I tend to think of myself as an average to high-skill player. I’m not the best, but I’m pretty good at most games I play, and I’m pretty damn terrific at some of them. I won’t name any of them, because some of them have leaderboards, and when it comes to my high scores, I don’t even trust my own grandmother. But when I see shit like this, then I start feeling inadequate. It’s like the locker room all over again.
The world of digital distribution business is a wild one indeed. You know… “Dog Eat Dog”, and all that good stuff. And all that dog food s**t is starting to affect the brick-and-mortar game industry as well. Which is why in March of 2011, GameStop acquired Impulse, a digital distribution platform previously operated by Stardock. And now, Impulse is doing pretty well for itself, and in certain departments, it performs far better than Steam. But I can assure you I’m totally not talking about pricing. Steam is doing really well with pricing - I mean, who could ever say that Steam pricing sucks; and that Impulse has pricing which is… well, better? It’s ludicrous!
But I digress: there’s loads of digital distribution platforms. Some have come and gone, some are still alive after years in the business, and others have just been born. Which is why it’s so surprising that Impulse has just entered an interesting business arrangement with Valve. For the first time ever, Valve games can be purchased on a digital distribution service that’s not Steam. Read on!
Gearbox’s infamous cancelled Dreamcast console port of Half-Life 1 (although it was also developed by Captivation Digital Labs) has been shrouded in mystery for many. Troubled by delays, it was originally slated for release in summer of 2000, then fall of 2000, then late 2000, then pushed back to early 2001 and eventually, mid-2001, then finally put out of its misery in a controversial cancellation. The ill-fated port was hilariously close to release – Prima strategy guides and other promotional materials were made available (and can still be found on online auction sites for various prices), and a near-complete beta build was leaked to the Internet. Concurrently, it seems that the only way to experience the port is to download this leaked build.
But, no longer! Dedicated modders have just released a mod port of the Dreamcast version for Half-Life 1, which means that right now, you can experience the unreleased Dreamcast port for yourself! Read on for more info on the release.
Here’s one for the history books: the world’s fastest HL: Blue Shift speedrun. And another one for the history books: this thing was released almost 3 months ago. So the only logical conclusion here is… quadrazid is fast, Vic is slow. It’s funny, you see, because I can’t strafejump for s**t. Hell, I can barely tell the difference between strafejumping and bhopping. But I still manage to dominate Portal 2′s Challenge Mode on my Friends list.
There’s a good chance you’ve never actually heard of Gunman Chronicles. Originally conceived as a Quake 1 mod, known as ”Gunmanship 101″. Eventually, the team decided to switch over to the Quake 2 engine. This is where the majority of the design was set in stone for the project, which had by then been renamed to “Gunman”. But eventually, even the Q2 engine became outdated, and the team moved to the new Half-Life engine.
After a strong showing at the Half-Life Mod Expo in 1999 alongside modding classics like Counter-Strike, Action Half-Life, Science & Industry and USS Darkstar (by the way, Valve, when will we get a new Mod Expo?), Sierra and Valve were impressed, and Gunman became a retail product, with funding, some helping hands, and office space at Valve. Finally released in November 2000 to lukewarm reviews, Gunman wasn’t much of a hit. But despite its mediocre plot and writing, and despite the slightly repetitive gameplay, it’s still a pretty solid shooter.
It remains unclear if Valve owns the rights, or if Sierra owned the rights from the start and if they now lie with Activision (as Havas, which acquired Sierra along with the rest of the Cendant Corporation’s software entertainment properties in 1999, was purchased by Vivendi, which in turn, merged with Activision in 2007). It’s even possible that the rights have expired. So don’t go expecting a Gunman Chronicles 2, or even a Steam re-release very soon. You can still find copies of Gunman on online stores, but maybe you’re not the bidder type. Maybe you just want to check out the game, without having to pay an exorbitant amount of money for a battered first edition copy? Well, it seems like you’re in luck!
Through some bizarre twist of fate, both Valve and Team Fortress came about on the same exact day as each other!
Ah, 47. Just like the chrome-dome killer from the Hitman series. I wish we were just as precise and efficient in terms of writing as he was in terms of… well, killing people.
If you’re a Source modder, odds are you’ve probably been to the Valve Developer Community more than once. The place is chock-full with great information, and while the SDK may not be as great as it used to be, the VDC is almost certainly just as excellent as it’s always been, thanks to its community of users and editors.
It’s just been given a makeover as part of a fairly significant site upgrade.
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