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Valve announced today that five game modifications built on top of Valve's Source engine are now available on Steam. They are Zombie Panic! Source, Insurgency, Age of Chivalry, D.I.P.R.I.P. Warm Up, and Synergy. They are free to those who own any Source-based game and will receive automatic updates via Steam.

To celebrate the launch of MODs on Steam and give gamers an easy entry into the world of Source MODs, Valve is offering Half-Life 2: Episode One for just $4.99.

"Valve has been supporting the MOD community since the company's inception, offering updates to the SDK, holding MOD Expos and being the first to bring a MOD to retail with Counter-Strike in November 2000," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "The debut of these MODs on Steam marks the beginning of a new level of support for the MOD community by putting the leading MODs at the finger tips of over 15 million targeted gamers."

Source: Steam

Nintendo announced today that there will be a new version of the DS; it's called the DSi. With so many "improvements" such as a larger screen, a web browser, a music player, internal data storage, two built-in cameras and an SD card slot, maybe that's why they are calling it the DSi.

The DSi will be 12% thinner compared to the DS and the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot will be removed. It will have a 3.25" screen which is slightly larger than the DS screen. Keep in mind that this is measured by one corner going diagonally to another corner.

On top of all these improvements, Nintendo will be opening the "DSi Shop" to sell content over Wi-Fi.

The DSi will be released on November 1 in Japan for the price of 18900 yen which is about $178, and will be available in both white and black colors. Because of strong US sales of the DS Lite, the DSi is not expected to be released in North America until mid-2009.

Source: Joystiq

Electronics Arts announced today that Zack Snyder, the movie director of 300, has signed a deal to make three original game properties for their company.

Under the agreement with Cruel & Unusual Films, EA will own the intellectual properties and the game franchises will be developed, published and distributed worldwide by EA. The relationship between Snyder and EA includes efforts to extend the game franchises into theatrical motion pictures. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"I think video games are cool because they offer an opportunity to tell a story in an entirely unique way," said Zack Snyder. "Being a long time fan of the games EA creates, I look forward to collaborating with them."

Frank Gibeau, President of EA Games Label said, "Zack Snyder has a fresh and bold creative style that resonates with our core audience. Zack is the perfect partner for joining us in creating powerful new interactive fiction."

We can only imagine what kind of games Zack Snyder will bring but something tells me that they will kick ass!

Source: Business Wire

Call of Duty: World at War will be released for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, and the Nintendo DS on November 11th. The first-person shooter was developed by Treyarch, who also developed Call of Duty 2: Big Red One and Call of Duty 3. It will bring the series back to World War II with four player online co-op! According to the Call of Duty site, there will be a Limited Collector's Edition for PC and the Xbox 360 on launch date.

The Limited Collector's Edition will include the following:

• Day 1 Edge: Dominate your rivals online and rank up faster with your instantly available FG 42 Machine Gun. The FG 42 is a high-level (45+) machine gun which you can have from day-one. Saw through your opponents from 50 yards with this fast firing machine gun.
• Double Experience: Take advantage of a week of double experience in multiplayer to accelerate your advancement. (Limited time offer. Exact date for week of double experience will be announced on CallOfDuty.com, register online to receive confirmation of date and time and other key information.)
• Colored Clan Tag: Identify your VIP-status in multiplayer with a uniquely colored clan tag.
• Stainless Steel Canteen: Authentic 8-ounce brushed stainless steel Call of Duty branded canteen.
• Metal Storage Tin: Featuring Call of Duty inspired artwork, this collectable metal storage tin provides enough space to store multiple games and their cases

The PC version of the Limited Collector's Edition will be $69.99, and the Xbox 360 version will be $79.99.

Source: IGN

A little memo at Blockbuster revealed that Sony will be dropping the price of the 40GB model to $360 and the bundle that includes an HDMI cable, Spiderman 3 on Blu-Ray, and Transformers: The Game to $400.

This is great news for those who want a Playstation 3 like myself but this model is not backwards compatible with Playstation 2 games.

Source: 1UP

It has been only one week since the official launch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and more than half a million players have registered to play Mythic's massively multiplayer role-playing game, according to publisher Electronic Arts.

"In just one week we have a half a million people playing WAR online, and the ranks of Orer and Destruction are growing at a recrd-breaking pace for a new MMORPG," said Mark Jacobs, co-founder of Mythic Entertainment.

This is no surprise to me as the WAR beta ticker was sitting at over 800,000 beta applicants in early-August.

Source: Massively