The FAQ to the new Trading Card system is a bit confusing, and we recken you’ll have to try it out first before you can really understand it, but Valve says that Trading Cards can be collected in order “to earn items that help you customize your profile and show off your gameplay.” Each game has its own set of trading cards, for which you can earn up to half of them by playing the game, and the other half need to be collected by trading with other users.

Each user will also have “badges” on their profile, and these represent the trading card sets that you’ve collected. Badges also earn you rewards, like profile backgrounds, emoticons, and the chance to earn coupons for things like game discounts and DLC. Whenever you earn another complete set of trading cards, you can “upgrade” your badge.

For the time being, Trading Cards is only available for a select number of games, which include Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, Portal 2, Half-Life 2, and Don’t Starve. However, as with any beta program, more games will be added on in the future over the next few months, with eventually all Steam games hopefully supporting Trading Cards, although there was nothing said about support for all games.

Frankly, we’re surprised that Valve has taken this long to introduce a rewards system for Steam. In the past, the company has introduced items that you can trade with other users, including nifty hats in games like Team Fortress 2, but a rewards system is a long time coming. Even if it’s something a bit strange such as Trading Cards, Valve is hoping that gamers will become a bit more invested in their Steam accounts.

VIA: Ars Technica

More games will follow in the future, but for now, only Darkfall Unholy Wars is compatible — most likely to just test out the new system before rolling it out for more games. The service will allow you to manage subscriptions of all your Steam-based subscription video games through Steam itself, which is certainly nifty, and should give gamers a bit of flexibility and control.

To sign up for a Steam Subscription Plan, you’ll have to find a subscription-based game in the Steam store, and from there you just select the plan that you want and purchase the plan (rather than just a one-time fee for most games). It seems it’s a lot simpler than buying individual plans for multiple subscription-based games.

You can also cancel subscriptions from your Steam account, and Steam will list all of the subscriptions that you have. From there, you can just select the one you want to cancel and you’ll be all set. That same page will also let you renew subscriptions. Currently, Steam doesn’t offer the chance to gift a subscription plan, but we’re guessing they’ll come out with that sometime in the future.

Ubuntu is being pushed with this machine as an ideal environment for gamers of all kinds, specifically because of its low-weight abilities. You’ve got an extremely clean build with this operating system right out of the box, with only the basics loaded immediately – you choose what you want when you want it – you also get Ubuntu-specific interfaces through Ubuntu’s Software Center, with “thousands of free applications” at your fingertips.

Several builds are ready for gaming action with the Alienware X51 this week, the least expensive of these starting at a cool $599 USD. You’ll be able to ramp up to $1,049 with the largest of the collection – it’s still tiny, it’s just got a 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7 processor under the hood instead of the smallest model’s Core i3. These systems also come with NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics processing architecture for top-notch graphics delivery.

Alienware X51
Front-Height: 13.504″ (343mm)
Rear-Height: 12.54″ (318.5mm)
Depth: 12.52″ (318mm)
Width: 3.74″ (95mm)

Have a peek at the Alienware X51 right this minute and consider Ubuntu for your next-generation gaming beast. Let us know if you’re planning on buying one of these builds now, and be sure to note if you’ll be jumping in with Ubuntu Linux or if you’ll stick with Windows for the foreseeable future.

While the trend amongst those purists in the hardcore gaming community would otherwise have a fit over a so-called Gaming PC coming packed with “bloat ware”, it seems that Valve’s contribution won’t be so ill-fitting.

“The Razer Edge has more than enough power to play the latest and greatest Steam titles and it is completely built with PC gamers in mind. The tablet is a great way to experience everything Steam has to offer, including Big Picture mode.” – Greg Coomer, product designer at Valve

Big Picture mode is a full-screen user interface built in to Steam, available to all desktop app users right this minute – check it out if you haven’t already!

The Razer Edge and the Razer Edge Pro are both gaming tablets working with 10.1-inch displays and Windows 8 inside. You’ll be working with detachable gaming controllers as well as optional keyboard docks and will find yourself paying well over a thousand bucks to gain said privilege. Have a peek at our guide “Razer Edge gaming tablet: What the heck is it?” and see if it’ll be worth dropping either $1,300 or $1,450 USD depending on the options you’d like – go big!

