I’m sure you saw the story about the free play in Valve’s zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead, today. Well, Valve’s apparently enjoying watching all of you check it out, because they’ve extended the event through 5 PM GMT (1 PM EST) tomorrow. That’s about 23 hours from now.

You’ve still got just under a day to check it out, so get out there and survive the zombie apocalypse!

Oh, and if you decide that you like Left 4 Dead so much you want to purchase it and continue playing after this event ends, Valve’s offering discount as well. If you purchase L4D this weekend, you’ll get it for 40% off. That’s $23.99 for one of the best co-operative experiences available on PC.

If you are not prepared for the inevitable zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead is a good primer to get you on the road to preparedness. Seriously, go check it out. After all, it is free!

Looks like we’re having a celebrity deathmatch in U.S. District Court in Seattle. This Tuesday, Valve filed suit against Activision Blizzard.

Apparently the complaint stems from a 2002 dispute over Sierra licensing Valve games without the consent of Valve. As we all know, Sierra was merged with Activision last year. Earlier this month, on April 6th, an arbitrator awarded Valve $2,391,932.

Valve said this was less compensation than they were seeking, but they agreed to be bound by the arbitration process.

As is usually the case, one of the parties wasn’t pleased. In this case, Activision challenged the award, saying that Valve was overpaid by $424,136 in the past. Valve responded saying that that Activision didn’t properly raise the issue in front of the arbitrator.

Activision reportedly cut Valve a check for $1,967,796 last week. That amount is the total awarded by the arbitrator less the disputed $424,136. Apparently, Activision has said that it would not pay the rest, and that if Valve went to court, Activision would countersue. Valve apparently ignored this warning, and has filed a suit in US District Court in Seattle.

Download the PDF of the complaint.

Thanks, GamePolitics

If you haven’t tried your hand at surviving the zombie apocalypse in Left 4 Dead yet, Valve’s giving you a chance to try it for free. Starting at 12:01 AM GMT tomorrow (8:01 PM EST tonight), you can play L4D for free for 24 hours.

This isn’t just a demo, this is a fully functional copy of the game. It even includes the recently released Survival patch, and all four Versus maps.

I can tell you from experience that if you plan to try this out, you had better not make any plans for Friday night. Left 4 Dead has an addictive quality that I can personally testify to. Plus, the satisfaction of setting a crowd of zombies on fire, or running through them firing a smoking auto-shotgun, well, that’s just great.

For details on how to take advantage of this promotion, as well as a copy of the press release, check after the break.

Read the full article »

I assume that most of you are familiar with Tripwire Interactive. If not, perhaps when I mention that they were the company that brought Red Orchestra to retail you’ll realize who I am talking about.

Tripwire’s newest title, the zombie action game Killing Floor, has just been made available for pre-purchase on Steam. If you’re interested in checking this one out, you should grab it now, as you’ll save 25% if you purchase before the game’s launch on May 14.

According to the Valve press release, the game will feature, “over 40 Steam Achievements, persistent perks to level up your character and a solo game mode for offline play.”

You can get more information by visiting the game’s official site, Steam site, or you can stay tuned to Gaming Today, where we’ll have an interview with the team behind Killing Floor coming very soon.

Like so many other people, I was smitten with Valve’s zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead. There’s something viscerally satisfying about gunning down hordes of zombies, especially when you feel that you’re the last hope for the survival of humanity. Earlier this week, Valve graced us with the first major update for Left 4 Dead. This update included not only Versus mode for the two maps that were previously unavailable, it also included the long-awaited Survival Mode.

The basic premise is a simple one. The players are up against a wall, facing off against never ending waves of zombies, including a number of special infected. There are plenty of supplies, ammo, and explosives, but there’s absolutely no way out. The goal, as the name would suggest, is to survive as long as possible.

But does it actually work as a game mode?

Read the full article »

Valve’s Left 4 Dead game demo is finally available in Japan on Xbox Live. The demo came out November 11th for all other regions. The Left 4 Dead game demo is free of course and it’s a 1GB download.

Left 4 Dead is a real scream whether you’re playing on a LAN or online with Skype. I strongly recommend you try it. Indecently, one of the four player characters Zoey made Maxim’s Top 17 Hottest Videogame Babes of 2008 which could be another good reason to check it out. Thanks to Xbox Live’s Major Nelson for the heads up.

