Can this even be real? Did Valve just filed for a Half-Life 3 trademark? And does this mean… Never mind, I’m just lost for words at the moment, as it seemed, momentarily, that Valve had completely forgotten about the franchise, and yet we found out today that it lives.

The trademark was found by a NeoGAF member, and has totally sent the internet up in flames.

So will Half-Life 3 be exclusive to Valve’s Steam Box? Probably. What better way to sell your product than bundling it with one of the most anticipated games ever.

Just last week Valve announced a beta for its Steam Family Sharing plan, and now this. Sony and Microsoft better pay attention.

Thanks, Ars Technica.

Valve hasn’t officially announced either project, but the studio has previously hinted that both are likely to happen.

Last November, Gabe Newell said that the company has been “working on Valve’s new engine stuff for a while, we’re probably just waiting for a game to roll it out with”.

Could Left 4 Dead 3 be Source 2 Engine’s first game?

“i can’t confirm all too much since the development is still in early stages, but for now i can confirm that we are going to release on both current and next generation consoles and we will also release the game on our own platform exclusively for Pc and Mac. We hope to have the first trailer ready for E3 2014, which we (after several times not attending) will finally come back to”

NoShitShurlock is claiming to have spoken with this individual:

“After much back and forth emailing he confirms to us that the game will include many of the main characters from Half Life 2 and “the story continues where it left off”.

The game is currently under development and will be released on the PC, Mac, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, as the rumor states. Take this with a grain of salt; early development stages and E3 2014 do not go well with one another, plus, for such a high profile release, the developers are surely bound by NDA. This might be just another drop in the ocean of Half Life 3 rumors, however, we still got to report it.

According to the Xi3 Corporation, the hardware being showed off is “a development stage system optimized for computer gameplay on large high-definition television monitors”.

The hardware will be housed in a  Xi3 Modular Computer chassis (seen immediately below), and will support both Steam and the platform’s Big Picture mode.

The hardware will be on demonstration at Valve’s CES stations all this week, where the firm is expected to talk more about the tech. Xi3 Corporation received an investment from Valve to create the SteamBox, it has been revealed.

Said Xi3 president Jason A. Sullivan:

This new development stage product will allow users to take full-advantage of their large high-definition TV displays for an amazing computer game experience.

As a result, this new system could provide access to thousands of gaming titles through an integrated system that exceeds the capabilities of leading game consoles, but can fit in the palm of your hand.

This, as just yesterday Nvidia unveiled its new portable console dubbed Project SHIELD. Expect a crowded year for consoles, folks.

Big Games Come Early

Do you realize that every big game that’s already been announced will be released in the first half of 2013? Have a look at this IGN list and you’ll notice something very strange. Why is it that Bioshock Infinite, God of War: Ascension, Tomb Raider, Metro: Last Light, Gears of War: Judgement and other big titles are releasing in or around March, 2013? It’s almost insanity, and it’s something publishers would otherwise stay away from. The thing is they simply can’t; because once mid-May hits, all the talk will be about Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles. Alas, that’s all people seems to be talking about these days.

Xbox 720 – “And It’s On”

It’s no secret, folks. 2013 is the year Microsoft lets loose its next big thing: the next Xbox. It’s not even a rumor any longer, as the firm itself has already sent live a countdown clock leading up to E3, with a quote that reads: “And it’s on”.

Developers are already hard at work on new titles for the platform and they’ll want to showcase these games by midyear to build enough hype… And once E3 2013 rolls around, no one will be talking about PS3 and Xbox 360 and the games they offer, doesn’t matter how good said games may be. It’ll be Xbox 720 and…

PS4 

Sony isn’t about to allow Microsoft to get the edge again by releasing PS4 in 2014. In fact numerous rumors have pinned down the console to be released even before Microsoft’s Xbox 720, as Sony tries to regain its dominance in the industry. On it’s behalf, major first-party developers have been forging games, we believe, like Killzone 4, Uncharted 4, inFamous 3, a new LittleBigPlanet title, and other major titles for the platform.

Again, nobody will be talking about PS3 then.

Steam Box

Valve confirmed to Kotaku at the VGAs that they too are readying hardware to make PC gaming more accessible through Televisions, a venture that sure has Microsoft and Sony thinking.

Imagine playing PC games, in all their glory, easily on your TV. That, in essence, is what Valve’s Steam Box is.

Ouya

Ouya will be available before any of the consoles, and while it doesn’t represent a threat to Sony and Microsoft , it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. and who will be buying the Android-based console. If its Kickstarter success is anything to go by, Ouya just might be a winner.

But you can expect the year to become even more exciting once next-gen titles start showing up. As of now, we know about…

Star Wars 1313

Watch Dogs

Star Wars 1313 and Watch Dogs are just two titles we already know, and have seen, that are surely next-gen offerings. But you can bet your bottom dollar that all major developers are working on PS4/Xbox 720 games.

Here Are The Obvious Ones

Battlefield 4

New Call of Duty

Uncharted 4

Killzone 4

Assassin’s Creed Next Gen

Gran Turismo 6

New Forza

New Gears of War

New Final Fantasy

New Crysis

New Halo (Halo Infinity?)

Oh yeah, and that Game From Respawn.

Expect most of these titles to at least be announced later this year, with some, like Battlefield 4 and the next Call of Duty becoming available this fall.

So 2013 is the year gamers should pay the closest attention to the industry, because I’m not sure when else we’ll see another like it.

New Breakthroughs

From what we’re hearing, don’t expect Sony and Microsoft’s machines to simply be more powerful; but expect new ways of playing, as Sony goes heavy with its Virtual Reality technology, and Microsoft beefs up motion play with Kinect 2, allowing you to take full control of not only your game, but your entire living room with simple gestures.

