RipTen Videogame Blog » Valve

Alan Wake Coming to PC on February 16

Sam Naylor — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:00:28 +0000

Remedy Entertainment has announced that Alan Wake will be available on Steam on the 16th of February.

The Steam version of the game will be the first out, with other digital versions and a boxed edition coming later. On Valve‘s digital platform the game will be $29.99 for the game and DLC, and $34.99 for the Limited Collector’s Edition.

Markus Mäki, CTO at Remedy, said:

We’ve done our best to do justice to the PC version and do things the way they should be done for PC. The PC version looks absolutely beautiful. We’re bringing the game to life in a whole new way.

Remedy note the key differences with the PC version are as follows:

“Higher resolutions and higher fidelity”
Mouse and keyboard support, along with gamepad
Support for 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios
Multithreaded engine that takes advantage of quad core CPUs
Field of view adjustment and an option to hide the HUD
Works with AMD Eyefinity 3D 3-screen mode
Works with NVIDIA NVISION2 Stereoscopic 3D

The Watercooler: That Spy is Not One of Ours!

Sam Naylor — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:00:50 +0000

Warning: The Watercooler is the best thing you will see on the Internet today, mainly because it is the best thing I saw on the Internet yesterday. Be advised that The Watercooler is not necessarily videogame related (it usually won’t be), and is often silly, controversial, and/or not safe for work (NSFW). If this type of content frequently offends you, please be aware that I just warned you — if you still click through and get offended, it will be your own stupid fault. Otherwise, please continue…

Shock horror, it’s a gaming-related Watercooler today. The highly immature content of this video made me think twice about posting it but it is actually really funny. Not just the content but the animations, which are absolutely superb.

It’s like a TF2-based Ren and Stimpy!

Think you have something that could be Watercooler material? Send it to me via email: sam@ripten.com or on Twitter: @greeneggsnam. If your submission gets featured, you will win a prize package full of pride and accomplishment.

Steam Mobile App Now Open to Everyone

Catherine Cai — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:00:52 +0000

Steam users looking forward to finally accessing the service on mobile devices, begin frolicking in drunken revelry. Valve has finally made the Steam app, which shuns neither iOS nor Android users, available to the public.

I’m sure most of you were as frustrated as I was when you saw the announcement for the mobile app, rushed to get the app, and then realized that the app was in closed beta. Dispel thy frustrations and love the fact that you can use Steam with your phone or tablet. LOVE IT.

29,000 Valve Fans to Play Half-Life 2 Simultaneously on Saturday

Sam Naylor — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:00:12 +0000

Members of the Steam group “A Call for Communication” will be playing Half-Life 2 simultaneously this Saturday to send a message to Valve.

The group, which is asking for Valve to release some sort of confirmation or information about Half-Life Episode 3 (or Half-Life 3, if that is the case), will be playing from 11:00am until 11:30am PDT (7:00pm-7:30pm GMT) on February the 4th, this Saturday.

The mass-playing is done in the hope that Valve will notice their efforts through positive means rather than just complaining.

Instead of focusing efforts in a negative and disrespectful way, we have decided to gain Valve’s attention by delivering a basic message: Your oldest and longest running fanbase would like better communication.

Why not join them? There’s nothing to lose. You get to play a fantastic game, one of the best ever made, and feel solidarity with your gaming community. It’s a great idea and I’ll be trying my best to join in.

Via [PC Gamer]

Valve Release Steam Mobile App for iOS and Android

Sam Naylor — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:00:53 +0000

Valve have today announced a free mobile app which is integrated with their digital distribution service, Steam.

The Steam app supports Steam friends and chat, viewing community groups and user profiles, gaming news, sale info and purchasing games, and viewing screenshots.

Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve, said:

The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers. 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.

You can download the free app for Android or iOS here and link it to your Steam account. It is just a beta sign-up at the moment, however:

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.

And now for something completely different, courtesy of Chad:

Saint’s Row: The Third gets Team Fortress 2 Heads

Sam Naylor — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:36:52 +0000

THQ have announced that the severed heads of the TF2 cast will be available to all Steam players of Saint’s Row: The Third.

Alongside tomorrow’s Genkibowl VII DLC, the game will be updating with the Team Fortress 2 heads and a likeness of CheapAssGamer’s CheapyD as a new homie.

So, this is weird, isn’t it? At least this time TF2 is doing the penetrating, rather than the other way around.

