In an email sent to Steam users Friday afternoon, from Gabe Newell, the company admitted that it is “probable that the intruders 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. It did not include Steam passwords.”

Mr. Newell stressed that there is no evidence that hackers have broken the encryption on the stolen file, as it was hashed and salted. He added that using Steam Guard and keeping a vigilant watch over one’s credit card statements was a good idea.

The email also mentioned that Steam is still investigating and working with law enforcement officials to track down those responsible.

Valve has yet to respond to Hardware Canucks’ request for comment.

The transcript of Valve’s email to Steam users is below:

Dear Steam Users and Steam Forum Users

We continue our investigation of last year’s intrusion with the help of outside security experts. In my last note about this, I described how intruders had accessed our Steam database but we found no evidence that the intruders took information from that database. That is still the case.

Recently we learned that it is probable that the intruders 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. It did not include Steam passwords.

We do not have any evidence that the encrypted credit card numbers or billing addresses have been compromised. However as I said in November it’s a good idea to watch your credit card activity and statements. And of course keeping Steam Guard on is a good idea as well.

We are still investigating and working with law enforcement authorities. Some state laws require a more formal notice of this incident so some of you will get that notice, but we wanted to update everyone with this new information now.

Gabe

Launched last week in a closed beta, the Steam app allows gamers to chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news, stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales, and more.

Want to check it out? Simply download the Steam app (free of charge) and log in to your Steam account via the mobile app.

Steam is a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC and Mac games with over 40 million accounts around the world and over 1,800 titles offered.

For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/mobile

In an interview with French online magazine Lepoint.Fr, translated by VG247, Mr. Delmas said: “We’re in an industry that talks a lot, that likes to tell stories. I am not convinced things will happen this year. Xbox 360′s cycle is not at all finished.”

“The proof is that we don’t see the logic in cutting the price this year. E3 is still premature. What’s certain is that there will be nothing new in 2012.”

Mr. Delmas claimed Microsoft won’t be making any moves to counter Nintendo as they officially announce Wii U at E3, then launch the system at Christmas.

“We’re not here to counter Nintendo and they’re not here to fight the other manufacturers. Nintendo has put itself in a different cycle, they’re advancing at their own pace.”

Sony says that they will be last to announce plans for a next generation console.

With the Steam app, gamers around the world may chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news, stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales, and more.

“The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “Seeing which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale – these are all features customers have requested. Mobile is changing way people interact, play games and consume media, and the Steam app is part of our commitment to meet customer demands and expand the service functionality of Steam to make it richer and more accessible for everyone.”

Those who wish to join the beta just need to download the Steam app (free of charge) and log in to their Steam account via the mobile app to express interest in the beta. Gamers will be added to the Closed Beta as the service ramps up.Steam is a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC and Mac games with over 40 million accounts around the world and over 1,800 titles offered.

For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/mobile

Most of these rumours come from Kotaku, which claims to have apparently well placed sources in the industry.

Here is the drill-down of rumours so far:

• Microsoft will use Blu-Ray discs as opposed to DVDs for the medium of choice. This is a given following the demise of the HD-DVD format.
• Microsoft will develop a system to prevent used games from being played. No exact details on how this will work quite yet.
• A new version of Kinect will ship when the new Xbox is released.
• Fudzilla and Semi Accurate claim that the new Xbox will be “six times as powerful” as the Xbox 360. The GPU chipset wil likely be based on AMD’s Radeon HD 6670.

Semi Accurate’s Charlie Demerjain claims that the next-gen GPU/APU that will power the Xbox 720, codenamed “Oban”, went into production in December 2011. Mr. Demerjain also alleges that when he asked his sources at Redmond for confirmation they allegedly responded with, “who the fuck told you that?” – an apparent vindication of Mr. Demerjain’s often reliable sources.

All reports indicate that the next generation Xbox will be launched in the fall of 2013.

