This interview with Valve’s Doug Lombardi offers him a chance to explain what’s going on, and also to address the possibility of cross-game play.

I played Left 4 Dead 2 at E3, and while it was certainly fun, it was far from the level of improvement we’ve come to expect from a Valve sequel. The improvements are there, but 20 new weapons? What? The guns I used were new models for the old weapons. And the melee weapons, while fun, are limited in use because they don’t allow for headshots (that I know of), a critical trash-talking point. But this isn’t the place for that.

Lombardi says of cross-platform play:

That’s something that we’re trying to work out right now, the details of it. So nothing specific to say today, but we understand that it’s a very valid thing to be working on and looking at.

Not exactly forthcoming, but at least he didn’t say “No, we made a game and we’re stickin’ to it.” I’m not sure how they could enable cross-platform play without making a purchase of one or the other pointless, but I guess we’ll find out soon.

It takes a big man to admit he’s wrong, and Valve is… well, getting there. This is really their first mistake if you think about it, so it may take a bit for them to set it right.

I’ll let the E3 boys to their business on this but I thought you might like to see the new Left 4 Dead trailer. It involves zombies and killing.

I understand this is the norm in Japanese games and shows; major brand names are changed very slightly (Toyota becomes Toyoda) and they put it right in there.

I tried to get a better close-up, but all three sets of pills I came by got jacked by my AI teammates. Are you kidding me? Why weren’t they watching my back?

[via Reddit]

Oh man, how awesome is this? I’ll always be a mouse man for FPS games, but since L4D is such a shared experience, it makes sense to make it as physically involving as possible. This resourceful gamer has hacked a Wiimote input program for XP to pass the sensor data to Left 4 Dead as joystick data. So you can play co-op with a friend right there, screaming and crying as you leave him out there with the horde. You can adjust the sensitivity, shake the controllers for different effects, and I’m sure you could add a few lines in there to config or add functionality in whatever form if you’re code-savvy.

The instructions and code are over at they guy’s blog. He’s also made it work in AudioSurf, which looks fun but a little ridiculous.

Heads up, gamers! Amazon’s Gold Box thingy is all about video games today. That means an additional percentage off Amazon’s already low prices. (And I mean that: Fallout 3 collector’s edition is nearly $20 less there than Newegg, for example.)

There’s several deals today, all spread two hours apart from 6am to 6pm PST, with little clues as to what the deals actually are. Right now there’s Littlest Pet Shop: Garden, which is rubbish.

In fact, the best deal will probably happen at 4pm PST: An alternative to No Child Left Behind. Could that be Left 4 Dead?

I don’t know, keep your eyes peeled if you’re looking to score a few games on the cheap.

via NeoGAF

For the uninitiated, Left 4 Dead is a co-operative shooter “set in a modern day survival-horror universe” from Valve, creators of Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and many, many other wonderful games.

Left 4 Dead [Amazon.com]

Hopefully I’ll run into some of you guys, my name in game is >> so say hi if you see me.

This weekend, you need to take control of your destiny. Tell your pal to come over and play some split-screen Left 4 Dead on your PC — it’ll look better and play better than the 360 version (I maintain this!). That way you can share a six-pack and throw down on some zombies at the same time — when was the last time you did that?
[via Reddit]

“I don’t know what the date is for release on that, though. I think it’s going to contain the first part of one of the [game's four] campaigns. That’s a decision that [Valve marketing director] Doug Lombardi is making.”

Well, if you were at PAX then you know how long the line was to play Left 4 Dead. It was more or less the same as what I played at E3 so I didn’t want to delay someone else’s good time by getting in line, but people were having a blast. I’d say it was one of the longest lines in the place, up there with with Gears 2, Fallout 3, and Starcraft 2.

I don’t think you’ll be getting the “real” Left 4 Dead in the 360 version, but at least you’re not getting a hack job.

While Valve and EA have never divulged an actual launch date other than “November 2008″ for L4D, Gabe Newell made it known on video at GC that the game would launch on the 10th anniversary of Half-Life.

“Left 4 Dead is going to be released on the tenth anniversary of Half-Life, our first game, so that will be on November 20th, the third week in November.”

We’re currently confirming this with EA and Valve.

As a side note, I’m stoked to be getting my Orange Box in the next couple days. I know I’m a year behind, but I don’t care. I’m looking forward to Portal the most.

August 12, 2008 – Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced a series of live demonstrations of Left 4 Dead at upcoming industry events the world over.

