Dark Falls: Lost Souls and World Basketball Manager 2010 available now on Steam and 10% off the first week.

Dark Fall: Lost Souls is the Aggie Award winner for Best First-Person PC Adventure game, and winner of Best Sound Design. Dark Fall: Lost Souls is a horror adventure game penned by the ‘Lost Crown’ author Jonathan Boakes.

World Basketball Manager 2010 allows Gamers to take charge and manage basketball teams from all around the world. Gamers have access to over 11,000 basketball players on over 900 teams, and 1,300 managers from nearly 200 countries.
Source Continue reading Dark Falls: Lost Souls and World Basketball Manager 2010 Available Now On Steam →

Puzzle Chronicles a new RPG from Konami is now available on Steam and 10% off for the first week.

Enter the dark and savage lands of the Ashurin Empire as you battle to avenge the atrocities the Empire brought upon your tribesmen. On your heroic quest to topple the Empire you will fight fierce beasts and battle hardened warriors in this new Puzzle RPG hybrid game. Featuring an active puzzle combat mechanic, deep story, and robust character development Puzzle Chronicles will bring you into the next era of Puzzle RPGs.

Puzzle Chronicles includes 12 Steam achievements such as Giant Slayer, Conquering Hero, and Deathbringer. Collect all twelve now.
Source Continue reading Puzzle Chronicles Released – Save 10% →

Updates to Risen have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

• Placement of various objects in the world revised
• Collision revised: player could previously get stuck in certain locations
• Problem with Brogar Arena quest resolved: this quest was only offered twice in certain circumstances
• Problem with the camera and the interface after loading a saved game resolved
• Various locations revised where the player was teleported to the first floor upon entering a building
• The hunters are to hunt again: problem with a dialog option that immediately ended this quest resolved
• Problem with the trigger for the final battle resolved
• Golden sword for the Don: this sword could be duplicated by stealing
• Problem with signpost lighting resolved
• Position of various quest goals revised and improved
• Problem of the player not receiving the bastard sword after delivering the materials for it resolved
• Interaction with benches, chairs, etc. revised
• Various dialog options revised
• Various error corrections made in game texts and language files

Source Continue reading Risen Update Released →

Blitz 1UP games Mole Control, KrissX, and Fluttabyes are released. All three games are 20% off until April 27th.

Mole Control is an addictive puzzle game that brings the classic logic-based game play of minesweeper into the 21st century.

KrissX is a captivating and relaxing mix of puzzle game and word game. Swap letters and decipher clues to solve a series of clever puzzles.

Fluttabyes is a fun, quirky take on a Match 3 game. Easy to pick up and play, yet deeply addictive, the aim of Fluttabyes is to help the butterflies fly away by matching four or more of the same color.
Source Continue reading Mole Control, KrissX, and Fluttabyes From Blitz 1UP Released, 20% Off →

AquaNox & AquaNox 2 are now available on Steam.

Mission based action underwater with stunning and violent individual and team-based combat. The frantic pace never lets up in Aquanox and Aquanox 2; true adrenaline-rush action for today’s gamers.
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The first game add-on for Left 4 Dead 2 brings the original Left 4 Dead (L4D1) Survivors down south for a meeting with the L4D2 cast, while delivering new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay for the PC and Xbox 360.

The Passing also introduces a series of weekly game mode events dubbed “Mutations.” These week-long runs of new gameplay modes range from “Realism Versus” mode to “Chainsaw Massacre,” which gives all players chainsaws with an unlimited supply of gasoline. There are over 20 Mutations planned, each playable on all L4D2 Campaigns. Mutations are exclusively available to owners of “The Passing” DLC.

In addition, “The Passing” offers a new co-operative challenge mode of play, support for infected bot play in Versus, a new “uncommon common” zombie class (the fallen survivor), melee weapon (golf club), and firearm (M-60).

Available for 560 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360 and free on the PC, “The Passing” takes place just after the Dead Center campaign of L4D2. Set in a small town in rural Georgia, players assume the role of the L4D2 Survivors as they meet with the L4D1 characters.

Exclusively available for Xbox 360 and the PC, L4D2 sets a new benchmark for co-operative action games. The title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaws, frying pans, axes, baseball bats, and more.

With the AI Director 2.0, L4D’s dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players’ performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.

Finally, with new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original, featuring more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, new Survival maps, and the new competitive game mode, Scavenge.

To celebrate the launch of “The Passing” DLC this Thursday Valve employees will be playing on the PC between 11am-5pm PDT and then on the 360 from 7pm-11pm PDT using special accounts. To play with someone from Valve just friend one of the following:

On PC:

L4D2_DEV_1, L4D2_DEV_2, L4D2_DEV_3, L4D2_DEV_4, L4D2_DEV_5, L4D2_DEV_6, L4D2_DEV_7, L4D2_DEV8, L4D2_DEV_9, L4D2_DEV_10

On the Xbox 360:

L4D2 DEV 1, L4D2 DEV 2, L4D2 DEV 3, L4D2 DEV 4, L4D2 DEV 5, L4D2 DEV 6, L4D2 DEV 7, L4D2 DEV 8, L4D2 DEV 9, L4D2 DEV 10

Source Continue reading The Passing, Coming April 22 →

Updates to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Client R7 changelist.

