Universal Games are solved.
According to PC Gamer’s Chuck Osborn there won’t be a Half Life 2 multiplayer: “Counter-Strike Source is the multiplayer.”
A Doom 3 patch has been released, updating your game to version 1.1. A number of improvements and fixes for both single player and multiplayer modes have been implemented, the patch is including a new “Dedicated Server” executable. The file is a moderate 17.4mb.
Mirrors:
Doom 3 Patch 1.1 Download
Looks like Valve has initiated phase 5 of Half Life 2 preload on the steam website. Of course, you can’t play it until it has been activated. Plus you can’t activate it until Half Life 2 boxes hit retail. Plus Half Life 2 won’t hit retail stores until the legal battles between Valve and Vivendi Universal Games have settled (kind of).
The moral of the story is that irrespective to all the hype about Half Life 2 preload, steam users won’t be playing the game any time earlier than ordinary buyers.
The name is not very original, but for most people the content is what counts:
Half-Life 2 Special Edition at Gamespot.
There is some speculation going on that Half Life 2 could be delayed for up to 6 months due to the publishing agreement between Valve and VU Games.
At least Steam users won’t get to download the game until it is made available at retail.
According to the Straits Times, only 2 out of the 10 best-selling games in this year’s first 6 months were based on original ideas. All others were sequels.
And there are some more coming. Half-Life 2, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.
According to internet sources, ATI has placed an additional order for 1,400 wafer starts at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to manufacture its Radeon 9800-series graphics chips.
With that order ATI is planning to bring the 9800 to market at price of under $200.
All the while Nvidia is announcing plans for a low-priced version of its GeForce FX5900-series in the fourth quarter.
Valve said today that it had licensed its Half Life 2 Source engine to Florida-based start-up Smiling Gator Productions. Smiling Gator will use the engine in a massively-multi-player role-playing game (MMORPG), Twilight War: After the Fall.
The other 2 licensees so far are Troika Games with Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines, and Arkane Studios, for an yet to be specified upcoming title.
The Doom 3 demo can be downloaded at gamespot. Enjoy!
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3D Gamers