[via The Slanted]

For the Humble Mobile Bundle, you can pay any price you want to get access to the tower defense game, Plants vs. Zombies, the physics-based puzzler, Contre Jour, the reverse tower defense game, Anomaly Korea, and the third-person action brawler, Bladeslinger. However, if you pay more than the average price, you will also be able to download the 3D puzzle game, The Room, as well as the classic side-scrolling shooter, Metal Slug 3.

For the Humble Weekly Sale, you can pay any price you want (with a minimum payment of $1) to get access to two popular THQ titles. You will be given Steam keys for each game to be redeemed on any gaming-capable Windows PC. The first game you’ll get is Red Faction: Armageddon, where you will be fighting an evil alien species looking to spread Armageddon upon mankind. The second game is Darksiders, where you get to play as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. If you pay more than the average price, you will also given access to Red Faction: Guerrilla, as well as Darksiders sequel, Darksiders II.

The Humble Mobile Bundle will last two weeks long, while the Humble Weekly Sale will, of course, only be available this week. Humble Bundles are a great way for players to directly support game developers. Donations will also be split up and given towards several, select charities, including Child’s Play Charity, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the American Red Cross.

[via Humble Bundle]

Currently, there are only 12 games being offered in the Steam Early Access program. They are: Arma 3 Alpha, Kerbal Space Porgram, StarForge, Kenshi, Prison Architect, Kinetic Void, Gnomoria, Under the Ocean, Patterns, Gear Up: Premium, Drunken Robot Pornography, and 1…2…3… Kick It! etc. None of the games are free-to-play, however in the future, Steam plans on bringing f2p games into the mix.

Developers will offer their games at a discounted price in the Early Access program, so there’s a chance that you can get the game for a much lower-price point than if you purchased it on its official launch date. There may be developers, however, who may charge you a bit extra for the game later on during development, so be warned. Some of these games are only in Alpha mode, while others are more farther along. You have to view the screen shots of the game to see whether or not you’ll find it “playable”.

The Early Access program is a great way for developers to continuously make money for the games while they’re still in the development stages. The feedback from gamers will be helpful in creating the best end-product upon the game’s official release. Developers will be able to see what game features generate positive responses from players, and which features deter them. All in all, we should be seeing an influx of new, great games coming soon.

[via Steam]

According to Eurogamer, the partnership between Valve and Xi3 was on shaky ground anyways, and Valve’s Doug Lombardi said that the company made some deals with Xi3, but those plans have been fizzled. Lombardi said that “Valve began some exploratory work with Xi3 last year, but currently has no involvement in any product of theirs.”

However, this doesn’t mean that Valve isn’t working on hardware of their own. Last week, Valve CEO Gabe Newell said that Steam Box prototypes would be available for developers sometime this spring. So while the company may not be partnering with Xi3, it looks like they’re still continuing on with plans to build their very own hardware platform.

However, a few days later, Lombardi said that while Valve is testing various hardware, the company is still a long way off from releasing anything hardware-focused. As for the Xi3 Piston, it features a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD for the entry-level version. The computer will cost $999, but if you pre-order it, you can get $100 off.

[via Eurogamer]

The Xi3 PISTON console comes with a 3.2GHz AMD Quad Core A10 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. You can upgrade the SSD to 256GB for $340, or 512GB for $750. The price of the console at the standard configuration is $999.99, however if you pre-order the device anytime between now and the end of March 17th (when SXSW ends), you can get the PISTON for $100 off at 899.99. The console is expected to ship by the 2013 holiday season.

Xi3 is currently showing off its PISTON Console at the SXSW Gaming Expo where attendees can see a demonstration of the device in action. The PISTON console was designed to provide a medium between PC gaming and console gaming. It’s a small, compact system that looks like a console, but can be upgraded just like a gaming PC. The device received multiple rewards, including the Popular Mechanics Editors Choice award, Popular Science Product of the Future award, Men’s Health Coolest Tech at CES 2013 award, and many others.

While it is appealing to have a Steam Box that lets you play the entirety of your Steam library on an HDTV, Xi3′s price point can deter gamers from purchasing the console (even with the $100 discount). You can wait a little while to see the pricing of future “unofficial” Steam Boxes, or you can wait for Valve to shell out its official Steam Box. Whatever you decide on, you have plenty of time before the 2013 Holiday season rolls around before you make your decision.

