After announcing an agreement nearly one year ago today, Valve has updated its Orange Box games--Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, and Portal--to support Novint's Falcon three-dimensional controller.

Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike: Source and Day of Defeat will also soon receive similar updates.

The $150 Novint Falcon (shown left with optional pistol grip) was released in 2006. The three-dimensional "haptic" device is operated by a small spherical grip connected to three robotic arms.

The device's motors react to in-game events, with the end result... Read more

The latest update to Team Fortress 2 has re-enabled achievements as a method of unlocking the new Sniper and Spy unlockable items, a clear response to fan complaints of the new randomized system.

Players will still earn unlockable weapons randomly, but the weapons and items can now be gained in the traditional fashion by steadily earning each class' achievements. The Sniper and Spy unlocks come at 5, 11 and 17 achievements, while previous class unlocks come at the 11, 17 and 22 mark.

The patch also fixes a number of bugs introduced in the recent Sniper vs. Spy update.

The full patch notes follow:... Read more

With yesterday's Sniper vs. Spy update, the way unlockable items are earned in Team Fortress 2 was changed entirely, from the achievement-based grind to random item drops. Now Valve has posted on its official TF2 blog to explain the changes, and what improvements are coming next.

"[The] new system watches the amount of time that players are playing TF2, and gives them a chance to find items at regular intervals," writes Valve's Erik Johnson. "They aren't guaranteed to get the item at those points, but they have a pretty good chance."

"When we were tuning this system we first looked at the average amount of time that players spend playing TF2 daily," he continues. "From there, we set the goal of most players having around 20 items in their inventory after a couple of weeks of play. If you're someone who plays a lot of TF2, you're going to get items a lot faster than that.

Johnson also touched on some of the bugs that users noticed... Read more

Update 2: As some users have noticed, there are a few bugs in the new unlockable system. Valve's Robin Walker explains to RPS:

"As in everything else we do, we want to iterate, so this is really the first step towards our desired implementation," said Walker. "We also think we have bugs in the system as well, since we're seeing some players not finding any items after a few hours of play, which is not at all how it's tuned. We want unlockable drops to be a pretty regular occurrence for players, with the cosmetic hats being the rare finds."

Update: TF2 steward Robin Walker has confirmed to us that there is now a new way to earn unlockable weapons in the game.

"Items now drop randomly, in addition to the old (pre Spy/Sniper unlockables) achievement tied weapons," said Walker. "We're going to release info on the new system on the blog tomorrow."

Walker also noted that a series of head-slot hat items (see above) can now be earned in the same fashion.

Original story: The largest Team Fortress 2 update to date has finally been released by developer Valve, kick-starting a four-day free trial for the game. Valve also notes that the title will be 50% off its regular price on Steam for the duration of the... Read more

The final tease for the Team Fortress 2 update has been released by Valve, bringing the Sniper's third unlockable alongside the first TF2 comic.

The comic is centered around the unlockable, which is in fact derived from this year's TF2 April Fools' joke. Yes, the sniper will now be armed to the teeth with jars of urine. This videogame is insane.

"When splashed on enemies, they take 35% more damage for a period of time," writes Valve of the yellow stuff. "Jumping in water will wash off Jarate. Jarate is also able to short out Spies' cloaking devices. When used on teammates, Jarate will extinguish any fire effects."

Valve is also getting an early start on the weekend and making Team Fortress 2 free to all starting this Thursday.

The trial period will last through the end of Sunday, and will of course include Thursday's "Sniper vs. Spy" update. The game is now available for pre-loading.

The third, and presumably the final Spy unlock to be announced for Team Fortress 2 adds a powerful new handcannon to the class' aresenal.

"It has the ammo count of a revolver and the pinpoint accuracy of a sniper rifle, even at long range," writes Valve. However, the developer also notes that such a powerful revolver requires a significant cooldown period between shots.

The free Spy/Sniper update hits PC this Thursday, bringing new weapons, achievements and items for both classes along with hats for everyone, a new Payload Race mode and two new Arena maps.