Meanwhile Steam doubled the amount of content delivered in 2011 vs. 2010, serving over 780 Petabytes of data to gamers around the world. To meet the increasing demand for games and services on the platform, the Steam infrastructure more than doubled its service capacity and a new content delivery architecture was deployed to improve user download rates.

Over 14.5 million copies of Steamworks games were registered during the year, a 67% increase over 2010. Steamworks titles shipped during 2011 include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution , and more. Since the suite of services was released three years ago, Steamworks has shipped in over 400 games.

“Steam and Steamworks continues to evolve to keep up with customer and developer demands for new services and content,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “Support for in-game item trading prompted the exchange of over 19 million items. Support for Free to Play (FTP) games, launched in June, has spurred the launch of 18 FTP titles on Steam, with more coming in 2012. Looking forward, we are preparing for the launch of the Big Picture UI mode, which will allow gamers to experience Steam on large displays and in more rooms of the house.”

Valve has revealed that hackers have gained access to the Steam database and have pulled countless user names, passwords and other information.  

Earlier this week many noticed that the Steam forums were experiencing issues and were later taken down.  It turns out that the damage incurred by hackers was more widespread than was originally anticipated.

At first it seemed like just the forums were defaced and as such were quickly out of commission but as Valve investigated, it turned out that a database full of user names, passwords and other information was hacked.  As such, the items contained on this database could now be making its way over the usual underground channels.

According to Valve credit card information should still be safe but they are not ruling out the possibility that it too was hacked.

We’ll continue monitoring the situation but until then, below is the full email from Gabe Newell to Steam members.

EDIT:  To avoid confusion, please remember that hashed + salted passwords as stated below are not the actual passwords themselves but rather encrypted versions thereof.  This certainly doesn’t mean they are secure but rather, the people in possession of this information may find it very hard to access the things they need to get into the physical accounts.

Dear Steam Users and Steam Forum Users,

            Our Steam forums were defaced on the evening of Sunday, November 6.  We began investigating and found that the intrusion goes beyond the Steam forums.

We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums.   This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating.

We don’t have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely. 

While we only know of a few forum accounts that have been compromised, all forum users will be required to change their passwords the next time they login. If you have used your Steam forum password on other accounts you should change those passwords as well. 

We do not know of any compromised Steam accounts, so we are not planning to force a change of Steam account passwords (which are separate from forum passwords). However, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change that as well, especially if it is the same as your Steam forum account password.  

We will reopen the forums as soon as we can. 

I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Gabe.

This event is bringing together more than 600 PC gamers onboard the USS Hornet in sunny California.  Throughout the event’s three days here are some serious prizes up for grabs for the winners of various competitions.  We also hear that some new multiplayer maps for the eagerly anticipated BattleField 3 will also be launched over the next 24 hours.

Yesterday NVidia launched the 3D Vision 2 at this event.

Stay tuned for more coverage as we make our way through the event!

This report also mentioned that current generation PCs are 10x as powerful as the current generation of consoles. Although we don’t have access to the full report, the below graphics tell enough of a story.

What do you think?

OS: WINDOWS 7 64-BIT
PROCESSOR: QUAD-CORE CPU
MEMORY: 4 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD: DIRECTX 11 COMPATIBLE WITH 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 OR ATI RADEON 6950)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
DVD ROM DRIVE

I’m looking forward to playing it at the GeForce LAN next month. Hardware Canucks will have full coverage of the event.

Targeted for release via Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam (for PC and Mac) in early 2012, CS: GO will expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched 12 years ago.

Arsenal Mode is based on the popular Counter-Strike: Source mod Gun Game. “Arsenal: Arms Race” and “Arsenal: Demolition” add eight new maps and expand on the classic Counter-Strike gameplay.

Valve is working directly with creators of Gun Game to create  Arsenal Mode. “We are excited that Valve reached out and is working with us to ensure Arsenal Mode is the best version of  Gun Game.”, Michael Barr project lead of Gun Game.

