I knew this would happen. From the day I set eyes on the Teletubbies, I knew that they would overthrow their masters, breed, and stalk the Earth, attacking all those who stand in their way. This vision has been recreated in the above video. A friendly warning: don’t show it to your kids.

Honestly, this is one of the scariest things I’ve seen done in Left 4 Dead. Forget seeing a Tank roar round the corner at you, the sight of the dead, bleeding eyes of these sickeningly colourful beings is just too creepy for me to hande. Not to mention their futile groans: “Tinky Winky…” I’ve been wary of the Teletubbies all my life, but this just tips it over the edge.

Via Kotaku

Valve have updated Left 4 Dead today with a patch that adds a lobby browser to the game. This is an important addition to the game; not only does it mean we are able to make our own decisions about where we want to play, but it means that the inevitably great community maps are much more widely available.

Instead of having to go to a map site, downloading a map, and hoping that someone else has done the same, one can simply browse the lobbies for a map they would like, and download it in-game. Hooray for custom maps, and hooray for no longer being treated like children!

True to their word, Valve are going to release a Left 4 Dead update next week, focused mainly on the community maps that have been created, and pushing for more to be made in the coming months. The update includes a much better matchmaking system, support for community maps, the full, non-beta SDK release, and obviously support for new maps, models, and textures (via an “add-ons” section).

This is an important update for PC fans of Left 4 Dead, since we’ll be getting a whole load more maps made by the community. Going on the support for TF2, there’ll be a lot of great maps, both well designed and ridiculously silly. I urge everyone with the skills to make a L4D map to do it!

Today Valve announced that the Authoring tools for Left 4 Dead are in beta and ready to download from the “Tools” tab on Steam. Using this, users can play with:

• Updated version of Hammer, the source level editor
• Updated suite of command line compiling utilities
• Updated Particle editor
• Updated Faceposer
• Example maps, common infected, props, and explosives

Valve are updating the matchmaking system to make the community maps available to all players. If you’re thinking of making something for Left 4 Dead, go here for more info. All us regular players will be able to reap the benefits of awesome community maps in “a few weeks”.

Steam users will be able to access Left 4 dead completely free all weekend, starting at 12:01am GMT. Impatient players can pre-load the game so they can play the second it becomes free by going here and downloading the game ready to play. Obviously, I recommend you do this if you don’t already have the game- with the new survival pack and extra maps, the game’s even better than it was when I gave it a 10 out of 10.

On a slightly related note, check out this interview from Shacknews with Valve’s Robin Walker. It’s an interesting read for Team Fortress 2 fans, with a few details about the upcoming unlocks (hats!).

Just a reminder to you Left 4 Dead fans, the “Survival Pack” downloadable content is now available and the best thing is, it’s free. The DLC will add the new Survival Mode and add Death Toll and Dead Air to the Versus mode.  Go download now!

Source: Joystiq

Despite being posted on April the first, it appears that this Left 4 Dead blog post is accurate: Valve are to update the matchmaking system for PC users of Left 4 Dead. The extension adds support for third-party campaign servers (custom maps) and support for a party system. this will allow you and three buddies to team up and find another four players for versus mode. Also changing is the way that the game auto-matches you based on skill.

Why people still play the game without people they know is beyond me, but whatever floats your zombie-infested boat, I suppose. That said, I’m glad that these features are coming; it’s a chore finding servers with the things that you want to play, and the party system will, I’m sure, be a lot of fun.

Kotaku reader Trevor H’s girlfriend has made him this pretty good Smoker (from Left 4 Dead) plush toy, as part of her mission to create toys “for every wicked Valve game that comes out.” Reportedly she’s also made a plush headcrab.

A headcrab, eh? I bet it’s nowhere near as awesome as the one our very own Giant Lenin made. It’s got gore and everything, and proves inarguably that Ripten has awesome readers. Hit the jump or click the link to the forum post to see it.

Read more…

Destructoid reports that Valve have confirmed the release date, April 21, for the free Left 4 Dead ‘Survival pack’ we reported on last month. The pack will contain the other two maps, Dead Air and Death Toll, for versus mode, as well as the new “Survival” mode in which you aim to survive the hordes for as long as possible. It’s coming for both 360 and PC, free on both, so nobody has an excuse to not get it- there will even be a special version of the game released at retail with the extra content for those of you who don’t already have the game.

EDGE has published the results of the recent British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards today, the winner of “Best Game” being Super Mario Galaxy. A scheduling change meant that some games from 2007 were entered this year, so Mario Galaxy and Call of Duty 4, two of the gems of 2007, swept up plenty of awards. See the full list after the jump.
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With new (and free) downloadable content coming out soon for Left 4 Dead on both the Xbox 360 and PC, IGN has given some video impressions of the new incoming “Survival” mode. The DLC will add the new mode, along with two new campaigns to the VS mode. Hit the jump to check out the video.

Read more…

It’s Friday the thirteenth, supposedly the unluckiest day of the year, and to celebrate, Valve have cut the price of Left 4 Dead by a full 50%. We wholeheartedly recommend it, especially at half price. If your PC can handle it, snap this one up before the deal ends at the end of the weekend.

