Celebrating 10 Years of Source Engine with 10 Source Games
It's hard to believe that Valve's Source engine is turning 10 years old this month. We still remember being amazed at the Half-Life 2 tech demo shown back in 2003 at E3 and how we marveled at the huge leap in graphics as the notorious G-man appeared looking extremely lifelike.
While the Source engine's focus was primarily made for first-person games, it hasn't stopped modders and developers from creating side-scrolling, RTS, top-down shooters, and puzzle games too. Over the years, Valve has improved and updated the engine for anyone wishing to use it. From the Source Filmmaker to better authoring tools, Source is a versatile engine that has allowed developers to create games on a wide variety of platforms.
So we decided to celebrate the engine's tenth anniversary by choosing what we think are the 10 best Source games out there and list them in chronological order. We have to admit, it was tough considering that there is a 10-year span to choose from. As a result, we chose only one game for each franchise that made it on our list.
Let us know what you think of our list and tell us what your favorite Source engine game is.
Well, it's official -- Amazon today introduced Fire, its first smartphone. Fire also happens to be the only smartphone with "Dynamic Perspective" and "Firefly," a couple of new technologies Amazon is excited about. Before we get to those, let's get some essentials out of the way, starting with price ($199 with a two service agreement, or $27 per month with AT&T Next) and availability (like it did with the original iPhone, AT&T inked a deal to be the exclusive carrier).
Getting back to Amazon's newfangled technologies, Dynamic Perspective uses a new sensor system to respond to the way you hold, view, and move Fire. This allows you to tilt, auto-scroll, swivel, and peek to navigate menus and access shortcuts with one hand. It also opens the door to a new level of immersion in games, as well as ties in with the Amazon Shopping app.
Firefly is Amazon's buzzword for being able to recognize things in the real world, such as web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR codes, movies, musics, and more, all with a simple press of the Firefly button.
"Fire Phone puts everything you love about Amazon in the palm of your hand—instant access to Amazon's vast content ecosystem and exclusive features like the Mayday button, ASAP, Second Screen, X-Ray, free unlimited photo storage, and more," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "The Firefly button lets you identify printed web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR and bar codes, artwork, and over 100 million items, including songs, movies, TV shows, and products—and take action in seconds. We invented a new sensor system called Dynamic Perspective that recognizes where a user's head is relative to the device—we use it to offer customers a more immersive experience, one-handed navigation, and gestures that actually work. And this is only the beginning—the most powerful inventions are the ones that empower others to unleash their creativity—that's why today we are launching the Dynamic Perspective SDK and the Firefly SDK—we can't wait to see how developers surprise us."
Moving on to the hardware, the Fire sports a 4.7-inch HD display with a 1280x720 resolution, 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU with Adreno 330 graphics, 2GB of RAM, 13MP rear-facing camera, 2.1MP front-facing camera, 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage, micro USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm headphone jack, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC support, GPS, and a few other odds and ends.
Fire comes with free cloud storage for all Amazon content, including photos taken with the handset, and one year of Amazon Prime membership. You can pre-order the Fire now; it will be available on July 25, 2014.
We love chips. All kinds of chips. They can be kettle cooked or baked, plain or sea salt with cracked pepper, or whatever. One of our favorite types of chips, however, isn't edible. It's Intel's Haswell-flavored chips. While we're not willing to eat one, we're more than happy to feed one to a new PC build. If you are too, then check out today's top deal for an Intel Core i5 4440 Haswell CPU for $180 with free shipping (normally $195 - use coupon code: [EMCPDWC25]).
"[Microsoft] should try and kill this beast!" - F-Secure on Windows XP
It's not cockroaches that would survive a nuclear war, but Windows XP, the legacy operating system that simply refuses to give up the ghost. Officially, Microsoft ended support for XP back in April, but companies still have the option of paying for continued security updates. Security firm F-Secure isn't real pleased with Microsoft's handling of XP or the fact that so many businesses and users are still running the OS.
F-Secure's chief security researcher Mikko Hypponen lashed out at Microsoft and Windows XP during a roundtable event at the company's labs in Finland.
"I can't wait for Windows XP to die. I'm glad Microsoft stopped shipping updates. I'm mad at Microsoft for shipping updates after end of support, it should try and kill this beast. But it's not dead yet," Hypponen said, according to The Inquirer.
Hyponnen is peaved that around 20 percent of the PC market still runs Windows XP. His issue is with the lack of security compared to newer operating systems.
"We should be getting rid of these old systems," Hyponnen said. "Why didn't [businesses] take up to this two years ago? It's surprising how slow governments are and also large companies everywhere. [It's] going to take a while to get rid of this headache and I can't wait."
