Tag: half life 3

Pixel Count: How Do You Prefer Your Hype?

The reveal of Bungie’s newest property, Destiny, has had me thinking this week about the nature of hype in the video game realm. With everything from years-out announcements to games that get stuck in an endless development cycle, games that get dropped on us just a few months before release and more, we’ve seen the whole gamut of hype. Sometimes it is a bit much for our poor hearts, methinks.

But while I’m excited about the little snippets that Bungie showed off, I can’t help but feel like maybe the announcement had been just a tad overhyped in the week prior. Bungie explained a little of what Destiny is, but there’s still so much we don’t know, and for a game that seems built around its high concept that we may or may not have seen before, it seems like maybe that information is necessary. In the end, it comes down to strategy, and how each developer feels that they can ultimately sell more copies.

All that to ask you guys today’s poll question. How do you prefer your video game hype? Go!

How do you prefer your hype?

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GamerSushi Asks: E3 2012 Predictions?

E3 2012

Is it really already time for another E3? No matter how hard I try to avoid it, the calendar confirms that another round of the Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us, this time hitting us with all of its buzz June 5-7. For our hobby, this is the equivalent of a holy week, one of those high festivals that requires our time, celebration and perhaps even woe. Although that last one is probably more apt if you’re waiting on a Half-Life 3 announcement.

So, with E3 right around the corner, we thought we would ask you guys what your E3 predictions are. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect from this year. Now that Nintendo’s unabashedly broken the next generation ice with the showing of Wii U, this is a year where people are anticipating similar reveals from both Sony and Microsoft. Despite the numerous claims to the contrary, I tend to fall in that camp as well. But then you never truly know.

In terms of specific announcements from other notable developers, I expect a Dragon Age 3 tease of some sort from Bioware, since their other big franchise has laid down to rest for the moment. I also expect something new out of Valve, since they have no releases lined up after CS: GO and Dota 2 this year. I’m also banking on another entry to the Metal Gear Solid series.

So what about you guys? What do you expect or hope to see from E3 this year? Tell us your E3 predictions. Go!

Is Valve Done with Single Player Games?

Half Life 2 Episode 2

Interesting. I’m not sure if you guys have heard about Geoff Keighley’s The Final Hours of Portal 2 app for the iPad, but it sounds like a fascinating look into the development of Portal 2, particularly the last few weeks before it was done. Keighley was given a staggering amount of access to Valve, much like when he covered the Final Hours of Half-Life 2, and I’ve heard the results are phenomenal.

On top of being a remarkable piece of journalism, it seems that Keighley reports on a few choice remarks from Gabe Newell himself, particularly about the future of Valve when it comes to single player gaming. Apparently, Here’s what Keighley had to say:

“Portal 2 will probably be Valve’s last game with an isolated single-player experience… What this all means is something Newell is still trying to figure out.”

Apparently, he heard this from Newell during his time at Valve. Considering Valve’s track record seems to be skewing towards more multiplayer and co-op focused games, it doesn’t surprise me that much. However, it does make me curious about what the future could hold for a title like Half-Life 2: Episode 3…

So what do you guys think about this quote and about its implications? Is it just the gaming press getting out of hand? Or could you see there being something to this idea? It should be noted that Valve allowed Keighley to publish whatever he wanted with no limitations as soon as Portal 2 was done, so it’s very likely that he did in fact hear this straight from Gabe’s mouth.

Thoughts?

Source – Kotaku

Fanmade Half-Life 3 Test Footage Is a Little Neat

If you listen to me at all in the many avenues for my ranting and raving, you know that “fanmade” anything is one of the least favorite words in my dictionary. I’m a firm believer that it’s more valuable for people to spend their time making their own creations rather than piggybacking on the creations of others. However, I accept that in these modern Intertubes, there’s just a culture that doesn’t always appreciate that.

Anyway, I’m about to be a bit of a hypocrite, because I think this fanmade Half-Life 3 test footage is kind of neat. It features Gordon Freeman doing some animations we haven’t seen him do before, and seems to take a bit of inspiration from the big scripted events of some more recent FPS games like Call of Duty. Obviously, nothing quite compares to the day that we finally see something out of Valve regarding Half-Life 3 or (Episode 3 or whatever they end up calling it), but a boy can dream, yes?

What do you guys think? Not Half-Life enough?

Rumor: No Half-Life 2 Episode 3 in 2010?

Half-Life 2 Episode 3Oh man, this one hurts for all of you Half-Life 2 fans, I’m sure.

It seems that Game Informer is reporting that there will be no Half-Life 2 Episode 3 out this year. Apparently, this was reported in the rumor column of the magazine, hinting that the next project that Valve is working on might not even be called Episode 3, but Half-Life 3.

As video game fans, we are used to delays, but I’m sure this one comes as a blow to the many devoted Valve followers out there. Especially considering the fact that two Left4Dead games have seen release in the last two years, with no news or updates on HL2Ep3 besides some vague concept art back in 2008.

While I’m not ready to cry foul on this (it’s no Gran Turismo 5, that’s for sure), I do understand the many people who will be bummed out by this news. So what about you guys? Are you upset? Were you really hoping for the next installment in 2010?

Source- Kotaku