Valve programmer and lead developer of the Oculus Rift-ified Team Fortress 2 Joe Ludwig announced support for Half-Life 2 on the Oculus Developer Forums. The beta for the VR version of the game is out now, and Ludwig says that the port should be shipping to everyone “in a few weeks,” allowing Oculus Rift owners to take advantage of the Valve game.

However, Ludwig notes that this particular port is “a bit more raw” than the Team Fortress 2 port when it first was released for the Oculus Rift, so gamers will definitely experience some bugs in the game, and Valve is already aware of a few themselves, including problems with HUD and and the zoomed-in UI.

As for other Valve titles that will make their way through the Oculus Rift development process, Valve says that more of their games will be heading to the VR headset, including the Portal and Left 4 Dead series, which have already gone through some testing phases. However, no more details were given about upcoming games.

[via Polygon]

[Source: Oculus Developer Forums]

The two briefly discussed the possibility, and obviously, details are quite slim at this point, but Newell said that the two are “going to try and figure out” if they can “make a Half-Life movie or a Portal movie together.” The two discussed various storytelling methods during the keynote, using clips from Valve games and some of Abrams’ movies that he has directed in the past.

According to Abrams and Newell, they’re wanting to move the discussion further along in a more serious way, and they now hope to collaborate on a film based on either the Half-Life or Portal series. Obviously, the collaboration is still in its early stages, and it could very well dissolve later on if it turns out that things don’t work out how they’d like.

J.J. Abrams is the director behind the new Star Trek films, including the newest and upcoming Star Trek: Into Darkness. He’s also known for directing the TV series Lost, as well as Fringe. Valve CEO Gabe Newell is obviously behind the Half-Life and Portal series, as well as Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2, and the Left 4 Dead series.

[via Polygon]

That is, of course, assuming that these are actual images from the game. They come ValveTime, which doesn’t cite any sources but claims that the shots have been verified to be real. Whether or not that’s actually the case is anyone’s guess, so while you’re checking these screens out, be sure to keep in mind that they may not be the real deal.

In any case, the images don’t show off much, just what kind of textures and environments Arkane was working with before the project went belly-up. They don’t look particularly great by 2013′s standards, but back in 2007, this game wouldn’t have looked half-bad. Savor them, because if these are the real thing, they’re all we’re likely to see from Episode 4 for quite some time, if we ever see anything else at all.

Meanwhile, the Internet is still going nuts trying figuring out when Valve is going to launch the next Half-Life game. We’ve heard rumor after rumor, but so far, Valve has remained tight-lipped and nothing has been officially revealed. With the company staying silent for so long, you’d hope that an announcement would be coming up shortly, but since this is Valve we’re talking about, anything is possible. Check out our story timeline below for the more recent Half-Life rumors.

The Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator (ZPEFM), most commonly known as the Gravity Gun, was first introduced in Half-Life 2 and was designed primarily for the handling of hazardous materials and heavy lifting. It was most-notably featured in Gordon Freeman’s trademark arsenal, who was the main protagonist in the Half-Life series.

The replicas will soon be available for everyday use or decorating shelf space, and on top of being 1:1 scale, the gun will also light up and produce sound effects, making it a faithful real-life replica of one of Half-Life 2′s most iconic weapons that will look in anyone’s geek collection.

Neca Online says that units will be limited, but not as limited as Portal gun replicas were, however. The company will also be displaying the Gravity Gun replica at the New York Toy Fair in February. The one pictured above isn’t the final product, so expect some changes to occur when it finally comes around for pre-orders.

Apparently, Valve has decided to toss in some open world elements with Half-Life 3. Inspired by other games like Skyrim and Fallout, Half-Life 3 will feature NPCs that give the player quests to complete and a sandbox world to wander around in. No, we’re not kidding – this is what the latest rumor claims.

According to the source, the game won’t release until sometime after 2013, which suggests an early 2014 release date for Half-Life 3. That’s a little easier to believe, as are the whispers that claim Half-Life 3 is currently in development. We’re a little hesitant to believe that Half-Life 3 will come offering open world elements, however, as open world has never really been Valve’s style.

Who knows though? Perhaps Valve has truly decided that it’s time for a change. The studio has already mastered the linear FPS, so maybe the developers at Valve are looking for a new challenge and have decided that Half-Life 3 would be the perfect way to test out the idea of an open world. As hard as it is to believe, an open world Half-Life could be pretty cool, but we’re still not convinced that Valve has taken development in that direction. What do you think? Would you like to see an open world Half-Life game, or would you prefer it if Half-Life 3 was more like its predecessors in terms of gameplay?

This download was made available earlier today through several portals, the most official of these being the [Black Mesa Source Download Page] as provided by Valve. This page will be your one and only location where tried and true – and trusted – sources for the build can be found. As the game modification is given away for free, you will see some advertisements here and there on the webpage, but the final product will be just as ad-free as your original game was and always has been.

That same page shows you the Black Mesa Trailer that you see here above. This trailer was released earlier this month for those that’ve been following the project for several years – and it’s gotten rave reviews in and of itself. Here with this new product, you’ll see above as well, the game mechanics have remained largely the same (to gamers’ glee) while the storyline and overall scale of the game have been exploded with greatness.

You’ll now be playing as Doctor Gordon Freeman right alongside the original cast of environments and characters you’ve grown fond of from the original Half-Life. What you’ve got here instead of the same product is one made much more visually fantastic and immersive. This full reconstruction of Half-Life uses Source to what the developers describe as its “fullest potential” with enlarged level sizes, art detail, and code features galore.

You’ve also got new maps entirely, new models, new voice actors – save some key heroes, and textures. And again, there’s a whole new soundtrack as well that you can also download for free – be sure to donate to the team though if you’re feeling especially appreciative.

The download of this game does have some requirements, those being:

• A copy of any Source Engine game (as seen here).

• Minimum System Requirements
Software : Windows XP, Vista, or 7
Processor : Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, or AMD processor.
RAM : 1GB (1024 MB)
Graphics Card : Shader Model 2.0 capable, ATI 9600, NVidia 6600 or better.
Sound : DirectX 8.1 compatible.
HDD : 8 GB (Not including the Free Source SDK, installed separately)

• Ideal System Requirements
Software : Windows XP, Vista, or 7
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or AMD equivalent.
RAM : 1 GB (1024 MB)
Graphics Card : Shader Model 3.0 capable, ATI X1600, NVidia 7600 or better.
Sound : DirectX 9.0c compatible.
HDD : 8 GB (Not including the Free Source SDK, installed separately)

Fun Fact: the Xbox360 controller is supported for this game – use it!

If you have a Mac, you’re out of luck. It’s not likely that any builds other than what’s listed above will be supported, but we’ll certainly keep you up to date on any developments in the future regarding furtherances of this build. They’ve got Portal on the Mac, maybe we can dream!