Week In Review

This week we learn that virtual swords are expensive, Valve doesn’t seem to want to make Half Life 3 and Ocean Marketing wins again.

3DS Discovers Myst

Not content with being available on almost every other platform in existence, one of the most popular adventure games of all time is on its way to the 3DS. Myst is one of those games that just many people played, but few have made it past the first level, much less beaten. In March 2012, gamers will get a second (or third, or fourth, or hundredth) chance to point, click, and puzzle their way through the enigmatic island of Myst, but this time, in full autostereoscopic 3D. (Link)

Epic Wins Advantage in Too Human Lawsuit

Though the final resolution of the case is still in dispute, a December 22 ruling by Chief District Judge James Dever III reveal Silicon Knights has suffered a major setback in its suit against Epic Games. The Escapist has obtained a order by the court granting Epic’s motion to exclude the reports and testimony of Terry Lloyd. Lloyd, a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst, was retained by Silicon Knights “to render an opinion regarding Silicon Knights’ alleged damages.” (Link)

Gamer Drops $16,000 on Virtual Sword for Unreleased Game

During a recent auction for the soon-to-be-released martial arts MMO, Age of Wulin, one excited gamer purchased an exclusive in-game sword for just $16,000 before even playing the game. At the same event, someone else bought a Hook of Departure sheath for a paltry $1,600, and another walked away with a Lordly Spear sheath for a mere $2,500 (apparently fashionable scabbards are a big deal in ancient China). (Link)

Valve: There Is No Half-Life 3

After years of meme-level jokes about the lack of a Half-Life game in 8 years – especially since the series was supposed to be “episodic” – the collective internet began to rumble this month. There was that guy with the Half-Life 3 tee-shirt at a Valve party, and the appearance of a phantom website with the logo clearly emblazoned upon it. A poster on Valve’s official forums even claimed there was an arcane clue hidden in Wheatley’s speech for Game Character of the Year at Spike’s VGAs. (Link)

Ocean Marketing Attempts To Extort Former Client

Moisés Chiullan has had a busy day. Since he took over handling N-Control’s PR after Roid Rage Nightmare Paul Christoforo, Chiullan has done a pretty masterful job of damage control. He’s managed to very publicly disown and denounce Christoforo (going so far as to say that there “isn’t a bus big enough for me to throw Paul Christoforo under) and has personally taken to Twitter to answer people’s questions about the situation. Tonight, though, Chiullan set up a Reddit AMA to directly respond to all the questions and revealed that his predecessor isn’t done making life difficult for N-Control: It turns out the man is trying to extort some serious cash from them. (Link)