For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/app/1800/

The Steam Trading beta began with Team Fortress 2 items and game gifts. Today Spiral Knights, the cooperative adventure from Three Rings and Sega, and Portal 2 join the Steam economy as Steam Trading becomes available to everyone.

“The addition of Steam Trading is the latest example of how Steam continues to evolve with new features and functions developed based upon feedback,” said Jason Holtman, director of business development. “We look forward to seeing how gamers and developers have fun and move this functionality forward.”

During the four week beta, over 1 million items and game gifts were traded. Support for Steam Trading has been added to the Steamworks SDK.

Liu said “We added a ton of stuff – we basically rewrote the rendering engine from scratch to add real-time radiosity on the PC… it produces amazing indoor lighting… for the scale of the maps we implemented new streaming technology, so we make bigger maps than we have ever been able to before.”

Check out the entire interview over at NVIDIA’s blog.

Available immediately, the launch titles are Spiral Knights, Forsaken Worlds, Champions Online: Free for All, Global Agenda: Free Agent, and Alliance of Valliant Arms (AVA).

Beginning June 15 with Spiral Knights and concluding Sunday with AVA, each of the five launch titles will offer exclusive in-game content to those who try the “F2P game of the day” on Steam.  In game transactions in all of the titles will be supported by Steam’s micro-transaction backend system that is available to Steamworks partners and currently used in Valve’s Team Fortress 2.

“The introduction of Free to Play games is another example of the constant evolution of Steam,” said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. “Free to Play games offer new game genres and game experiences for customers, while offering developers and publishers new revenue opportunities and the ability to reach customers in areas of the world where the traditional packaged goods model is less popular than F2P.”

Specific details on the F2P games of the day and their exclusive in-game content will be made available in the coming days.

Steam is a leading platform for PC & Mac games and digital entertainment serving over 1,500 games to over 30 million active accounts worldwide. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

Scheduled to launch in the U.S. on June 14, 2011, Duke Nukem Forever is the long-awaited follow-on to one of the most popular PC games of all time, and the developer, Gearbox Software, is pulling out all the stops to make this one memorable.

In addition to adding stunning new graphics, new alien foes, new babes, and more debauchery, Gearbox is integrating full support for NVIDIA 3D Vision technology, giving gamers an up-close and personal look into Duke’s world.  And, with NVIDIA Surround  technology, gamers can experience Duke’s alien battles, beer drinking and world-saving in 3D across three full HD 1080p displays, or in 2D across three 2560×1600 displays, for a completely stunning and immersive gaming experience.

“3D Vision adds an amazing new dimension to the Duke Nukem Forever experience, virtually dropping you right into the game,” said Randy Pitchford, president and CEO of Gearbox Software.  “All Gearbox developers use NVIDIA graphics in development, and I use NVIDIA graphics at home.  This is the closest you’ll get to feeling what it’s like to be the King!”

To help you get your PC cranked up and ready for Duke, NVIDIA and EVGA have teamed up to bring you Duke’s “Fully Loaded Package.”  This special edition Duke Nukem Forever bundle includes a full PC copy of Duke Nukem Forever, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 graphics card by EVGA, a limited edition Duke Nukem Forever strategy guide art book and mouse pad, and a custom Duke Nukem “Radioactive” belt buckle.  For more information on Duke’s Fully Loaded Package, visit:  http://bit.ly/mvax2v.

For more information about Duke Nukem Forever visit:  www.dukenukemforever.com/.  In addition, please visit the NVIDIA GeForce Facebook page (www.facebook.com/NVIDIAGeForce) for updates and more information.

Portal 2 DLC #1 will offer new test chambers for players, leaderboards, challenge mode for single and multiplayer modes, and more.

Targeted for release this summer, Portal 2 DLC #1 will be offered free of charge for the PC, Mac, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Portal 2 was released April 19 and currently holds a Metacritic score of 95%, making it the top rated multiplatform game of 2011. Portal also captured the number 1 chart position in the UK, Germany, and the Nordic countries during its first week of availability, making it the fastest-selling Valve release since Half-Life 2.

