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Valve moderators comment on Half Life 3 concept art [1]

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 02:47 AM PDT

It looks like the first major evidence on Half Life 3 or Half Life 2: Episode 3 just got very real. A large quantity of concept images have been revealed for the upcoming game and some new evidence seems to confirm that the images are infact Valveâ€™s own designs.

If you have already seen the images, youâ€™ll know that there is a lot of debate going on right now as to whether the images, although they look very authentic, are actually just elaborate photoshops. When we first saw them ourselves, we too had doubts given the length that some crazed fans would go to.

However, weâ€™ve spotted over on the Steam boards that a few Valve moderators simply canâ€™t hide their excitement on the concept images, with two specifically confirming that the images are real. The images, featuring Alyx wearing Eliâ€™s jacket can be seen in their entirety over at the ValveTime Facebook page [2] â€" so no signs of any Valve takedown yet.

After the images were revealed, Valve moderator â€˜Smashâ€™ posted in this thread [3] that â€˜this is official artâ€™ and that he is â€˜shocked that this day has come.â€™ When asked to prove why he thinks itâ€™s official art, he then went on to say because he knows the source who leaked the concept art, but isnâ€™t willing to disclose due to â€˜exclusivity reasonsâ€™.

Later on, another Valve moderator by the name of â€˜Sierra Oscarâ€™ decided to chime in on the same thread, again confirming that the images are real and pondered whether Valve will now officially come out and comment on the images. Just to point out to you, if the images are real, remember that they were designed back in 2008 and may not be an accurate look at how Half Life 3 or HL2: Episode 3 looks at the moment in its current state.

After a drought in HL3 rumors though â€" this is exciting isnâ€™t it folks? Letâ€™s hope Valve do decide to comment on them. Take a look at the full gallery and give us your thoughts on them.

More About: Half Life 3, Valve [4] [5]

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No The Last of Us brick throwing co-op with Ellie [7]

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:20 AM PDT

Since the brilliant gameplay demo [8] for The Last of Us at E3 2012, we havenâ€™t heard any new details on the game since. However, game director Neil Druckmann has spoke in a recent interview, confirming two major developments with regards to multiplayer and co-op.

Considering that the multiplayer portion inside Naughty Dogâ€™s last game, Uncharted 3 has proved to be a hit with fans, Druckmann has confirmed the expected in saying that there will definitely be a multiplayer mode for The Last of Us.

While this shouldnâ€™t really be a surprise to you, the following details might. He also revealed [9] to Gaming Examiner that the main campaign mode wonâ€™t feature a two-player co-op mode, so you wonâ€™t be able to take control of Ellie as the other player controls Joel.

It also means that most of her actions in the game will be â€˜scriptedâ€™, the word that has been flung around a lot on message boards, but donâ€™t forget that it doesnâ€™t rule out the possibility of co-op being included in a different part of the game. Naughty Dog may have a co-op mode in the pipeline as an alternative to multiplayer, but for the time being they are keeping Ellie AI-controlled only.

It would have been nice to â€˜launch those bricksâ€™ at the opponents ourselves, but it appears that this was just a slick move set up by Naughty Dog at the specific part of that level shown at E3. Given the amazing detail that Naughty Dog has gone to though in making Ellie a crucial part of your team, we say that it isnâ€™t really an issue that you canâ€™t control her anyway.

Joel is the main man in the game but as long as Naughty Dog shows more fine detail like those brick throwing elements, then we donâ€™t really need co-op. As for multiplayer, expect a similar format to Uncharted 3 we imagine, but with more emphasis placed on melee combat and conserving those bullets.

What are your thoughts on this? Are you disappointed about a lack of campaign co-op, or is this a non-issue for you?

More About: naughty dog, The Last of Us [10] [11]

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Verizon iPhone 5 might not keep top spot [13]

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:04 AM PDT

With Apple facing growing competition and phones like the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx catching the iPhone 4S top spot at Version, it seems that the iPhone 5 will have a tough time doing the same job the 4S has done. The 2012 iPhone is likely to include much better features than the 4S model, and will even be a much bigger upgrade, although considering the following competitor phones are gaining it seems that future upgrades to Droid Razr Maxx and Galaxy Nexus could attract a lot of existing users and new buyers as well.

In some circumstances analysts release conflicting data and it seems this is the case with who has the top spot at Verizon right now, which could see the Droid Razr Maxx as the best selling Verizon phone if this article [14] reporting findings from Anil Doradla and William Blair is to be believed. They do point out that the iPhone is the best selling phone in the US, but state that it is under increased pressure each month.

This is especially the case with Verizon Wireless and the image below shows â€œmonth-over-monthâ€ sales for the top sellers, which includes Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. May 2012 shows the iPhone 4S is top for all networks apart from T-Mobile, which in this case we see the HTC One S taking the top spot. Runner ups across networks include the Nokia Lumia 900, Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, the Galaxy Nexus, and some other phones seen below.

