Week of September 17, 2006

We're finally ready to talk in more specific terms about the coming changes to Counter-Strike weapon prices.

Most of the weapons and equipment in Counter-Strike still have the same prices today as they did when the game was first released. We at Valve know we're not alone in thinking that some of the prices in the game have never been exactly what they should be. (Uh, night-vision?) But rather than tweaking the values ourselves, we thought we'd let you decide. Coming soon in Counter-Strike: Source is a new system that sets the prices of what you can buy based on, well, what people are buying. This means that each week all of the items in Counter-Strike will have different prices based on what people purchase. We've setup a webpage with more information on how it works, including what the prices will be when we turn this feature on.


There is a also big MOD release coming this Saturday, when the Eternal Silence team releases the first version of their game. We were lucky enough to have their team visit Valve HQ about a month ago and they let us play a pre-release version. The game centers around space combat between huge capital ships bristling with armor and weapons.


Lastly, earlier this week the Red Orchestra team released another significant update to their game, adding a new weapon among a number of other items.

Looks like Tony Hawk will have some competition from EA, as they've announced SKATE for next-gen consoles.

The closest thing to being on a skateboard, Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that SKATE will be released for the PlayStation®3 system and the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system in 2007. SKATE will deliver the feel of skating through innovative controls, authentic cameras and a fully reactive skateboarding city. The game features professional skaters such as Danny Way and PJ Ladd, as well as a reactive city and relevant in-game cameras that capture and deliver the most authentic skateboard videogame experience to date.

“Our game offers a skate mecca for both skaters and gamers in search of the definitive authentic skating video game experience,” said Scott Blackwood, executive producer, EA Black Box. “We’re focused on capturing the actual feeling of skating with the innovative control system, the physics driven animations, the intelligent cameras working together to really deliver the closest thing to being on a board.”

SKATE’s unique control scheme captures the true feel of skating versus the typical button mashing gameplay of past skating games. Featuring physics-driven animations, gamers will have a unique gaming experience every time they pick up the controller since no two tricks will ever be the same.

“Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs,”* the expansion pack to the best-selling “Age of Empires III,” has gone gold, introducing three playable Native American civilizations in a struggle for control of the Americas. The next installment of the “Age of Empires” franchise for Windows from Microsoft Game Studios and Ensemble Studios will hit store shelves on 20th October.

The new expansion pack will build off of the exciting real-time-strategy (RTS) gameplay of “Age of Empires III,” providing players with the ability to lead one of three proud Native American civilizations including the Iroquois Confederation, the Sioux Nation and the Aztec Empire. “Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs” will include enhanced gameplay features with the addition of the WarChief unit, Tribal Council and Fire Pit.

Players will also enjoy new ways to play and win with the introduction of new gameplay elements and content including new civilizations, a new gripping single player campaign, Home City enhancements and additional maps and units. Additional content will be added to all existing European civilizations along with extended gameplay elements with new gaming strategies such as Trade Monopoly and Revolution.

“Age of Empires III,” which launched in November 2005, quickly became the fastest selling title in the franchise’s history, placing gamers in the position of a European power struggling to explore, colonise and conquer North and South America, roughly during the time period of 1500 to 1850. The game has garnered numerous awards, including GameStar’s (Germany) gold award for “graphical grandeur” in Germany. It has sold more than one and a half million copies to date and is currently among the top selling games for Windows titles.

For images, videos and more information about “Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs,” please visit www.ageofempires3.com and www.agecommunity.com.

The official site for Resistance: Fall of Man is now online. This PlayStation 3 launch title is a first-person shooter from Insomniac, creators of the Ratchet and Clank series. The website currently contains a wealth of backstory in the form of a timeline, starting in April, 1898 and stopping in June, 1938. The timeline looks like to goes further but you are "restricted." Expect more timeline events to be added in the coming weeks.

Visit the site

It's been a while last our last round-up of game reviews. Today we have 11 new reviews covering seven different platforms. You'll also may notice a new scoring system for the game reviews. We are using the A-F grading scale you see in schools. We feel this will give you (the readers) a better idea of how good or bad a game really is.