A hilariously mind-bending adventure that challenges you to use wits over weaponry in a funhouse of diabolical science, Portal 2 features expansive single and cooperative multiplayer game modes.

For more information, please visit www.thinkwithportals.com

For one reason or another EA & Bioware decided against including high resolution textures in the public release of the PC version  of Dragon Age II, instead, opting to release the option as a separate pack for those who have systems capable enough to properly support it.

The HR Texture pack will add the option to enable higher detail replacements for most textures in game. A big difference will be noticed on level art especially.

Requirements:
Using high-resolution textures requires a graphics card with at least 1024MB video memory.
Most of the benefits from the Hi-resolution textures will only be seen if you are able to run the game in DirectX 11.

To manually download your new content on the PC:

1. Download the installer from the link below and run it.
2. Run Dragon Age II.
3. Open the Options menu.
4. Select Video options.
5. Check the “Hi-resolution textures” checkbox.

Note: In order to enable the “Very High” setting you will need a video card that supports DX11 and the latest drivers.

The total file size is 1.08GB and can be downloaded directly from the BioWare website here

[Update]: We have received reports that users with the High Resolution Texture Pack and NVIDIA based graphics cards normally capable of support high resolution and textured graphics, may find significantly lowered frame rates with the current NVIDIA WHQL drivers. It is recommended that users with such a configuration download the latest NVIDIA BETA v267.24 drivers which support Dragon Age II. BETA drivers can be downloaded here – http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-267.24-beta-driver.html

While Activision may have snubbed the computer crowd, three of the most anticipated titles of the first quarter; Dragon Age 2, Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm, are being published by EA who seems to agree with the “try it before you buy it” philosophy. Here’s a quick rundown of what, when and where PC gamers should look for before their next purchase.

Dragon Age II is the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, a single-player RPG developed by BioWare. The story puts you in the shoes of Hawke, a refugee who struggles to rise to power through the 10 year span of the narrative. The game features a non-linear framed narrative, allowing gamers to develop their own unique story path. The release date is March 8th, 2011 with the demo available as of February 22nd, 2011 and can be downloaded here

The sequel to the 2008 scifi first person shooter, well known for bringing PC hardware to its knees, Crysis 2, produced by Crytek promises a visual experience like no other with the new CryEngine 3. Crysis 2 takes players out of the tropics and into New York City which has been evacuated due to an alien infestation. Utilizing the futuristic Nanosuit 2 and full a weaponry loadout, you are the exterminator. The release date is March 22nd, 2011 with a playable PC demo offered on March 1st.

Finally, Bulletstorm, another first-person shooter developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games. The game takes a heavy dose of Unreal Tournament fun, with a focus on making absolute chaos stylish. The game awards points for “skill-shots”, encouraging gamers to dispatch of their opponents in creative ways.  While originally ignoring a PC game demo, new plans have been revealed to launch a demo shortly after the games release on Febuary 22nd, 2011. Keep an eye on Bulletstorm’s website for more.

This year looks to be a very good year for PC gamers with over 15+ titles scheduled for release. Would you be more inclined to purchase a PC game if there was a demo that you could play before launch/purchase?

Special pre-order offers vary at participating outlets around the world and include a variety of dollars off and/or exclusive in-game content for those who reserve the game for purchase before it is released the week of April 18. These include $5 off the full price, exclusive in-game skins for the coop bots (Atlas and P-body), and more. Check your favorite outlet for details.

“Portal 2 is shaping up to be the most innovative title in Valve’s history, and to be a much larger experience than we originally planned,” said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. “As such, we are aggressively promoting the title with more retail promotions than we have put behind any prior release.”

The highly anticipated sequel to 2007′s Game of the Year, Portal 2 is a hilariously mind-bending adventure that challenges you to use wits over weaponry in a funhouse of diabolical science.

Using a highly experimental portal device, you’ll once again face off against a lethally inventive, power-mad A.I. named GLaDOS. And this time you won’t be alone. Meet an expanded cast of characters as you think your way through dangerous, never-before-seen areas of Aperture Laboratories.