Via RPS

Mass Effect 3 for PC Will Not Be Available on Steam

Catherine Cai — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:24:58 +0000

Last year, many large EA-published titles including Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2 were inexplicably removed from Steam. After some inquiries into the problem, EA revealed that it had a problem with Valve’s terms of service that restricts content provider’s ability to provide patches and content.

However, when Sims 3 ended up appearing on Steam, it appeared that EA and Valve had come to some sort of agreement to allow EA games to show up on Steam.

Apparently, this isn’t the case.

In a Q&A about Origin and Mass Effect 3, Bioware Community Coordinator Chrs Priestly revealed that, for now, Mass Effect 3 would not be coming to Steam, for the same concerns that EA has had before:

During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.

We can only hope that EA and Valve pull another Sims 3 to have Mass Effect 3 up on Steam.

Steam Game Sales Double for the Seventh Year Running

Sam Naylor — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:44:03 +0000

Valve have announced a handful of statistics on Steam‘s performance in 2011, including that year-over-year unit sales have increased 100%- again.

Now that the 5 million player mark has been met, the Steam servers are busier than ever. 2011 saw 780 Petabytes of data sent out through the tubes to us gamers, meaning the Steam infrastructure had to more than double.

Steamworks titles did well this year as well, with a 67% increase in registrations over 2010, up to 14.5 million.

Valve‘s Gabe Newell, a man who must have had a fucking good Christmas this year, said:

Steam and Steamworks continues to evolve to keep up with customer and developer demands for new services and content. 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.

Now comes that awkward time where I ignore all the times I’ve berated Activision for having high profits and congratulate Steam on such a successful year. I suppose the difference is that Steam doesn’t leave gamers with such a sore arsehole.

Steam Sale Day Nine: F.E.A.R, Black Ops 50% off

Sam Naylor — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:45:56 +0000

The big Steam Christmas holiday sale is now on, lasting until Sunday, January 1, 2012.

The daily deals return, but there’s a bit more to it than just a sale this time.

The “Great Gift Pile” provides challenges for steam users, giving the chance to win a free game or discount coupons. You can also win a bit of coal, which can be crafted into a gift (7 lumps = 1 gift) or saved for later. Coal is the ticket to enter the “Epic Holiday Giveaway”, where “the more coal you have, the better your chance of winning.” What do you win? Well, the first prize is every game on Steam, so you’ll want to be winning that, right?

There are numerous packs and publisher catalogues on offer throughout the sale, as well as many individual games on sale. We recommend, however, that you don’t buy any of these until the end of the sale, when you’re sure they haven’t come up as a daily deal at a bigger discount.

Today’s Daily Deals Include:

My recommendations today are Prince of Persia and Dawn of War. Prince of Persia (just buy Sands of Time, it’s the best) is a decent time-travell

Steam Sales Day 5: Dirt 3 66% off, Rage 50% off

Sam Naylor — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:33:24 +0000

The big Steam Christmas holiday sale is now on, lasting until Sunday, January 1, 2012.

The daily deals return, but there’s a bit more to it than just a sale this time.

Today’s Daily Deals Include:

My recommendations today are Dirt 3, because it is a great rally game with proper classic cars in it, and Audiosurf, which is a fun little your-own-music based game.

Steam Sale Day 4: Mass Effect Series, Blur 75% off

Sam Naylor — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:13:37 +0000

The big Steam Christmas holiday sale is now on, lasting until Sunday, January 1, 2012.

The daily deals return, but there’s a bit more to it than just a sale this time.

Today’s Daily Deals Include:

My recommendation today can only be Torchlight, as it is quite good and also has the advantage of being the only one I’ve played (I have played Mass Effect but it is total shite). Leave a comment if you want to add something!

Steam Sale Day 3: Batman: Arkham City, F1 2011 50% off

Sam Naylor — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:42:50 +0000

The big Steam Christmas holiday sale is now on, lasting until Sunday, January 1, 2012.

The daily deals return, but there’s a bit more to it than just a sale this time.

Today’s Daily Deals Include:

My recommendations today are F1 2011, because I am a racing nerd, and Batman, because I am a comic nerd also.

The Steam Holiday Sale is Now On, Until the First of January

Sam Naylor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:56:04 +0000

The big Steam Christmas holiday sale is now on, lasting until Sunday, January 1, 2012.

The daily deals return, butthere’s a bit more to it than just a sale this time.