Gearing up for this Thursday's release of the Sniper-Spy combo update, Valve has released a list of the 35 Spy-specific achievements coming to Team Fortress 2.

In light of the accidental release of its "Meet the Spy" video last weekend, Valve also awarded itself a "corporate achievement."

"Welcome to the internets: Fail to understand what 'Private' means on YouTube," reads the description, with a note: "It's the only way we'll learn."

1. A Cut Above
2. Agent Provocateur... Read more

Valve's latest Team Fortress 2 introduction video, Meet the Spy, has leaked out prematurely via the company's YouTube channel. The video was apparently taken down shortly after it was uploaded, but the internet spy-checkers sussed it out rather quickly.

Check out the lengthy cinematic below. The combination Spy/Sniper update hits May 21.

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Update: Valve's Doug Lombardi has confirmed to us that the update will include both the Spy and Sniper unlockables.

Original story: The upcoming Sniper update for Team Fortress 2 will also include new weapons for the Spy class, developer Valve announced today.

The Spy announcement fittingly uncloaked during the week set aside for the Sniper revelations, the spook himself using a classic feign ability (below left) to steal the spotlight from the unwitting Aussie.

Two unlockables for the Spy have been divulged by way of a faux order form (above right). The "Dead Ringer" spy watch will leave a dead corpse of the Spy on the ground while the "real" Spy is cloaked for eight seconds. The "Cloak and Dagger" spy watch will grant a cloak regeneration ability, allowing spies to remain hidden indefinitely while immobile.

The free update will now encompass the Sniper and Spy unlockable weapons, the Payload Race game mode, two new Arena maps, and cosmetic head-slot items for all classes. According to the TF2 blog, the whole package will be released on May 21, or next Thursday.

The latest announcement regarding the upcoming TF2 Sniper update is a rather shocking one: an unlockable anti-Spy shield for the Sniper.

The Sniper wears the Razorback shield on his back, which provides him ample electrified protection from backstabbing spies. The battery-powered item is good for one use, but wearing it is said to "slow you down a little."

"Any poor sap dumb enough to backstab you while you're sporting one is getting a surprise to the tune of 10,000 volts," writes Valve. "Plus, if they want to stab you again, they'll have to wait until their knife cools down. Which is lucky for you, since the Razorback collapses into a million finely crafted pieces after a single stab."

The Sniper update, which also includes the head-slot items, Payload Race mode, new arena maps and more, will be out within days.

In addition to the class unlocks, head-slot items and other inclusions expected in the upcoming Team Fortress 2 Sniper update, Valve announced today that it is also throwing in a new game mode called "Payload Race."

The mode, described as "gladiatorial cart combat," will operate like the previous payload mode--but rather than one team attempting to push a mine cart to a finish line, both will be tasked with doing so simultaneously.

The first map for Payload Race appears to be titled "Pipeline." A document written by Valve (above, right) notes that if players stop pushing the cart "for a sec," it will roll down to the bottom of the ramp.

Valve has also revealed that the update will bring two new Arena maps: Sawmill and Nucleus.

Of Sawmill, Valve writes: "Set in a stormy mountain sawmill, this... Read more

Update: Valve has clarified the Huntsman's attack, reiterating that it has no stun effect. Arrows merely pin players to the wall following death.

Original story: Valve today announced that the Sniper update for Team Fortress 2 is coming in the next few days, and has lifted the curtain on the first unlockable for the long-range class.

"The Huntsman" will arm the Sniper with an elegant hunting bow. The bow comes armed "with 18 arrows and a one-second charge for full power shots"--and a unique post-kill effect.

"Any experienced sniper will tell you how irritating it is when your targets keep moving around," writes Valve. "The question is how to stop these cheaters from wind-sprinting around like they own the place. And the answer is to... Read more

A new post on the official Team Fortress 2 blog has shed some light on Valve's upcoming Sniper update.