Break the laws of spatial physics in ways you never thought possible, with a wider variety of portal puzzles and an expansive story that spans a single player and co-operative game mode.

Available for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC and Macintosh computers, Portal 2 is scheduled to ship worldwide the week of April 18, 2011. For more information, please visit www.thinkwithportals.com

The Humble Bundle is a collection of five independent game developers, offering their titles in a “pay-want-you-want” manner, with the proceeds going to the developer and two charities; the ETF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and Child’s Play. There is also an option to tip the Humble Bundle team, which given the enormous bandwidth requirements, is a nice gesture. Users can adjust what percentage of their payment goes to where.

The titles for Humble Bundle #2 are Braid (Jonathan Blow/Number None Studios), Cortex Command (Data Realms LLC), Machinarium (Amanita Design), Osmos (Hemisphere Games), and Revenge of the Titans (Puppy Games). The games are available for all platforms,  Windows, Mac and Linux.

Best of all, the games are 100%, DRM free, never worry about activation frustration again. You download, install, run and play the game however and wherever you like and you can even add your game code to Steam!

The bundle would normally cost $85 USD, but the default purchase price is only $29.95; users can adjust this to what ever they feel comfortable paying. Payment is accepted via Paypal, Amazon Checkout and Google Checkout, all incredibly secure and take no more than a button click to process.

The website also keeps track of current purchases, and breaks down the the average purchase price, and which OS contributes the most. Embarrassingly, Windows users are currently the least generous, while Linux users have nearly tripled the other two.

The first Humble Bundle generate over $1 Million in sales, with over $390k going to charities. So what are you waiting for, it’s only on for a limited time until December 22nd, 2010: http://www.humblebundle.com/

Well grab the white out, cut out the day, buy a new calendar, because February 9th, 2011 is officially just another day. The company has announced that the Portal 2 release has been pushed back until sometime around April 18th, 2011 (note the lack of a hard launch date).

A cheekily worded press notice reads

VALVE ANNOUNCES SHORTEST DELAY IN VALVE HISTORY

Valve today announced that Portal 2 — the sequel to the ground-breaking title that won over 30 game of the year awards, despite missing its original ship date — will now be available the week of April 18th, 2011. This two month slip not only marks the shortest delay in Valve’s proud tradition of delays, it represents the approaching convergence of Valve Time and Real Time. Though this convergence spells doom for humanity, it will not affect the new Portal 2 release date.

So it is fitting, that today Valve, who is known for their support of the mod community having developed mods such as Counter Strike and Team Fortress into highly successful supported titles, announces their partnership in development of DotA 2, a massive sequel for one of the most played games in the world.

Coming to the PC & Mac in 2011, Dota 2 promises to take the unique blend of online RTS and RPG action that has made Dota popular with tens of millions of gamers and expand upon it in every way.

First details on Dota 2 are available now via an exclusive on Gameinformer.com.

“The Sacrifice” is the prequel to “The Passing,” and takes place from the L4D Survivors’ perspective as they make their way South. In addition to advancing the story, “The Sacrifice” introduces a new style finale featuring “Sacrificial Gameplay” where players get to decide who will give their life so the others may live.

The Sacrifice DLC for L4D1 is a seperate download than The Sacrifice for L4D2.

In The Sacrifice for Left 4 Dead 1 gamers receive the complete Sacrifice campaign with maps playable in Campaign, Versus, and Survival.

In The Sacrifice for Left 4 Dead 2 owners receive “The Sacrifice” campaign playable with the Left 4 Dead Survivors. In addition, those with Left 4 Dead 2 receive L4D’s “No Mercy” campaign. Both campaigns are playable in Campaign, Versus, Survival, and Scavenge modes and both will feature the Left 4 Dead 2 Special Infected, items, and weapons. Yes, Zoey with a chainsaw!

