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Quickies Entertainment Games

HL2's Alyx as Playable Character, MMOG Updates, Women in Games Survey 66

Posted by Zonk from the bet-you-can't-have-just-one-bit-of-news dept.
A good week for MMOG gamers, as Star Wars Galaxies Patch 13.0 goes into effect, revamping the Galactic Civil War and making way for the Combat Upgrade. World of Warcraft players, likewise, should be happy to learn about future game developments in upcoming patches. There are a lot of folks in that last category, as Blizzard stated this week that they've sold more than 800,000 copies of WoW, making Warcraft the largest U.S. based MMOG. If you're interested in learning more about MMOG stats, SirBruce's mmogchart.com has recently been updated with new information. Speaking of learning, registration will begin soon for the academically inclined Games+Learning+Society conference to be held in Madison, Wisconsin. If the concept intrigues you there are only 200 passes to go around, so you'd best sign up early. Gamespot's weekly Rumor Control article certainly intrigues, and this week states that Half-Life 2's Alyx is likely to be a playable character in an upcoming expansion to the hit game. A female protagonist would be a nice change of pace. Women in games in general are a good thing, and GameGirlAdvance has a lengthy survey for women gamers and women in the games industry to fill out.
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HL2's Alyx as Playable Character, MMOG Updates, Women in Games Survey More

HL2's Alyx as Playable Character, MMOG Updates, Women in Games Survey

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  • Alyx not viewable?! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    She was the best thing to look at in Half-Life 2, even though see needed more "physics" in some areas.

  • geez.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gl4ss ( 559668 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @04:52PM (#11796117) Homepage Journal
    now rumor control turns into rumor spread.

    ""Despite the rumors, Valve has not announced any plans for a Half-Life 2 expansion." That said, given that the shooter was the top-selling PC game of 2004 and Valve has already expanded it with a Deathmatch mode, it's likely only a matter of time before it gets an expansion. And given the appearance of an "Alyx Gun" in the game's development kit and game developers' propensity for foxy female leads, Alyx would be a very plausible protagonist indeed."

    so.. they got information stating otherwise but they still say that it's probably true, and that you'll probably play alyx.

    which doesn't matter you know. with the style of hl2 the character won't speak and only place where you might get a look at her is the mirrors. so if you think alyx is sexy you'd better hope that she's NOT the main character.

    • Re:geez.. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by game kid ( 805301 )

      The worst part is that Gordon Freeman isn't even reflected in mirrors (though it's probably by-design; they wanted to give the illusion that you, not some skinny guy with glasse--oh wait, it was me). I too doubt she'll be easy to see in a expansion, but then I doubt they'll make any Alyx expansion for months, if not years.

      Side note: I checked Steam for the first time in a while...

      Along with the two new maps, there are a number of fixes to the bots in Counter-Strike, an enhancement to the radar to displ

      • Re:geez.. (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        The worst part is that Gordon Freeman isn't even reflected in mirrors (though it's probably by-design; they wanted to give the illusion that you, not some skinny guy with glasse--oh wait, it was me).
        No, no, no. There's a much simpler explanation. Gordon Freeman is a vampire.

      • Re:geez.. (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Ford Prefect ( 8777 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @05:22PM (#11796346) Homepage
        God that must have been hilarious, trying to toss toilets (and votes) at a file cabinet to make them stop. I do think the engine and games are far too open in terms of allowing these things.

        To prove that I know far too much about Half-Life mapping - there's a monster_furniture entity for the original's single-player game. You get to see it crush a headcrab, in the guise of a filing cabinet... ;-)

        But I wouldn't take the presence of anything in a game's data files as indicative of that content as being functional or due for completion. Half-Life: Source, for example, has a few too many datafiles in it, including skins for a female scientist and numerous extra enemies, as well as a working model of Gordon Freeman as the hyper-beardy, ultra-low-polygon 'doctor.mdl'.

        I've no idea which existing character any expansion pack for HL2 might follow, if any. But poking around the entrails of game datafiles is unlikely to reveal anything much, even if it is the infamous 'Alyxgun', capable of morphing from handgun to SMG to sniper rifle...
    • Can you even play in a mode (in single player) where you can see your own character, if not then its totally irrelevant what sex they are supposed to be.

  • Valve says they don't have plans for that... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by game kid ( 805301 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @04:54PM (#11796125) Homepage
    ...and judging from Half-Life 2's late, heavily-delayed release, even if they had plans it would take quite a while. I'm not holding my breath.

