The Engine Room Episode 2?

Due to technical difficulties that were technically unforeseen, I’m technically stuck trying to fix the next episode before I release it. Technically, it was supposed to be released yesterday.

I guess what I’m technically trying to say is:

TECHNICALLY DELAYED!

I figured you technically deserved to know that the next episode is on it’s way, and should technically be live any day now.

Stay tuned for Episode 2: Electric Boogaloo!

Robot Chicken Hat Issues Still Unresolved.

Once again Adult Swim lives up to it’s usual standards of fail. People were promised that if they subscribed to their Adult Swim newsletter they would get a free hat! Well, some did, some didn’t, and there seems to be no consistency as to why.

People who use gmail, yahoo, their own domain or ISP as an email client have either received a hat or haven’t. Some have received the hat code but have been told that it’s already used. What happened? Is there some old man on dialup sending out emails to everyone one at a time?

So far there has been nothing said about the issue from Adult Swim nor Valve. Knowing Adult Swim there probably won’t be either. This does make me wonder what the outcome will be.

Meet The Pyro

Everyone’s seen it, but in case you haven’t here it is:

Now that you’ve seen that, check out the new items for the pyro!

Yes, between now and July 5th you can get a nice pair of goggles for free in TF2. I have tested them out and sure enough… Everything looks really psychotic! If this wasn’t enough for you, then perhaps maybe sign up at Adult Swim for a free robot chicken hat?

Also, the mystery items have been turned to dust and can now be crafted into a big pile of ash! The ash can then be used to make either crates or weapons. No word on what they’re worth yet though. Still, it’s been so busy that even authentication seems to be failing for getting onto certain servers or even getting in touch with the item server itself! I don’t think Valve expected this much attention. But they should have because it’s freakin’ TF2!!!!!111111

As an aside, Valve is also releasing Source Filmmaker now as a beta. Perhaps the next season of You Can’t Do That On XBox might have some interesting visuals. 😉

Day 2 of PYROMANIA!!!!!

Well, today is day 2.

Downtown Teufort: The mighty Manhattan of the Badlands. The Big Gravel. The City That Never Seeps (the slogan of our campaign to let people know we’d started getting a handle on our world-famous sewage problem). Whatever you want to call them, these streets are filled to bursting with opportunity (and, depending on the weather, up to knee-height with sewage).

Maybe you read that article in Tourism Monthly (“Teufort: It is Horrible”) and you’re worried about murder, thievery and tramp attacks. Don’t be! Thanks to our lack of a fire department, they’ve got bigger things to worry about than you: Putting out all those methane fires.

So now we have possibly another map to look forward to, plus more hats and weapons! Also on that page is a picture from the upcoming “Meet The Pyro” short!

PYROMANIA!!!!!

Well folks, if you haven’t been paying attention to TF2 and getting in on the special/not so special item drops you’ve really been missing out! Valve has declared this week to be Pyromania week! According to the official TF2 Blog the final short “Meet The Pyro” is less than three days away! Along with the update they seem to be introducing a new game mode for Team Fortress 2, called Doomsday?

Doomsday pits BLU against RED, with only one team getting the honor of transporting a suitcase nuke full of recalled Mann Co. Australium to American monkeynaut Poopy Joe’s rocket, so he can blast off and hunt down Soviet space chimp Vladimir Bananas. It’s the same spirit of competitive enterprise that stalled the moon landing by three years when Buzz Aldrin suplexed Neil Armstrong into a pile of folding chairs at Astromania ’69! Both teams will attempt to get the necessary fuel up a preposterously slow-moving elevator and into Poopy Joe’s Australium-powered rocket to the stars.

Also, with a new game mode comes new achievements! Let the achievement whoring begin! In the meantime, here’s a countdown clock.

MENTLEGEN!!! BEHOLD!!!

It seems Adult Swim and Valve are teaming up together. For what? We have to wait until next week.

I have some mixed feelings about this. Granted, I watch Adult Swim almost every night. I love Family Guy, ATHF, Robot Chicken, Bleach and good portion of the lineup Adult Swim didn’t rape. At the same time though, this is the network that yes to more live action suckage like Eagle Heart, and no to Korgoth The Barbarian, Drinky Crow, Xavier Renegade Angel and a few others. So I can’t help but have mixed feelings about this.

Perhaps there will be a special airing of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room with the gang from Team Fortress 2 bringing it to a screeching halt? One can dream anyway…

Valve is at it again! A TF2 ARG.

If you pop over to the Steam forum’sTF2 section,  you’ll be able to see some interesting pictures from an unknown update currently being called “The Mystery Update” which you can see in this megathread. So far there are banana peels, a goldfish, pocket lint, and a few other choice items.

What could it mean? We’ll keep you posted. For god sakes I should be sleeping…

The Steam For Schools Beta Program

GLaDOS wants your children… That’s right. Valve has invited educators to participate in what they are calling the “Steam For Schools” beta program. Featuring a special edition of steam with only Portal 2 and it’s new puzzle maker. The goal is to use Portal 2’s mechanics to teach kids basic physics and to think. Because we don’t need anymore stupid people…

Taken from their FAQ

The interaction tends to be free-form and experimental and as students encounter new tools and challenges they may develop an intuitive understanding of physical principles such as mass and weight, acceleration, momentum, gravity, and energy. The games also put a premium on critical thinking, spatial reasoning, problem solving, iteration and collaboration skills, and encourage overall inquiry into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) learning.

Current lesson plans include: “Introduction to Parabolas with the Puzzle Maker,” “Spatial Visualization and Perspectives,” and “Building a Simple Harmonic Oscillator.” Where was this when I was growing up? Kids these days…

Also, you can’t do that on XBox!