Targeted for release on October 5th, “The Sacrifice” will be available for download on Xbox Live for 560 Microsoft Points and free to all PC gamers.

The game is being developed by Red 5 Studios, you likely haven’t heard of them because Firefall is their first major title. The company was formed by Mike Kern, former team lead for World of Warcraft, and in fact the company has a rather high number of ex-Blizzard employees; it becomes more apparent as you look at the game.

Firefall is a game in a very rare genre, MMOFPS, though the official description of the game is “team-based action shooter”. The creators are quick to point out that unlike many MMO’s there is no dice rolling system and the game depends heavily on skill, rather than character level. That said, it does posses key features of an MMOG (massive multiplayer online game;) such as the persistent world with a large number of simultaneous players – they claim hundreds -loot drops and world economy.

The game has a Sci-Fi theme; set 200 years in Earth’s future, humans must fight for survival after the Crystite War leads to the disastrous arrival of the Melding, a hostile energy storm that destroys much of the planet. Earth’s surviving humans must band together in the eye of the Melding storm to survive. Unfortunately, the bloodthirsty Chosen, an insectoid alien race, emerges and threatens humanity’s survival.

The game is said to use the Offset Engine, which was previously owned by Intel until earlier this year. What’s unique about the game graphics, is it use of the cel-shaded art style in its design, a style recently made popular by Gearbox’s Borderlands (though Gearbox maintains theirs is called the Concept Art System).

Unlike Borderlands however, Firefall is full of colour. The various forms of alien weapons spew green goop, shot bright blue electricity beams and feel a little like something out of Unreal Tournament. In fact, after watching the super jump abilities of the character, that feels like the most appropriate game to liken it to, and that is one huge compliment.

Gameplay is fast paced, with aliens swarming from every direction and pushing them back is very much a co-operative effort, there is definitely a heavy focus on the team aspect. We were unable to find out how the leveling, or character advancement system worked or if there will be a single player aspect.

As shown in the gameplay demo, you can enter back into common town areas to upgrade armour, buy weapons, trade and we surmise, find groups for missions.

And likely some great news for gamers already strapped for cash by the rest of the titles expect in 2011, Firefall with be free to play! Free to download, free to create a character and no monthly fees.

Red 5 is opting to generate revenue through micro-transaction outside of the game, an idea gaining more ground and popular in games like League of Legends and Battlefield Heroes. They do promise however, it will not compromise the skill-based aspect of the game; likely meaning it will be character visual enhancements only.

Unfortunately, the game isn’t expected to launch until late 2011. You can sign up for a BETA invite at the games website http://www.firefallthegame.com/

Gameplay Demo (Skip to Minute 2 for Action)

Described as an Action MMORPG, the game centres around a seemingly deep and involved storyline. There are no faction divides within the cast of characters, with everyone fighting a common AI controlled enemy. There is some diversity in character play with six classes and eight professions; it lends uniqueness to the group compositions and with multiple professions being able to perform certain roles, players aren’t as restricted.

One of the most striking differences was in the combat system. Unlike the traditional method of simply selecting your target and casting an attack, the player must actually aim at the target with a cross hair to land a hit.

The game will be one of the few (if not only) MMO that has the ability for players to use a controller, more specifically an Xbox 360 for PC controller.

Unlike most games in this genre, players are not overwhelmed with a ridiculous number of action buttons require to play. A limited number of skills are accessible at one time, and actions are relatively simple and straight forward.

The option to heavily map keys is still available for the true enthusiast, but this appears to be an MMO players can get into while feeling comfortable relaxing on their couch

Unfortunately, while the game is using a relatively modern graphics engine, and includes plenty of detail on the characters, the textures feel a bit drab. In our hands on demo we only experienced combat in a rock coliseum, and between the grey rock, grey sky, grey enemies and grey armour, everything began to blend together. It became difficult to distinguish between friend, foe and rock. The attacks didn’t have the usual flourish and flash one would come to expect from an MMO.

Hopefully with the full release of the game, more terrain options will be available and a little more distinction to the characters, armor and enemies will be included.

