Left 4 Dead Series

Last December, Valve announced that their zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead 2 had sold over 2 million copies in retail stores in the game's first two weeks of release. This week, Electronic Arts, which distributed the game in retail stores, announced during their conference call to investors that the game has sold over 2.9 million copies worldwide for both the PC and Xbox 360 ports.

Naturally both these numbers do not include the number of PC copies of the game that have been sold directly via Valve's Steam client. Valve has kept those numbers completely secret but its likely that if added to the retail sales it would increase the total unit sales to well over 3 million copies.

While we wait for the next major content update for Left 4 Dead 2 to be released, Valve continues to push out new updates for their zombie co-op shooter via Steam. Today a new patch was made available and while it's mainly bug fixes it does have something interesting; a way for banned players to get a little reprieve.

Folks who Valve banned from playing the multiplayer portion of Left 4 Dead 2 via Valve's own VAC anti-cheat system can now play the game again . . . but that access is limited to the game's single player campaigns. They can also check out the end credits and even Valve's extensive in-game commentary. All in all it's a nice thing to offer people who can't play fair in multiplayer games.

The patch also has some other fixes and changes including enabling PZ bots and fixing some issues in the Left 4 Dead 2 SDK release.

Two of Electronic Arts' big PC game releases found themselves at the number one and two slots on the top 10 sales list for the Steam download service this week. Battlefield Bad Company 2 was on top of the list (based on revenue) and Mass Effect 2, due for release on Tuesday, was at number two in its Digital Deluxe version (the regular edition was at number 5

BioShock 2 managed to grab the number three slot on the list this week while Modern Warfare 2 continues to sell well on Steam at the number four position.

1. Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Digital Illusions/EA
2. Mass Effect 2 Deluxe Edition - BioWare/EA
3. BioShock 2 - 2K Marin/2K Games
4. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
5. Mass Effect 2 - BioWare/EA
6. Aliens Vs Predator - Rebellion/Sega
7. Company of Heroes Complete Pack - Relic/THQ
8. Global Agenda - Hi-Rez Studios
9. Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition - Cryptic Studios/Atari
10. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve

It took a massive sci-fi franchise to do it, but Modern Warfare 2 was finally displaced this week on the top of the Steam top 10 PC game sales list. The latest weekly list has the Digital Deluxe version of Star Trek Online at the number one slot with Modern Warfare 2 in the number two position.

The Digital Deluxe edition of Mass Effect 2 debuts at the number 3 slot while the indie shooter MMO Global Agenda surges up to the number four position on the list. The top 10 Steam sales list, according to revenue, is below.

1. Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition - Cryptic/Atari
2. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
3. Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition - BioWare/EA
4. Global Agenda - Hi-Rez Studios
5. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve
6. Mass Effect 2 - BioWare/EA
7. Kings Bounty Gold Edition - 1C Company
8. Wings of Prey - Gaijin Entertainment
9. Star Trek Online - Cryptic/Atari
10. Dirt 2 - Codemasters

Steam's holiday sales for the past couple of weeks meant that their regular weekly sales numbers were heavily skewed by massive temporary price productions for much of their library. With things now setting down from all that activity the weekly top 10 sales list on Steam (based on revenue) is back to normal.

And now that things are back to pre-holiday sales levels, Modern Warfare 2 is also back to its previous position as the number one best selling Steam game with Left 4 Dead 2 following it at the number two spot. Cryptic's upcoming MMO Star Trek Online is making its first appearance in the top 10 with its Digital Deluxe Edition and the regular edition taking the third and fourth spots, respectively.

1. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
2. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve
3. Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition - Cryptic/Atari
4. Star Trek Online - Cryptic/Atari
5. Grand Theft Auto IV - Rockstar Games
6. Global Agenda - Hi-Rez Studios
7. Borderlands - Gearbox/2K Game
8. Torchlight - Runic Games
9. Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter - Croteam
10. Aion - NCsoft

Best known for their family of gaming PC mice, Razer has just announced a plan to develop a motion sensing and gesture controller for PC games. In a press release today, Razer announced they would be teaming up with another company, Sixense, to create such a controller that will use "electromagnetic fields to track precise movements along all six axes for use in current and future generation PC games."

Razer is showing off a prototype of their controller at CES using Valve's Left 4 Dead 2. Valve's Chet Faliszek is quoted as saying, "For us and for our customers, this release represents motion-enabled gaming that's more integrated and visceral than any platform has so far achieved." The actual product is scheduled to be released sometime later this year but no price points have been announced.

You may remember a few months ago we did an interview with game developer Eric Ruth who was creating a version of Valve's hit zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead as a NES 8-bit title. Now the game has been completed and is available as a free game download for the PC.

This game allow players to go through all four single player campaigns in the original Left 4 Dead or you can bring in a friend for some two player co-op (sadly there's no four player co-op available). All four characters are available with two difficulty levels and all of the primary and secondary weapons. This is the first game in a planned series of titles that will adapt current games to play like they were made for older systems.