• MP – New Server browser
• MP – Added 15 second spawn timer for Conquest/Rush gamemodes at the start of round to prevent high end machines getting the upper hand before other machines load in.
• MP – Crash fixes relating to ALT+TAB at different times throughout the game
• MP – Hang fix when trying to connect to a full server multiple times
• MP – Deletion of soldiers now possible through the account pages in game
• MP – Removed screen flash during loading
• MP – Added support for colour blind players
• MP – Fixed crashes relating to faulty server banners
• MP – Servers closing during connection no longer cause the client to hang
• MP – Auto team swap reflects correctly in the scoreboard
• MP – Fixed scoreboards when switching teams before spawning
• MP – Rush scoreboards fixed
• MP – Veteran ranks no longer display as “12”
• MP – Isla Innocentes MCOM building fixed where knifing the fence would destroy the building
• MP – Logout/Login button correctly reflects the player status
• MP – Added minimum number of players needed to start a round (you can still start playing and take objectives but you won’t get any score until 4 or more players join the server)
• MP – Isla Inocentes welcome message on the loading screen now fits the text box area
• MP – Reduced the brightness in Russian vehicles
• MP – Medic gadgets now display correctly if the defib is not unlocked
• MP – Server filter options are remembered
• MP – Punkbuster filter now works as intended
• MP – Scroll bar no longer overlays the Join Server button in the friends list panel
• MP – CANCEL server refresh is implemented
• MP – Zooming in on a friendly using the SAIGA no longer causes the crosshair to disappear
• MP – The chat no longer displays the incorrect player name when appearing
• MP – FoV switches to the default value of 55 when entering vehicles to prevent graphical glitches caused by wider FoV settings. The custom FoV returns when exiting vehicles.
• MP – FoV no longer causes the UAV station to rotate
• MP – Fix to correctly display the unlock progression at the end of round
• MP – Chat functionality will no longer freeze after writing a partial message at the end of round
• MP – One account can no longer connect to the same server multiple times
• MP – Squad Death Match is correctly named during loading
• MP – Server browser no longer gets a bad FPS when filtering Conquest
• MP – Server info banners correctly clear between displays
• MP – Setting display settings which the system hardware can not handle no longer makes the game unusable
• MP – Correct camera collision for vehicles’ heavy machine gun
• MP – Game no longer crashes if the player sends a message in the loading screen
• MP – Trying to join a full server no longer causes the game to hang on Please Wait message
• MP – Most server filter options are remembered it doesn’t remember the setting in dropdowns
• MP – Kit/gadget loadout saved between sessions
• MP – Window on static guns is now transparent on DirectX 9 systems
• SP – Fixed crashes when patching and trying to resume a campaign (there is now a message that you need to re-play the latest mission from the beginning)
• SP – Fixed a crash after the “Upriver” mission end cinematic
• SP – Supply create at “Resupply at Flynns create” objective now supplies weapon ammo
• SP – Hang fix when reaching the objective “Destroy Enemy Zu23”
• SP – Fixed hang after “Storm Cockpit” objective
• SP – Changed melee attack raycast to be detailed
• SP – Game no longer crashes when transitioning between SP_03B to SP_04A when installed in Polish
• SP – Game no longer crashes when killed by the first two enemies in the trenches on SP_01 when installed in Italian
• SP – Updating to R7 will invalidate your single player save game. If you update you will need to play your last mission from the start. If you do not update you will not be able to play multiplayer.

Server R10 changelist

• Punkbuster is required ON for ranked servers
• Ranked servers cannot be started with a password
• Autobalance message goes to text-chat instead of in the middle of the screen
• Added weapon balance tweaks to a number of weapons – we are eagerly awaiting feedback!

We aren’t going to tell you what weapon balance tweaks we have done, we want your unbiased views on the changes before we detail what has changed.
Source Continue reading Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Update Released →

Today we’re shipping some significant changes to the item drop system.

• Previously, we rolled randomly at intervals to see if you got an item drop. Now we roll to determine when your next item drop will occur. So you’re guaranteed to find items at fairly regular intervals. The bulk of drop complaints we’ve received in the past have been from players having unlucky streaks, where they didn’t find any items for weeks. That won’t be possible now.
• We’ve significantly increased the rate at which item drops occur, compared to the previous average interval.
• There’s now a maximum amount of playtime per week in which you get item drops. Playing beyond that amount won’t find any more items. The amount varies, but if you play an hour or so a day you’re good. Some of your unused time will rollover to the following week, so if you’re an intermittent player you’ll also be fine.