The gameplay itself was actually quite entertaining. Our test group of 4 merry men (and one Bob, neither man nor woman) had to utilize teamwork to defeat the skeletal foes. One element of combat we enjoyed with out character  – a ranger -  was the ability to charge shots by holding the attack button. It adds a unique level of control to combat, instead of simple click and cast.

Unfortunately TERA will be a subscription based game, sure to be a tough sell in a time when such well established and promising titles such as Guild Wars 2 are being announced.

The game is “not playing by the rules”, introducing three unique concepts never seen in an MMORPG.

Visceral combat is a defining feature allowing players to combine moves and attacks to not only create some incredibly slick look action sequences, but giving players full control over the damage they do, and take. A users specific defensive actions can reduce or eliminate damage, and offensive attacks can be chained or positioned to do more damage.

One of the biggest draws to Guild Wars 2 would probably have to be its story, and this is what developers have invested the most time into. While the game has an overall framework with ultimate goal of battling the ruling dragons, within this context you as a player determine your own individual path to become a hero.

When you step into the world of Tyria, a your character will become as unique as yourself as a person. The character creation screen moves from just defining race, class and appearance. You choose where you grew up, what your beliefs and values are, what character traits you want to display. This opens up to hundreds, possibly thousands of unique combinations.

The idea of unique gameplay doesn’t just stop at the character creation screen. In our discussion with Jeff, he explained how, as you begin your quest, players will be faced with choices, with opportunities to do good, or do evil; to assist the weak or ignore them. How you respond, has a direct effect on your individual story and what quests and options become available to you. It sounds a little like a choose your own adventure novel.

Dynamic Events is a another key to the unique experience players get with Guild Wars 2. It ties in with the development of a player’s own unique story and how it affects the world and other players around them. When attacks happen on friendly villages, players may choose to ignore the fight and potentially loose the village and its service or fight protect it and keep its services or option up new options. Dynamic events happen at random, or often as a result of an event in a player’s quest line.

On the graphical side of things, Guild Wars 2 may just be one of the best looking MMORPGs to date. The scenery is full of vibrant colours, and there is great contrast between the the areas of peace and war. There are plenty of unique and detailed textures to ensure that your eyes will never be bored.

Things only get more impressive when you experience combat. Fight scenes are beautifully choreographed, including flashy animations that feel well paired with the actions and not just there for show. With the addition of visceral combat, it becomes more than just a button clicking hack and slash.

Gamers shouldn’t be concerned by how good it looks either, we have been told to expect only minor changes to the system specs required by the original Guild Wars. However, those that want extra will be able to take advantage of it, as well as features such as NVIDIA 3D Vision and advanced physics.

One things the developers have been tight lipped about, is any mention of a beta or release date. They want to ensure that the game is completely ready for the public and are not locking themselves in to a hard launch where they are forced to take shortcuts to meet a deadline.

From our hands on experience though, the game feels incredibly well polished, and the speculation that Guild Wars 2 could be seeing a Spring 2011 release date is definitely plausible.

Check out our hands on video:

Images to come

For those not familiar with the story, Duke Nukem Forever has long been the butt of industry jokes and a classic example of Vaporware. The original studio 3D Realm originally announced the game in 1997, and since then mere snippets of screen shots, box art and PR marketing materials have surfaced, but never any actual game.

Now it appears that Gearbox Software, along with publisher 2K Games and a handful of other small studios have worked to put together an actual real game that we are all hoping to be on its way to retail

Our first impression was simply shock and awe that the classic pixelated Duke had been so well transformed into his new modern 3D world.  The designers haven’t messed with a winning recipe and you will recognize characters and weaponry from Duke Nukem 3D instantly.

The limited gameplay kept very true to classic Duke formula as well. He is the Terminator in the flesh, while not invincible, you can deliver a whole lot of ass kicking with the well rounded arsenal of rocket launchers, shotguns, sniper rifles, ray guns and pistols that border on the ridiculous. Duke comes standard with regenerating “EGO” bar, so it actually takes a special bit of skill to die.

