Steaming Mad
Googled "left 4 dead logo hand" and got this. Odd coincidence, isn't it.
I was going to write a long diatribe extolling the virtues of Steam, but routine maintenance has somewhat dulled my enthusiasm for the program. That said, last night me and my girlfriend picked up the Valve pack, which included everything they’ve touched and it’s been wonderful playing through Left 4 Dead, even though my shiny 512b graphics card hates me and is being very stingy with its frame rate. However, I’ve had tons of fun piddling around on Half Life 2: Lost Coast and Counterstrike: Source, and I’m planning on grabbing a development kit once the servers are back up and learning a little modding.
Looking forward to the Fallout 3 update? Me too. I finished the game in a couple of days, and all that’s left is for me to grind my way up to level 20. It’s a wonderful game, but I’m wondering if 2009 is a blessing of free gaming time, as I’ve got so, so much left to finish. Level 30 sounds fun and I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re going to implement. Personally I’d still like the option to shoot someone’s foot, kneecap or Achilles tendon in the VATS system, but I doubt it’ll happen. It has made me want to go and take a long hard look at Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, which, as it’s disgustingly cheap on PC, is probably worth doing. That said with the amount of cash I saved on Steam this week, I might just do so; £148 of games, for £52. La dee da.
For the past few months I’ve been an avid fan of Barack Obama, from extolling his virtues in a Gamers With Jobs editorial, to simply staying up all night as a British citizen to see him win. But this is something else. The man is having a Nintendo Wii installed in the Oval Office. I can’t express how brilliant it feels to know that at least some of the time, the President of the United States will be checking up more on his Animal Crossing town than he will on the “promised land”.
GDC 2009 is shaping up to be a lot of fun to watch this year, as Bioware have kindly announced to finally discuss Mass Effect 2, and I couldn’t be more excited. I doubt they’ll answer a ton of questions, as they’ve only just confirmed being in development, but it’d be nice to hear something from them that isn’t about Star Wars. Personally, I just want the ability to carry over my Shepherd character to the second game, but as I lost my level 59 save last year, the concept of playing it all up again simply makes me want a fresh start. Hopefully people will grow up about the same-sex romance plotlines this time around, and someone at GDC will ask the most obvious question; why no homosexual Shepherd in the original? Seems logical enough, and Bioware seem mature enough to assume that not everyone in the world is obsessed with women.
But the best bit of news today is, oddly enough, the lack of a title in 2009: Rock Band 3 is not coming out this year. I like music games, but if there is a day where Xbox Live’s Marketplace isn’t flooded with songs for that, its clone and the karaoke crowd, I’d like to think it’s a day in the next 12 or less months. Please EA, please.
In other news, I start my application drive for magazines and websites in the gaming sector this month, so if you’re along the lines of Edge, CVG or anything related, prepare to be bombarded with emails, because I’m subtle like that. However if you’re one of the people in that crowd, and you’ve seen the blog, buzz my comments section and we’ll get talking. Go go gadget freelance.
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