Valve Corporation today announced that it has acquired Turtle Rock Studios. The Orange County-based development studio is currently developing Left 4 Dead. Turtle Rock Studios has had a long history of working with Valve, including on the Xbox version of Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero for PC and several maps for Counter-Strike: Source.

“We have been seeing very strong growth with Steam and Source, our content distribution and development platforms, up over 150% over the last 12 months,” said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. “Given our expectations for Left 4 Dead and our long-standing relationships with members of the Turtle Rock team, this was an easy decision. It also gives us a base from which to expand our development activities in the Los Angeles area.”

“Valve has had great success bringing in projects and teams such as Team Fortress and Portal. As I spent time working and talking with the creators of those products over the past several years, it became clear that this was the right next step for myself, my colleagues at Turtle Rock, our customers, and our products,” said Michael Booth, founder and CEO of Turtle Rock Studios. “We are excited to be a part of such a visionary and forward-thinking company.”

Written by David Radd from GameDaily
© 2008 GameDaily

Nvidia announced today that they have signed up Metropolis Software and IMC for their “The Way It’s Meant to be Played” program. This puts the upcoming title THEY into the program after roughly ten months of development. The “mystery first person shooter” is due to release in 2009.

“Our content development team constantly research the development community for new and innovative titles and THEY has been on our radar for some time,” said Phil Wright, Head of Content Business Development EMEAI of Nvidia. “This is one of the earliest points in the development cycle that a game has joined Nvidia’s ‘The Way It’s Meant to be Played’ program, which gives you an idea of how excited we are about its potential. Even in this short time IMC and Metropolis have demonstrated proof of a professional approach and a trendsetting concept for the future. We are happy to have signed this title, which is already promising great things at such an early stage. THEY will be a real highlight for our new and upcoming graphics boards.”

“We are happy to join the exclusive circle of TWIMTBP developers,” added IMC’s Head of Communication Ingo Horn. “Nvidia’s trust in a European product paid off our efforts and long hours during the development of a top title in the overcrowded market of FPS games. NVIDIA’s tech support will further enhance the technical aspects of THEY, so we are able to release a triple A mystery FPS in 2009, which will present future gamers with the best graphics boards of tomorrow!”

Written by David Radd from GameDaily
© 2008 GameDaily

The annual Tokyo Game Show typically takes place in September, but this year the event will take place from October 9 – 13 at the Makuhari Messe, show organizers Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) announced today.

The last Tokyo Game Show took place from September 20 – 23 and marked the first time the event spanned four days. Two of the days were devoted to business while the other two were for consumers to check out the games on the show floor. TGS 2007 also set a new attendance record for the event with 193,040 visitors.

2008 seems to be full of changes for industry events. In addition to TGS being moved back, the Game Developers Conference was moved up into February (Feb. 18-22), putting it too close for comfort with D.I.C.E. this year, which takes places Feb. 6 – 8. In addition, the E3 business summit has left its Santa Monica venue from last year to return to the familiar Los Angeles Convention Center of years past.

Written by James Brightman from GameDaily
© 2008 GameDaily

Today, Sega announced that they have signed an exclusive partnership with International Sports Multimedia (ISM). They will work together to produce Beijing 2008 - the Official Video Game of the Olympic Games. The game will be created by Eurocom Entertainment Software for PS3, PC, and Xbox 360 and will feature online play for the first time in an official Olympic title.

“Beijing 2008 will set a new standard for sports games in this genre,” commented Hugh Binns, Director of Eurocom. “With a huge number of events, innovative control schemes to benefit new and experienced gamers, online multiplayer modes providing hours of entertainment and stunning high definition graphics, Beijing 2008 will be a fantastic experience.”

“Sega has truly embraced the spirit of the Olympic Games first with the launch of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and now with the official video game for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games,” said Don Mesa, Marketing Director of Sega of America. “The addition of online play in an Olympic title revolutionizes the franchise and has brought the scope of international competition to the gamer at home for the first time.”

