Throwing the caution of attracting the ire of the The answer’s No Twitter account, the concept of truly attending to play Half-Life 3 makes one take risks by way of article title conventions. The thought of the sport actually seeing the sunshine of day is point of maximum consternation of game fans all over the world. Obviously, if you’re creating a sequel to a game that’s been called “Best PC Game Ever” by PC Magazine, it going to attract various interest. Actually, the look ahead to Half-Life 3 has resulted in the creation of a few pretty successful social media accounts that concentrate on this disturbing loss of more Gordon Freeman content.

But owing to a few occurrences, there maybe room for hope. First came the inside track of the title being registered for an indicator Europe. That, alone, was reason enough to get the “where inside the hell is Half-Life 3” crowd active. Today’s news, however, could get those wheels of anticipation turning at an overdrive rate. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has the main points:

There is something called Jira that Valve uses for project management. Everything they do is tracked on it, and last night it accidentally went public and OHMYGOD THERE’S A HALF-LIFE 3 TEAM ON IT! No Ricochet 2 team, however.

It’s the second one indication in as many days that implies Valve has decided to concentrate on Gordon’s journey, following the invention of a hallmark registration. The list has a core of ten developers (called “Half-Life 3 Core, that has Minerva modder Adam Foster, Counter-Strike’s Jesse Cliffe and others, in addition to an additional 46 within the “Half-Life 3″ group…

Does this mean it’s time to start out clearing your calendar of anticipation of the Further Adventures of Gordon Freeman? Considering the distinct loss of news recently, this will be the ray of hope people can legitimately hang their hat on; but having said that, this can be just another chapter within the Further Adventures of the foremost Desired Piece of Vaporware Ever.

Adjust your “want” levels accordingly.

[Lead image courtesy of Valve]

Pre-orders for next-generation consoles are higher than any console launch in history, and both Microsoft and Sony have ramped up production to maintain with demand.

A DigiTimes report today states that shipments of components for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are expected to “boom” within the holiday quarter. The report’s unnamed “Taiwan-based supply chain makers” are quoted as saying that top pre-orders for next-gen consoles have surprised even Sony and Microsoft, and the manufacturers were pressuring component makers to deliver because the second quarter of 2013.

Reportedly, the unique plan was for component shipments to extend slowly over August and September before hitting their peak in October. However, DigiTimes’ sources state that pressure from Sony and Microsoft has ended in increased shipments and that component shipments already peaked sometime in September. Peak shipment volumes are predicted to be sustained through the fourth quarter of 2013 and probably beyond.

Sony recently announced that it already has over 1 million PlayStation 4 pre-orders. Microsoft has not discusses pre-order estimates, but is presumably doing well in at the least the North American market. Microsoft has packed-in EA Sports’ FIFA 14 with pre-ordered Xbox One consoles in Europe to reinforce its numbers in that market. Rumors this summer held that the Xbox One was seeing manufacturing delays over poor yields of a few components. Both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are expected to sell out of obtainable stock on their respective launch days.

Many recently released AAA game titles, like Aliens: Colonial Marines or TOTAL WAR: Rome II, were launched just for players to find that some advertised features seem distorted, broken, or poorly implemented. GTA V proves to be no exception, with its online portion affected by tremendous server overload.

Twitter was abuzz with retweets of Rockstar announcements and bitter consumers:

#GTAOnline needs to be live now, in case you check in to PSN then load up GTA V it’s going to auto prompt for a software update. Demand is high!

— PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) October 1, 2013

Rockstar promises it truly is “working across the clock” to unravel the reported issues with Grand Theft Auto Online: http://t.co/NksSOZyN5t

— GTAV Informer (@GTAV_Informer) October 2, 2013

#GTAOnline is so frustrating. Get it sorted ASAP @RockstarGames

— Tom Grubb (@TomTheGooner_) October 2, 2013

Me playing GTA online. pic.twitter.com/LgQsRRQXUb

— VengeanceFalls 14! (@VillainyThrives) October 2, 2013

Meanwhile inside the rockstar headquarters #GTAOnline pic.twitter.com/j0IXUlbtcK

— S’M ✖ (@Smith_online) October 2, 2013

Rockstar Games was, in fact, apologetic. “We apologize for any inconvenience and thanks to your patience while we work to unravel this,” the corporate posted which include a chain of issues they’re currently engaged on.

