Jun 15, 2011

AMD Catalyst™ 11.6 Windows Update Released

Product Update - Valve

AMD Steady Video

- Steady Video is currently an AMD exclusive feature based on AMD APP Technology
- By applying advanced algorithms behind the scenes, users do not have to deal with shaky or unstable video ever again!
- Capabilities scale with hardware and are end user controlled
- Image Stabilization brought to YouTube!
- AMD Steady Video is supported on the following products:
-- AMD Raedon HD 6000 Series when used in combination with an AMD CPU
-- AMD E-450 and E300
-- AMD A8, A6, and A4 series
- Supported in the following 3rd party players: Adobe Flash player, Windows Media player, Cyberlink PowerDVD, Corel Win DVD, ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater

Decode Acceleration of MPEG-4 part 2 content

- AMD has enabled decode acceleration of MPEG-4 part 2 content in Microsoft video player applications (through MFT support) for all AMD Radeon 6000 Series

Performance highlights

- The AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series and AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series of products will see the following performance gains:
-- Dirt 2 – gains of up to 5% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single GPU configurations
-- F1 2010 – gains of up to 7% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single and multiple GPU configurations
-- Tom Clancy's Hawx – gains of up to 8% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single and multiple GPU
-- Crysis Warhead - gains of up to 6% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single GPU configurations
-- Unigine OpenGL - gains of up to 20% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single GPU configurations

Jun 15, 2011

New Release: The Cat and the Coup

The Cat and the Coup - Valve

2011 IGF Finalist The Cat and the Coup is now available for free on Steam.

The Cat and the Coup is a documentary game in which you play the cat of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. During the summer of 1953, the CIA engineered a coup to bring about his downfall. As a player, you coax Mossadegh back through significant events of his life by knocking objects off of shelves, scattering his papers, jumping on his lap and scratching him.

Jun 14, 2011

Team Fortress 2 Update Released

Team Fortress 2 - Valve

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

Added the Spiral Knights promotional hat
Updated The Superfan, The Essential Accessories, and The Hero's Hachimaki so they can be painted
Updated The Conjurer's Cowl and The Maul so they can be crafted and traded

Jun 14, 2011

New Release - Cities in Motion: Design Now DLC

Cities in Motion - Valve

Design Now, the latest expansion for Cities in Motion is now available on Steam for both Mac and PC!

Design Now adds five brand new transit options, including an air taxi and a high-speed catamaran, to increase speed, efficiency and capacity throughout Cities in Motion.

Jun 14, 2011

New Release – Two Worlds II Castle Defense! 20% Off!

Product Release - Valve

Two Worlds II Castle Defense is now available on Steam for both PC and Mac and is 20% off until June 21st 10AM Pacific Time.

Utilize the opportunity to slip into the role of the Emperor Gandohar and his henchman Sordahon! These villains from the "Two Worlds" universe are now playable for the first time ever in this strategy game, thus opening an entirely new perspective into the vast world of Antaloor.

Jun 14, 2011

Free To Play Games Have Arrived on Steam

Champions Online - Valve

Five F2P Launch Titles Offering Exclusive Content to Celebrate Launch

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today introduced support for Free to Play (F2P) Games on Steam with the launch of five F2P games.

Available immediately, the launch titles are Spiral Knights, Forsaken Worlds, Champions Online: Free for All, Global Agenda: Free Agent, and Alliance of Valliant Arms (AVA).

Beginning tomorrow (Weds) with Spiral Knights and concluding Sunday with AVA, each of the five launch titles will offer exclusive in-game content to those who try the "F2P game of the day" on Steam. In game transactions in all of the titles will be supported by Steam's micro-transaction backend system that is available to Steamworks partners and currently used in Valve's Team Fortress 2.

"The introduction of Free to Play games is another example of the constant evolution of Steam," said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. "Free to Play games offer new game genres and game experiences for customers, while offering developers and publishers new revenue opportunities and the ability to reach customers in areas of the world where the traditional packaged goods model is less popular than F2P."

Specific details on the F2P games of the day and their exclusive in-game content will be made available in the coming days.

Steam is a leading platform for PC & Mac games and digital entertainment serving over 1,500 games to over 30 million active accounts worldwide. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com