Love is in the Air has started up for Valentine's Day in the World of Warcraft, and there is a familiar-looking heart-adorned cube sitting outside of the major cities.
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Feb 5, 2008

Valve: Goldrush "within the month"- New TF2 map featuring new game mode creeps closer to release

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

CVG is reporting that TF2's new Goldrush map revealed by PC Gamer (UK) last month should be with us shortly.

"We're balancing the map now; look for it within the month", Valve has said.

The new map introduces a new gameplay mode - one team must escort a small mining cart through a series of Dustbowl-like map segments. The cart moves faster the more Blue players are near it, but stops entirely if even one Red player is in range. Blue have to escort the cart all the way to Red's headquarters within a certain time limit.
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Jan 31, 2008

"More Portal for Sure" - Valve + News on Gordon's Whereabouts

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

Eurogamer Said: Valve has said it will definitely be making more Portal, confirming plans to add significantly more than just "a bunch of new puzzles".

Speaking to Eurogamer, spokesperson Doug Lombardi said it was less a matter of if and more a matter of what and when.

"There'll be more Portal, for sure. But the details of that, to be honest, we're still working out," he said.

"The only smart thing we did for Portal was to hire those seven kids and give them the support they needed to make the game."

Unsurprisingly Valve is reluctant to be rushed by a release schedule. It's adopting the same policy for Half-Life 2 finale Episode Three.

"Gordon is our number one guy," said Lombardi. "In Episode One I think we left people with some big questions. After Episode Two people saw it was going somewhere.

"With Episode Three we want to live up to the promise of where we are taking things to; there's a lot of work being done to make sure we deliver on that promise."

He added, "Exact details on what's next for Gordon are a way off; probably months not weeks."
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Jan 22, 2008

Portal, BioShock Lead Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Portal, BioShock Lead Game Developers Choice Awards Nominees

Valve's Portal and 2K Boston/Australia's BioShock lead the nominees for the eighth annual Game Developers Choice Awards with five nominations each, including the coveted Game of the Year title, organizers have announced.

The Game of the Year category also includes Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4, which follows with four nominations and, with both games receiving two nominations each, Harmonix's Rock Band and Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy.
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Jan 18, 2008

Gordon Freeman: Strongest personality in gaming

360 News | The Orange Box

18th Jan, 2008 [Warning: Like our Portal article from December, this piece features some pretty heady discourse, and also benefits from a visit from Mr. Narrative Theory. If that stuff makes you run screaming, then feel free to run screaming. Also, if you haven't completed Half-Life 2, leave now. This contains some inhuman spoilers.] Half-Life 2 is widely and rightly regarded as a modern classic. In terms of both gameplay and artistry there have been few, if any, games in the FPS genre which ... » Read More

Jan 17, 2008

Custom Action Figures: Half-Life, Duke Nukem, MGS, Ninja Gaiden, Killzone 2

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Custom Action Figures: Half-Life, Duke Nukem, MGS, Ninja Gaiden, Killzone 2

Jin Saotome's two latest creations are action figures based on Half-Life's Gordon Freeman (from the Half-Life series) and the 8-bit Bionic Commando. He built these two using G.I. Joe Sigma Six figures, but the results look almost worthy of retail. Freeman and the Commando even come with their signature crowbar and grappling arm, respectively. They are now up for auction on eBay via the Gaming Today link below (news.filefront.com).

Jin Saotome's website features additional custom action figures from other video games: Solid Snake (from Metal Gear Solid), Ryu (from Ninja Gaiden), and Helghast Soldier (from Killzone 2). They are currently not for sale.

The pictures of the figures are attached below.
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Jan 16, 2008

Valve confirms Team Fortress 2 class changes

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Valve confirms Team Fortress 2 class changes

CVG is reporting Valve has revealed tweaks in the pipeline for Team Fortress 2 classes in the wake of news that the developer plans "a large scale modification" to the core of the game.

According to Valve's Robin Walker, the Pyro is set to receive an important boost and the developer's tinkering with the Solider too.

"We are indeed investigating Soldier changes, and one of the changes we're trying out is focused on making Soldiers a little more careful firing their rockets at point blank targets. As for the Pyro scoring, we have a minor tweak coming down the pipe. He's going to get a small amount of points for every enemy he ignites."

Earlier this week Valve promised that a "significant gameplay tweak" for the Medic class is on the way too, and that all the game's classes will eventually receive similar treatment.
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Jan 1, 2008

Kotaku's Frankenreview: Top 5 Games of the Year Edition

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Kotaku's Frankenreview: Top 5 Games of the Year Edition

Kotaku writes:

"2007 has been a crazy awesome year for gamers. While during years gone by we've all fallen prey to too much hype and not enough...what's that word again...fun, the most unexpected part of 2007 was that it lived up to our unreasonably high expectations.

