In a call for better communication on the long awaited Half-Life 3 / HL2:EP 3, a Steam Group messagetovalve (currently boasting 31.5k members) plans to all play Half-Life 2 on 02/04/12 (Saturday), kicking off the event at 11AM PST and playing for a half an hour. From the Steam group page:

The lack of communication between Valve and the Half-Life community has been a frustrating experience. While continued support for current and future products is greatly appreciated, fans of the Half-Life series have waited years for a word on when the franchise will return.

So, Instead of focusing efforts in a negative and disrespectful way, we have decided to gain Valve's attention by delivering a basic message:

Your oldest and longest running fanbase would like better communication.

Waiting patiently for over four years is a daunting task, especially when E3 comes and goes without any beat of a Half-Life pulse, time and time again. Valve had stated that information was scheduled to be released towards the end of 2008, and we believe that if they have chosen, for whatever reason, to withhold this information, fans should at least be acknowledged in some way, regardless of developmental plans for the next Half-Life project.

The entire trilogy of episodes was supposed to be completed and released by 2007, and if Valve have decided to do other things for the time being, that is fine; all that we ask for is a basic response on the matter, and to let fans know whether or not the current story arc is scheduled to conclude at another point in time.

In addition: This message is in no way, shape or form attempting to rush the development of the Half-Life series; in fact, most members agree that Valve should take the time needed to deliver a complete and polished product.

If you agree with the above message and statements, please join this group and share your support constructively.

Hopefully such attention will be recognized by Valve, and the community's voice will be heard.

Remember that Steam Mobile App? Well no longer do you have to wait for the beta invite to start playing with it, it has gone live for everyone. I found it to be pretty slick and feature packed so far; you can do almost everything you'd want to do in Steam, except for the thing you'd want to do the most (play games).

It is free, so why not check it out?

On the games side I thought I'd finally get around to playing Uncharted 3 considering the situation here, but no go on that just yet. I did give an upcoming Civilization V / Master of Magic themed titled called Warlock: Master of the Arcane a run though, and recorded a couple hours of footage. I'm going to have to try to find a way to make watching video of a turn-based strategy game a little more exciting. Once I do that I'll get that up on my Youtube channel for you guys to check out.

Since the lack of the Juberish yesterday meant a lack of bacon, boobs, and doggy business, I'll try to make up for that on a couple fronts. First, I'll confirm reports that I did indeed make maple flavored bacon over the weekend, even though I've been a strict supporter of ham and sausages as the breakfast meats of champions for the better part of a decade. For your boobs fix, well, you'll eventually get something along those lines in the (now viral) VOTD below. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Have any of you managed to glimpse the elusive "Kinect All Access Episode 2 Star Wars" video? It would seem that Microsoft are attempting to remove all traces of it, with the only discernible reason being sheer embarrassment. This link works at the time of writing, but the all-encompassing red-face of Microsoft may have worked to remove it by the time it reaches you. If that's the case and you happen to be the kind of person who enjoys witnessing the inadequacies of Kinect, I urge you to investigate.

I just checked my Chinese horoscope and it suggests that if I participate in dangerous sports like mountain climbing, I should always "measure the safety" in order to "reduce the chance of injuries". It sounds like a threat. If I do indeed fall from a mountain in the coming year, surviving only as a vegetable, I'm glad to have found this video. It will lend me great comfort in dark times.