This year the daily deals are in an incredibly annoying format for me to write them all out here, so I’ll just point you towards the Steam front page instead- here. If any of our lovely readers has a problem with it, please leave a comment and let us know. Seriously, if even one of you finds it useful I promise I’ll add them all in manually.

Instead here are my recommendations from today’s deals:

Portal and Portal 2 are two of the best games ever made.
Just Cause 2 is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Awesome Left 4 Dead Fan Film Features Way Too Many Cameos

Dave Oshry — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 01:05:17 +0000

Fan films come in all shapes and sizes. Large, small, dead and undead.

This latest fan film by Northern Five productions and AirsoftGI catches up with the cast of Left 4 Dead as they take down the unrelenting zombie menace.

However, just when they think that all hope is lost, it’s time for some random cameos!

Yeah, I don’t get it either.

Still a damn fine production however – with or without Team Xbox coming to the rescue…

Nuclear Dawn Updated, Free Weekend Next Week

Sam Naylor — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:30:20 +0000

Nuclear Dawn has been updated with loads of new features and fixes, and there will be a free weekend starting on the 15th of December.

The weekend will run from 15th – 19th December (with double XP for all players as well). It’s an opportunity I would ask anyone to take up- as I said in my review, the game is great save for the most important thing- players.

Hopefully the influx of player will be enough on the free weekend to make the game worth your time and money, so I genuinely wish InterWave Studios the best of luck in getting a proper playerbase. Existing players can see the patch notes below, which include a new class and Santa hats.

Additions
• Players will be awarded double XP throughout the free weekend (15th – 19th December).
• P-900 sidearm unlock added (automatically awarded to all players who purchase during the free weekend, as well as those who have already purchased Nuclear Dawn prior.)
• Added Santa hats which will run though the holidays – starting 19th December. Server admins can control the behavior with the following CVar:
o nd_xmas – 0 = Hats disabled – 1 = Hats only for commanders – 2 = Hats for EVERYONE!
• Added squad bonuses for healing, capturing resources, and kill assists.
• Saboteur Stealth class introduced. Use Remote Explosive Devices and machine pistols, in conjunction with your Stealth Cloak teach your enemies fear of the dark.
• Four interactive FPS training courses that cover aspects of class warfare and basic gameplay mechanics
• Three interactive RTS training courses that cover the basic Commander functions (minus tactical excellence – you add that yourselves)
• Commander Graduate achievement – a special achievement earned by completing all of the interactive RTS training. In live games, players who have this achievement will have priority over candidates who did not complete training.
• Added a “Career” page to the main menu for viewing your player stats, including upcoming general and class-specific unlocks.
• Added an “Extras” tab (found via the new “Career” page) that allows players to enable/disable bonuses, such as the pre-order Veteran Medal and free-weekend P-900 sidearm unlock.
• Added bots. These should be considered BETA as most functionality is still in development. For this version, the bots will behave similarly to regular players, rather than purchased units as in other RTS titles (they will do their own thing, other than when a commander order is given to them). Below are some console variables you can use to add bots to your server:
o bot_quota = Number of bots
o bot_quota_mode [ normal | fill | match ] = If ‘fill’, the server will adjust bots to keep N players in the game, where N is bot_quota. If ‘match’, the server will maintain a 1:N ratio of humans to bots. If ‘normal’ there will be N bots in the game. Where N is bot_quota.
o bot_add_ct = Add a bot to the Consortium team
o bot_add_emp = Add a bot to the Empire team
General Issues
• Secondary Resource Point resource production has been increased to balance the dominance of the Primary. While Secondary points still remain vastly inferior to the Primary, now a commander that manages to hold both at the same time will actually be able to remain competitive against the one holding the primary.
• Fixed an issue where turrets would sometimes continue to target Stealth players even after they have activated cloak.
• Fixed an issue where Transport Gates were sometimes visible on the spawn location map, even when out of power, or EMP’d.
• Fixed not being able to perform any commander actions when running a listen server on MacOS.
• Fixed RTS camera rotation issues on MacOS
• Fixed issue where empty commander orders were being left around the map
• Fixed fog of war problem that would cause some players and structures to be invisible in commander mode, even when they are in line of sight of your units.
• Improved and re-added idle fidget animations with leg movement.
• Improved knife/blade hit detection in both regular stab and backstab modes.
• Fixed multiple instances of first person animation glitches when returning to idle from sprint.
• A number of various stability fixes.
User Interface
• The Steam server browser will now correctly display Nuclear Dawn servers.
• Improved some UI mouse-over effects.
• Improved class selection images.
• Added icons for each class on the squad menu.
• Fixed some cases where text would have incorrect spacing on MacOS.
• Added a chat message when a player is awarded an achievement.
• Added new kit selection icons for Stealth Assassin, Support Engineer and Support Medic.
Weapons/Balance
• Increased Repair Tool’s effectiveness against enemy structures by 20%
Levels
• Clocktower
o Added a extra route to deploy relay towers by scaling up the tunnel at EMP base
o Fixed a few small issues throughout the level
• Downtown
o Relocated EMP command bunker to make it less exposed
o Removed floating displacement
o Fixed bushes not solid in multiple locations
o Fixed wireless repeater floating in the alley at the primary area
o Fixed CT wincam pointing at wrong location
o Removed ropes from the City State building
o Added multiple no-build areas throughout the level

