830°

The "new" source engine

Valve showed at Microsoft Gamefest what kind of special effects Left 4 Dead will use from the most recent source engine. Take a look at film effects and an optimized lighting system. PCGH has the screenshots.

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pcgameshardware.com
CViper5753d ago

what gives? None of that is impressive, or new for 2008.

mistertwoturbo5753d ago

Yeah the engine looks seriously outdated. But I've been watching videos of the gameplay and it looks like a lot of fun. It just reminds me of the counter-strike zombie mod, but as an actual game this time.

If the PS3 version runs smoothly, I might get that one. If not, then X360 version it is.

mikeslemonade5753d ago

I thought this was a joke, but wow this is really how the game looks. I like how when this game was exclusive there was way more hits not one day later it's multiplatform no one is interested in this game.

JsonHenry5752d ago

It is time for a new engine. This game looked out dated two years ago. The gameplay still looks fun. And the best part about being an "old" engine is that the consoles should be able to pull off at least some of the higher effects.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5752d ago
Bigrhyno5753d ago

The Source Engine is definitely starting to show its age, but as long as the game is fun I don't care.

FantasyStar5753d ago

I'd give it "within the year".

TVC155752d ago

loads of people still play counter-strike

as long as the gameplay is fun graphics don't matter

and i could care less if PS3 owners got Left 4 Dead, they still get the game and Valve can still focus on the PC and 360 versions.

also i haven't really been following the game extremely closely but i hope there is offline co-op, that'd be awesome

Harry1905753d ago

They seriously need to make a new engine. Do it Valve,just do it.

TheIneffableBob5753d ago (Edited 5753d ago )

They don't.
The reason their games are so popular is because they run on a wide variety of hardware. Hell, Team Fortress 2 runs PERFECTLY on my cousin's old GeForce 4 Ti, and with TF2's art style, the game still looks good on low.

But Valve probably are making a new engine, though it's probably only in the conceptual stages at the moment.
They've been asked about a new engine before and I believe their response was something like "Eventually, but not now."

solar5753d ago

Bob wins the internets!

i think the Source Engine is great. yeah it doesnt look the best but it still is good graphics. game play > graphics. Valve will make a new engine for HL:3. mark my words.

Ghoul5752d ago

valve is allready making th ehalflife3 engine for about 3 years now, and you can bet your ass off that it once again will dominate all those wannabee engine out there.

personaly i couldnt care less if l4d looks outdated (wich it doesnt) the game is beautyfull you get tons of enemys at a insane rate of speed on screen, with great textures and lighting.

Shroomy5753d ago

Valve should scrap Source after HL2:EP3, so if they are going to do a new Half Life, they will have a brand new graphics engine that makes Crysis look like a PS1 game! :P

We can only hope! lol

GVON5753d ago

I was expecting to be blown away by it but I'm not, but gameplay is king and it looks good from that standpoint.

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130°

Looking Back At 2008, An Unbelievably Incredible Year Of Video Game Releases

Huzaifa from eXputer: "2008 was home to the likes of Call of Duty: World at War, Dead Space, GTA 4, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, and many other hits, which is outright remarkable."

ChasterMies8d ago

Some of these low paid video game “news” writers weren’t born before 2007.

just_looken8d ago

Here here

Those that were around before 2000's i am sure are like me that think we entered a world of non readers or those that follow without question.

I can not wait to see fallout 3 a goty game even though it was about water with non content until you add the dlc/updates then you got the performance/crashing

CrimsonWing699d ago

I don’t think anything can compare to 2023

lucasnooker9d ago

1998 - the best year in gaming! Metal gear solid, crash bandicoot 3, medievil, half life, ocarina of time, thief, tenchu, resident evil 2, Spyro, tomb raider 3, oddworld abes exodus, banjo kazooie.

It was a different breed of a gaming era. You’ll never understand what it was like back then. The aura of gaming, it was different!

KyRo9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

I second this. Gaming was a lot more varied and fun than it is today. I'm 35 so getting on compared to some here but I got to see all the changes from NES up to now but I've never felt so disappointed in any generation than I have this current gen. I was expecting more from this generation rather than prettier versions of games that came before it. Game mechanics have become so refined that alot of games feel the same and has done for a while now.