“Extending our relationship with Sega to include the Official Video Game of Beijing 2008 strengthens the opportunity to build upon the success of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games,” stated Raymond Goldsmith, Chairman and CEO of ISM. “We feel certain that Sega will further the success of Athens 2004, thereby delivering what will be an outstanding, quality gaming experience.”

Written by David Radd from GameDaily.
© 2008 GameDaily.

A 51-year-old man from New Jersey has received the longest prison sentence for attempting a crime to damage a computer system.

Yung-Hsun Lin (a.k.a Andy Lin), a systems administrator, was given 30 months in jail for planting code on a computer server in 2003 that was supposed to destroy a medical drug database. He also has to pay $81,200 in restitution to his former employer, Medco Health Solutions, ordered by the US District Judge Jose Linares.

The story goes along like this. Lin was employed at Medco because he was “proficient in the HP-Unix computer language designed to operate computer servers,” according to court documents seen by Ars Technica. In the fall of 2003, he learned that the company was to lay off some system admins and sent off e-mails to his colleagues that he wasn’t sure that he would survive.

A day later, he decided to plant a piece of code into the servers to delete almost everything once triggered. “Among other information, the Destructive Code was designed to delete the Drug Utilization Review Database], as well as databases identifying subscribers, plan coverage, prescription administration, and billing data,” read the court document. The code was written to be activated on April 23, 2004 - Lin’s birthday.

However, Lin had gotten a little bit ahead of himself, because several days later, Medco did lay off four system admins - none of them were him. A month after that, Lin attempted to edit the code so it wouldn’t deploy as scheduled. It turns out that Lin wasn’t as good in programming as he thought, because the code deployed right on schedule. It also turns out that he was really bad at programming, because the code failed to delete anything due to a bug, to Medco’s relief.

That’s not all; Lin figured out the bug and decided to make the code go off a year later. Fortunately, another Medco system admin found the code while looking into another system error in January 2005, and Lin was officially caught. He pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting computer code with the intent to cause damage in excess of $5,000 and he was sentenced this week.

The US Attorney General for New Jersey, Christopher Christie, has praised Medco for moving quickly and turning the case to the government.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has received a report that will guide his decision on whether Telstra can shut down its CDMA network so it can focus its attention on the Next G network.

Senator Conroy has confirmed that he had received the results of an independent Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) audit that sees if Telstra is ready to switch off the network. Telstra’s license conditions require it to continue the CDMA network until the minister notifies Telstra that he is satisfied with the Next G network provides the same or better coverage.

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is also providing advice on whether the same services are being provided on the Next G network compared to the CDMA, such as voice calls, SMS, internet and pre-paid options.

Telstra, however, has indicated that it was unlikely to extend a planned “warehouse” period - which gives CDMA users who fail to switch over before January 28 an extra 28 days to join another network before they lose their numbers. People who wait longer than the period risk having their number to be given to someone else.

Telstra has in recent days stepped up its efforts to make the switchover complete, as many services - including emergency calls, would be shut down after January 28. It has also sent travelling kiosks to hundreds of regional and remote locations across Australia to sell handsets tied with the Next G network.

The Minister is set to make his decision by January 21.

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are considering charging a woman with defrauding MySpace for allegedly setting up a fake account to harass a Missouri teenager who committed suicide after receiving cruel messages on the site.

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the social network as part of a probe into the suicide of Megan Meier, 13, who thought she was communicating to a 16-year-old boy on MySpace, the Los Angeles is reporting.

Those messages turned out to be fake, sent out from an account overseen by the mother of a former friend of the girl.

Meier, from St. Louis, Missouri, hanged herself in her bedroom after receiving upsetting messages from a fictional boy, including one which said that the world would be better off without her. The case as sparked a national outcry, but Missouri prosecutors ultimately decided not to bring any charges, determining that no laws appeared to be broken.

Federal investigators in Los Angeles are now considering to place Lori Drew, the mother of a former school friend of Megan, with defrauding MySpace. They are also looking at federal wire fraud and cyber fraud statutes and have said that they have jurisdiction because MySpace is based in Beverly Hills.