So hit the jump for our Frankenreview, victory lap 2007 edition. We pulled reviewers' top rated games* from Game Rankings to relive some of our best moments from the year.

Note, on repeat games, we picked the higher ranking platform".
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Dec 31, 2007

The Orange Box and 19 Games Available for $75 on Steam

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - The Orange Box and 19 Games Available for $75 on Steam

As if The Orange Box weren't already the best value in gaming, those who have yet to make the $50 plunge can get an even better deal through Valve's Steam service. For a mere $75 gamers can purchase Orange Box and 19 additional titles.

If you already have The Orange Box then you can still get some more Half-Life goodness by downloading the game's main tune, "Still Alive" by Jonathan Coultan at Amazon.com. The entire album is discounted by about $2, available at Amazon for $7.99.
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Dec 29, 2007

Kotaku's 2007 Games of the Year and Overall Game of the Year

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Kotaku's 2007 Games of the Year and Overall Game of the Year

Kotaku's Brian Crecente writes:

"Our first-ever Game of the Year awards was a pretty straight forward deal. I asked all of the writers to submit a list of three games for each category and the three that showed up most in each category made it as a finalist. Once we had the list of finalists I asked each writer to go through and order the finalists and then tallied the vote. The one with the most points was named Game of the Year, the runner-up was named Not Quite Game of the Year. The game with the most votes for Worst Game of the Year received that dubious honor."

Super Mario Galaxy won Kotaku's Overall Game of the Year award. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune came as second, it won the Not Quite Game of the Year award. (Kotaku posted the overall results as a separate post, see the link at the Alternative Sources below for more details.)
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Dec 28, 2007

The winner of Destructoid Game of the Year 2007

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - The winner of Destructoid Game of the Year 2007

Picking the Destructoid Game of the Year was no easy task, as evidenced by the overwhelmingly varied community response to yesterday's list of nominees. It seemed like each one of the five finalists garnered an equal amount of support: "Pick Mass Effect!" "Super Mario Galaxy is easily the best!" "COD4 FTW!" "BioShock, hands down!" "No competition. The Orange Box!"

And the winner is...
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Dec 27, 2007

John Gaudiosi's Top 10 Games of 2007

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - John Gaudiosi's Top 10 Games of 2007

Dec. 26, 2007 - John Gaudiosi is a national journalist who has been covering the video game business for more than a decade. In addition to blogging for WRAL.com, he also writes about gaming for Wired Magazine, The Washington Post, Xbox.com and Yahoo! Games. Here are his picks for the best games of 2007:

Â¿ Mass Effect
Â¿ Halo 3
Â¿ BioShock
Â¿ Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Â¿ Unreal Tournament 3
Â¿ Rock Band
Â¿ The Orange Box
Â¿ Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat
Â¿ Super Mario Galaxy
Â¿ Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Notes: In addition to his credentials already listed above, John Gaudiosi is a senior editor for Variety's Video Business and regularly writes about videogames for Electronic Gaming Monthly, GameDaily, GamePro Magazine, Kotaku, MCV, Prima Games, Business 2.0 Magazine, CBS, Chicago Sun-Times, ESPN, Home Media Magazine, NBC, Reuters, and The Hollywood Reporter. He also works on video game programming for networks like The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, Starz Entertainment and VH1.
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Dec 24, 2007

Orange Box Soundtrack Can Stuff Someones Stocking

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Orange Box Soundtrack Can Stuff Someones Stocking

Valve have released, to their online store, an official Orange Box soundtrack, upon which you'll find all the hits you've grown to know and love from the year's orangest (and bestest) compendium. Like some of the haunting score to Episode 1, for example. An Episode 2. And Portal, with the catchy electronic score joined by two versions of "Still Alive". If you're less of a Half-Life fan and more of a Team Fortress kind of guy/gal, you're also covered, with its "troop-rallying anthems" also making their way onto the CD. The Orange Box Original Soundtrack is available now, and is selling for $9.95.
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Dec 23, 2007

Los Angeles Times: Best and Worst of the Year

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Los Angeles Times: Best and Worst of the Year

What makes a good video game? Strong visuals are important. Good controls are essential. A well-crafted concept helps too. These days, most games can boast at least two-thirds of that criteria.

So, then what makes a game great? Feeling. Emotion. Surprise. Interaction. Even addiction. It's a magical feeling when a game offers all these elements.

