Valve today confirmed that its cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, due November 18, will be the first game to pack support for its free Steam Cloud technology, which automatically stores game settings online.

The initial release of Steam Cloud will store keyboard, mouse, and gamepad configurations, along with multiplayer settings such as spraypaint images, on Steam, allowing gamers to easily play with their settings on any Steam-connected PC.

The initial release of Steam Cloud will not archive saved games, Valve confirmed with Shacknews, though the promised functionality "is coming."

Along with Left 4 Dead's Steam Cloud implementation, Valve will apply the technology to its back catalog of Steam games and provide the free Steam Cloud toolset to all Steam developers and publishers for widespread implementation.

"Steam Cloud is a natural extension of the portability Steam affords gamers and developers, and we intend to expand its feature set as it is used in Left 4 Dead and other games coming to Steam," noted Valve president Gabe Newell.

Just in time for Halloween, Valve has released the introduction for its cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.

The over four-minute, entirely in-engine movie was created by the same internal Valve team that produced the acclaimed Team Fortress 2 "Meet the" videos.

Not quite in time for Halloween, Left 4 Dead will hit Xbox 360 and PC on November 18. The demo will be released on November 11, or November 6 for pre-order customers.

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As part of their Left 4 Dead advertising campaign, Valve will run ads on television channels starting November 8. The first TV spot is now available online, featuring footage from the game's opening sequence.

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The co-op zombie shooter Left 4 Dead infects PC and Xbox 360 November 18.

Pre-sales of Valve's zombie shooter Left 4 Dead (PC, 360) are outperforming those of the company's hit game collection The Orange Box by nearly twofold, according to the developer.

"Pre-orders are now running 95% over those of The Orange Box, and we're getting set to launch the pre-release demo and television campaign to further fuel this momentum," said Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi in an official release.

Valve announced earlier today that customers who pre-order Left 4 Dead will receive access to the game's demo a full week prior to the November 18 release date.

Lombardi also announced the launch of a new Left 4 Dead contest, inviting fans to capture creative poses in front of Left 4 Dead outdoor advertisements. The entries will be judged by Valve's Gabe Newell, with the top 25 receiving free copies of Left 4 Dead. The grand prize winner will bag a new gaming PC assembled by AMD.

Publisher Electronic Arts today released probably the best batch of screenshots I've seen from Valve's multiplayer zombie shooter Left 4 Dead (PC, 360). Sure, much the game is played in dark hallways and pitch-black cornfields, and those are some great levels--but they don't always translate well to picture form. These shots taken from the Dead Air levels--the campaign set in and around an airport--provide a nice contrast to earlier media.

You can see--and play--Left 4 Dead in moving form on November 18, with pre-order customers getting their hands on the demo November 6.

Valve has responded to reports yesterday that the demo for its zombie-escaping shooter Left 4 Dead (PC, 360) will arrive on November 6 for pre-order customers and November 11 for the public.

"This pre-order promotion applies to all Steam PC pre-orders and all Xbox 360 and PC pre-orders from participating retailers in North America," reads a press release from the developer. The release did not mention which retailers are participating, but it is known that GameStop is taking part.

Valve added that the demo will feature both single-player and cooperative play for up to four players, and that it will arrive on the same dates for the Xbox 360 version as the PC edition.

"The demo concludes on November 18," according to the press release, when the full game will get its retail and digitally-distributed release.

The demo of Valve's Left 4 Dead (PC, 360) has been promised for early November, and it will be even earlier for those who pre-order the game through mega-retailer GameStop.

The GameStop product page for the flee-from-zombie-apocalypse shooter promises "early access to the demo" from November 6 to 11 for those who reserve a copy of the game. For those who have already reserved the game, they can use this page and their receipts to get their access keys.

As "early access" through GameStop ends on November 11 and the full game releases on November 18, Internet Speculation has led to the inevitable conclusion that the demo will be available to the general public on or around November 12.

Shacknews has contacted Valve for more information.

Valve has issued a new set of system requirements for the PC version of its cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead. While the list is nearly identical to the previous requirements, it does lower the video card requirement from 256MB to 128MB.

In addition to the revised specs, the studio also issued a few new screenshots of the user interface that Xbox 360 owners will find in the game. Both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Left 4 Dead will arrive in stores on November 18.