In your opinion: What is the best phone currently on sale in 2012? The Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Nexus are favorites among some of our readers, although feel free to share your thoughts on the best phone right now. You can read some more insight into the iPhone 4S battle at Verizon in this article [15] , and how an NFC iPhone 5 will be commercial success for Apple here [16] .

Do you think the iPhone 5 will be under more pressure than the 4S is right now, in terms of good competitor phones? While the 4S enjoys major success in the US could the iPhone 5 do the same?

More About: apple, apple iphone, Verizon [17] [18] [19]

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Black Ops 2 Nuketown 2025 map will drive sales [21]

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 11:50 PM PDT

We have some really exciting news for Black Ops 2 fans now. It has seemingly been confirmed that the popular Nuketown map will be making a return in Black Ops 2. It was arguably the most popular map in Black Ops multiplayer and weâ€™re hearing that it is going to be given a futuristic makeover.

Treyarch or Activision have yet to announce this officially of course, but details on the famous map have popped up via an Irish retailer, as noted [22] by IGN. Nuketown has been re-imagined for the future and will now be known as Nuketown 2025 for Black Ops 2. To get your hands on it, you will need to pre-order the Limited Edition version of the game and it will be a free goodie included with this version and will be available at launch on November 13.

Thereâ€™s no word on how much the Limited Edition version of Black Ops 2 is going to cost though and what other extras it includes aside from the standard version. Thereâ€™s no doubt that COD fans are going to jump all over this in a second though â€" who didnâ€™t enjoy a bit of Nuketown carnage from the first game? That map may have caused me to end up hating the RCXD killstreak, but it was also the perfect map for Gun Game in my opinion.

Given that the map is included with the Limited Edition, does that mean that it wonâ€™t be subjected to any sort of DLC time-exclusive contracts on the Xbox 360? Hopefully it means that if PC and PS3 buy the Limited Edition version of Black Ops 2, they can enjoy Nuketown 2025 on day one as well like Xbox 360 owners.

For now, give us your best memories of Nuketown on Black Ops â€" is it your favorite COD map ever? Activision are going to strike gold with these Limited Edition pre-orders we feel. Guaranteed purchase for you or not?

More About: Black Ops 2, Treyarch [23] [24]

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iPad 3 vs. Surface is a Microsoft problem [26]

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 11:35 PM PDT

When it comes to the eventual iPad 3 vs. Surface tablet battle it seems a number of analysts believe Microsoft will struggle to compete, and Deutsche Bankâ€™s Chris Whitmore feels that Microsoft wont compete directly with Apple, but they could slow down the iPads growth in enterprise thanks to Surface tablets being backwards compatible with Windows software like Office.

The image below shows the retail prices, expected for Microsoft Surface tablets, and also estimates for the cost of manufacturing the 32GB iPad with WiFi, the 32GB Surface running Windows RT, and Pro versions running the full Windows 8 software. The data shows how hard it will be for Microsoft to price the Surface tablets competitively, which is made harder thanks to the higher end models of iPad likely to include better battery life, more third-party apps and also a form factor that is much thinner.

You can read the full statements from Whitmore in this article [27] , which includes more analysis of the above figures and predictions for Appleâ€™s iPad to keep 60-65% of the tablet market through 2014. The bottom-line is that Microsoft coming late to a party that Apple currently rule will mean itâ€™s an uphill battle for Microsoft, and looking at the expected Surface price it seems theyâ€™re not trying to undercut iPads on cost either.

Do you think Microsoft should sell the Surface tablets cheaper than iPads? You can read about the lack of 4G/3G in the new Surface tablets in this earlier [28] article.

More About: apple, Apple iPad, microsoft, Microsoft Surface [29] [30] [31] [32]

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Skyrim Fort Dawnguard location via cave [34]

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 08:58 AM PDT

We jumped straight into the Skyrim DLC yesterday and featured an article that gave newbies a quick guide for starting [35] the Dawnguard expansion, although it seems that some players are still having problems getting to the Fort Dawnguard location. If you are above level 10 then any guard will start the quest for talking to Dawnguardâ€™s leader, but finding the location is not straightforward thanks to a map marker throwing you off course.

To be completely honest we also got confused when working out how to start Dawnguard, or more to the point finding a way to Fort Dawnguard. It is simple to find the Fort on the map but when you head towards that location you meet a dead end, and a message that states, â€œyou cannot go that wayâ€œ. If you then decide to set the marker on the map for the first quest it sends you to a place up a hill or small mountain, and we found nothing there so went back in the direction of Fort Dawnguard.

The answer is pretty simple â€" ignore the map marker from the quest and head towards the Fort Dawnguard location, but when you are on the road nearing the location keep an eye out for a cave, which is how you enter the Fort area. Bethesda has caused a few people to get lost thanks to the incorrect marker, but we wouldnâ€™t want things to be simple in Skyrim would we?

To make finding the cave even easier we have included a video below this article, so take a look at that and leave a comment if you found starting Dawnguard a little confusing. The image above is a screenshot we took after leaving the cave and heading up the hill towards the Fort, but the video below also shows this and several minutes of gameplay.

More About: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [36]

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