Hyponnen also talked about Android, noting that F-Secure manages 100,000 malware samples every day, many of which target the mobile OS.
Asus chairman isn't sweating the impact of tablets on traditional PCs
Mobile devices like tablets and smartphones took a toll on traditional desktop and laptop PCs, but they were never going to replace them entirely. Tablet growth has slowed considerably, and with Microsoft recently ending support for Windows XP, many in the industry expect to see a rebound in traditional PC shipments. According to Asus chairman Jonney Shih, traditional PC shipments will rise significantly in the second half of this year.
Shih revealed his prediction at the company's 2014 shareholders meeting on Tuesday, Digitimes reports. The way Shih sees it, consumers are interested in tables for entertainment and PCs for work.
Asus isn't picking one side over the other. As demand for mobile and traditional PCs overlap, the company will launch new products for each sector, including new smartphone models, tablets, and PCs. The company will also continue to cater to the DIY and pre-built markets -- Asus is currently the largest supplier of branded motherboards with 10.4 million mobo shipments in the first quarter.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and for BlackBerry, that means opening up your ecosystem to run Android apps -- some of them, anyway. BlackBerry announced today that Amazon Appstore will be available with the launch of the BlackBerrry 10.3 operating system this fall. The deal will give BlackBerry users access to more than 240,000 Android apps, including popular titles like Netflix, Pinterest, and Minecraft.
"Making the Amazon Appstore available on BlackBerry 10 devices will help BlackBerry continue to meet two essential needs: greater app availability for our smartphone users and enhanced productivity solutions for enterprises," said BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen. "We've listened to our customers and have taken this important step to deliver on their needs, while executing on our strategy."
BlackBerry has tried various different strategies up to this point to try and regain relevance in the mobile space. However, consumers have continued to show a much stronger preference for Android and iOS. By tapping into Android, BlackBerry has a shot at reclaiming lost customers.
The other upside for BlackBerry is that this deal frees itself up to focus on enterprise applications.
If it's a mid-tower enclosure you're after, your options just grew by two. That's because Lian Li this week announced the release of its PC-B16 and PC-A61, both of which are mid-tower cases sporting brushed aluminum, modular 5.25-inch drive cages, and removable hard drive bays. Both also offer plenty of elbow room -- 59.7L for the PC-B16 and 57.5L for the PC-A61 -- with the former putting additional focus on keeping things quiet.
The PC-B16 goes about promoting silent operation by using sound absorbing foam on the side panels, top panel, and lockable front door. It also comes with three 120mm fans -- two in front, one in back, along with room for up to two 140mm or 120mm fans on top. Minus the sound absorbing cotton, the same is true of the PC-A61.
These cases can fit CPU coolers up to 170mm (6.7 inches) in height, power supplies up to 280mm (11 inches) in length, and graphics cards up to 420mm (16.5 inches). You'll also find 30mm (1.2 inches) of clearance behind the motherboard tray for cable management.
The PC-B16 and PC-A61 will be available this month in the U.S. Pricing will be $239 for the PC-B16B (black), $199 for the PC-A61A (silver) and PC-A61B (black), and $239 for the PC-A61WX (internal black w/ window).
The first round of closed beta testing for Civilization Online has wrapped up in Korea, and the folks at XLGAMES have put together a video showing off this online spin-off from the classic strategy series.
The nine-minute video shows the collaborative efforts to build up a town and the equally collaborative efforts by enemy forces to destroy it. Also there are Dalek tanks, hot air balloons, and large mosh pits of Roman citizens. See for yourself after the break!
Wondering what the folks developing Path of Exile are up to these days? A new dev blog from Grinding Gear Games details some major changes to the game as the Snapshotting mechanic is being removed.
Snapshotting allows players to lock in the benefits of a specific set of items, passives, or gems and quickly swap them to another configuration, giving the combined benefits from both sets. While not technically illegal in the game, the devs say that it has hindered game balance for too long and needed to be removed.
Check out the video after the cut to get a better idea of what Snapshotting is (was!), and be sure to read through the entire dev article for more information on how the game will be balanced moving forward.
Turbine wants you to know that it has added Supergirl to DC-based MOBA Infinite Crisis. Supergirl is a bruiser "who loves getting up close and personal," the company says via press release. Said release offers a bit of the character's backstory, but more crucial for our purposes is a three-minute gameplay video.
Diablo III has begun testing its first big update for Reaper of Souls, which will add an updated version of Diablo II's ladder system and more.
Patch 2.1.0 will also add "seasons" to the game. These are a new type of play that requires players to start a fresh character to level up. Why would someone want to do something so obviously crazy? Why, for the exclusive rewards and the chance to climb the leaderboards! There will also be season-only achievements called conquests that will be awarded to the first 1,000 players to get each one.