What are the net effects of these changes? Here’s the quick summary:

• If you’re an idler, you’re going to find fewer items than you were prior to this change. Sorry. On the bright side, there’s less reason to idle, because it won’t earn more than players who are playing regularly.
• Everyone else will find items more frequently, and with greater regularity.

We’re still thinking about how to allow you to influence your drops. When we see discussions on the forums, people often ask why we don’t tie it to some in-game performance (like your scoreboard position, or number of kills, etc). Many players understand that if we did this, idle servers would simply change into servers running plugins that generate those in-game events frequently (as we saw in the Soldier & Demoman WAR!).

There’s another side of it that we care about just as much, which is the message it would send to all the players who don’t want to idle. Any in-game performance metric we chose would result in there being specific maps, classes, tactics, and so on that resulted in more drops. We really don’t want that to happen. When it’s simply playtime, you’re free to play the game however you like. If you love Payload, you can play Payload maps without worrying about whether you’re earning less drops than the guys playing Arena maps. Community mapmakers don’t have to worry about whether their maps earn item drops fast enough. Similarly, server operators can configure their servers however they like, without worrying about reducing the rate at which their players are earning drops. In short, while it’s far from perfect, not tying to in-game performance is a lot less poisonous to your minute-to-minute game experience.

Source Continue reading Thanks for standin still, wanker. →

After two months in beta and over twenty updates, the Steam Client UI Update is slated to release to all Steam users this coming Monday, April 26th.

We’d like to extend our thanks to all of you who’ve taken part in improving Steam by participating in the 2010 Steam UI Update beta. You’ve put the beta through its paces and provided great ideas and feedback.

The beta has been a huge success. The number of you who participated exceeded all our expectations, and so far you’ve created 25 thousand posts to the beta user forums. As a result of your participation, the Steam team has had the feedback required to make the new Steam client more reliable and useful than ever.

For those of you who’ve yet to join the beta, it’s not too late! By participating now, you’ll be updating your system to include our most recent developments. You’ll also minimize the amount of content required to download later, once the released version becomes available. And last but not least, you’ll be experiencing the future of Steam now, including dozens of new features, bug fixes and general improvements.

Regardless of whether you’ve chosen to opt into the beta, keep your eye out for the Steam client update on Monday, April 26th, when a brand new Steam is headed your way.
Source Continue reading Steam Client UI Update to Release on Monday →

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is now available via Steam. Join Winterbottom on his award winning debut Misadventures as he travels through space-time in over 80 unique puzzles in pursuit of the mysterious and elusive Chronoberry Pie.

Unlock all the Steam Achievements, compete with your friends on the Steam Leaderboards, and play your game from anywhere with your save games stored in the Steam Cloud.
Source Continue reading The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom Now Available →

Updates to Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West

• Changed how some network packets are handled to decrease position lag
• Switch team implemented. By writing /switch team or /st in chat you will be queued to switch team. When a slot is opened or a player on the opposing side also wants to switch teams the switch will be made
• Added in game poster of competition winner Trenk
• Fix preventing shuffling of teams when loading new map
• Stats accumulated in Coop/Practice and private no longer count to leaderboards

Source Continue reading Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West Update Released →

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction is now available for pre-purchase.

Also available is Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Deluxe Edition, including Infiltration Mode, Shadow Armor and 3 bonus weapons

Buy the Standard or Deluxe Edition before the release and get a copy of the original Splinter Cell to play right now or give to a friend if you already own it on Steam.

Splinter Cell Conviction releases April 27 in North, Central, and South America and April 30 everywhere else.
Source Continue reading Pre-Purchase Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Now, Get Original Splinter Cell Free →

With “The Passing” due out soon on the PC and Xbox 360, we figured we’d whet your appetite with a rundown of the new Achievements you’ll be able to earn later this week.

Let’s start with the straight-forward ones we’d be crazy not to include: Surviving the campaign, playing some Scavenge, using the new weapons, playing a Midnight Riders song, and smashing up some Survivors with a Charger.

Alright. Now onto the spoilery ones. Some of these might not make sense until you play The Passing–like “Cache Grab”, which involve foot lockers, a new addition to the Left 4 Dead 2 universe.

Okay. So we know one of the original Left 4 Dead Survivors is off shooting zombies in Heaven–but what are the other three up to? Covering your ass.

The “Grave Robber” achievement ties into another addition to the L4D2 universe, in the form of a new Uncommon Common: the Fallen Survivor.

And of course, we saved the best for last: the “Mutant Overlord” achievement, which you can only get by playing six Mutations.

Right about now you might be asking yourself, “What in the hell is a Mutation?” “Why do I have to play six of them?” “Are there more than six?” “Where’s that smell coming from?” All good questions. Look for most of the answers in our Wednesday blog post.

Source Continue reading Passing an Achievement →