<a href="http://media.steampowered.com/apps/tf2/artwork/meet_the_christmas.jpg"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/meet_the_christmas.jpg" height="275" width="420"border="0"></a>

With all the hustle and busty fustle of Australian Christmas, you probably thought we forgot the most important part of it: The gift-giving. Well, we didn't forget. We were hoping <i>you</i> would. But you didn't--you guys are sharp! So get your Gift-Gettin' Pants on, because you are about to <b>get gifts,</b> and we'd prefer you were wearing pants for it.

<b>GIFTED!</b> All the community items previously only available in the Nice Crates are now craftable, droppable, and available in all the ways you're used to getting them!

<b>ALSO THIS GIFT!</b> A free Secret Saxton for every premium account!

<b>DUCK! GIFT COMIN' ATCHA!</b> To acknowledge all you generous souls who've been handing out Secret Saxtons and piles of gifts since the formation of the TF economy, everybody is receiving a Spirit of Giving badge. It's a plate-sized x-ray illustrating to your peers exactly how big your heart is, and consequently, what a good person you are. You—and more importantly, everybody else—will actually be able to <b>see</b> your heart grow over time depending how many gifts you're giving. We strapped an actual decommissioned Soviet-era x-ray machine to several team members' chests, and trust us, the science checks out: The people in our experiment with the biggest hearts <b>were</b> in fact the nicest guys on staff. How do we know? You should have <b>seen</b> how many people showed up at their funerals.

<b>STOCKING STUFFER!</b> In an effort to get the gift-giving juices flowing, we've made every map as Smissmassy as possible by wrapping lights around every rope!
<b>BUT THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL...</b> was <i>inside you all along.</i> It's blood! Turns out you can sell it! See you at the plasma center! Merry Smissmas, everybody!

With all the hustle and busty fustle of Australian Christmas, you probably thought we forgot the most important part of it: The gift-giving. Well, we didn't forget. We were hoping you would. But you didn't--you guys are sharp! So get your Gift-Gettin' Pants on, because you are about to get gifts, and we'd prefer you were wearing pants for it.

GIFTED! All the community items previously only available in the Nice Crates are now craftable, droppable, and available in all the ways you're used to getting them!

ALSO THIS GIFT! A free Secret Saxton for every premium account!

DUCK! GIFT COMIN' ATCHA! To acknowledge all you generous souls who've been handing out Secret Saxtons and piles of gifts since the formation of the TF economy, everybody is receiving a Spirit of Giving badge. It's a plate-sized x-ray illustrating to your peers exactly how big your heart is, and consequently, what a good person you are. You—and more importantly, everybody else—will actually be able to see your heart grow over time depending how many gifts you're giving. We strapped an actual decommissioned Soviet-era x-ray machine to several team members' chests, and trust us, the science checks out: The people in our experiment with the biggest hearts were in fact the nicest guys on staff. How do we know? You should have seen how many people showed up at their funerals.

STOCKING STUFFER! In an effort to get the gift-giving juices flowing, we've made every map as Smissmassy as possible by wrapping lights around every rope!
BUT THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL... was inside you all along. It's blood! Turns out you can sell it! See you at the plasma center! Merry Smissmas, everybody!

<a href="http://store.steampowered.com"><img src="http://storefront.steampowered.com/v/gfx/apps/63200/extras/Illustration_page.jpg" width="420" border="0"></a>

Hello Carolers,

We would like to remind you that while snowball fights are fun, please keep them outdoors. TheGodlike, did you really need to build a snow fort inside? It’s nice but that's just going too far.

We also have received reports that Santa was robbed during a practice run. Luckily the thieves only got their hands on coal. They might have even had luck trading it on the <a href="http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1189">Black Coal Market</a>. Location of the gang that took them is currently unknown.

Here is a list of what the gang thought that they were going to get.

<a href="http://store.steampowered.com">Today's deals</a>

Batman: Arkham City
F1 2011
Stalker Games (all individual at 75%)
PAYDAY The Heist
Mount & Blade Franchise
Jurassic Park
Neverwinter Nights 2: Platinum
Grotesque Tactics Bundle
Sherlock Holmes Collection
Defense Grid + DLC + Bundle
Swords & Soldiers
Monday Night Combat


Check out the new <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/holidaysale">Holiday Objectives</a> that have been added.

Hi everyone. It has been some crazy few days for Bunch of Heroes with a ton of new players trying the game. Thanks a lot to all of you!
Due to popular demand, we have limited the re-spawning time for players, so those of you hunting for achievements will have an easier time. For those who enjoy a harder game, the insane difficulty mode is still a blast.
The update is in Steam's capable hands, so it should be up in no time.

Here's the list of changes:

[CHANGELOG 12/21/2011]
Gameplay:
- Re-spawn time has been limited to 1 minute.
- Added Survival and Time attack leaderboards
Fixes:
- New Safe Mode launch option. Launch the game with "-safe" to force the game into launching in 1024x768.
- Several fixes including a crash with Santa and a piece of dialog

Hi everyone. It has been some crazy few days for Bunch of Heroes with a ton of new players trying the game. Thanks a lot to all of you!
Due to popular demand, we have limited the re-spawning time for players, so those of you hunting for achievements will have an easier time. For those who enjoy a harder game, the insane difficulty mode is still a blast.
The update is in Steam's capable hands, so it should be up in no time.