  • Welcome back Quickies! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by brejc8 ( 223089 ) * on Sunday February 27, 2005 @04:55PM (#11796136) Homepage Journal
    I think it's great to have a few quickies rather than one full thing (no phun intended).
    It is much nicer to browse through 20 little interesting and concise nit bits than one big story.
    • I agree, and I'd also like to see the return of slashback. It seems like doing a few follow-ups to big stories is too much work for CT and his crew... Maybe Zonker's growing momentum can kickstart a new round of get-off-yer-ass-an-do-somethingness within the bloated editor corps.

  • Female protagonists (Score:3, Informative)

    by Jorkapp ( 684095 ) <jorkapp@nOSpAm.hotmail.com> on Sunday February 27, 2005 @04:58PM (#11796165)
    Alyx being the protagonist wouldn't be the first time Valve has put a female into a protagonist role. In the PS2 version of Half-Life, the Co-op mission had both players as females.

  • bah (Score:4, Insightful)

    by nomadic ( 141991 ) <`nomadicworld' `at' `gmail.com'> on Sunday February 27, 2005 @05:04PM (#11796213) Homepage
    A female protagonist would be a nice change of pace.

    What are you talking about? Games frequently have female protagonists these days.

  • The SWG changes look nice (Score:4, Interesting)

    by hsoft ( 742011 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @05:31PM (#11796438) Homepage
    The galactic war new system looks nice, might be a good reason to give it another chance. Can any SWG player tell me if the galactic war is actually fun? The last time I played, I didn't feel like I was in the middle of a galatic war *at all*. Did it change?
    • Well, it really feels more like a war is going, as opposed to a gang jumping on top of a single guy every now and then.

      If you don't mind people farming factional NPCs to their heart's content, then you'll be fine.

      I suggest you wait a few more months before coming back, as that's when the REALLY big patches will be coming in.
    • The NPCs at faction bases have been given a major difficulty bump. I took my TKM/Master Riflesman out to a Rebel base to farm, like I did a lot before the patch, and instead of mowing them down, I nearly got killed. The tough NPCs are about on a par with the NPCs on the Corellian Corvette.

      It is an interesting change, I'll give it that. If you're Imperial, you want to avoid Rebel-controlled cities, and vice-versa. Opposite-faction NPCs will shoot you on sight, whether you're PvP-enabled (overt) or not (cove

  • in other news EQ2 plans to add 'sidekicking' (Score:4, Informative)

    by Harlockjds ( 463986 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @06:16PM (#11796911)
    a la City of heroes. Side kicking (aka the ability to change one's level to play with friends that are at a lower or higher level) is one of the better invasions in City of heroes and I'm glad to see it is working it's way into other games (plus it will give eq2 players who power leveled to 50 the chance to go back and see what all they missed)

    http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/mes sa ge?board.id=pround&message.id=1506

  • A new game? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by JorDan Clock ( 664877 ) <jordanclock@gmail.com> on Sunday February 27, 2005 @06:42PM (#11797143)
    According to the British edition of PC Gamer magazine, Valve's Doug Lombardi is quoted as saying, "At the moment we're working on a game where you play as Alyx and her well-known robot dog."

    Perhaps they're working on a completely different game, such as that side-scrolling game based on Half-Life. Codename: Gordon wasn't it?

    No one says it has to be part of a Half-Life 2 expansion.

  • Look at the past to see the future? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by bigbigbison ( 104532 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @07:08PM (#11797415) Homepage
    If we look at the first HL expansion packs, we had one featuring a soldier and one featuring Barney. Even though the original Blue Shift expansion pack started life as headed for the Dreamcast, I would think that a Barney expansion pack would make sense for HL2. While an Alyx one would make sense with how she is used in the game, might there be a chance that there would be an expansion pack that follows the spirit of Opposing Force and features a soldier?
  • A female protagonist would be a nice change of pace.

    You should give No One Lives Forever [lith.com] and NOLF 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way [lith.com] a try. These are fun, award-winning games featuring a female lead in a James Bond/Austin Powers series of super-spy adventures.

  • When will we get new figures... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's nice to see the new figures on World of Warcraft bump it out of the traditional MMORPG chart and into the "truely massive" chart. Now I can finally put those Final Fuckfest XI whiners in their place when they try and claim it as "most popular MMORPG" using that chart. Well, except I can't, because it's been bumped off the chart...

