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Steam Update and Updated Hardware Survey

Another update to Steam was posted this evening. Here’s the latest fix list:

In addition to the fixes and tweaks included (see full list below), this release also includes a new Steam Hardware Survey, which is optional for all using Steam. Results from the Spring 2007 survey may be found here. Results from the current survey may be tracked here.

The specific changes include:

Steam Client
• Fixed preloaded versions of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare being unable to launch
• Allow two shortcuts to use the same executable
• Added ability to create desktop shortcuts for shortcut apps
• Fixed Friends notifications being able to go top-most over the top of the tray context menu
• Fixed case where games would only launch in English
• Fixed Friends names sometimes being used for Clan names, or vice versa
• Fixed a rare crash when attempting to install a game
• Fixed Friends bug where the last Friend would not be shown
• Fixed the tray context menu to be easily dismissed without actually making a menu selection
• Fixed Half-Life 2: Deathmatch crowbar swing speed difference between Windows and Linux servers
• Fixed a potential hang bug in the server browser
• Fixed certain filenames not protected by sv_pure
• Fixed CSoundEnt spam on the server with high numbers of player slots on a server
• Fixed Half-Life 2: Deathmatch chat bug on Linux servers
• Minor optimization to the askconnect panel
• Fixed IP address column reporting IPs backwards
• Security fix for file transfers as reported by James Gray
• Fixed players able to make their name disappear in the scoreboard by setting it to “~~ ~” in the options panels

Circuit City Ripping People Off Again

Apparently Circuit City ran an ad in their paper saying Buy COD 4 and get COD 3 Free well Adam, a reader of The Consumerist, reports:

Today, like many anxious gamers, I went to Circuit City (Store # 3111) to pick up the highly anticipated “Call of Duty 4″ for the XBox 360. I chose to pick it up at Circuit City as this week’s circular ad listed a free copy of the previous game “Call of Duty 3″ with purchase. When I went to check out, I was told that it was a misprint and that they refused to honor it. Myself, along with about half a dozen co-workers were rightfully angry that we wasted our lunch hour on this Circuit City bait-and-switch, that has become too common with this outlet lately.

On top of all this the Misprint in question is still listed on their website. I know from my own past experience that Circuit City is a very bad place to shop and have stopped shopping their.

Dont Buy COD4 From Steam If you Live in Europe

It seems that if you want to buy Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on Steam and live in the USA it will cost you $49.95, but in Europe that price is $69.95. It’s also worth noting that users from Europe are also charged tax on top of their Steam purchase, bringing the price even higher. Valve has stated that “Pricing on Steam is set by the publisher.” which means it’s time to contact Activision and ask them why.

End of Week PC Demo Roundup – 10/12/07

Here is the Outstanding weekly PC Demo Roundup 10/12/07

1. Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
2. Unreal Tournament 3 Beta
   
3. TimeShift
   
4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
   
5. AVENCAST: Rise of the Mage
   
6. F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate

The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Demo Download

The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare single-player PC demo is now available over at Yahoo! Games. It weighs in at 1.37 GB, so make sure you jump over there and start the download before the server blows up. If you find more download locations please let us know we will add them to the list. Download mirrored at 3D Downloads, 4players.de, ActionTrip, ComputerGames.ro, eXp.de, FanGaming, FileFront, FileShack, Fragland.net, Gameguru Mania, Gamer’s Hell, and Internode Games Network.

Required (minimum) Specs

CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.4 GHz or AMD(R) Athlon(TM) 64 2800+ processor or any 1.8Ghz Dual Core Processor or better supported
RAM: 512MB RAM (768MB for Windows Vista)
Hard Drive: 8GB of free space
Video card: NVIDIA(R) Geforce(TM) 6600 or better or ATI(R) Radeon(R) 9800 Pro or better

Recommended Specs

CPU: 2.4 GHz dual core or better
RAM: 1G for XP; 2G for Vista
Hard Drive: 8GB of free space
Video card: 3.0 Shader Support recommended. Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better or ATI Radeon X1800 or better

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Screenshots

Three New Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare screenshots are from the PC single player demo which show up this week, probably tomorrow in fact. Infinity Ward’s modern day shooter is perhaps one of the most anticipated games of the next few months.