[via Xi3]

While the game will officially release on April 9, those who pre-order the game will be able to start playing it on April 5, as well as receive a 10% discount when they pre-order. The game is being developed by Hidden Path Entertainment, the studio behind games like Defense Grid and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Ensemble Studios have shut their doors since the release of Age of Empires II.

Age of Empires II HD is a completely remastered version of the 1999 title with support for 1080p monitors, but it still includes all of the same features and gameplay elements from the original installment. Plus, the new game includes every single-player campaign from the original game, as well as the Conquerors expansion, making that a total of 18 campaigns.

Since the game will be available on Steam, Age of Empires II HD will include Steam achievements, leaderboards, and Steam Cloud support. Steam users can also play against each other in the game, and you can even share user-created content through the Steam Workshop. As for minimum spec requirements, the game will support Windows XP and up, 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a DirectX 9-capable graphics card. The game is just over a month out, so in the meantime, here’s a little something to get you prepared.

[via Gamespot]

The game will be on sale for $3.99 (normally $4.99) until March 14 at 10 am PT. Of course, that’s not a huge discount, but it is 20% off, which isn’t too bad. The game has been previously available on PC via the Google Chrome web store, but this marks the first time that an Angry Birds game has made its way to Steam.

The Steam version also includes the same great features that you normally get with other Steam games, including Steam achievements, leaderboards and, Steam Cloud support, meaning that Steam will save your progress to the cloud, that way you can continue playing on a different computer if need be, a feature that should make any gamer happy.

Angry Birds Space reached 10 million downloads after just three days, and 50 million downloads within just over a month, which made it the hottest mobile game in history at the time. Eventually, the game hit 100 million downloads within 76 days of the game’s release. Of course, this isn’t too surprising, especially considering that the game was a collaboration with NASA.

The details surrounding the Valve-made Steam Box are still on the light side here in the first part of 2013, but the platform – that which ties the whole Valve universe together – is ready and willing to take on the gaming console masses. According to Newell, the point the company is at is inside talks with partners in the hardware market. His assurance that first iterations of a real physical product existing in the next few months were less than solid.

“We’re working with partners trying to nail down how fast we can make it. We’ll be giving out some prototypes to customers to gauge their reactions, I guess, in the next three to four months. There are noise issues and heat issues and being able to [deal with] that while still offering a powerful enough gaming experience is the challenge in building it.” – Newell

Newell was unsure of the price they’d be able to offer the end-product system at, citing possibilities in subsidies from software companies (or the lack therein) as well as the early stage they’re still in with production. Noting that the partners they’re working with now “will put forth an impressive machine” without a doubt, Newell made it clear that he expects the greater app ecosystem to be “unlikely to match other consoles” with their connections to video conferencing titles, Netflix, and “non-gaming aspects” galore.

Have a peek a the timeline below to gain greater insight on the Steam Box and what it’ll mean for the gaming universe in the near future – we’ll be on top of it here on SlashGear for the foreseeable future too!

The sale is actually pretty decent, with a number of popular titles getting huge discounts. The games are mostly indie titles, but there’s a number of games that are well worth the cost. For instance, Counter-Strike: Source is only $5, while Trine 2 is only $3.74. You can also get World of Goo for $2.49, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent (a fantastic horror game) for only $5.

The best part is, while all these game are for Linux, they’re also compatible for Windows and Mac, so if you don’t use Linux, you can still take advantage of the sale. Half-Life is $5, and a couple of Penumbra games are only a couple of bucks each. There’s 50 games in total, all of which are at least compatible with Windows, with just a few missing Mac support.

Valve first discussed Steam for Linux last year in April, and opened up the beta to the public back in December. The client supports Valve’s new Big Picture mode, where you can play games and navigate through the client on your big-screen living room television. Plus, Steam supports cross-platform play, so you can start a game on one OS, and finish it later on another.

The tweet showed up at 9:40pm EST, and was both simple and direct, stating: “Yup. Got fired today. Time for new exciting projects.” She hasn’t yet responded to any inquiries about what went down and what she plans on doing next. Ellsworth is perhaps most popularly known for the Commodore 64 emulator joystick she created before joining Valve, which sold over half a million units.