    I really appreciate the work SirBruce does on that chart. I've gone looking for figures and the gaming companies make it damned hard to figure out unless they're actively on

  • World of Warcraft - Priorities! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Shihar ( 153932 ) on Sunday February 27, 2005 @11:11PM (#11799302)
    I think WoW needs to get their priorities straight. I am browsing Slashdot because I am looking at a 30 minute line to get into my server. Just let people transfer servers, increase their capacity, just do SOMETHING. All of that great content and what not doesn't do me any good if I can't even log in.
    • that's not bad at all, at least you'll get to play eventually.

      i got hooked with the european version, via a trial key(available with the collectors edition version). my flatmates play it a lot which is the sole reason really for me liking it enough to think it being worth the purchase.

      now the trial has ended, and i got a 31 level character that i just can't fucking play. why not? because they have fucked up the logistics at one point or another of the delivery chain. i can't find the full version anywhere
    • Since day one I've only been in one queue and it was something like 6 people. If you're spending hours in queues you could have had another character on a lower population server at a decent level by now.
      • I know I could have another character, but I think the point you missed is that I want to have a character with my friends. If I wanted to play the game solo, I wouldn't waste my time with an MMORPG. In case you have not noticed, MMORPGs absolutely suck when it comes to the RPG part. The only thing that makes an MMORPG worth while is PvP and socializing. Seeing as how PvP in WoW is worthless, it seems pretty stupid to decapitate the last worth while piece of the game.

        They need to fix the servers. Peri
    • I think WoW needs to get their priorities straight. I am browsing Slashdot because I am looking at a 30 minute line to get into my server. Just let people transfer servers, increase their capacity, just do SOMETHING. All of that great content and what not doesn't do me any good if I can't even log in.

      Agreed, my server is medium pop and it's been borked for the past week. All kinds of wierd shit has been happening since the last patch they made to 'fix' Auction House lag. I think their code introduce
      • Well, I think I can speak on this one... All seven of my characters are on Argent Dawn, arguably one of the five most crowded servers for several reasons:

        1) It's been there since the beginning

        2) At launch, it was one of only two RP servers in the eastern US (Before they merged the geographical lists together)

        3) Since it's the first server on the list, we get hundreds of people making level 1's on our realm, just to whine when their server is down.

        That said, I really can't complain much. If I try to log

        • Just making another instance isn't going to appease the horde of people that are around level 30-40 and will be at 60 soon (ie the ones who got the game around xmas and actually have day jobs/school).

          (For reference, my characters are level 41, 35, 23, 20, 17, 14, and 13, though the 14 should hit 15 or 16 tonight. Yes, I'm bragging. Nyah.)

          That's the problem with WoW. The creators made an MMO that was easy and "isn't a grind" because that's what everyone wants, supposedly. So people are gonna get maxed ou

          • I think WoW made the wisest decision they have ever made by making the game quick to level up in. High school kids and people out of work just don't understand how much games like Everquest SUCKS for people who can't play all day long. If the game was any harder, I wouldn't be giving them my money. I want to put in a few hours a week and feel like I am actually moving somewhere. If that pisses off the kiddies with too much time on their hands, good.

            If the people with 12 hours a day to blow on video gam
            • Your melodramatic tone is amusing. Basically, you are not a gamer but still want to play a MMORPG. According to you, anyone who spends more than 2 hours a day on a game is one of either "High school kids [or] people out of work."

              Amusing, but I don't think that statement is very accurate. I know I work 8 hours a day in an office building, and make more than enough money to live comfortably. If I'm in an MMO "phase" I can get 7-8 hours of playtime a day out of my schedule.

              From what I've seen this argument

              • Just remember, the game doesn't end at 60... Once you max out your level, there's still:

                1) Dungeon raids: 40-player groups questing to destroy insanely-powerful monsters

                2) Battlegrounds (Soon): Basically take an RTS and stick it into an MMORPG

                3) Hero classes (In development): Something past level 60

                4) PvP Raids... So you hit 60. Think you're ready to take down Thrall and claim dominance over the Orc capital?

  • Expansion Pack (Score:5, Funny)

    by Torgo's Pizza ( 547926 ) on Monday February 28, 2005 @09:19AM (#11801653) Homepage Journal
    I eagerly await the "Plot" and "Story" expansion packs for Half-Life 2.

  • Voice actors on g4tv.com (the show) (Score:3, Informative)

    by dayeight ( 21335 ) on Monday February 28, 2005 @02:20PM (#11804518) Homepage Journal
    The episode of G4TV.com (dumb show name) airing right now has Hal Robins the voice of Dr. Kliener as a guest (and the lady who did Alyx's voice on the phone.) One of the hosts asked about the exspansion pack and while Alyx hadn't heard anything, Hal (who is super weird) says that he has been asked to do more voicework for Valve.

    Sounds confirmed to me.

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