Once a season is over, the exclusive legendaries will be added to the rest of the game. Patch 2.1.0 will also impliment cesspool levels, combat balance changes, and greater rifts. The latter will have players racing against the clock to kill monsters and try to beat the end boss before time runs out.
This week's Choose My Adventure is all about crafting in WildStar as I'll give my impressions on the creative system that seems to be pleasing finicky MMO fans already. You voted last week for me to focus on Relic Hunting and Technologist as my tradeskills, and I've been having a blast. Get it, blast? Because that's how you collect... the... ahem. Anyway!
First of all, I want to thank you for voting on two compatible tradeskills. That makes things much easier. Both Relic Hunting and the Farming hobby contribute the proper materials for the Technologist trade. Since the additional hobbies are free and don't count toward the two-trade-at-a-time limit, I also played around with the Cooking hobby a bit, too.
A couple of new videos appeared on Pantheon's Facebook page last night. The clips "are not made to look spectacular, but rather to show functionality and to keep the community informed as to the measurable forward progress we are making," according to the accompanying text commentary.
The videos demonstrate working client/server code via an account creation and login sequence followed by a bit of in-game scenery and player interaction.
SOE and PSG originally joined forces in 2012 to the dismay of European gamers who opposed the forced transfer of existing player accounts and regional server restrictions that threatened to affect international guilds and sub-communities.
Although WildStar launched a mere week before E3 2014, that didn't mean the team didn't have exciting new things to talk about! In fact, Carbine President Jeremy Gaffney revealed the new content coming up at the end of the month. Fans, prepare yourself for the Strain!
If you think the moniker implies some hideous malady that results in freakish mutations, you're right on the money. From ferocious multi-fanged rowsdowers and giant gastrointestinal pustules to an emote that makes a purple alien mouth erupt from your chest, this new content created by the "intelligent virus" shows a whole new side of the planet Nexus. And I got a sneak peek of the new land, new dungeons, strain-infected gear, and other mutated goodies that await players in the Strain Ultradrop. As a bonus, we've even got the official trailer for you.
One of the problems with having bold opinions is that people can call you out on them when you change your mind over time. Sure, there are some things about us and what we think that remain constant, but growth and change are a part of our lives -- and our gaming opinions.
I used to hate the very idea of tablets, and now I find mine indispensable. I used to rail against real-money trading (RMT) in games but now am cautiously accepting depending on its implementation. I used to hate Elves, and now I hate Elves even more because they haven't been wiped out yet.
I'm here to say that it's OK if you've changed your mind about an MMO topic over time. Today, I'd like to hear what it is and why you shifted your position!
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Does anyone still remember Dungeon Runners? I do, at least. It was that quirky Diablo-style MMO from NCsoft that ran from 2007 to 2010, openly lampooning RPG and online gaming tropes while actually being pretty fun to play. I dipped in and out of it over the years, never being fully engrossed but appreciating its sense of humor -- and its soundtrack.
As Composer Tracy W. Bush put it in his interview with us a while back, "The music was a mish-mosh of straightforward Diablo-style dungeon crawly stuff in the exploration bits, but when it came to the boss fights, each of them was a specific sub genre of music. I did country and western, black metal, klezmer, an oompa loompa song, disco... I can't even remember them all. I had a blast."
I had a blast myself listening through the score, which lives on to this day, and have a selection of hand-picked tracks that I think nails the attitude that Dungeon Runners exuded.
With Firefall's official launch approaching, the devs are in a frenzy proclaiming the new features and systems that players will be seeing when that day arrives. In a new dev diary today, the team highlighted a personalized mission maker, called ARES.
ARES Jobs allow players to create and launch dynamically generated quests during downtime. Players can choose from several story and gameplay options, and the system will pull together a mission that can be completed solo in the game world. The devs promise that ARES jobs will keep mixing it up with objectives and locations to avoid any danger of the missions growing stale. There are reportedly "hundreds" of jobs, and if a player so desires, he or she could level up exclusively through ARES.
"ARES jobs also help to make the world feel more alive: in the current system, it is rare that you run into another player in the world by random chance," the devs wrote. "ARES missions take place in a number of predetermined locations, and dynamic events like tornados or crashed thumpers draw players to them in a predictable manner."
Sharpen your blades, for Swordsman has started closed beta and there's no going back.
Perfect World Entertainment announced today that the free-to-play martial arts MMO has begun closed beta testing in the West. The closed beta will take place only for a limited time, ending on June 27th, but for those who get into it, there will be opportunities to unlock items for the launched game.
The team is on top of known issues for the closed beta so far. Interested testers can register for a chance at a key or lurk on Swordsman's Twitter feed.