The folks over at Engadget interviewed Ellsworth back in September 2012, during which time she is said to have expressed enthusiasm for her job, speaking fondly of the company’s work environment. During that time, she said that her team was working on the development of a controller to make playing Steam games more enjoyable.

Per the interview, it was obvious that Ellsworth hadn’t had any plans to leave the company, having stated that her team has a one-year goal for creating the controller, among other things. What went wrong that prompted the company to fire her is unknown, and there’s a good chance an explanation will never surface. Still, we’ll be keeping an eye out for more details, so stay tuned.

[via Twitter]

First up is the new “Ask me again later” feature, which allows users to skip a title, which will disappear for one month, then reappear for you to reconsider. If you change your mind about it before the month is up, you can pull up the title via the new menu “Items to Revisit Later,” where it will be nestled waiting for you. For developers, statistics have been added that allows monitoring of item views, votes, and things relevant to both.

Users now have the ability to follow items in addition to favoriting them. When an item is followed notifications will be provided to the user when its developer makes any new announcements. This feature makes it easier to keep tabs on things you like without manually checking various items periodically. With this update, items already favorited will be automatically followed.

Finally, users can also create a collection of titles, which now allow announcements from the user to those who are following the collection. Such a collection can be titles that are favorites, or can be titles in a specific category or trend. Likewise, users can follow other collections, and will receive updates if the collection’s creator posts an announcement.

[via Steam Community]

Therefore, it’s really only worth pre-ordering if you’re sure this is something you want to buy anyway. Dragonborn will set you back $19.99, and though that price seems a little steep, Xbox 360 players have said plenty of good things about the expansion. In it, you’ll be leaving the lands of Skyrim and adventuring through Solstheim, an island located to the north of Tamriel (specifically, Solstheim is north of Morrowind, where the third game in the series takes place).

While there, you’ll come face-to-face with the first Dragonborn, collecting new weapons and items and fighting new enemies along the way. If you’re a big Skyrim fan, many will tell you that Dragonborn is worth the rather steep cost of admission. At the very least, it seems to be a more worthwhile add-on than Dawnguard and Hearthfire were.

Dragonborn will be available for PC on February 5, 2013. After months and months of waiting for some kind of DLC offering, Dragonborn will also be releasing for PS3 next month, along with Hearthfire and Dawnguard. Are you planning on picking up Dragonborn when it becomes available on PC?

[via Steam]

Whether those threats are real or not, Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is one title every fan of RPGs should have in their collection. Originally released way back in 1998, Baldur’s Gate in many ways set the standard for computer RPGs, and it’s a title that still has gamers talking today. For this latest release, Beamdog has taken the beloved game and given it a makeover for a new generation of gamers, fixing bugs, adding new areas to explore, and adding support for higher resolutions (among other things).

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is also available on iPad at the moment, and it should be landing on Mac and Android at some point in the not-so-distant future. That’s the hope, at any rate, but ultimately it comes down to when Beamdog feels those versions are ready for release. Once those versions have landed, players should be able to take advantage of cross-platform multiplayer, a feature that has so far been missing from the iPad version.

So, even though this launch has been relatively slow going, it’s good to see Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition show up on Steam. There may be more of these remakes coming up in the future, but all of that is dependent on how well this first Enhanced Edition sells. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear and we’ll let you know when Beamdog announces release dates for the Mac and Android versions – in the meantime, you can pick up Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition on Steam now for $19.99.

[via Joystiq]

We heard from one Jefferies analyst that Apple might begin preliminary production on the iPhone 5S in March, while specs for the rumored Sony Xperia Tablet Z leaked out (we’re told to expect a full HD display, among other things). A ChangeWave study tells us that iPhone demand is down though the device still dominates the charts, and Acura revealed its 2015 NSX concept car at NAIAS 2013 today. We got an up close look at the rumored BlackBerry Z10 handset in a new video, and we learned that there might be Java-based iterations of the Red October cyberespionage attacks, which would explain why the Department of Homeland Security has been so insistent in its recommendation to stop using the software.

Tesla announced today that it will open 25 new stores this year, while 2K Games and Irrational delivered the PC requirements for the incoming BioShock Infinite. A US District Court has dismissed the case against Aaron Swartz after his tragic death, and it would appear that Samsung has a new phone called the Galaxy Pocket Plus on the way. Disney Infinity was announced today, and it’s looking to take a bite out of Skylanders’ massive audience, while United has become the first international US-based airline to offer WiFi on its flights.

