Mar 15, 2013

Left 4 Dead 2 - Chet

<center><table width=460 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><TR><TD><a href="http://media.steampowered.com/steam/news/10153/RE6PC_x_L4D2_Nick_04.jpg?t=1363370816"><img src="http://media.steampowered.com/steam/news/10153/RE6PC_x_L4D2_Nick_04_small.jpg?t=1363371226" border=0></a></TD><TD><a href="http://media.steampowered.com/steam/news/10153/RE6_x_L4D2_The_Witch_02.jpg?t=1363370806"><img src="http://media.steampowered.com/steam/news/10153/RE6_x_L4D2_The_Witch_02_small.jpg?t=1363371219" border=0></a></TD></TR></Table></center>
Thinking of <a href='http://store.steampowered.com/app/221040/'>pre-ordering Resident Evil 6</a>? We now have six more reasons to do it. The first four are Nick, Coach, Ellis, and Rochelle. All are crossing over to fight monsters in the new PC exclusive game mode for RE6 - The Mercenaries No Mercy.

They aren’t coming alone. Joining them from the infected side is the Witch and a special version of the Tank. The Tank even comes in a new form - the Mini Tank. It is all the ferociousness of the giant Tank but in a cute cuddly but deadly package.

That covers L4D2 in RE6, but what kind of self-respecting mash-up only goes one way? Don’t worry, we’ve got that covered. First up, we are adding three RE6 creatures to the Left 4 Dead 2 Workshop - Lepotitsa, Napad and Ogroman as Special Infected replacements.

For the Resident Evil 6 characters we have a different idea. This is where you come in. Both the Left 4 Dead 2 and Resident Evil 6 communities are invited to create their own take on RE6’s original cast and submit them to the <a href='http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse?appid=550&browsesort=trend'>L4D2 Workshop. </a>

To create a character and submit it to the Workshop you will need access to the L4D2 Authoring tools. And just in case you have been living hole, covered in cement, at the bottom of a lake to protect yourself from the zombie apocalypse and you just now came out of said hole and still have not purchased L4D2 - we have even put <a href='http://store.steampowered.com/app/550/?snr=1_7_15__13'>L4D2 on sale</a> this week for an incredible 75% off!

Just remember when you submit your RE6 character - include the Resident Evil 6 tag. That will make sure it shows up in the <a href='http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=550&requiredtags[]=Resident+Evil+6'>Resident Evil 6 tab</a> and we will pick the best ones to add to our official Resident Evil 6 Collection.

Make sure to check out <a href='http://www.capcom-unity.com/brelston/blog/2013/03/15/left-4-dead-2-infects-resident-evil-6'>Capcom’s Resident Evil 6 page</a> for even more info.

Mar 15, 2013

Resident Evil 6 / Left 4 Dead 2 Mash-up

Left 4 Dead 2 - Chet

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Thinking of pre-ordering Resident Evil 6? We now have six more reasons to do it. The first four are Nick, Coach, Ellis, and Rochelle. All are crossing over to fight monsters in the new PC exclusive game mode for RE6 - The Mercenaries No Mercy.

They aren’t coming alone. Joining them from the infected side is the Witch and a special version of the Tank. The Tank even comes in a new form - the Mini Tank. It is all the ferociousness of the giant Tank but in a cute cuddly but deadly package.

That covers L4D2 in RE6, but what kind of self-respecting mash-up only goes one way? Don’t worry, we’ve got that covered. First up, we are adding three RE6 creatures to the Left 4 Dead 2 Workshop - Lepotitsa, Napad and Ogroman as Special Infected replacements.

For the Resident Evil 6 characters we have a different idea. This is where you come in. Both the Left 4 Dead 2 and Resident Evil 6 communities are invited to create their own take on RE6’s original cast and submit them to the L4D2 Workshop.

To create a character and submit it to the Workshop you will need access to the L4D2 Authoring tools. And just in case you have been living hole, covered in cement, at the bottom of a lake to protect yourself from the zombie apocalypse and you just now came out of said hole and still have not purchased L4D2 - we have even put L4D2 on sale this week for an incredible 75% off!

Just remember when you submit your RE6 character - include the Resident Evil 6 tag. That will make sure it shows up in the =Resident+Evil+6]Resident Evil 6 tab and we will pick the best ones to add to our official Resident Evil 6 Collection.

Make sure to check out Capcom’s Resident Evil 6 page for even more info.