Here's the list of changes:

[CHANGELOG 12/21/2011]
Gameplay:
- Re-spawn time has been limited to 1 minute.
- Added Survival and Time attack leaderboards
Fixes:
- New Safe Mode launch option. Launch the game with "-safe" to force the game into launching in 1024x768.
- Several fixes including a crash with Santa and a piece of dialog

Ooh! We forgot to mention something yesterday: One of the awards we were up for at the VGAs was Best Character. We can't say for sure if we came in second, but we definitely didn't win, so Wheatley's acceptance speech was never aired. <a href="http://youtu.be/ymMrwlsbtrI">Until now!</a>

Speaking of not winning, guess who didn't win Destructoid's Game of the Year. If you guessed Portal 2, we hope you didn't actually call your local sports book and put any money on that guess, because <a href=" http://www.destructoid.com/the-winner-of-destructoid-game-of-the-year-2011-218043.phtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Destructoid+%28Destructoid%29"><i>we won!</i></a> WE'RE #1! Unless you're reading E-Online, in which case, <a href="http://www.eonline.com/photos/gallery.jsp?galleryUUID=4186#159051">WE'RE BACK TO #2!</a>

Look, we understand that awards season is a turbulent emotional hell ride. But you know what would probably make you feel better? Buying things. It just feels <i>good</i>. With that in mind, we've put a bunch of Portal 2 merchandise on sale. For example, this incredible <a href=" http://store.valvesoftware.com/product.php?i=P2229">1970s-style Portal 2 movie poster</a> is 50% off! And if you're planning to go out to eat for the holidays, you should know that many restaurants now require shirts, something this 50% off <a href=" http://store.valvesoftware.com/product.php?i=CP216 ">"Wheatley Laboratories" tee</a> is 100% guaranteed to be. Frankly, there's figuratively literally too much Portal 2 stuff on sale to list in one blog post, but you can check it all out <a href=" http://store.valvesoftware.com/index.php?g=9">here.</a> If you order forty bucks worth of stuff, we'll throw in a FREE Aperture Lanyard. Just add it to your cart and then enter the code "COMBUSTIBLELANYARD" at the checkout.

And just so you don't think all we're trying to do is sell you stuff, here's a sentence where we don't try to sell you anything. Now that that's over, J!nx has some <a href=" http://www.jinx.com/shop/coll/portal2/srt/new/ps/70/ ">excellent Portal gear</a>, including the world's only Portal-themed baby onesies. Between now and December 22nd, you can get ten bucks off a thirty-five dollar order by entering the code "MILKANDCOOKIES" when you checkout.

If you have enough shirts and/or no babies, ThinkGeek has some crazy Portal 2 inspired non-clothing products like an actual, working <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/eb0a/?srp=16 ">PotatOS science kit</a>, a <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/ea43/?srp=37">Wheatley LED flashlight</a>, and an <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/collectibles/ea60/?srp=46">honest-to-God talking Cave Johnson Portrait</a>. Until December 22nd, you can get five bucks off a thirty dollar order or ten bucks off a fifty dollar order by entering the code "YOUSAVED SCIENCE" at the checkout.

Finally, do you like Portal 2? If the answer to that question is "no", then, man, did you make a wrong turn somewhere on the Internet. For everyone else, how would you like to celebrate those warm feelings every time you move your mouse? Because now that's possible with <a href=" http://steelseries.com/products/games/portal2/steelseries-qck-portal-2-edition?utm_source=valve&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=portal2qck">SteelSeries' new Portal 2 mousepad</a>. It won't be available to order until tomorrow. But from then until December 26th, you'll be able to buy it for 15% off by using the code "SSP215".

Ooh! We forgot to mention something yesterday: One of the awards we were up for at the VGAs was Best Character. We can't say for sure if we came in second, but we definitely didn't win, so Wheatley's acceptance speech was never aired. Until now!

Speaking of not winning, guess who didn't win Destructoid's Game of the Year. If you guessed Portal 2, we hope you didn't actually call your local sports book and put any money on that guess, because we won! WE'RE #1! Unless you're reading E-Online, in which case, WE'RE BACK TO #2!

Look, we understand that awards season is a turbulent emotional hell ride. But you know what would probably make you feel better? Buying things. It just feels good. With that in mind, we've put a bunch of Portal 2 merchandise on sale. For example, this incredible 1970s-style Portal 2 movie poster is 50% off! And if you're planning to go out to eat for the holidays, you should know that many restaurants now require shirts, something this 50% off "Wheatley Laboratories" tee is 100% guaranteed to be. Frankly, there's figuratively literally too much Portal 2 stuff on sale to list in one blog post, but you can check it all out here. If you order forty bucks worth of stuff, we'll throw in a FREE Aperture Lanyard. Just add it to your cart and then enter the code "COMBUSTIBLELANYARD" at the checkout.