Left 4 Dead is the new survival co-op action game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games.

The PC version of the game will be playable by the press and public at a series of upcoming events including Leipzig Games Convention, (Germany), Festival du Jeu Video (France), and PC Gamer Showdown (UK). The worldwide debut of the Xbox 360 version will be at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA. Members of the development team will be on hand at each event to provide information and give away some Left 4 Dead memorabilia.

“The shared experience of Left 4 Dead is unlike that of any other action game,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “That’s what we’ve experienced playing the game, and from showing the game to the press and our partners. It sounds cliché, but in many ways you have to play this one to truly appreciate what we’re attempting. So, to give gamers a chance to sample this new type of experience first hand, we’re taking Left 4 Dead on the road.”

Left 4 Dead is due for release on the PC and Xbox 360 this November, and earned numerous awards at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, CA, including 1up.com, Gamespot.com and Maximum PC’s Best PC Game, as well as Best Multiplayer Game from Kotaku, IGN, G4TV, the official E3 Judges, and more.

For more information, please visit www.l4d.com

Project Origin was pretty impressive. What you’re looking at is pretty much F.E.A.R. evolved, and in a more open space. The developers said there was corridor fatigue from the first game so they moved things out onto the streets. Looked pretty scary. Graphics were good, lots of good post effects. And as I was reminded during the demo, these are the guys who made Shogo, so that made the “powered armor” you get to try on even more awesome. It was pretty immersive and you felt like quite a badass. Regenerating health and iron sights round out the new stuff.

I also played this Guinness World Records game which was actually kind of corny but seemed like a fun party game. It’s for the Wii, and it’s essentially a bunch of minigames based on real world records and you go up against them. It keeps track of your scores and compares them on a global level so you can see just how much better they are in Japan. I played this arcade shooter-like minigame and the PR people were freaked out by how good I was; apparently I outscored everyone there by a huge margin.

Lego Batman was there and it’s what you’ve been seeing all along.

I then went over to Valve’s modest little spot for a bit of Left 4 Dead. I’m in a hurry so I’ll just tell you it’s awesome and it gets really intense when you’re doing well and it starts throwing lots of zombies at you. It can get pretty freaky too. The zombies are pretty weak individually, but once they start pouring out you get this “Oh god oh god” feeling in your stomach and you (if you’re me) start crying out to your teammates stuff like “Oh shit, guys, quick, go to the – oh no! Turn around! OH NOOO!” Fun times.

In the news
The weirdest news of the last week has to be the offer from Stride Gum to provide free packs of gum to everyone who signs the petition to ban Uwe Boll from filmmaking. Because gum, bad movies, and games are inextricably linked, I guess. In other game-movie news, Gore Verbinski of Pirates of the Caribbean fame will be directing Bioshock. Now, Gore, to quote a Digg commenter: “Would you kindly… not screw this up?”

In other news, a young Mike Tyson will appear in the next installment of EA’s Fight Night series. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what his special move is (NOM NOM NOM). The gaming scene on the iPod Touch and iPhone is heating up as the fruits of the SDK are beginning to really show. This excellent-looking 3D racing game is controlled by tilt, and who knew the iPhone could run something like that? By the way, if you’re looking for a new MMORPG, Age of Conan is looking cool and may actually be full of people pretty soon — they say they have hundreds of thousands ready to start questing. Sign up for the beta here.


Slavering and shuffling to a PC near you

If you are not familiar with Left 4 Dead, allow me to educate you as to why this game is going to be amazing. Basically, it’s Resident Evil with pals. Join three other survivors and blast your way from one part of the city to another while hundreds of undead monsters attempt to arrest your progress. Check this out.

I know, right? There are some excellent hands-on impressions here and here.

Free Play

This week brought three excellent games to my attention. First, without leaving the comfort of your browser you can play the extremely fun and surprisingly deep Dino Run. The pixelized graphics are fantastic and the game controls well. Definitely read the how-to so you know what the eggs and such are for.

Next, an very enjoyable and straightforward freeware arena shooter a la Crimsonland. It’s called Debrysis, and its manic mouse-and-keyboard action is simple and addictive. My advice: minigun good, igniter better.

Bootfighter Windom XP SP-2 I recommended here. How can you possibly go wrong with a free Virtual ON-style mech team battle game that’s totally free? This game has cut into my time a lot over the last few days. You’ll want a gamepad.

GG all!