According to Joystiq this morning, Valve has confirmed that Steam and all Source Engine based games will be available on the Mac as of April this year. This means that titles like Left 4 Dead 2, Half Life 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 will be available to play on the Mac in just a few short weeks!

In addition, Valve’s Jason Holtman has said that they are introducing a new feature called Steam Play which “allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge.” Coupled with the Steam Cloud, a feature that allows cross platform bookmarking, this would provide users the ability to play a game on their PC at work and resume from their same save point on their Mac when they get home and vice versa. No more pesky waiting until you get home to play games!

Portal 2, releasing this holiday season, is set to be the first new release for the Mac right alongside its PC and Xbox 360 counterparts. Finally…one for you Mac gamers out there! Congratulations!

Let us know your thoughts on this exciting development below.

What up ye Children of the ‘Axe?!?!? DK here kicking off another week of Member BattleCries where you can CRY HAVOC and LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! This week we’re tackling a pretty hefty topic…GAME DELAYS! Unfortunately, they’ve become a fixture in the industry, and with the oft delayed Final Fantasy XIII FINALLY shipping this week here in NA, we thought it’d be a good time to explore the different scenarios where a delay has either helped or hurt a particular title. This is where you come in…We’re asking you to rob the memory bank for all its worth and tell tale of game delays that were either tragic or triumphant! Think back as recent or as far as you like and let us know about the games delays that most impacted a project you were, at least at one time, totally stoked for. With that in mind, I pose the following question to you in this week’s MBC Topic Starter:

WHICH GAMES HAVE BEEN IMPACTED THE MOST, EITHER POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY, BY A DELAY?

Of course, you can chat up a title from any era of gaming (if you can remember back that far), but please keep in mind that we want both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE responses…We’re not looking to create a bitch fest or warm/fuzzy here…We’re trying to get your input as we evaluate how game delays TRULY impact the titles we crave.

Just leave your Member BattleCry in the comments section below and check back daily to see the featured MBC on EpicBattleAxe.com. Of course, we’ll feature the MBC of the week on the next skirmish of the EpicBattleCry podcast and we encourage you to sound off on WHATEVER you want, even if it’s a bit off-topic. Oh yeah, don’t forget to vote in our poll this week which deals with your thoughts on game delays in general.

Alright, I gotta a ton of crap to do this week, but I’m really looking forward to checking out your thoughts on the whole game delay thing…Does it help? Does it hurt? Should pubs/devs even ANNOUNCE release dates before they KNOW it will ship (thus eliminating “delays” all together…)??? CRY HAVOC AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!!

Laterz,
DK

PRESS RELEASE

Sometimes realism is overrated. Don’t we all need a regular jolt of fantasy to keep our imaginations alive and kicking? For Wii owners, this week’s new game lineup is set to deliver exactly that. Max & the Magic Marker for the WiiWare service imagines what would happen if your own artistic creation turned against you, while the Virtual Console service features a big dose of otherworldly action with the classic FINAL FANTASY II. Browse all the latest downloadable games for the Wii and Nintendo DSi systems to help keep your imagination fueled to the max.

We’ve also got some free bonus inspiration for you this week: At last September’s Penny Arcade Expo, Nintendo invited professional artists to create one-of-a-kind animations using the Flipnote Studio application for the Nintendo DSi system. The results are now online and ready for viewing at the Flipnote Hatena site, including cool clips from top comic artists like Eric Jones, Christina Strain and Mike Choi. Check them out and treat your brain to extra helpings of creative juice.

Get a full listing of all the virtual offerings from Nintendo this week after the jump.
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What a great day for the etymologists amongst you, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced via press release its plans to create the next Scribblenauts for Nintendo DS. Available in fall 2010, the follow-up game, tentatively titles “Scribblenauts 2“, expands on its predecessor with inventive new features including an adjectives system that allows players to “push the limits of their imagination to create their own experience.”

You can check out first images and art from the project right here.

“The Scribblenauts sequel gives all players an enhanced game experience they will love and new challenges where they can use their imaginations even more,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Development and Production, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “5TH Cell is a very talented and creative developer and we are excited to add to the Scribblenauts franchise with this new game.”

“The next Scribblenauts broadens the players’ experience from the first Scribblenauts through more creativity, innovation and in-depth gameplay,” said Jeremiah Slaczka, Creative Director and Co-Founder of 5TH Cell. “All of these enhancements give players even greater control over how they want to play the game.”

The new Scribblenauts game is said to offer more words, more creativity and “limitless possibilities” for gamers of all ages, although we can think of a few words that just might not be included…

We’ll keep you posted on any new info as it emerges.