And just so you don't think all we're trying to do is sell you stuff, here's a sentence where we don't try to sell you anything. Now that that's over, J!nx has some excellent Portal gear, including the world's only Portal-themed baby onesies. Between now and December 22nd, you can get ten bucks off a thirty-five dollar order by entering the code "MILKANDCOOKIES" when you checkout.

If you have enough shirts and/or no babies, ThinkGeek has some crazy Portal 2 inspired non-clothing products like an actual, working PotatOS science kit, a Wheatley LED flashlight, and an honest-to-God talking Cave Johnson Portrait. Until December 22nd, you can get five bucks off a thirty dollar order or ten bucks off a fifty dollar order by entering the code "YOUSAVED SCIENCE" at the checkout.

Finally, do you like Portal 2? If the answer to that question is "no", then, man, did you make a wrong turn somewhere on the Internet. For everyone else, how would you like to celebrate those warm feelings every time you move your mouse? Because now that's possible with SteelSeries' new Portal 2 mousepad. It won't be available to order until tomorrow. But from then until December 26th, you'll be able to buy it for 15% off by using the code "SSP215".

Hello, dear players.

If, like us, you're looking forward to a visit from a figure in red(1) then we have good news: it's that time of year, again, where an anthropomorphic expression of great jollity and insane generosity can be seen flying high above the streets and houses, delivering presents to all good game players everywhere.

I am, of course, talking about the CHRISTMAS GRIFFIN.

Hush, listen... Is that a flutter of snowy wings? The scratch of claw on tile? The merry jingle of free gift keys?
It is, indeed! Casting around the office for a suitable gift this year, we came up with chairs, an anglepoise lamp, and carpet tiles - all good, until we tried to wrap the darned lamp...

So we've decided to gift digital.

In an effort to thank some of those who've bought the ship over the years (as well as a transparent attempt at some shameless marketing) we're giving two free game keys to any person who has bought a copy of The Ship on Steam, EVER, EVER.(2)

So at some point today, if you've been a Ship customer, have a look in Steam under Games/Manage Gifts and Guest Passes. In there, you'll find TWO FREE COPIES of the game you can send to friends and, if they activate their free copy, they get ANOTHER free copy.

Now my brain hurts with all this 'recursive freeness', but in short, we're giving you a gift to give away, while trying to spread The Ship like a 1920s flu virus or an Art Deco snowball.

So there you go.

And should you wish to thank the Christmas Griffin, just leave a small sherry and a pound of rump steak by the tree.

Happy Christmas, one and all!

The Blazing Griffin Team.

(1) No, not Julia Roberts

(2) Up to and including the end of the Steam Winter Sale 2011

Before I start this post off (I chose an event since it reaches out to more people) I like to mention that the ModDB Mod of the Year/Indie of the Year voting phase is about to end in roughly 10 hours.

With that in mind it would be really nice if we made one final push to vote for No More Room in Hell (since some members of the ZPS team work in that team as well) and Contagion (since Tatsur0 and some other ZPS members are a part of that neat game)

MotY voting for NMRiH: http://www.moddb.com/mods/no-more-room-in-hell

IotY voting for Contagion: http://www.indiedb.com/games/contagion

----------------

Moving right along, some of you may know that ZPS is getting closer to its 4th year anniversary (ZPS version 1.0 released on December 28th, 2007)

4 years of ZPS and we're still regularly making a dent in the Steam stats charts, competing with several commercial games! That's an achievement that both the ZPS team and you, the player, have managed to earn together. (contrary to popular belief in 2008 and 2009, Left 4 Dead did not kill us :P)

So, thank you for sticking with us and the mod for these past 4 years with your support and interest. We have some neat things planned for 2012; we hope you guys will like and enjoy what we've got planned in the near future!

Oh and in case if we don't make another announcement, happy holidays from the Zombie Panic team! :)

<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PMOzipxBcKc?version=3&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PMOzipxBcKc?version=3&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Before I start this post off (I chose an event since it reaches out to more people) I like to mention that the ModDB Mod of the Year/Indie of the Year voting phase is about to end in roughly 10 hours.

With that in mind it would be really nice if we made one final push to vote for No More Room in Hell (since some members of the ZPS team work in that team as well) and Contagion (since Tatsur0 and some other ZPS members are a part of that neat game)

MotY voting for NMRiH: http://www.moddb.com/mods/no-more-room-in-hell

IotY voting for Contagion: http://www.indiedb.com/games/contagion

----------------

Moving right along, some of you may know that ZPS is getting closer to its 4th year anniversary (ZPS version 1.0 released on December 28th, 2007)

4 years of ZPS and we're still regularly making a dent in the Steam stats charts, competing with several commercial games! That's an achievement that both the ZPS team and you, the player, have managed to earn together. (contrary to popular belief in 2008 and 2009, Left 4 Dead did not kill us :P)

So, thank you for sticking with us and the mod for these past 4 years with your support and interest. We have some neat things planned for 2012; we hope you guys will like and enjoy what we've got planned in the near future!

Oh and in case if we don't make another announcement, happy holidays from the Zombie Panic team! :)

<object width="420" height="315">





<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PMOzipxBcKc?version=3&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>