Maybe it's time to have a break for a while. I love gaming but I don't feel I get much fun in the traditional sense out of it anymore.

CrimsonWing699d ago (Edited 9d ago )

Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Abe’s Exodus, and Ocarina of Time are the only things from that list that I liked.

Here’s the 2023 game releases that I personally liked… and big releases that I didn’t care for:

- Dead Space Remake
- Wo Long Dynatsy
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Diablo 4
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Hogwarts Legcay
- Street Fighter 6
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Like a Dragon: Ishin
- Octopath Traveler 2
- Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters
- Final Fanatsy XVI (actually ended up not liking this, but it was still a big deal release)
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Lies of P
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Starfield (Ended up hating this one, but big release)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (I’m an old-school Zelda fan, but didn’t really enjoy this game)
- Alan Wake 2

I mean, honestly I’ve never seen a year of major IP releases like that, ever.

Profchaos8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

Isn't it just a generational thing realistically.

I've been gaming since way back and I some of my favourite games go as far back as the late 80s for me each generation has a year or two of game changing releases one after another before an inevitable dry spell.

I kind of agree gaming had a different feel games hit different because we didn't have the internet nothing got spoiled and you really had to put in the effort to beat a puzzle which could set entire groups of people looking for a solution. But most importantly games were experimental and not as cookie cutter as today even basics like controls were not universal today r2 is shoot l2 is ads garunteed you can't deviate from that in a shooter back then it could of been square, R1 or R1 and circle nothing was standard.

But as time moves on a new generation picks up their controller they are going to be interested in different things that PS1 demo disc with the t Rex blew our primitive 16 bit brains back on launch but to kids today it's laughable.
The new gen of kids coming into to hobby seem to value different things to us there seems to be a huge focus on online play, streamers, gaming personalities, and social experiences, convience of digital downloads. To me I value none of that but that's ok like my parents not liking the band's I would listen to its just the natural cycle.

Gameseeker_Frampt8d ago

Just about every year in the 7th generation was great and something we most likely won't experience again.

2009 for example had Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2, Halo 3: ODST, Killzone 2, Borderlands, Bayonetta, and Demon's Souls to name a few.

just_looken8d ago

It still amazes me we got over 7 rockstar games ps2/ps3 but 3 for the ps3/ps4/ps5

Dragon age 1-3 and mass effect 1-3 in 7ish years what a generation.

320°

Most Offensive Video Games That Would Never Cut It Today

Times are changing, and these games would have never been made in today's climate.

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wealthofgeeks.com
thorstein46d ago (Edited 46d ago )

Every single time someone uses this phrase whether it's music, movies, books, comics, video games, etc it's always the same claim.

The ubiquitous "they" won't allow it to be made. And every decade these claims are made the claimant completely ignores all the "offensive" material that is published when the claim is made.

In ten years, you can write a new article about how you can't make games like Helldivers 2, Resident Evil VIII, Mortal Kombat I, Dragon's Dogma 2, Alan Wake 2 etc etc etc any more.

MrBaskerville45d ago

Yeah, people wouldn't be constantly outraged if there weren't games that people found enraging. The whole SBI discourse shit wouldn't be a thing if all games were inoffensive. A game like Starfield can make a guy froth at his mouth, so there will always be room for a list like this.

0hMyGandhi45d ago

Normally, I'd be inclined to agree with you, but there are massive caveats.
TV shows like Venture Bros, Ren and Stimpy, and Aqua Team wouldn't/couldn't be made today. Hell, Ren and Stimpy was a *children's* show, same thing with Rocko's Modern Life.

It's not for some arbitrary reason, either. It's branding and IP alignment. Companies are far more risk-averse than they were when I was kid in the 90's. Of course, you have companies coming out of the woodwork to hell spur on similar content, but remember: Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and some incredibly provocative material.

