Category: Other Source

Dear Esther Hits 100,000 Sales

May 18th, 2012 · By Vic · 4 Comments

I have nothing but good things to say regarding thechineseroom’s “Dear Esther“. Which is why I’m so happy that, after just three months since its release (and following the very recent release of its Mac port), it has sold 100,000 copies over Steam. It may not sound like much, but for an alternative game (and a PC-exclusive to boot), it’s actually pretty impressive.

Next up, thechineseroom will be tackling two distinct game projects: Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, a title that speaks for itself; and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, an open-world spiritual successor to Dear Esther built on CryEngine 3. They’ll be parting ways with Dear Esther’s lead level designer, Robert Briscoe, which is a huge shame, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of his work in the foreseeable future. That said, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for a remake of Korsakovia. Hey, maybe even Conscientious Objector.

Okay, maybe not.

Valve And Blizzard Reach Trademark Settlement On The Dota Situation [UPDATE]

May 12th, 2012 · By Vic · 5 Comments

Last year, it was revealed that Blizzard had filed a notice of opposition against Valve with regards to the Dota trademarks. For a couple of months, the situation remained uncertain, but Blizzard have just announced that an agreement has been reached by both parties. According to this settlement, Valve will be allowed to use the Dota trademarks commercially, while Blizzard will maintain non-commercial use of the Dota trademarks. A win-win… mostly. Interestingly, as part of this agreement, Blizzard will change the name of their upcoming Action RTS game, from “Blizzard DOTA” to “Blizzard All-Stars“, a title which they say “ultimately better reflects the design of our game”.

Apparently, both Valve and Blizzard will have no further comment on the terms of the settlement beyond this press release, which is, ultimately, understandable. Good to hear that two awesome development studios (with a great focus on the PC community to boot) remain bros after all. After all, you know what they say: bros before… trademark disputes. Or at least I think that’s how it went.

[UPDATE: In their article on their subject, Joystiq intriguingly noted that Dota 2 is set to release... in 2013. Not sure if it's legitimate or just a typo, but it is worth bringing up. Credit to Smash of ValveTime for the discovery.]

Valve Announces The Dota 2 International 2012 Championship, Taking Place At PAX Prime

May 11th, 2012 · By Vic · 0 Comments

Last year, Dota 2′s world debut came to us through “The International“, the first ever Dota 2 tournament. It put 16 of the world’s most elite Dota teams up against each other, competing for a grand prize of $1 million dollars. It was a huge success, especially for the championship’s winners, team Na’Vi of Ukraine. There definitely was some crazy Mortal Kombat-type stuff: in fact, Shang Tsung himself drained the bandwidth out of the championship’s LAN, resulting in some wacky lagging issues for both spectators and players alike. Don’t get me wrong – it was a great tournament, but hopefully Valve has learned from the mistakes they made in both streaming and organization.

Well, they’d better have, for this year, the International is coming back, this time taking place at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington; smack-dab in the middle of PAX Prime. An interesting choice, sure – but I’d say Germany was a far more accessible location for the eponymous international Dota fanbase. Still, it’ll make for added exposure, which is a good thing.

The 2012 International will be held during the last weekend of August: from the 31st of August to the 2nd of September. No details yet on how many millions of dollars the grand prize will contain - maybe it’ll be more this year. There will be 16 teams, just like last year, although we don’t know the full roster yet. The defending champions, Team Na’Vi of Ukraine; and this year’s newcomers: Team DK of China, are both the first teams to have been invited so far, although we’ll surely hear more about the other 14 teams soon.

Valve have already set up a teaser webpage for the championship, just like they did last year. Be sure to stay tuned to the official Dota 2 blog for more info on the event!

The Failure of the Half-Life Episodes

May 5th, 2012 · By Mimaz · 44 Comments

This is an original editorial piece created by one of our new writers, Mimaz. It is the first in a series of editorials that we like to call “The Half-Life Dissertation”. which will aim to extensively cover a wide range of Half-Life related topics and issues.

Valve are looking down the rabbit hole.

The G-Man Squad Is Back, And Fully Remastered

April 26th, 2012 · By Vic · 4 Comments

These days, the art of machinima isn’t doing as well as it used to. But way back in 2008, one of its masters was, and still is Xanatos of the Janus Syndicate, who released the first episode of the G-Man Squad series that same year. While he’s still making some awesome stuff these days, the G-Man Squad remains many people’s favorites from the Janus Syndicate. Which might be why Xanatos has decided to return to its origins, with a ten-minute G-Man Squad special containing re-shot and re-edited video from its first 3 episodes, as well as some never-before-seen footage. And yes, you get to hear Boris’s… distinct scream, in HD audio.

Could This Be One Of Valve’s Wearable Hardware Prototypes?

April 20th, 2012 · By Vic · 15 Comments

It seems like Valve might be going full speed ahead on its hardware developments. As reported last week, they now have an active R&D team devoted to the development of wearable computing tech. But what might their prototypes look like? Well, it seems like we might just know.

Dota 2 Will Be Free-To-Play… “With A Twist”

April 20th, 2012 · By Vic · 8 Comments

Ever since Dota 2 was announced in October of 2010, many have speculated on what pricing model it’ll use. Its primary rival, League of Legends, is free-to-play, and given Valve’s recent successes in the F2P market, many thought Valve, IceFrog and Eul’s action RTS sequel to the 2003 WC3 mod would also sport such a funding model. While content from Dota 2′s leaked client indicated the presence of optional cosmetic skins, as well as some sort of specialized store for these cosmetic items, the jury was still out. Right up until now.

Former Valve Developer’s Showreel Features Footage From Valve’s Unannounced Space Game “SOB”; And A Possible Half-Life Prototype Level? [UPDATED]

April 10th, 2012 · By Vic · 56 Comments

[UPDATE: We have re-uploaded both the SOB footage and the strange Half-Life-esque clip to our YouTube channel. They have also been embedded in the article below.]

Folks send me things quite often. But occasionally, I get sent stuff that’s really, really cool. Then those people have officially not only made my day, but, by proxy, your day as well. Read on to find out what I’m talking about!

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