The BBC reported that on Monday morning, Rockstar North officially spread out the net multiplayer section of their hottest shooter.

Of course, unlike many AAA publishers, Rockstar is a corporation that handles things differently. Interviews with the corporate have shown they rarely promote games at large entertainment expos or send out a plethora of review copies to journalists and bloggers.

Rockstar had written a blog detailing their awareness of the opportunity of server issues for GTA Online: “One thing we’re already familiar with, and are attempting to relieve as fast as we will, is the unanticipated additional pressure at the servers resulting from a significantly higher variety of players than we were anticipating at this point – we’re working across the clock to shop for and add more servers, but this increased scale is barely going to make the primary few days much more temperamental than such things are likely to be.”

The UK editor for IGN.com, Keza McDonald, conservatively estimated the player count of GTA Online’s first 24 hours at 2 million. “Rockstar hasn’t ever done a web game of this scale before, so that they are totally unproven on the subject of their network infrastructure… even the highly successful World of Warcraft at its peak didn’t have as many individuals playing online quickly as GTA is probably going to have,” she said.

[Image via Rockstar Games]

Later this month, Windows 8.1 will roll out to the millions of Windows 8 machines currently within the hands of shoppers. The updated OS features a selection of enhancements, including Internet Explorer 11. Microsoft promises that it’s new browser features the entire modern Web standards users have come to expect, including WebGL, and has even revived one among its classic games to prove it.

Microsoft announced today that Hover, a game that shipped with copies of Windows 95, was revived as a web based game that runs on modern Web standards like HTML5 and WebGL. The sport could be played with a keyboard, but Microsoft has positioned Hover for instance of its Touch API in Internet Explorer 11.

To celebrate the revival of Hover, Microsoft has prepare a lovely trailer for the sport complete with 90s-style narration:

Now you are going to be wondering, why bring back Hover? Why not revive other classics like Pinball or SkiFree? Because it seems, Microsoft didn’t even consider bringing back Hover until they were approached by Hover superfan Dan Church. He pitched a remake, and Microsoft joined and Pixel Labs to assist develop a contemporary version for the net. They even added in online multiplayer for as much as eight players.

If you must attempt the hot Hover for yourself, head on over to the website. It really works in any browser that supports modern Web standards so Chrome and Firefox should work just fine.

[Image: internetexplorer/YouTube]

Square Enix today confirmed that Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut should be launching for consoles (including Wii U) and PC on October 22 in North America. Along with this announcement, however, the publisher announced that the Deus Ex franchise is set to become one in all its signature properties, with a next-gen game already inside the works.

Square Enix is now touting what it has named Deus Ex: Universe. Though the name implies an MMO (the horror), it actually refers to Square Enix’s plan to increase the Deus Ex franchise into media outside of games, equivalent to books and comics. Games will still be the most important focus of the franchise, however the IP could be appearing on mobile platforms besides. David Anfossi, head of Square Enix’s Eidos-Montreal studio, described the plan in a blog post:

The concept behind Deus Ex: Universe is to create an ongoing, expanding and connected game world built across a generation of core games. It’s a commitment on our part to deliver meaningful content that expands the franchise all the time and to deliver a deep conspiracy with a view to span several connected Deus Ex games, making a more immersive and richer experience than ever before. Deus Ex: Universe will include PC and console games, but in addition additional Deus Ex games and experiences available in other media comparable to tablets, smartphones, books, graphic novels, etc… You will have seen the name pop up recently within the press – well it’s what it’s all about.

As portion of the plan, the publisher is already engaged on a next-gen Deus Ex game for both consoles and PC. It’s being worked on on the Eidos-Montreal studio by the various same developers behind Human Revolution. Nothing more was revealed in regards to the title, though Anfossi did post slightly concept art for the sport. The picture below depicts the assumption of “trans-humanism segregation” in an effort to play a huge role inside the upcoming game>