Valves success with anti-piracy measures.

With the indefinit suspension of 20,000 accounts, it would appear that Valve is on top of any attempts to pirate Half-Life 2.

In a statement, sources within the company said that, “The method used was extremely easy for Valve to trace and confirm, and so there is no question that the accounts disabled were used to try and illegally obtain Half-Life 2…Valve did not put out any kind of fake key or fake wares or hack instructions to trap people. The hack came from the community as do they all.”

Read the full article here: http://www.totalvideogames.com/pages/articles/index.php?article_id=6798

World of Warcraft Pricing

The FAQ over at worldofwarcraft.com has been updated with a few new items. One of which is the pricing of WoW.

Will there be a monthly fee to play the game?
Yes. When you purchase World of Warcraft, you will get a one-month free trial subscription to the game. At the end of that month, you will have to choose from three subscription plans to continue playing the game: a month-to-month package at $14.99 per month, a three-month plan at $13.99 per month, or a six-month plan at $12.99 per month”

Go check out the rest of the FAQ: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/

ATI X850 information

ATI is about to announce it, but someone already has info on it…

Information on the ATI X850 is about to be given out to the public and The Inquirer has some great information already.

“BEFORE ATI briefs the press tomorrow under non disclosure agreement, and in Munich, wed like to share all we know about the R480, Radeon X850 series of cards.”

Check out their article: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19813

Pricing Info: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19816

Note: As stated in their article, the new cards are PCIe only. About to time start upgrading that motherboard people!

Half-Life 3?

Well, how bout that, the Swedes have let the cat out of the bag.

Information on Half-Life 3 has been leaked! But really, people should not be suprised. Really, who would have thought that Valve would continue a popular title? Did it work for Doom, Quake, etc…? Umm… Yeah, big time!

“Swedish mag Gamereactor has broken cover (and, it appears, its non-disclosure agreement) by claiming that Valve CEO Gabe Newell revealed that Half-Life 3 is in the planning stage at the Seattle developers.”

Read the full article here: http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/news/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=29117&subsectionid=1589

Halo 2 – Best ending ever! [not]

Wired News has a good article giving general information on the SP gameplay and a pretty good smack on the MP gameplay.

“The single-player campaign for Halo 2 is like an air horn on its last gasp: It starts out bold and brassy but ends in a sad little squeak. The online component of Halo 2 is like an exclusive restaurant: It takes a while to get in, and you dont have as much say in the menu as you might like, but the results are good enough that you dont care.”

Read the full article here: http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65732,00.html

When open source and music merge.

Many people know me as a HUGE Linux and open source nut. I am even fanatical at times due to the importance I see in where open source can take us as a whole.

Well, I received an email today that contained an article on RedHat’s website. This article is, in my opinion, one of the best articles to speak on open source and music.

Read it! It is worth it.

“The irony of popular music is that many of the great songs are about challenging the status quo. About sticking it to The Man and annoying the hell out of your parents. Yet much of the mainstream music we hear today is homogenized and shamelessly formulaic.”

Full article: http://www.redhat.com/magazine/001nov04/features/music/

Men of Valor Review

As you know, we are big fans of Battlefield. Not only are we fans, but so are many other gamers. Because of this, Battlefield has sold incredibly well. When a game does this well, you will see a lot of other game companies releasing similiar products. This is not a bad thing in itself. You just have to look a little harder for the diamond in the rough.

Is Men of Valor one of those games? Find out in this review of Men of Valor written by one of our own members, Henley.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Box Set

Rockstar games has released the music CD list for the 8 disc box set. It is a great mix of all types of music. I was really impressed by the Rock CD list.

CD8 – Radio X
1. Radio X Intro
2. Soundgarden – Rusty Cage
3. Helmet – Unsung
4. Faith No More – Midlife Crisis
5. Stone Temple Pilots – Plush
6. Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
7. Youre On Radio X
8. Living Colour – Cult Of Personality
9. Danzig – Mother
10. Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus
11. Janes Addiction – Been Caught Stealing
12. L7 – Pretend Were Dead
13. That Was Radio X
14. My Five Uncles
15. Exsorbeo Handheld Gaming System

If you want to see the full Press Release, Click Read More…. Continue reading Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Box Set