Worried that those pesky digital shelves are going to put your local brick-and-mortar out of business in the next few weeks? Worry not, friends, as Valve's Doug Lombardi is here to put all your worries to bed. Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Lombardi claimed that "free weekend" sales on Steam (among others) actually help to bolster sales at physical retail locations as well as online.

"Recently we've seen data that shows Left 4 Dead free weekends increase the sales of Left 4 Dead on Steam, at retail and on the Xbox 360, which we would never have guessed could have happened, but it's just that word of mouth," says Lombardi. Furthermore, he waves off talk of bad blood between Valve and GameStop over the developer's Steam service, saying, "We spent more money at GameStop in the US promoting Left 4 Dead than we did at any other chain ... we sold more copies of Left 4 Dead at Gamestop than we did at any other chain ... for us, whichever cash register you want to pay at, that's fine." Not that it matters to GameStop anyway, given the lack of a threat posed for at least another five years, right?

So first thing's first. Where's Half Life 2 Episode 3?

Laughs. Stay tuned! No news on that today.

Worth a try! What's the real deal with PS3 development? At the end of last year you seemed quite up on the idea and then nothing since then.

We're still up on the idea. The thing that we've come to the conclusion on is that we've got to get some PS3 developers at Valve. We always look at everything as if we were customers of our products -- what would we want and what would we expect? If you look at The Orange Box -- PC: 96 on Metacritic, 360: 96 on Metacritic, PS3 like... 84 or something. And then you look at Left 4 Dead, I think it was 89 or 90 on both platforms.

Continued after the break.

For all the talk of petitions and boycotts over Left 4 Dead 2's sooner-than-expected release, the game doesn't seem to be suffering much. A Valve representative tells Eurogamer that pre-orders for the sequel are currently double that of the original's pre-order figures from the same time last year . Although that sounds impressive, it's possible to see some spin in there -- Left 4 Dead didn't really have its big coming-out party until E3 2008, which technically wouldn't occur for another two weeks from now. Couple that with general sequel buzz and you might have your inflated pre-order figure.

Nitpicks aside, Valve has already stated that it plans to continue supporting Left 4 Dead with more content. The company expects to announce more DLC near the end of summer and has expressed that people will understand the big L4D picture within a year. Assuming it hasn't announced Left 4 Dead 3 by then, of course.

Valve isn't quite as against the idea of developing games for the PS3 as we previously thought. Speaking to Valve's Doug Lombardi at the Left 4 Dead 2 event in London today (look out for the full interview soon), we discovered that the company is still "up on the idea" of developing for the PS3 -- it's just waiting until it has hired some decent PS3 coders. "If you look at The Orange Box -- PC: 96 on Metacritic, 360: 96 on Metacritic, PS3 like... 84 or something. That's not even close to where we are right now with the 360 and PC and the reason is people."

Lombardi went on to say that "we have to get people under our roof who are dedicated, talented PS3 guys and then all bets are off. We can take the same sort of strides and get the quality out of the box and offer the same support post-launch on that platform, as well." Sounds like Valve-developed PS3 games are more a case of "when" than "if," nowadays.

When asked whether Valve is actively seeking to hire PS3 developers, he noted that "Valve is always looking to hire people. So yeah, definitely." Are you a dedicated PS3 coder who wants to make Left 4 Dead 3 for the system? You know what to do. We look forward to seeing your handiwork in late 2010.

Following up on earlier reports that Valve won't leave Left 4 Dead to die an early death, the company stated today that there should be an L4D DLC announcement before the end of summer. A company spokesperson also told CVG that about eight or nine months from now, when L4D2 has released and people see the continued support for L4D, they may finally understand the method to the madness.

We're all eagerly awaiting the epiphany.

CVG reports that the UK version of Official Xbox Magazine will include a free, premium Left 4 Dead theme in its next issue's disc. We contacted OXM's US offices and have confirmed with Senior Editor Dan Amrich that the theme will also be appearing in same issue of the US publication. The theme, incidentally, was actually crafted by Valve. Amrich also mentioned that the disc will have five Left 4 Dead gamerpics as well. The issue should already be arriving in subscriber mailboxes and will hit newsstands next Tuesday.

Oh, and the magazine has info about Left 4 Dead 2 in it too, so that's a plus. If you'd like to pick one up for yourself, keep an eye out for the Left 4 Dead 2 cover, which you can check out after the break.

In what will assuredly be the longest headline for any Xbox Live Deal of the Week post we'll ever run, Microsoft's offering a $5 reduction in price (from 1200 to 800) on Capcom's Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix this week.

That's right, folks -- you're reading this correctly. We're on the second week straight that the Xbox Live Deal of the Week was something worthwhile and not, say, DLC from a three year old game or, erm, DLC from a two year old game. We're not quite sure that the big M and Xbox Live are giving Steam a run for its money with deals quite yet, but we are plopping down our virtual bucks that much more frequently on the service as of late. Here's hoping that we'll keep seeing tasty deals like this rather than some of the ... ahem ... less than savory items we've seen in the past.

