The Week in Review

News is coming! Flee the city!

3 Won’t Be On The 3

That’s Half-Life 2: Episode 3 and PlayStation 3 respectively. Gabe Newell confirmed that Valve is working on the final episode in the Half-Life 2 saga, and not just wrestling leopards and trying to build a unicorn. Sadly this heartening news is tempered with sorrow, as Mr Newell made it quite clear that the game probably would not be appearing on the PS3.

Why does Valve hate the PS3 so much? Hit the link to find out! (link)

Judgement Day Edges Ever Closer

Ignore what the Terminator movies tell you, it won’t be Cyberdyne Systems that ushers in the rise of the machines; it’ll be Nintendo. AI programmer Robin Baumgarten probably had the best of intentions when he made a program capable of playing Mario on its own, but that’s how these things get started. Hit the link for video goodness.

Oh, and Baumgarten? You’ve doomed us all. Thanks a lot. (link)

Censors Spoil Things For Australians Again

Hail traveler! Come, rest your weary legs by my fire. Might I interest you in some brugleweed? What’s that, you’re Australian? Then I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave, your government doesn’t like you fraternizing with the likes of me. The OFLC is up to its old tricks again, making life more miserable for Australia’s native gamers and making the country look bad by banning RPG title Risen. Click the link for the full details.

I’ll give you a clue: See the ‘brugleweed’ above? Yeah, that. (link)

When Good Nerds Go Bad

We continue our theme of fictional robots causing trouble now, this time in the form of giant battlesuits for use in space. Yoshifumi Takabe burnt down his house in an effort to kill himself after his mother threw away his collection of Gundam models. Our resident Gundam expert John Funk estimated that his collection may have been worth a few thousand dollars, which totally justifies his actions in a not-really sort of way.

Mr. Takabe survived the blaze, and we wish him luck in his new, maximum security, home. (link)

Bored of Taurens? Be a Goblin instead!

Picture the scene, Algalon the Observer lies dead at my feet, I lift my epic axe above my head and roar a battle cry. Damned cool stuff, but do you know what would make it cooler? Being a werewolf! Rumors are circulating that suggest that the Worgen will be the new Alliance race in the next World of Warcraft expansion. The Horde, on the other hand, are supposed to be getting Goblins, which is less cool, but finally gives the faction a race to make short jokes about.

Are the rumors true? Find out when we report from BlizzCon! (link)