• Hydro
o No longer possible to build behind the Empire Bunker
• Metro
o Fixed getting stuck in the primary bunker in some situations.
o Fixed a few floating bushes
• Oasis
o Fixed able to capture Primary from outside the building in a certain spot
o Extended capture area
o Added extra cover around the EMP base and throughout the level for relay towers

Steam Announces The Daily Wishlist Giveaway

Catherine Cai — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:00:50 +0000

In the spirit of the holidays, Steam is hosting a giveaway where ten random Steam users will get the top ten games on their wishlist. The only requirements for you to enter the giveaway? Be a Steam user with at least ten games on your wishlist. Sounds simple enough right?

Steam will be hosting this giveaway late into the Holiday season. Happy winnings. Oh, and happy holidays or something.

Steam Autumn Sale Day 5: Modern Warfare 2, Dead Space 2

Sam Naylor — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:54:34 +0000

Steam‘s Autumn sale finishes on its fifth day, reducing prices on hundreds of games as well as bigger reductions on the daily deals.

As usual the sale brings discounts on a huge amount of games in the Steam catalogue, and you can search through them here. Since this is the last day, buy all that you want, as it won’t be going on the daily deals tomrorow.

Here are the daily deals for today:

Modern Warfare 2 and Fable 3 seem to be the biggest hitters today (again, the fact that they’re only 50% off is a giveaway). I would say, however, that Dead Space and Red Faction: Guerrilla will be the best deals today. Let us know what you think in the comments.

See you back for the obligatory Christmas sale posts later in the year!

Steam Autumn Sale Day 4: The Witcher 2, RAGE

Sam Naylor — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:19:29 +0000

Steam‘s Autumn sale continues for a fourth day, reducing prices on hundreds of games as well as bigger reductions on the daily deals.

As usual the sale brings discounts on a huge amount of games in the Steam catalogue, and you can search through them here. However, take our advice- don’t buy anything until the last day of the sale, just in case it goes on sale in the daily deals section for a bigger reduction. Remember, too, that often the most popular games will be discounted again on the last day of the sale, so just wait and see before buying them at a higher price.

Here are the daily deals for today:

I’ll be grabbing Limbo today, since it’s so unfathomably cheap and supposedly brilliant. The big hitters today are The Witcher 2 and RAGE (you can tell because they have shit discounts)- as usual, something to grab if you couldn’t justify the full price.

Steam Autumn Sale Day 3: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dead Island

Sam Naylor — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:20:46 +0000

Steam‘s Autumn sale continues for a third day, reducing prices on hundreds of games as well as bigger reductions on the daily deals.

Here are the daily deals for today:

Serious Sam and Grand Theft Auto are my recommendations for today, being my favourites from the list. The big names today are Deus Ex and Dead Island, though for me they haven’t been discounted enough to tempt me just yet. Leave a comment if you’ve got a recommendation for all the other Riptenners out there.

Steam Autumn Sale Day 2: Fallout New Vegas, LA Noire On Sale

Sam Naylor — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:01:31 +0000

Steam‘s Autumn sale continues for a second day, reducing prices on hundreds of games as well as bigger reductions on the daily deals.

Here are the daily deals for today:

Today my recommendation goes to VVVVVV, at that price it is surely a no-brainer. Zeno Clash is also worth a look, it’s a quirky and fun melee-focused first person shooter. Fallout New Vegas and LA Noire are the big names today as well if you’re looking into those.