And for movies? it's pretty obvious. American Pie/Wedding Crashers/Eurotrip among many other "raunch coms" have fallen out of style, and are absolutely outside what the modern day film industry is willing to stand by.
Ace Ventura 1 and 2, Dumb and Dumber, Freddy Got Fingered, Rat Race, Harold and Kumar, and Van Wilder follow suit.

Remember: I am not explicitly talking about films put onto streamers. I am talking wide-releases in actual theaters. Same thing goes for games: Carmageddon, Duke Nukem, Manhunt, Six Days In Fallujah (with their original concept), Hatred, and so on and so forth. Of course, I'd be inclined to mention most tactical shooters like Rainbow Six and Joint Ops as well, due to cultural sensitivity regarding *who* you are shooting and why.

And not all of it is bad (obviously). Tastes change, and perspectives change to fit the demographic.
I should add that I'm a lefty, living in L.A. Working in film.

thorstein45d ago

The Boys, Invincible, Jojo Rabbit, Deadpool, Gen V, Last of Us, Banshee... There are plenty of media being made today that people will claim "can't be made today".

Profchaos45d ago

Yeah but if you consider manhunt which was basically a snuff film could you seriously make that game with high than PS2 era graphics.

thorstein45d ago

The Outlast Trials just came out.

But the storyline of Manhunt was that you were executed. But then lived. And if you didn't do as you were told, you'd die. And the people you killed were not innocents.

It was all filmed by a psychopath.

As we speak GTA VI is being finished up for a release. You get to play a Bonnie and Clyde type of protagonist who run up against the law.

Bodycam looks so real.

People are making those games. Articles like this will always exist no matter how incorrect they are, no matter how many times they blame "them" for whatever it is "they" do to prevent "those" games from being made.

Number1TailzFan45d ago

The UK is the biggest junk country pandering to that nonsense as well, with laws against free speech and expression to match. It got so bad even Rowan Atkinson made a video on free speech about it.

Now the UK raises the age rating on harmless films like Mary Poppins, it's just a load of pansy weak ass nonsense.

MrDead45d ago (Edited 45d ago )

The right wing Tories have been in power in the UK for the 14 years you know the ones that are "anti-woke", blame them for your perceptions.

Killer2020UK45d ago (Edited 45d ago )

Are these snowflakes in the room with us now?

This is more faux outrage designed to get hits. The consequences are unfortunately creating hysteria amongst those willing to buy into it and blame "them" or "the left" or "liberals" meanwhile the left are kicking off about genocide, actual real world abhorrent acts. Nobody is campaigning to censor this shit.

Huey_My_D_Long45d ago

Not too mention the fact that some of these game are controversial for you know, underage porn and encouraging rape.

So either the guy just came in to comment snowflakes without reading anything, or he is calling people snowflakes for having a problem with said titles. Crazy how much brain rot someone can have.

banger8846d ago

Dead Island: "The early PC version of the zombie game swapped the playable character Purna’s Gender Wars skill with a prototype name, which shouldn’t be mentioned directly. The skill name made fun of both Purna as a character and feminists."

"Feminist Whore" lmao

gold_drake46d ago

ill add one more to the list.
drakengard 1.

its ridiculous tho, especially since they'd still be able to find their place in alot of places in the world. except america of course ha. and maybe Australia.

ppl are so sensitive these days. ha. but it is what it is.

Barlos46d ago (Edited 46d ago )

They're not offensive.

And we need another Fat Princess. Fantastic little game!

Some people just have no sense of humour if this sort of thing offends them. They need to lighten up and stop taking themselves so seriously.

Deeeeznuuuts45d ago

Would love a new fat princess game 🤟

CantThinkOfAUsername45d ago

Games literally about sexual assault, mass genocide, bombing civilians, and school shooting. None of which is satirical.

isarai45d ago

Actually it's about fat princesses

Huey_My_D_Long45d ago (Edited 45d ago )

Its crazy that people are fixated on Fat princess when clearly the list is going over controversies, and not all of them are equal. Like way worse examples but pretend the entire list is like that.

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70°

Left 4 Dead Writer Explains The Drawbacks Of Releasing Games In Early Access

He wants to launch all his projects initially through close beta.