We were sure that when the Midnight Riders web site went live the fictional Southern rock band in Left 4 Dead 2 was going to be featured in some kind of expansion pack for the zombie co-op shooter. While that hasn't happened (at least not yet) the band has popped up yet again with a last minute Christmas tune.

The song is titled "All I Want For Christmas is to Kick Your Ass" and while it's not as catchy as, say, "Silent Night" it's certainly in keeping with the band's general attitude towards life. We are still hoping to actually play these guys in a Left 4 Dead 2 expansion or perhaps in Left 4 Dead 3 (because you know Valve must be at least thinking about it).

[Via Kotaku]

So you might have gotten some money or maybe a gift card for your Christmas present. What can you do to use them? The folks at GoGamer.com have some suggestions on how to spend it as it launches their after Christmas sale on their site. As one might expect, their sale has a mix of older and more recent PC games at cut down prices.

Among the more recent games are The Sims 3 for $34.90, The Last Remnant for $27.90, Left 4 Dead 2 for $37.90 and Modern Warfare 2 for $49.9. The older games in the sale can be bought for as low as $1.90.

Steam's big holiday sales event is ongoing with a ton of games and game bundle collections with slashed prices. Today they have gone even further with one day sales on five titles. The prices are only valid until 12 noon Eastern time on Christmas Day.

The biggest deal is with the id Software Super Pack. You can now purchase and download over 20 games either developed by or based on id games for a mere $23.79. Also Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter can be yours for just $9.99 for one day. Left 4 Dead 2 is on sale for $33.49 while Need For Speed Shift has a price cut of $37.49. Finally Football Manager 2010 can be yours for just $29.99.

Mod makers got an early Christmas present late on Wednesday. Valve announce on the official Left 4 Dead web site that the mod tools for the zombie shooter sequel Left 4 Dead 2 are now available. Mod makers can download the tools via the Steam client under the Tools tab.

The new authoring tools include some new features compared to the tools released for the original Left 4 Dead including support for the new Scavenge mode. It also lets mod makers support changing the layouts of maps with the new AI Director improvements. If you just want to play new custom Left 4 Dead 2 maps, you can simply download the Add-On Support tab in the Tools section. It will also allow players to download and play any map including those made for the original game.

It's been a long 12 months. Not just for the PC gaming, but the world as a whole. The current economic situation has been brutal and the game industry has certainly been affected by it with delays and cancellations of games, mass layoffs of people in the industry and shutdowns of long time game development studios. Even a major publisher, Midway, effectively closed its doors in 2009. We know a lot of people personally who would love to kick 2009 to the curb.

But there was also a lot to celebrate in the past year in our little corner of the entertainment industry. PC gamers got to play a lot of game titles, including a great RPG, an excellent super hero action game, and scores of downloadable titles that came out of left field to surprise us. But which of them were the best of the best in 2009? Naturally we at Big Download have our own opinions. The results of our brainstorming is now before you: the 2009 edition of the annual Big Download PC Game Awards. Which games did we pick as runners-up and winners of our various categories (including some new ones we added this year)? And who won the big prize of the best PC game of 2009? The answers to those questions are just ahead:

Click on the image above to continue reading Big Download's 2009 PC Game Awards:

Infinity Ward's first person shooter Modern Warfare 2 continues to stay on top of Steam's weekly top 10 best selling PC games list (based on revenue). The latest list also shows Valve's zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead 2 remaining in its second place position. Likely due to its weekend 50 percent off sale, Runic Games' action-RPG Torchlight is in third place on the list this week.

Price cuts were also likely the reason why other games showed up on this week's list which you can check out below:

1. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
2. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve
3. Torchlight - Runic Games
4. Counter-Strike Source - Valve
5. Team Fortress 2 - Valve
6. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition - Aspyr/LucasArts
7. The Last Remnant - Square Enix
8. Borderlands - Gearbox/2K Games
9. Global Agenda - Hi-Rez Studios
10. Dragon Age: Origins - BioWare/EA

With just one more day left until The Big Day, some people may still be trying to get some great deals on gifts. If you are looking for PC games, GoGamer's final sale before Christmas (they are calling it Red Friday) has a ton of PC games with big price cuts.

Some are older titles such as Shattered Union for $6.90, Shadowrun for just $2.90 and Call of Juarez for a mere $4.90. More recent games also have some solid price cuts like Dragon Age: Origins for $34.90, Left 4 Dead 2 for $37.90 and Modern Warfare 2 for $49.90 (and yes, that is a sale price; it's usually $60).

It's like The Justice Society and the Justice League teaming up. Valve has just announced plans for The Passing, the first downloadable mini-expansion for Left 4 Dead 2 as the new survivors of the zombie apocalypse meet up with the four characters in the first Left 4 Dead game.

Set after the events of the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign Dead Center, the new campaign storyline is set in Georgia and will not only have the two sets of teams meeting each other, but will also include new arenas for Survival, Scavenge and Versus Modes. There will also be a new (and so far unnamed) co-op challenge mode. The Passing will also add a new melee weapon, a new firearm, and a new "uncommon common" Infected. The Passing is due for release sometime this spring. There's no word yet if The Passing will be a free download for the PC version.