Let Duke get close and he delivers a knockout punch through melee. Against our giant alien foe in the first round, after he was down, Duke proceeds to kick a field goal with the poor saps eyeball; classic Duke.

The graphics aren’t half bad either. Great use of lighting and shadows helps to define the world, especially out in the barren wasteland, and when pelted by rain your vision becomes blurry, difficult to see through the mist and rain drops land on your glasses. While the limited range of scenery in the game does tend to all blend together eventually, the textures and terrain is unique enough to feel like you’re not swimming in a sea of brown and grey.

Overall Duke Nukem Forever isn’t out to revolutionize the FPS genre, it doesn’t deviate from the run and gun style present in your every day shooter, but that’s okay. Duke Nukem gives you control of an incredibly unique character, showcasing crass humour, superjock abilities and well, just being a general bad-ass.

For die-hard fans of the original, the game brings back familiar memories and could just be the climax of the series; fresh players shouldn’t feel intimidated by the heavy history of the game, but definitely need to approach without expectations of FPS grandeur.

Duke Nukem Forever has been given a 2011 release date for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, but then again it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard that.

Apple App

Arenanet has stepped outside of the confines of just the game, developing a unique app for use with Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touches. Whether it’s scheduling meetings with friends already in game or simply maintaing social connections, the app allows gamers to view friends locations on the world map, chat with guild mates and get updates all in real time.

Future plans include live access to the auction house and direct access to all the friends list functions.

Best of all, the app will be completely free.

NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround & Havoc Physics

Immerse yourself in Guild Wars 2 with full NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround. Developers are embracing NVIDIA’s technologies for the most advanced game play experience possible. While you may question the use of a triple monitor 3D setup for a simple MMORPG, Guild Wars 2 offers some incredibly beautiful and detailed scenery that make the 3D experience eye popping.

Topping it off, Arenanet has employed the used of Physics technology via Havok, allowing for a completely unique environment experience. From running through fields with individual blades of grass moving with the wind, to directed attacks on solid objects that shatter off in different directions, the addition of Physics into the updated Guild Wars engine really helps to enhance the overall immersion into the game and into your character’s story.

Given its minimum systems specs and the buttery smooth playback we viewed on the test systems, both of these eyecandy updates shouldn’t require an unobtainable rig either.

At PAX, Valve showed off a demo of Portal 2’s co-op mode. Co-op is separate from the main storyline but developers promise each mode will be about twice as long as Portal 1. One of Valve’s goals after feedback from the original game was to formalize co-op after hearing stories about friends working together to figure out Portal’s challenging puzzles.

In co-op mode, players taken on the role of robots for players avoid excessive blood and gore that one player would see while the other has an untimely demise. To keep failure amusing and not necessarily a negative, Valve included gesture animations for the characters. You’ll see a robot player briefly look up before being crushed by a trap from above or when one player comes back to life, the teammates will hug and high-five in a third person view. Though, the actions much be initiated by both users or you’ll be left hanging with arms outstretched.

To overcome in-game communication challenges, there is an included “ping tool” to mark where teammates can aim their portals. With four portals instead of two, expect more difficult puzzles in co-op but co-op will share the same gameplay elements as single player.  One example seen in the demo was to create an infinite drop but then the second player shoots a portal in the path, launching the dropping player to a high ledge on the other side of the room. During co-op, shooting a portal on your teammate’s portal will replace it instead of going through it.

To top it off, a completely fresh gameplay element was shown off during the demo. Gamers will have to utilize the hard light bridge, an energy walkway suspended in air between two points.  Use a portal at the end of the walkway and you can place it elsewhere but once that portal’s gone so is the pathway. Portal 2 also features lasers that can be refracted using cubes with crystal in the middle that don’t look so different from companion cubes; but get too close and you’re dead.

Portal 2 arrives on February 9^th, 2011 on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Mac. Video to come.

–

Written by Tom