The fake account was allegedly used by Mrs Drew, her daughter and a teenage employee to trick Megan into believing that she was communicating with a 16-year-old boy. Mrs. Drew told the police that she “instigated and monitored” the account to see what Megan was saying about her daughter but had denied about creating or knowing about the messages that led to her death.

In the wake of Megan’s death, demonstrators have protested outside the Drew family’s home and bloggers have posted their address and phone numbers on sites such as rottenneighbour.com. As well, the state governor, Mat Blunt, has convened an internet task force that has finalised a proposal that would make it a crime for adults to harass children via the internet.

Hackers have hijacked the Xbox Live account of a celebrity gamer and took off with a prized piece of virtual armour in an act that could suggest that the online Microsoft service account holders are at risk.

Colin Fogle gain widespread attention and acclaim in gaming circles after posting a video showing how it was possible for a Halo 3 player to shoot and kill himself with his own sniper rifle. The creators, Bungie Studios, were so impressed that it had awarded him with a special piece of in-game Recon armour and also publicly.

However, after the video, the 18-year-old has said that his account has been hijacked three times. The recent takeover came on December 29, when he was suddenly logged out of his Live account. When he tried to log back in, he got error messages saying the password didn’t match the user name. As well, since the accounts contain credit card numbers, home addresses and login information to your Windows Live account; it is seen as identity theft.

“With this kind of information, they can steal much bigger things than my virtual armor,” Fogle said to The Register.

“If somebody doesn’t like you, anyone can do this. The thing that upsets me the most is that, as we looked into this more and more, we saw how easy it is.”

Checking the Xbox forums, it is not unusual to see that subscribers to report that their account has been taken over.

Kevin Finisterre, a security researcher and a Xbox Live enthusiast, has also been investigating this topic when someone broke into his girlfriend’s account in March after the pair accused some gaming rivals of cheating during a spirited season of Halo 2.

“At the end of the match, we voiced our opinion and a kid says, ‘Shut up or I’ll steal your Xbox Live account,” Finisterre said to The Register, “About eight hours later, I wasn’t able to log into my girlfriend’s account.”

According to The Register, hackers frequently will call the toll-free number and pretend to be the owner of the account they want to take over. They will provide the Live ID and then ask for the physical address that the account is associated. They will also call back and ask for the phone number. This then provides enough information to convince a support person that they are the rightful owners of the account.

Microsoft representatives did not respond to any questions provided by The Register. Meanwhile, the thief sporting Fogle’s armour currently is taunting the owner.

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) founder Nicholas Negroponte has hinted that a dual boot version of the XO Laptop could be on its way. Speaking to the IDG News Service yesterday, the OLPC is working with Microsoft on a version of the laptop that is capable of booting either Linux - the current OS - or Windows.

CNET’s Tom Krazit has written that it appears to be a similar technique like Apple’s Boot Camp; where it does not provide true virtualisation but the ability to boot to either operating system depending on the applications.

This new move could address some of the reasons have gone to Intel’s Classmate, which can run either Linux or Windows. The Classmate PC, however, does not have any dual-boot functionality.

Microsoft and the OLPC have been talking for months about getting Windows to run on the XO laptop, but until now the discussion had indicated that the project would result into two different laptops. A dual-boot XO laptop would be a different concept; as it it requires additional power, storage, memory or all three. This may result in a price hike from the original XO.

This comes after a “divorce” between the OLPC and Intel, caused by Intel’s Classmate PC. The OLPC wanted Intel to stop selling the Classmate PC in areas which the OLPC is being promoted.

Microsoft also have a low-cost Windows operating system for developing countries. Called the Windows Starter Edition, it cannot be sold in developed nations like the United States and Australia.

Torchwood, which comes back in Jan. 16, is one of my favourite shows. I really don’t mind the gore; maybe it’s because I’m just desensitised. Anyway, I can’t wait. Basically, I’m getting them from the UK (from somewhere I can’t tell you or I will incriminate myself) because Channel Ten, who has the rights, will most likely put them up on the summer of 2008 at late night or during the ratings season at late night.

So, here are some clips from YouTube.

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