Platinum Games has confirmed that its new third-person shooter Vanquish, expected to release Winter 2010, will be single player only.

The new IP from Shinji Mikami , well known for his involvement in the Resident Evil series as well as Devil May Cry, said that “it is a question of balance” and that they are doing this in order to deliver the “best single-player experience possible”.

In addition, we get some new screens from the game that show off said single player experience in action. You can check the new images out here.

We’ll keep you posted on any new Vanquish details as we get word.

Via Eurogamer

There’s a new trailer for Mafia II that debut on last week’s GTTV and hey, it don’t look so bad (can you hear the accent?). The game is from 2K Czech and runs on the dev’s proprietary Illusion Engine™. For those who have an inner Al Capone, the game is looking quite intriguing…especially when you consider that today we get word from Kotaku that the game, set in the 1950’s, will feature vintage covers and centerfolds from Playboy magazine (launched in 1953) that can be found throughout Empire Bay as a means of adding to the game’s “authenticity.”

“For more than 55 years, Playboy has been a part of America’s pop culture landscape, engaging its readers with insightful features, interviews and fashion spreads, as well as pictorials of some of the world’s most beautiful women,” said Playboy magazine’s Editorial Director Jimmy Jellinek. “Mafia II is set when Playboy first came into vogue and features characters whose style and attitudes mirror content from our early issues. We’re excited to bring an element of authenticity to the game that is unmatched in the men’s publishing category.”

Hmmm…Interesting.

You can check out the recently released trailer here. We’ll keep you posted on any new, sexy Mafia II details as they emerge.

For those of you that missed it, much to our surprise, a new title starring the classic game (and now movie) character Lara Croft was recently announced. The surprise is not that there is a new Lara Croft game, but that it isn’t Tomb Raider.

Crystal Dynamics, makers of the last three Tomb Raider games, has announced a new project in the Lara Croft canon called Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Although the new game is minus the ‘Tomb Raider‘ in the title, it still involves our buxom heroine, exotic locals, and some serious platforming.

This game, however, will be different from the more recent entries in the series in a few key ways. First, it will only be released digitally. Also different from the norm is that this iteration will feature a fixed isometric camera, giving the player just one view for the whole game. And, oh yeah, the game is co-op too!

It is being said that the game is a bit more “arcadey” than previous iterations, but the buzz, albeit early, is good so far. Check out a more in-depth first look over at GameSpot.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is due out in the Summer of 2010.

Fallout fans rejoice as the first in-game images of the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas have hit the net. The screens showcase everything from characters, to enemies, to menus, while showcasing the atmosphere that makes the series so unique. And by “atmosphere”, I mean “crazy-ass-awesomeness!”

For those that missed the initial announcement, here’s a description of the game:

Experience all the sights and sounds of fabulous New Vegas, brought to you by Vault-Tec, America’s First Choice in Post Nuclear Simulation. Explore the treacherous wastes of the Great Southwest from the safety and comfort of your very own vault: Meet new people, confront terrifying creatures, and arm yourself with the latest high-tech weaponry as you make a name for yourself on a thrilling new journey across the Mojave wasteland. A word of warning, however – while Vault-Tec engineers have prepared for every contingency,* in Vegas, fortunes can change in an instant. Enjoy your stay.

* Should not be construed as a legally-binding claim.

Awesome.

You can check out the new screens right here. Fallout: New Vegas is expected to release this fall.

via Joystiq

Hello fellow Axe-inians, Forum Moderator Nich Longe here welcoming you to another brain melting edition of EpicBattleAxe.com’s inForum where we help point you to the coolest and most disturbing topics being discussed inside the pits of the EBA Forums. Stop in and let your voice be heard on the hottest discussions this week which include game pricing, outrageously cool intro videos, the new Halo: Reach trailer, and our brand new Games Index forum! Now take my hand as I take you on this magic carpet ride. ‘A whole new Wor…’ Okay, Okay, just kidding. LET’S STUFF THIS PIG!!!
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Thank god its Saturday ladies and gents, not only are we all finally through five days worth of school, work, and/or whatever weekday challenges were presented to you but now you can sit down, relax, and enjoy a delicious batch of gossip courtesy of Epicbattleaxe.com’s The Rumor KILL.  As per usual, this week there were no shortages of rumors for me to sink my intellectual teeth into and solve the magic problem of whether these rumors deserve our attention or if they should be tossed back into the virtual garbage dump of carnage.  So, here are four delectable samples from the gaming rumor cake that I think provide interesting cases.  I of course will be playing judge, jury, and executioner to these rumors so if you want to see my verdicts then read on Axeheads…read on.
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