It's no secret that Valve isn't a big fan of the PS3. When the company revealed Left 4 Dead 2 as an Xbox 360/PC exclusive, no one acted surprised. However, PS3 may be getting its own version of the multiplayer FPS if the official EA website is to be believed. Not only is PS3 listed in the "Coming Soon" section of the site, but a quick glance of EA's games page reveals placeholder box art for the game as well. This could be a sign that EA is working on a PS3 port; the company did work on the PS3 version of The Orange Box.

Or, it could be a database error. A PS3 version of the original Left 4 Dead was rumored after an accidental listing was placed on retailer HMV's website. That, for those of you keeping track, didn't come to fruition.

Update: The EA website has since been updated and no longer includes the PS3 listing. Thanks to everyone who sent in the update!


[Thanks, Patriot!]

We've heard about the impressive capabilities of the in-beta Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools -- and recently, we've seen the SDK's fantastic handiwork -- but we haven't had a chance to get our hands on it yet. Luckily, Valve is dropping an update for the zombocalypse sim on Steam next week; one that will give everyone access to the authoring tools, and allow everyone to play the community's homegrown campaigns.

The level hunting process sounds simple enough -- amateur level designers bundle all their maps, posters, models, and textures into a single .VPK file, which players must download and drop into the game's "addons" folder. Voila! Now you have access to even more Witch/car alarm shooting ranges err ... survival zones.

Update: It's here.

[Via Evil Avatar]

We still haven't had any confirmation of a Portal sequel, other than, you know, designer Kim Swift and Valve's lead marketing director, Doug Lombardi mentioning that the game is probably coming. Now internet songster and Portal theme -- "Still Alive" -- composer Jonathan Coulton has chimed in as well.

We recently interviewed Coulton about his upcoming "Best. Concert. Ever." CD & DVD set (look for the full interview soon where we'll be giving a copy away), and the first thing we asked him about was how his song for Portal 2 was coming along. "I haven't started it yet. I honestly don't know ... I haven't spoken to them in a long time about it, so I don't know much at all about their plans for Portal 2 and what they're thinking of doing," he told us. "And that's the truth, that's not an 'I signed a non-disclosure agreement and can't tell you what's going on' answer. I really don't know."

So it's still a non-confirmation of nothing, but it sounds like he may be on tap to write something for it. Maybe. Possibly. Speculatively. Hope is "Still Alive" (we hope).

Well, that didn't take long. The Left 4 Dead authoring tools have been available to the public for just over a month and an aspiring game creator known as Outatime is already injecting some Resident Evil into Valve's zombie kill-a-thon. Specifically, Outatime is creating an entire campaign based on Resdent Evil 3. One map of the campaign has already been released, Resident Evil's legendary locale, Raccoon City. The map includes lots of twists and turns and a super spiffy rendition of the Raccoon City Police Department.

Those courageous enough to brave the map in its current beta status -- expect some frame rate issues -- can download it right here. You can also keep track of the campaign's progress on its development website. Check out a video walkthrough of the map after the break.

Poor Valve, it just can't catch a break. At this year's E3, it revealed what should have been one of the more pleasant surprises of the show in Left 4 Dead 2, only to have a bunch of angry folks cry "boycott." Then, it put out box art for the game, only to have the ESRB flip out over something as silly as two chewed-off fingers.

As you can see above, Valve had to dial the gore back, with the two offending fingers now bent back. Oddly enough, there were no issues with the thumb, which makes us think the ESRB is composed of a bunch of Steve Oedekerk haters.

Steam users, know that Bethesda has just unloaded three of its top titles onto the service. Starting today, users can download The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Game of the Year edition). Adding further incentive is a 20% discount on these titles, valid this week only.

Odds are you played both Elder Scrolls games already, but if you've yet to try the under-appreciated Call of Cthulhu, then we suggest you pounce on this. The hotel chase scene is an experience we'll never forget.

[Via Shacknews]

Whether you're a multitalented master of map modification or an acutely amateurish architect, perk up your ears -- Valve just uploaded 10 original Team Fortress 2 maps into the Source developer kit for your modding pleasure. Said maps include Lumberyard, Ravine, Badlands, Dustbowl, Granary, Gravelpit, 2Fort, Badwater, Goldrush, and Hydro.

If your modding experience is limited, you can use these pre-made maps as a canvas for subtle weapon placement and blockade changes, easing you into the finer points of environmental creation. For more advanced world-shapers, you can study the intricate design of these levels to learn how the mapmaking professionals at Valve do they business.

Much like the zombies on which it is centered, Left 4 Dead will continue to shamble on even after its premature death. Valve's Gabe Newell told Kotaku that, despite the upcoming release of Left 4 Dead 2, support will continue for the original, including "tools for Mod makers, community matchmaking, 4x4 matchmaking, and more new content during the coming months." Newell continued: "We also agree with our customers that there needs to be an interoperability plan for players of L4D1 and L4D2, as multiplayer games are driven by the cohesiveness of their community."

Perhaps more notable than the continued support is the fact that numbering the series makes their names indistinguishable from that of Star Wars droids.