Archived News:
The December 2012 Steam Hardware & Software Survey is online, offering an updated profile of the rigs being used by customers of Valve's online service. The interesting thing to note this time around is how 0.8% of the respondents are using Ubuntu in the first hardware survey since Valve added beta Linux support (thanks Ant via Slashdot). On a related note, NeoGAF has a translation of a German-language article saying that Valve engineer Ben Krasnow told conference attendees that Valve plans to "present" (according to the translation) a Linux based console system in 2013. Presuming this is accurate, it does not seem clear if this means they plan on releasing it or just demonstrating it. Thanks Joao.
The GeForce Website now offers new version 310.90 WHQL-certified drivers for NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. The new drivers include a security update as well as performance improvements for GTX 690 accelerators. Thanks Charles.
An article on Eurogamer.net called the "The deleted scenes of Deus Ex," examines Warren Spector's original design documents for Deus Ex, ION Storm's cyberpunk action/RPG. The look at various changes the project took from the original outline, leading lead writer Sheldon Pacotti to say "Warren once commented that in the beginning he envisioned the game as X-Files but he somehow ended up with James Bond." They also note the original working title of Deus Ex was Majestic Revelations, which might seem like a classic now had it stuck, but sounds pretty awful.
Valve offers the following list of the 10 bestselling games on Steam for the past week:
- Far Cry 3
- Torchlight II
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- THQ Collection
- Borderlands 2
- Max Payne 3
- Age of Empires III Complete
- Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition
- Arma II Combined Operations
- Civilization V: Game of the Year Edition
Well my daring selections in yesterday's NFL playoff games were as bad as they were bold... I would have jumped off the Vikings if I'd have known they were playing someone who makes Christian Ponder look like Peyton Manning, but since there are no rules for making picks here, I decided changing was against them. Here's hoping for a good day today to get me back to .500.
Distressed Debt Investing tweets about the efforts to settle the affairs of bankrupt THQ, a process that has been called into question by investors. The feed says that five strategic buyers are in due diligence and that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is one of the companies interested in the sale. The judge is reconvening on Monday after denying a Debtor In Possession motion and telling the involved parties to work out the issues presented during yesterday's proceedings. Thanks BeefJack.
The Steam Website now features the promised encore of the Steam 2012 Holiday Sale. They have relisted a bunch of game sales to run for the next 48 hours.
There is an unofficial explanation for the disappearance of James Bond games from Valve's Steam service on Neogamr. According to their "unnamed but reliable sources" Activision's license to publish James Bond games expired at the end of 2012. This is surprising considering 007 Legends was released with just a couple of months to go in the year, though a rush to beat the license deadline could explain the game's poor reception which lead to the closure of developer Eurocom. This is all still unconfirmed, as Activision has yet to comment on the situation.
The Firefly Universe Online Facebook Page has word that this MMOG based on the cult sci-fi series has resumed development with the blessings of Fox Entertainment. They say to expect a Kickstarter campaign to support the project. Thanks Massively.
Well, we're on take-two of our car situation after our mechanic replaced the switch that turns the dome light on and off when the driver-side door is opened and closed. He charged the battery and let it sit overnight and says it didn't lose any voltage, and it started fine today when we tried it, so maybe this was fixed that easily. It will be neat if it was, as it cost all of $65.00 (not counting a new battery) after we were concerned that we had developed one of those electrical gremlins that ends up requiring the car being replaced, which doesn't seem implausible for a ten-year-old car.
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