Are you looking to start playing Black Gold Online's open beta? The servers open up completely on June 20th, but veteran players will be able to access the character creator starting today at 5:00 p.m. EDT. That means that you can just jump right in on the 20th, and you can earn a few extra prizes along the way for starting early.
All players who make a character early will have access to a special gift pack to help jump-start their adventures in the game. They can also take part in a contest to create the most attractive character, the best likeness of a celebrity or other real individual, and the most hideously ugly character possible. Everyone who's not a veteran will have to wait until the 20th and won't be eligible for these special rewards; if you've been involved in the game's testing up until now, you'd best get in and start creating today.
At the DreamHack Hearthstone tournament, Radu Dima won 3-0 in the final round and was rewarded with a $10,000 check. However, during the second game Dima received a message on Battle.net revealing the details of his opponent's hand. Dima reported the message after the match, and the officials declared that the information would not have helped him and said that he could keep playing. But this prompted viewers to go back to look at earlier Battle.net messages that some are saying contain coded hints about opponents' cards.
The organizers of the tournament have yet to comment on the situation. Dima declared on Reddit this morning that he won fair and square.
MJ has returned from the magical AND LOUD land of E3 2014 to regale us with all sorts of exciting tales on this week's show! We've also got an MMO hitting triple-digit levels, an update to a galaxy far, far away, and more!
Get all of our opinions and analysis on the most important stories of the past week right here on Massively Speaking, the industry's leading MMO podcast. And if you have a comment, question, or topic for the podcasters, send an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!
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One of the best parts of the MMO-side of our E3 was getting a sneak preview of WildStar's upcoming first content patch: The Strain. Led on a walkthrough by Carbine's own Jeremy Gaffney, we toured the all new zone of Blighthaven, the new five man public dungeon of The Nursery, and got a look at some of the all snazzy looking new Strain-infected gear you'll be able to nab. Read on!
As part of Carbine's promise to release meaningful content on a monthly basis, the team is proud to introduce the first major WildStar update. Called "The Strain", the patch will feature a new zone, new solo content, new gear, housing items, costumes and mounts and some existing areas will be overhauled.
The Pantheon Rise of the Fallen YouTube page has been updated with a new video to show some of the progress the team has made developing the game recently. The plan is to put up a new video every couple of weeks to show fans how development is going.
The latest "Path to Launch" has been published on the Firefall site. This particular issue is the first in a series that will introduce players and fans to new core systems being implemented into the game. In it, the team describes how players will be able to access "ARES Jobs", aka personalized narrative content "on demand", when arriving in a new zone due to the somewhat sporadic nature of dynamic content and ARES missions.
New Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade Community Manager Katie Fleming is inviting Chapter Masters to post in the forum thread or email her with a guild name to reserve it prior to the game's release. You can grab the details on the Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade forum.
Snail Games has announced that players preparing to play in the Black Gold Online open beta scheduled to commence on Friday, June 20th can now head to the official site to begin the character creation process. Players will be able to set aside their character name and look and will receive a special bonus package of items to be delivered in game once the open beta begins.
Earlier this week I told everyone that one of my favorite things about E3 is discovering the little gems that are hovering just under my radar that I usually get to see on the last day of the convention. For the record this year my favorite such game was Pillars of Eternity. But as much as I love that little game nothing can compete with what I consider my personal game of show, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt.
Another game we took a look at during E3 was Xaviant's Lichdom, a FPS/RPG hybrid, that immediately struck us as a spiritual successor to the old-school games Heretic and Hexen. Developers have really created, what they refer to as a "titanium cannon" as opposed to the glass-cannon role that most games pigeon-hole mages into. The result is a character that feels extremely potent, wielding both offensive and defensive magics as he wades into the fray.
Those wishing to take Fearless Fantasy on their next vacation will have just a short while to wait as it has been announced that the "gesture-based" RPG is headed to mobile devices later this summer. Fearless Fantasy is currently in release for PC on the Steam games portal.
Star Citizen: Arena Commander has been out for a couple of weeks and the development team has been avidly keeping track of user comments and criticisms. Two of the most common issues tracked by the team are the flight model and the input controls. In a special "From the Chairman" blog, Chris Roberts takes time to discuss the design decisions made by the team, including how they affect Arena Commander and the larger game at release.
Celebrating 10 Years of Source Engine with 10 Source Games
At long last, Amazon has its own smartphone
"[Microsoft] should try and kill this beast!" - F-Secure on Windows XP
Asus chairman isn't sweating the impact of tablets on traditional PCs
Can Amazon fix BlackBerry's app problem?
A pair of brushed aluminum mid-tower cases
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's 