Here are the titles L.A. Times deemed the best experiences of 2007. Admittedly, they didn't play everything (because that would probably be impossible), but of the titles that did cross their paths, these are the ones that resonated most. Their favorites in order:

Best of the Year:
Â¿ BioShock
Â¿ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Â¿ Assassin's Creed
Â¿ Super Mario Galaxy
Â¿ The Orange Box

Honorable Mention:
Â¿ Halo 3
Â¿ Rock Band
Â¿ Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
Â¿ Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Â¿ Lost Planet

Worst of the Year:
Â¿ Lair

Dishonorable Mention:
Â¿ Fusion Frenzy 2
Â¿ 300: March to Glory
Â¿ Tenchu Z

[ By Pete Metzger, December 21, 2007 ]
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Dec 22, 2007

Cast Your Vote: TeamXbox Reader's Choice Awards 2007

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Cast Your Vote: TeamXbox Reader's Choice Awards 2007

Without a doubt, 2007 was one of the best years ever for blockbuster video-game releases. Be sure to check out TXB's picks for this year's best titles, but right now TXB wants to turn to you to get your opinion - what do you think were the best of the best in 2007? TXB has provided a simple-to-complete form for you to vote in these categories...

Â¿ Game of the Year
Â¿ FPS of the Year
Â¿ Action Game of the Year
Â¿ Multiplayer Game of the Year
Â¿ RPG of the Year
Â¿ Sports Game of the Year
Â¿ Racing Game of the Year
Â¿ Fighting Game of the Year
Â¿ XBLA Game of the Year
Â¿ Hardware/Peripheral of the Year
Â¿ Sleeper Hit of the Year
Â¿ Best Graphics of the Year
Â¿ Best Sound of the Year
Â¿ Best Visual Style of the Year
Â¿ Best Story of the Year
Â¿ Music/Rhythm/Party Game of the Year
Â¿ Developer of the Year

All you have to do is click your choices and hit the button to submit them. TXB will compile the results and pass them on to you shortly.
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Dec 20, 2007

Dear criminals...

360 News | The Orange Box

Dec 20, 2007 If you park on the streets of a major city like San Francisco, you know there's the risk that a starry-eyed young hooligan with the bold dream of stealing your stereo will smash in your window. GamesRadar US editor Tyler Wilde is well aware of this risk - his car has been broken into three times in the past year. What he didn't know is that not just his stereo is at risk. As an avid gamer and an angry citizen, he felt it was time to send a message to the window/ocarina smashing ... » Read More

Dec 19, 2007

Half-Life To Have Plenty Of Life After Episode 3

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Half-Life To Have Plenty Of Life After Episode 3

Kotaku reports:

"In a recent interview with StuffWeLike, Valve's Doug Lombardi confirmed that the wide world of Half-Life won't end after Half-Life 2: Episode 3. There's more on the way: plenty more.

Question: "Are there any current plans after Episode 3 to have a Half Life 3?"
Answer: "We haven't announced anything specific, but Half-Life won't end at Episode Three - hang on to your crowbars!"

"Half-Life 3 or Episode 4? That's fine with me, especially since the sequels haven't stopped Valve from putting out other incredible products with the help of Half-Life technology. If a tried and true franchise allows Valve to experiment with the mechanics you see in Portal or the artistic choices you see in Team Fortress 2, I say bring on the sell-out! I'll be waiting with my Mt. Dew in the ready."
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Dec 13, 2007

Half-Life 3 practically confirmed

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Half-Life 3 practically confirmed

With Half-Life 2: Episode Three planned to be the grand finale' of the Half-Life 2 story arc, you may be forgiven for wondering what's next in the parade of constant interruptions for the long suffering Gordon Freeman.
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Nov 30, 2007

The 10 best games of 2007 (The Chanticleer Online)

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - The 10 best games of 2007 (The Chanticleer Online)

The Chanticleer's Art & Entertainment editor Toni Merriss picks her ten best games of 2007.
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Nov 29, 2007

Orange Box PS3 may not be that bad, but reports still say worse than 360 version

360 News from N4G | The Orange Box

360 - The Orange Box - Orange Box PS3 may not be that bad, but reports still say worse than 360 version

To say that EA's port of Valve's Orange Box on PS3 suffered a bit from 1Up's damning preview is a serious understatement. Now, either EA has really taken 1Up's complaints to heart or the site was lumbered some very early preview code to toy with because fresh impressions are filtering through the interwebs painting a very different picture of the Orange Box's performance. Kotaku, IGN and GameSpy are three big names that have come out in support of the mega-bundle, stating that in final code, frame rate issues were noticeable but negligible and certainly not bad enough to make much of an impact on the gameplay.

If this proves to be the case in the final retail copy, and there's little reason to suspect it won't, then EA should get something short of a clap on the back, but a least a nod of acknowledgement that it has finally pulled its finger out and overcome its PS3 demons. However, one sentiment still remains Â¿ that the Xbox 360 version is superior Â¿ and that isn't going to please PS3's hardcore.
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