A while back, Valve announced some downloadable content for Left for Dead on 360 and PC. The announcement mentioned a new game mode to be released: “Survivor” mode. GameTrailers TV have revealed what this new mode will involve. According to the video, up to four players will attempt to set records on surviving hordes of zombies on 12 maps (whether the maps will be adapted from existing levels or brand new was not specified)- essentially, ‘who can last the longest against the waves of undead’. The DLC pack will also include Death Toll and Dead Air for Versus mode play.

I guessed it would be a “last man standing” type mode originally, but this is even better. the first thing I thought of was the mode in Timesplitters 2 where you had only a shotgun and increasingly big waves of zombies would shamble towards you. It got really hectic once you were up to about wave 20. With the speedy Left 4 Dead zombies in mind, this sounds like a brilliant new mode.

[Update] Valve just confirmed that the DLC will be free. Huzzah!

Researchers at the University of Rochester have surveyed 2,670 frequent game players, as well and over 300 undergraduates, and found that violent content has no real effect on the appeal of a game. Using Half-Life 2 and a dev kit, the researchers made two scenarios for the participants: a “violent” one where the player had to kill things with a shotgun, and a “non-violent” on where psychic powers were used to do the same thing, although it was “more like a game of tag” than a deathmatch.

Guess what? The groups had no real difference; there’s very little to suggest that increasing violence increases enjoyment. The lead researched adds that this should be noted by game developers: making a game more violent won’t necessarily make it more fun.

Of course, violence is still fun- if, for example, Left 4 Dead’s zombies simply disappeared as opposed to tearing apart in a bloody mess, I’m sure there would be plenty of complaints. Likewise, the VATS messiness in Fallout 3 certainly adds something to the game. Still, the researchers have it on the nose- good game first, violence second.

Metronews via Kotaku.

Steam news has details of a huge Left 4 Dead PC patch, available now to all Steam users. The patch has a lot of bug fixes, as well as gameplay tweaks and changes. The Hunter gets “Increased Minimum damage” for a pounce, solving the frustration that a short-range pounce is almost worthless. Hopefully it should increase the hunter’s worth indoors.

Plus, “Survivors cannot bash someone off the tongue until the Survivor being pulled is paralyzed or hanging,” and the “Smoker tongue does damage every second while dragging paralyzed Survivors.” This comes as a relief; smokers were almost useless most of the time without this extra damage. Also, you can now browse the web while in-game on Steam. Full notes after the jump, and remember: don’t fuck with the witch.

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Eminem seems to be getting in on Soulja Boy’s music and videogaming status in this clip. In the video (probably NSFW audio), he makes damn sure that all of you Left 4 Dead players out there know what to do in a certain situation. In fact, he seems very passionate about the subject indeed, and rightly so. It’s a little known fact that over 100% of Left 4 Dead players have suffered at some point from the affliction that Eminem so boldly and admirably attempts to prevent. Good on you, Mr. Marshall Bruce Mathers III. Good on you.

2008 was a big year. There were so many great games released that it’s incredibly hard to decide which one deserves to be the Game of the Year… so that’s why we’re going to make you do it. Have a gander at our nominees and let us know which game you think deserves top honors. Additionally, we want to spark some debate as we also want to know which of our nominees is least deserving of Game of the Year.

The best commenter (best arguments, most interesting or humorous comments – as decided by Ripten staff) will also be rewarded with a super awesome prize: a free game! Let your voice be heard! Read more…

Ironically enough, Left 4 Dead isn’t showing any signs of dying- Shacknews reports that Valve are planning a big announcement for their (awesome) zombie shooter. In true Valve style, the announcement has been postponed, as it was set for a pre-Christmas reveal. Still, Valve writer Chet Faliszek certainly didn’t skimp on the details.

The announcement was relating to new DLC for the game, including new scenarios, Versus mode availability for Dead Air and Death Toll, and for PC gamers, SDK, allowing custom map building. Other than SDK, all of the content will arrive at the same time on XBox 360 and PC, although of course on the PC there will be none of these ghastly ‘paying money’ shenanigans to be had. Still, it’s just speculation at this point, so there’s hope for 360 owners yet! Expect an official announcement from Valve soon (meaning ‘whenever they bloody well feel like it).

Left 4 Dead is the kind of game that helps you figure out who your friends really are. Do they run off to pick up that pipe bomb while you get bamboozled by zombies? Do they stray from the group in search of personal glory? Do they accuse you of kill stealing after you just saved their ass? Left 4 Dead helps you sort these things out while also managing to put the “survival” back in “first-person shooter with zombies and a cooperative attempt at survival”. Read more…

As reported earlier this week, some gamers were able to hack into the servers for the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead, glitching the game and causing mayhem for other players in both the co-op and versus modes.

Well, Valve has quickly released a server-side fix to its Xbox 360 servers after reports of the hacking have spread.

“The fix is designed to halt the cheating behavior on the dedicated servers, which accounts for the majority of the co-op and versus modes of play,” says Valve.

Valve also intends to release an update for Xbox 360 gamers playing Left 4 Dead on user-hosted servers or via System Link multiplayer in “the coming days.”

Source: Gamasutra.com