Section_Ei8ht

very nice, very clean, very professional. Well done.

wtf lag

http://pc.ign.com/articles/608/608624p1.html

Alien Swarm: Infested

See the squad combat game that Source built!

by Steve Butts

April 29, 2005 - We just got word today that the fine folks at Black Cat Games are hard at work on a brand new game built on Valve's Source engine. The new title is called Alien Swarm: Infested. The new game features "a unique blend of co-op play and squad level tactics all in an overhead view." Players will take on the mantle of a commander in the Interstellar Armed Forces, leading their squads through a variety of missions, battling the swarm infestation throughout the colonized galaxy.

Owners of Half-Life 2 will be able to download the game for free. A separate commercial version, complete with extra missions, characters and equipment, can be purchased as well.

Be sure to check out the impressive screenshots in our media section and head over to the game's official website for more info.

Screens look pretty decent. I'll play this one.

that is because we (americans) are stupid.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/608/608600p1.html

Valve Jettisons Vivendi

The companies settle suits -- and Valve emerges independent.

by David Adams

April 29, 2005 - Valve announced today that it has settled its pending lawsuit with Vivendi Universal Games, including dismissal of all claims and counterclaims in the long-running court battle. As part of the settlement, VU Games will cease distributing retail Valve titles starting August 31, 2005.

Additionally, Cyber Cafes previously licensing Valve games from Vivendi must now license the titles directly from Valve.

Valve has not announced a new publishing partner, or whether the company will now solely rely on Steam for distribution. A new publishing agreement would almost certainly be needed for the Xbox version of Half-Life 2 scheduled for release later this summer.

Today's announcement not only brings to a close a legal battle which began in August 2002 with Valve disputing Vivendi's cyber café licensing -- and leading to a counterclaim from Vivendi that Valve's Steam service violates distribution agreements. More significantly, this marks one of the first times a developer has gained such independence from a publisher. Not only has Valve kept full control of its intellectual property, but it is now free to choose another publishing arrangement, or handle distribution entirely on its own.

That's significant in a time when many independent studios feel bullied by publishers, often losing support for, or control of, their properties. Interestingly, Valve gained its strong position not only with an exceptionally strong product, but by taking advantage of digital distribution. Valve's independence may signal a new trend in the industry, one which deemphasizes the power of publishers, enabling independent studios to succeed (or fail) on their own terms.

We expect to hear more details from Valve soon. Stay tuned.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7654561/?GT1=6428

Exploding toads puzzle German scientists

More than 1,000 creatures have puffed up and popped

The Associated Press

Updated: 12:43 p.m. ET April 27, 2005

BERLIN - More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and scientists still have no explanation for what's causing the combustion, an official said Wednesday.

Both the pond's water and body parts of the toads have been tested, but scientists have been unable to find a bacteria or virus that would cause the toads to swell up and pop, said Janne Kloepper, of the Hamburg-based Institute for Hygiene and the Environment.

"It's absolutely strange," she said. "We have a really unique story here in Hamburg. This phenomenon really doesn't seem to have appeared anywhere before."

The toads at a pond in the upscale neighborhood of Altona have been blowing up since the beginning of the month, filling up like balloons until their stomachs suddenly burst.

"It looks like a scene from a science-fiction movie," Werner Schmolnik, the head of a local environment group, told the Hamburger Abendblatt daily. "The bloated animals suffer for several minutes before they finally die."

Biologists have come up with several theories, but Kloepper said that most have been ruled out.

The pond's water quality is no better or worse than other bodies of water in Hamburg, the toads did not appear to have a disease, and a laboratory in Berlin has ruled out the possibility that it is a fungus that made its way from South America, she said.

She said that tests will continue. In the meantime, city residents have been warned to stay away from the pond.

Human Head is doing most of the development on Prey. 3dr is just kinda holding their hand. 3dr claims to still be focusing on dnf.

Looks better than Doom 3 or IS Doom 3?

Looks pretty shit to me..

I found it kinda funny that way. Thought that was the only newspaper to give it a favorable review.

sweet. mainly cuz the ring sucked.

i sure hope those are fake, cuz that just looks dumb.

sure you werent watching magnolia?

i dont remember cod looking that bad.

i think that was one of the pictures bundled up with the media releases that showcased the Unreal 3 Engine's utilization of SpeedTreeRT.

drugs suck

I wonder if Baxley would support legislation that allows left-leaning students to sue their catholic schools for making them love jesus.

nuff said.

$20 says he kicks the bucket in 2021.

real-time rendering in hammer (ala d3radiant) is all i want. I'm happy with everything else.

i can see furthrer coupling of photoshop and flash, as well as dreamweaver...

while this is true and there are many ways this can be a good thing, i can see more ways this can be a bad thing.

oh god oh god oh god NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Looks like us web developers will be hailing Macromobe GoFlash CS!!!!

chaos theory

Strangelove

Painkiller the movie. Seriously, that flick would just be action packed.

Anyway, bravo to UbiSoft for putting compelling co-op levels in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Can't wait to play it.

Is there possibility to play regular single player missions in co-op mode or are there specific co-op levels built for it?

They are seperate levels from the single player, A seperate story with two different operatives that takes place while sam is out doing the chaos theory missions (there is a point in one of the levels where the two stories tie together sorta (kinda funny)

CT coop gets my vote for most innovative gameplay idea this year. Coop mode is soooooooooo badass. Just make sure you play with a friend, and not some random asshole.