• OS: Windows XP, Vista, Vista64
• CPU: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 or AMD64X2 (or higher)
• RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
• Disc drive: DVD-ROM Drive
• Hard drive: At least 7.5 GB of free space
• Video: Direct X 9 compatible video card - Video card must be 128 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for pixel shader 2.0 (ATI 9600 or high. Or, Nvidia 6600 or higher)
• Sound: Direct X9.0c compatible sound card

Accompanying our recent hands-on preview of Left 4 Dead's playable undead, Valve has released new screenshots from the 8-player zombie vs. survivor mode that will be found in the zombie-shooting PC and Xbox 360 game upon its November 18 arrival.

While advertisements for Bethesda's Fallout 3 appear in Washington DC's Metro Center station, Shacknews has discovered that a variety of ads for Valve's Left 4 Dead have appeared on the opposite coast and infected the San Francisco subway system.

The advertisements are part of Valve's massive $10 million marketing campaign for the cooperative zombie shooter, which arrives in PC and Xbox 360 form on November 18.

The subway ads join a L4D billboard in Seattle, WA, recently spotted by fansite Left 4 Dead 411, with Shackers melkore and Darkfox76 reporting that more billboards are located in Chicago, IL alongside Highway 94 and Vallejo, CA alongside Highway 29.

For more on Left 4 Dead, check out our recent hands-on preview with the playable undead and interview with Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi.

After playing through a bunch of Left 4 Dead's Versus mode--impressions of which can be found here, along with new video--I sat down with Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi to talk about the upcoming title.

We went over the current status of the game, the changes made to Versus mode over the past year, how long we might have to wait for another TF2 update, and why vomiting will be more fun than anything you'll do this year.

We really did that because, you know, Chet and I have been traveling, we've seen you at a bunch of these events--people have a reaction to the game when they play it. You tell them about the game, you show them a screenshot, you show them a movie, and they're like, "That looks pretty cool." They play the game, and they're like, "Wow, this is one of the best games coming this year." Read more..

To go along with our lengthy hands-on impressions, we also have a little shaky-cam footage of Left 4 Dead's Versus mode.

Shown here is the game played from the perspective of a Hunter, which leaps at its victims before pinning them in a death-hug. Also seen on screen is the Smoker, dragging players to their doom with its tongue attack.

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Versus mode is not at all what people will expect from a "horror game." It's funny. It's hilarious fun. It brings out the twisted monster in all of us--the monster that doesn't care about cooperation, and only wants to grab a friend from across the room and bite his arm off.

That's not to say there aren't moments of tension. But while I'll make a comparison to Aliens vs. Predators later on in this preview, Versus mode is simply too much of a blast to sustain any sense of real dread. In that respect, it's got more in common with Team Fortress 2 than something like Counter-Strike.

But let's get the basics down first. Versus essentially pits two teams of four humans and Infected against eachother, in what Valve described to me as a football-esque scenario. The humans have to reach a safe room--like carrying a football to the endzone--while constantly being hunted by AI zombies and the four player-controlled zombie heroes.

When the round ends--either with the humans reaching the room, or being decimated--the teams switch sides, playing the same map but as the other race. The team that carries the "ball" the furthest as the human side wins.

From the human perspective, the objective is identical to the co-op mode. But playing from the Infected side, everything changes dramatically.

As a zombie, you begin the round--and every subsequent spawn--directly on top of the humans. Unfortunately, you can't hit them yet--your first objective is... Read more

The downloadable PC and Xbox 360 demo for Valve's cooperative zombie-killing shooter Left 4 Dead is likely to debut just after Halloween--roughly two weeks before the November 18 release--marketing VP Doug Lombardi affirmed with Shacknews today.

"We're going to announce a date before Halloween, and the demo will come out in early November," stated Lombardi.

The demo will feature the first two missions of the Survivor campaign, set in the Hospital map, and will support cooperative online play for up to four players. However, players eager to eat the brains of their opponents will have to wait until the game hits retailers, as the demo will not provide a sampling of the playable undead.

Lombardi also revealed that the Xbox 360 version is done on Valve's end, and is now only awaiting certification by Microsoft. He noted that the PC version is in good shape, but still needs a little more work before being finalized.

Both the PC and Xbox 360 editions of Left 4 Dead are currently available for pre-order from various retailers, with Valve offering a 10% discount on the PC version via Steam.

Left 4 Dead is getting close to its November 18 launch, and Valve is now happy to accept your money: the PC edition is now available for pre-purchase on Steam with a 10% discount before the game's release, making for a price of $44.99.