"In an effort to reduce some of the aggravation that other players feel towards the Sniper, we chose the goal of designing an unlockable that encouraged the Sniper to get a little closer to his target," writes Valve's Robin Walker.

"We want him to give up some of his primary advantage in return for something else, so that enemies he kills feel like they were engaged with them, and feel like they could have survived if they'd just managed to fight a little better," he teased.

No news on when the update will go live, though it's expected to launch sometime after the head-slot item update.

Fresh off the addition of an item backpack and a character hat-slot to Team Fortress 2--and the discovery of latent, item-related lines of game code that spawned many RPG-related jokes--developer Valve has gotten in on the joke with the most recent TF2 patch.

Ever vigilant in the pursuit of code-based scoops, the Steam community recently discovered a few extra lines of amusing code hidden in the game's GFC files by the amused developers.

The code in question is copied below.... Read more

The latest patch to Team Fortress 2 introduced some very mysterious mechanics--primarily, the addition of a 50-slot "backpack" to store items, and a new slot for headgear to accompany the traditional unlockables.

Naturally, the steathily-added features set off a storm of speculation amongst the fan community. Just how far is Valve going with these World of Warcraft-esque changes? When can I buy an epic mount for my Heavy?

In reality, the hats will be purely cosmetic in nature--at least initially. Valve's Robin Walker told us that while the TF2 team is interested in exploring more radical, RPG-style mechanics, the plan is to slowly introduce these new elements in order to carefully "measure the effect of each change, both on the game and on the community."

"The primary change here is simply the decoupling of achievements and unlockables, which is the source of most of the negative feedback we've received around previous class packs," said Walker. "It'll provide multiple ways... Read more

Valve has released a new patch for its colorful team-based multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 (PC), teasing upcoming "future features."

The update brings a new "head" slot into the Loadout menu, and introduces a Backpack that has slots for up to 50 different items.

Last year, Valve began updating each class with three unlockable items, with the Sniper receiving new equipment next. The Backpack and head slot certainly suggest more items are on the way for everyone, as 3 items for 9 classes only accounts for 27 items.

"We've got another update in the works that should be done before the Sniper, and that one will include some new content for all classes," Valve said in early April.

"We're also going to be looking at ways that players can get items other than achievement unlocking," TF2 director Robin Walker told Shacknews last year.

Curiously, the patch also brings the ability to delete items from the Backpack, with the warning that a deleted item "can never be re-earned." The changelog... Read more

After yesterday's pissy tease, Valve today confirmed that, yes, the Sniper will be the next Team Fortress 2 class to receive unlockable items and class-specific achievements.

"It's actually shaping up to be the largest TF2 update yet, with multiple new maps and a bunch of gameplay tweaks," wrote Greg Cherlin on Valve's Team Fortress blog.

"We've got another update in the works that should be done before the Sniper, and that one will include some new content for all classes," he added.

And while the Xbox 360 version of the colorful multiplayer shooter has still... Read more

Marking possibly the final April Fools' joke we'll cover, Valve has unveiled the first sniper unlockable ability: "Jarate."

Not content with a simple baseball, the sniper has mastered the long-forgotten art of Jarate, which apparently entails hurling jars of urine at his enemies.

Reads the update: "Wreak havoc on your opponent's mental state, psychological well-being and trust in the inherent goodness of his fellow man!"

The latest patch to Valve's multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 officially adds multicore rendering support, allowing users with fancy CPUs to take advantage of their myriad cores for faster framerates.

Though multicore support is now an official option rather than a hidden console command, Valve notes that it is testing the compatibility of the feature, so the option is turned off by default. To enable the option, go to "Options->Video->Advanced" in the game's menu.

The brief patch notes follow:... Read more

Valve today released a decent-sized patch to Team Fortress 2, making a few tweaks and changes to the game's classes and systems.

Gameplay alterations include adding a duck timer, re-enabling spy side-stabs, and a primary weapon default for disguises. Other various bug fixes round out the list.

Take a gander at the full patch notes below:... Read more