Mar 15, 2013

Left 4 Dead 2 and Resident Evil 6 swap characters for free crossover promotion

Left 4 Dead 2

Capcom announced today that Left 4 Dead 2's Coach, Nick, Ellis, and Rochelle will be playable in Resident Evil 6's PC-exclusive Mercenaries No Mercy multiplayer mode, and in the other direction, three of Resident Evil 6's zombies will shuffle into the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2. The crossover, which is being called "the Resident Evil 6 x Left 4 Dead 2 project" (Capcom's idea, we presume) will be free for both games later this spring.

In addition to L4D2's human characters, the Witch and Mini Tank will "make a cameo appearance" in Mercenaries No Mercy, though it isn't clear whether or not the mercenaries will have any mercy. I think they might, but something about it makes me unsure. As for L4D2, Resident Evil 6 offers Lepotitsa, Napad, and Ogroman, which have been "brought to life in Left 4 Dead 2 by Valve’s renowned developers."

In Resident Evil 6, which releases for PC on March 22, the content will "automatically be downloaded in the background" starting April 5th, and the Left 4 Dead 2 content will be available sometime this spring through Steam Workshop.

Mar 15, 2013

Capcom and Valve Team Up for Free Resident Evil 6 x Left 4 Dead 2 Crossover [UPDATE]

Left 4 Dead

Suddenly, the mother of all zombie apocalypses is about to happen. This just wound up in our inbox:

Capcom and Valve are pleased to announce the Resident Evil® 6 x Left 4 Dead 2 project. This crossover project between two of the interactive entertainment industry's most respected publishers will see characters from Left 4 Dead™ 2 featured exclusively in the forthcoming PC version of Resident Evil® 6, while enemies from Resident Evil 6 will invade the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2. All content will be made available completely free for fans of either game to access and play.

Owners of Resident Evil 6 PC will be able to select one of four survivors from Left 4 Dead 2's iconic cast – Coach, Nick, Ellis and Rochelle – when playing PC exclusive mode, The Mercenaries No Mercy. Each character will have a special customized weapon load-out created just for use in Resident Evil 6. In addition to the four survivors, two of the infamous Special Infected zombies from the Left 4 Dead franchise – the Witch and Mini Tank – will also make a cameo appearance in this mode, relentlessly attacking players regardless of whether a character from Left 4 Dead 2 or Resident Evil 6 is chosen. This new and exclusive content will automatically be downloaded in the background to all owners of the PC version of Resident Evil 6 from April 5.

Making the leap to the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 will be some of Resident Evil 6's most fearsome enemies – Lepotitsa, Napad and Ogroman. All three characters were brought to life in Left 4 Dead 2 by Valve's renowned developers using its Steam Workshop tools. Owners of the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 will be able to face a new deadly challenge when Resident Evil 6 characters infect Valve's classic zombie title this spring.

Commenting on the crossover project, Chet Faliszek from Valve stated: "We're huge Resident Evil fans, so when the opportunity arose to work directly with Capcom to combine L4D2 and RE6, we jumped at it."

Resident Evil 6 Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi added: "The Resident Evil 6 team really enjoyed working on this crossover, and we're confident that our fans will have a great time with it too! We hope you enjoy this unique content."

More as we learn it.

Update:

Here's a developer diary from RE6 producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, courtesy of Capcom.

Mar 14, 2013

Gabe Newell: Valve’s business increased by 50 percent last year

Half-Life 2

Valve boss Gabe Newell stepped up to the stage during last week's BAFTA awards to receive the prestigious Academy Fellowship for his contributions to gaming. Presumably momentarily distracted by accepting a trophy modeled after a smirking face, a bewhiskered Newell fielded some interview questions over the normally airtight subject of Valve's business performance that hinted at the monumental scale of the studio's prosperity.

Newell chalked up Valve's successes largely to user-generated content on open platforms such as Steam Workshop before sharing some jaw-dropping numbers. "There's sort of an insatiable demand for gaming right now," Newell said. "I think our business has grown by about 50 percent on the back of opportunities created by having these open platforms.

"And just so people understand how big this sort of scale is getting, we were generating 3.5 terabits per second during the last Dota 2 update," he added. "That's about 2 percent of all the mobile- and land-based Internet activity."

Wait, what? We're not exactly sure what Newell meant when he dropped that bombshell of data info, apart from maybe claiming responsibility for all those times my connection speeds chugged while browsing these past few months. Still, it seems entirely plausible—Dota 2 has a lot of players, and the MOBA recently took the crown for the highest concurrent user amount of any Steam game ever. If any Steam game can feasibly take a bite out of the entire Internet, Dota 2 holds the best chance.