2011 VGA Picks

The Spike Video Game Awards will air tomorrow on Spike TV, and while they may not be as prestigious as the Oscars, they do hold a certain weight to the game industry. Last year I wrote up my picks for the awards, and here are my picks for 2011. This year was an amazing year for games, especially in the latter half. I’m excited to see what 2012 holds in addition to the great titles releasing in the early part of next year.

Below is a list of nomination for each category. I will put my pick in bold with a small description of why I think so below it, along with any omissions I think should have been included. These aren’t predictions of who I think will win, but whom I would vote to win.

Steam passwords and credit card information compromised

The hack occurred as a result of an attack on the Steam forums this past Sunday, resulting in unauthorized access of user names, passwords, game purchase history, email and billing addresses, and encrypted credit card information.

In a message sent out this afternoon, Vavle’s co-founder Gabe Newell addressed the status of the attack, and that he believes no encrypted information was successfully accessed.

“Dear Steam Users and Steam Forum Users,

Our Steam forums were defaced on the evening of Sunday, November 6. We began investigating and found that the intrusion goes beyond the Steam forums.

We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums. This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating.

We don't have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely.

While we only know of a few forum accounts that have been compromised, all forum users will be required to change their passwords the next time they login. If you have used your Steam forum password on other accounts you should change those passwords as well.

We do not know of any compromised Steam accounts, so we are not planning to force a change of Steam account passwords (which are separate from forum passwords). However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to change that as well, especially if it is the same as your Steam forum account password.

We will reopen the forums as soon as we can.

I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Gabe.”

As with any compromised information, it’s best to be alert and responsive. Changing your Steam password, as well as your Steam forum password, and watching your credit card statements for any usual activity is strongly advised. You can change your Steam password in the Settings option in the Steam menu within the actual client.

Gabe Newell speaks up about EA games on Steam

In June, Electronic Arts pulled Crysis 2 from Steam, followed by Alice: Madnress Returns, citing new regulations regarding DLC as the reason. Alice eventually made it back, but Crysis 2 remains absent. Dragon Age 2 disappeared last month as well, just as its newest DLC, Legacy, arrived. Electronic Arts has been pretty vocal over the ongoing on-then-off-then-on-again presence of their games on Steam, but Valve has been quiet on the issue. In an interview with Develop, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell spoke about the cause and how it can be resolved.

“I don’t think Valve can pick just one thing and think the issue would go away if we fixed that,” he said, “We have to show EA it’s a smart decision to have EA games on Steam, and we’re going to try to show them that.”

Newell noted that companies have to earn the right to install content on their customers' PCs on a regular basis, and Steam isn’t any different. “We have to prove we are creating value on an ongoing basis, whether it’s to EA or Ubisoft or whoever. We really want to show there’s a lot of value having EA titles on Steam. We want EA’s games on Steam and we have to show them that’s a smart thing to do.”

He added that Steam is continuing to improve and that those improvements will show companies like Electronic Arts that Steam is a platform where they can grow revenue, “I think at the end of the day we’re going to prove to Electronic Arts they have happier customers, a higher quality service, and will make more money if they have their titles on Steam. It’s our duty to demonstrate that to them. We don’t have a natural right to publish their games.”

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive a go for 2012

Nearly seven years after the release of Counter-Strike: Source, Valve is once again returning to one of the most popular online action games in the world. In a press release, Valve announced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a downloadable game for the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Aracde, and Steam.

Being slated for release in early 2012, the game will contain new maps, characters, and weapons and updated versions of classic Counter-Strike maps like de_dust. New gameplay modes are also being introduced along with matchmaking, leaderboards, and other features found in modern FPS games.

ESEA News has a hand-on write up about Counter-Srike: Global Offensive where they discuss some of the new features. “While old guns are being tweaked and re-evaluated, a few new weapons were added, including a new heavy machine gun rifle, new pistols, and a new shotgun, but I think the biggest addition was with the equipment. They added molotov cocktails, an expensive $850 item, which can be used to slow down opponents and re-route opponents through AOE damage.”

Being coined CS: GO, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be co-developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment, who developed Defense Grid and helped with Counter-Strike: Source. Rather than simply build on the current version of Counter-Strike: Source, the game is being built on an updated version of Valve’s Source Engine.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be playable at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle and at Eurogamer Expo in London.

Where Does Valve Go From Here?

Valve's Portal 2 is already being mentioned as a contender for Game of the Year, but Valve is moving on to its next project, DOTA 2. A High School student from Washington recently had the opportunity to ask Valve co-founder Gabe Newell a few questions about Valve's future and Newell's experience as a game developer. The student contacted Newell by email asking for an interview for his school’s student-run radio station. Newell covers Valve’s business model in regards to microtransactions, the evolution of the Source engine, the recent rumor that Valve is done with single-player games, and the inevitable meeting of Gordan Freeman and Chell. You can listen to the full interview above.

Valve is Giving Away Portal 2 DLC this Summer

When downloadable content first began to become prevalent, it was called paid downloadable content. However, the ratio of paid versus free content was so lopsided that the P in the naming scheme was dropped to just DLC.

Valve, in their pattern to go against the grain, is releasing extra content for Portal 2 for free. The downloadable update will be simply titled, Portal 2 DLC #1. Details so far include new test chambers, leaderboards, a challenge mode for single and multi-player modes and more.

Microsoft has been resistant to allow Valve to distribute free content for the Xbox 360 (such is the case of no console updates for Team Fortress 2 after the release of The Orange Box). Normally Valve releases their downloadable content for free for the PC, but Portal 2 DLC #1 will be free for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC this summer, for science.

Portal Guns Make Excellent Valentine's Day Gifts

Portal 2 is now available for pre-order and Valve created a video to let everyone celebrating Valentine's Day know know. While chocolates, flowers, and diamonds may be tranditional gifts, portal guns are the top choice this year. Watch the video below and be sure to give someone special the gift of portals. Portal 2 is now available for pre-order and will hit shelves on April 18 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.