"With just over four weeks until launch, Left 4 Dead is showing every sign of topping The Orange Box on both the PC and Xbox 360, at retail as well as on Steam," said Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi in a press release.

For those resisting the PC incarnation of the run-away-from-zombies shooter, the Xbox 360 version will hit retail on the same day. The 10% discount also applies to pre-purchase customers at retail outlets, according to Valve's press release.

"Our pre-sell numbers at retail have jumped to over 65% greater than Orange Box at the same proximity to launch," Lombardi continued. "We're seeing tremendous enthusiasm for the product in what promises to be another great year for gaming on both platforms," he added.

For the full press release straight from Valve, read on.

Valve has released the system requirements for the PC version of its anticipated shooter Left 4 Dead. The Halflife2.net forums claim to have received these requirements from Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi:

• OS: Windows Vista, XP or 2000
• CPU: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 or AMD64X2 (or higher)
• RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
• Disc drive: DVD-ROM Drive
• Hard drive: At least 7.5 GB of free space
• Video: Direct X 9 compatible video card (Video card must be 256 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for pixel shader 2.0)
• Sound: Direct X9.0c compatible sound card

The requirements are noticeably relaxed, following Valve's tradition to support older systems through its Source engine. The run-away-from-zombies thriller shooter will hit North American shores on PC and Xbox 360 on November 18.

Like the undead in Valve's upcoming shooter Left 4 Dead, the rumors of a PlayStation 3 version just won't die. But like the undead, the chances of that PS3 port just took a barrel full of buckshot to the face.

"We don't have the bandwidth [to do Left 4 Dead on PS3]" Valve co-founder Gabe Newell told 1UP. He added, "We're doing the 360 and PC version ourselves."

Still, Newell would not put the persistent rumors to rest. "For The Orange Box, EA did the PS3 version. They're interested in getting a PS3 version done. We just have to figure out where the resources can come from. We don't have the bandwidth. "

With just two months to go until the zombie-escape shooter's November 18 release on PC and Xbox 360 and no PlayStation 3 version in sight, if a PS3 edition does end up coming around, it will inevitably arrive late to the party, just like The Orange Box PS3.

A demo version of Valve's zombie-invasion shooter Left 4 Dead is bound for the PC and Xbox 360, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell confirmed.

Newell told Videogamer.com, "We will be releasing demos for both the Xbox and for the PC."

Other details, like a release date and a scenario, were hazy. "I don't know what the date is for release on that, though. I think it's going to contain the first part of one of the [game's four] campaigns. That's a decision that Valve [VP of marketing] Doug Lombardi is making."

Newell guessed that the demo would cover part of the Hospital campaign, which has been shown at public demonstrations like PAX and inspired Shacknews editor Nick Breckon to call it, declaring the game will certainly be "a major fucking hit."

Asked whether the demo would include the game's oft-touted online co-operative capability, he enthused, "Oh yeah. You'll be able to play single-player and co-op in the demo."

The full game will hit North American shores on November 18, followed by Europe on November 21.

You play a game long enough, especially one as focused and polished as Left 4 Dead, and you naturally start to form an opinion.

So even months away from its release, I may as well declare what some already know: Left 4 Dead is going to be a major fucking hit.

The developers have nailed this thing in every way possible. The pacing. The polish. The guns. The zombies. Even the console port is great.

The Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead

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One thing Valve found out early on is that the media--and by that I mean screenshots, video, and the written word--does not do this game justice. It's a bit like watching a space shuttle launch on television, or listening to someone read... Read more

After greedily hogging a Left 4 Dead (PC, 360) demo station for what seemed like hours today at PAX, I had the chance to pull Valve's Chet Faliszek aside and get his comment on a number of topics related to the upcoming co-op zombie shooter. How different is the Xbox 360 version? Will the game have an all-talk chat option? What's that about a flamethrower? Read on for Faliszek's answers.

On the differences between the Xbox 360 and PC versions:

"I know someone on Shack or Left4Dead411, someone was like, 'Oh you can see they slowed it down on the 360.' Did it seem slower to you? Yeah. We didn't slow it down at all for the 360. Our tech guys, our really smart guys, did a ton of work so that the 360 users see the same things the PC users do.

Everything's the same. When we do split-screen, we do a couple little things just graphically there to smooth things out, but it's still the same speed, same match, same number of zombies. So as we were working on it, guys were like... Read more