Maxim has compiled its most wanted videogame babes of 2008. Usually these lists pick the top ten, but Maxim just couldn’t stop there. There are seventeen lovely ladies, virtual and real live knock out that give playing videogames an extra thrill.

Several of these heroines are a given. The list wouldn’t be complete without Tomb Raider: Underworld’s Lara Croft modeled after Alison Carroll and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3’s Gina Carano as Russian hottie Natasha Volkova and Jenny McCarthy as Special Agent Tanya Adams.

Maggie Q as Detective Chase Linh in Need for Speed: Undercover may have been overlooked due to the games underwhelming ratings. Of course the virtual girls are well represented including. Zoey from Left 4 Dead is a pick as well as several secondary characters and enemies.

I’d say you could read the article for details but let’s be honest with ourselves, shall we? You can view the whole The 17 Hottest Video Game Babes of 2008 list on Maxim.

Valve has been hard at work on a new Team Fortress 2 patch, which should be going live within a few days time. This is not only good news for PC users, but for those who purchased The Orange Box for the Xbox 360 as well because Valve is also working on an update which will include all the goodies that were included with the PC version.

The patch for the PC will see the Teleporters being able to be leveled to 3 with the cool down decreasing as the character levels. Spies will be have the ability to recharge their cloaking skill when they pick ammo up off of the ground. Dispensers will also be able to level up to 3 and will not only heal faster, but generate metal faster as they level. Valve has also added a particle system and has upgraded the HUD to show stats such as death by critical hits, players that are over healed, and providing more information to medics when they are being hailed by other players.

In addition to these new changes and additions, gamers who have not had the opportunity to play Team Fortress 2 can now get the game for $10.00 over on Steam. If you have loads of money to burn, you can also get the complete Valve package for $99.99 which includes: Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic, Day of Defeat, Deathmatch Classic, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Ricochet, Half-Life, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Half-Life: Blue Shift, Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, Day of Defeat: Source, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, Half-Life Deathmatch: Source, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Portal, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, and Peggle Extreme.

Left 4 Dead will already run you $49.99 so spend the extra $50 and get not only a good deal but a enough games to max out the memory on your PC.

We will be sure to let you know when the patches for both versions of Team Fortress 2 are to be make available, so you may wanna check back with us.

(Thanks VG247)

The November NPD numbers are in for PC titles for the month, and it should come as no surprise that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is on top–as a matter of fact it takes the top two spots out of the Top 20. If you look through the whole chart though, you will notice that World of Warcraft took five spots which is an indication that its popularity shows no wane in sight.

Call of Duty: World at War for the PC came in third, with Spore still pulling in the gamers and resting at number four, and Left 4 Dead took the number 8 spot which is a decent slot considering the PC powerhouses that are present on the chart.

1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition
3. Call of Duty: World At War
4. Spore
5. Fallout 3
6. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
7. The Sims 2 Deluxe
8. Left 4 Dead
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
11. World of Warcraft
12. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Expansion
13. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
14. EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey
15. Far Cry 2
16. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
17. BioShock
18. Spore Creepty & Cute Parts Pack
19. IGT Slots: Little Green Men
20. Assassin’s Creed

(Thanks Shacknews)

Valve has just updated the Team Fortress 2 blog with a whole lot of information for fans to salivate over, including a few changes to some class skills, information on the next weapon pack, and even some good news for Xbox players. First up, it looks like the Engineer and Spy classes will be have to change their gameplay style a bit with some new tweaks to their abilities. Teleporters and dispensers can now be upgraded much like the turrets, but instead to cool down faster and deliver health and metal quicker, respectively. The Spy’s cloaking device can now also be recharged by picking up ammo packs. Valve stressed that these two classes will be getting their own class achievements and upgrades in the future. Speaking of class packs though, Valve also mentioned they’re now setting their sights on upgrading the Scout class next; so be on the lookout for that sometime in the nearer future. Finally, the company also announced that they would be bringing all the updates they released for the PC over the last year to the Xbox version as well.

That’s a lot of good news for TF2 fans. Hopefully we’ll see some of these new additions show up sooner rather than later. Of course, then I’m sure we’ll have nothing Spies, Engineers, and Scouts running around every server once they do.