Expect more depth in games, as developers make good use of the tools at their disposal, resulting in better AI, more life-like visuals, in-depth stories, longer gameplay – all accounting for an overall better gaming experience.

Games Thirst will be there to watch as it unfolds, and cover the full thing, bringing our community breaking news, videos, previews, reviews, rumors, quick quenchers and more, all while having some of the best “Thirsty Conversations” anywhere.

Brace yourself, friends. 2013 will be a memorable year.

According to Valve Time, Jeff Gates (programmer who has worked on Diablo 3, Sports and Plants vs. Zombies) and Tod Semple (Diablo 3, Plants vs. Zombies and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed) will be opening a new Valve office in San Francisco.

The acquisition was made back in September, Semple’s LinkedIn profile reveals.

Big Picture makes it easier for PC gamers to play their gamers, with controllers if they so which, on a TV. Sounds simple? It is.

Big Picture also includes a new web browser designed for televisions and game controllers, and is accessible from anywhere within the Big Picture UI (User Interface) – even while playing Steam games on a TV.

The Big Picture sale ends December 10th.

The question was posed to Newell by the Internet’s /v/ board from 4chan.com, who visited the studio recently. Newell would not answer any Half Life 3 questions, but did concur to be heavily working on a new Source engine. When asked if it was new, and not just a tweaking of the old, Gabe simply said: “Yeah”.

There you have it.

The VZBV believes Valve’s new EULA coerces users into agreeing to new terms, as if they hit “cancel”, they won’t be able to login to their accounts. This, obviously, puts people at a disadvantage, because they bought licenses under different EULA, and they can’t access them if they don’t agree with the new EULA.

Why would you get a console over a PC, if you intent to use it just for gaming and minor other stuff (movies, some internet browsing etc)? Because it’s cheaper, easy to connect and set up, and you can lay on your couch like a sloth with a controller in your hands and play. Valve intends to go the same route with Big Picture, albeit swapping the console with your PC.

Valve’s Greg Coomer, head of the team that made Big Picture mode, spoke to Kotaku:

“We’re confident in some things that customers want. They want a full-screen experience. They want to be in the living room. They want to use a game controller. They wanna have a social gaming experience. And we have this platform that lets us ship a significant portion of that experience.”

Big Picture won’t be perfect, but Coomer believes it will pull off most things people crave successfully. When asked about the rumored Steam Box, Coomer replied:

“What we really want is to ship [Big Picture mode] and then learn. So we want to find out what people value about that. How they make use of it. When they make use of it. Whether it’s even a good idea for the broadest set of customers or not. And then decide what to do next. So it could be that the thing that really makes sense is to build the box that you’re describing. But we really don’t have a road map. And we think we’re going to learn a tremendous amount through this first release.”

Valve is wondering, though, how will gamers receive Big Picture. Moving your PC around your house to connect it to your TV is something I wouldn’t ever do, personally, and if people are looking for a console experienced, that’s not what they would do, either. So what does Coomer say about this?

“Each individual gamer is going to have to decide in the short term whether the value that Big Picture brings is something they want to configure for themselves. And for some users it’s going to be quite easy. For some users it might not be worth it yet. But that’s one of the things we’re going to find out when we ship. And then over time, I think we’re going to figure out which of those scenarios, or what ways do customers really want us to get involved in solving the rest of the problems that, say, our software can’t solve for them. And if it’s getting involved in shipping some kind of hardware, then we will get involved in doing that if we need to.”

How would Valve battle this? A dedicated Valve-box, or an open console like Ouya? Unknown. For the record, though, the Ouya people never spoke with Valve, so Steam appearing there is, for now, not in the picture.

A great feature the Big Picture sports is its virtual keyboard, pictured below.

It is unnecessary to describe why this is an exciting new addition. Instead of being stuck with QWERTY keyboards, or the “teams of 3 for each button”, this one is pretty easier to work with. Just tilt the stick to one of the “pedals”, and hit one of the four buttons, to get the letter you want. As some of you noticed, the Big Picture mode was showcased using an Xbox 360 controller.

Since everything is there (browser, friends list and chat, search for games, purchases etc), a great virtual keyboard had to go with all those. And you can even multi-task, as Kotaku notes, “switching back and forth between a game and your browser without minimizing to the desktop at all.”

Auto-correct and context awareness are also in line for future updates, says Coomer. “When you’re in a web browser, it should know that you might want to put ‘dot com’ at the end of your address”, later saying that they want it to support split-screen mode, with individual Steam accounts for each player.

To sum up, Coomer didn’t cross out the possibility of a Valve console that acts solely as a Steam box, to save you from the cost and trouble of moving around (or buying) your PC, just to use Big Picture, but he also said perfecting Big Picture is the priority now. What can we expect? Only time will show. In the meantime, take a look at some more screenshots, below (all images are courtesy of Kotaku).

“Valve has been pursued over the years by Electronic Arts, which would very likely have valued Valve at well over $1 billion had the talks progressed that far,” the report claimed.

The article noted that the information had come from “two people with knowledge of the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private”.

Gabe Newell, however, told NYTimes that if they were purchased by any other company, it wouldn’t be too long until that new company terminate their employment agreements: “It’s way more likely we would head in that direction than say, ‘Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate,’ ” he said.

While EA laid out $1 billion for Valve, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said a Valve valuation would be over $2.5 billion.

Peter Moore, EA’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) told the New York Times that Valve is “on the cutting edge of the future of this industry”.

In reference to modding in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the blog post noted,

It was important to us as we developed CS:GO to make sure it was as moddable and extensible as any CS game. So this is just one of many mods that will be available to CS:GO in the coming months. Are you actively developing a mod for CS:GO? Let us know.”

As someone who still plays Counter-Strike: Source for the zombie mod, this is great news! Thoughts on the mod? Comment below!