AT&T is offering Nexus 7 owners a $100 credit on their bill if they sign up for a data plan with it, and NASA is telling us that Curiosity may have found its first potential rock sample target on the surface of Mars. 10 more games have moved through Steam Greenlight, Call of Duty Online has kicked off alpha testing in China, and finally tonight, Simple has brought its online banking app to Android. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night folks!

Without further ado, here are the ten games that have earned a spot in Steam’s catalog: Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, Asylum, DLC Quest, Eador: Masters of the Broken World, La-Mulana, Leisure Suit Larry, MaK, The Age of Decadence, Unepic, and War For The Overworld. A pair of software titles have also been approved by the community, with articy:draft (a game design tool) and GroBoto (a modeling app) given the go ahead to join Steam’s still-young line up of non-game software.

Of course, just because these games have earned the approval of the community, that doesn’t mean they’ll be available on Steam right away. Valve says that all of these titles will be launching independently over the next few months, so it’s ultimately up to the developers when these games go up on the Steam store. Valve couldn’t get more specific about potential release dates as all of the titles approved are in varying stages of development.

Steam Greenlight launched as part of a larger roll out of new features for the digital distribution service. Around the same time, Valve also introduced Big Picture Mode and launched the Steam for Linux beta. Group those with the revamped Community Hub, and there have been plenty of new things for Steam users to get excited about. Hopefully it won’t be long before Valve is ready to announce the next round of Greenlight-approved games, so stay tuned.

[via Valve]

This additional weekend has been dubbed the “encore weekend.” As the name implies, there won’t be any new deals during this weekend, but rather Valve says some of the sale’s biggest deals will be available once again. “A select number of the most sought-after titles from the Steam Holiday Sale will reprise their biggest discounts for two additional days,” Valve’s announcement reads.

So, if there was a deal you were waiting for but somehow missed, you may just have your chance to snag it this weekend. Valve doesn’t talk about what kind of deals will be getting an encore this weekend, but it probably wouldn’t be too absurd to expect to see big games with deep discounts. If you’ve been trying to get titles like Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, or Dishonored for less than full-retail price, it seems like there’s a decent chance you’ll see deals like those this weekend.

Of course, we won’t know for sure until the encore weekend gets underway. What’s ultimately important here is that the holiday sale isn’t ending as soon as we thought, which in turn means that we’ll get to spend even more money by the time everything is said and done. On second thought, maybe this isn’t the best thing that could have happened…

Before we turn our sights to the future, however, let’s look back at some of what went down in the year that we’re about to leave behind. It’s pretty obvious that we’re at the end of a generation, regardless of if Sony and Microsoft want to admit it. The problem we face at the end of a console cycle is that developers become hesitant to begin a new IP (more on that later). Because of this, we tend to see sequel after sequel, and in the triple-A space at least, 2012 was no different. This isn’t all bad though, as it gave indie developers a chance to shine.

Shine they did. 2012 was an excellent year for indie gaming. Minecraft came to the Xbox 360, thatgamecompany released Journey, a game that has quickly risen to the top of countless favorite lists, and we seemed to have a new Humble Bundle to go nuts over at least once a month. Indie games were in the news constantly too, with games like Hotline Miami, Lone Survivor, Faster Than Light, and Legend of Grimrock being discussed alongside the likes of Black Ops II and Assassin’s Creed III. That in particular is very encouraging, because if we can create an environment where a game developed by a pair of passionate gamers can get recognition just the same as games that cost millions to produce, everyone wins.

Of course, great indie games have been given the attention they deserve for years now, so this isn’t some new phenomenon for 2012. It did seem like there were a really high number of indie games that managed to strike a chord within the gaming community, though. The year brought us some truly amazing indie releases, and there were almost too many to count. Whether you were playing Mark of the Ninja, Fez, Dust: An Elysian Tale, or Spelunky, the list of notable indie releases for 2012 was long and varied, with many of them giving us very unique experiences we couldn’t wait to rave about.

While we saw a lot of sequels this year, we also saw some developers take their chances with introducing a new IP. Some of these, like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, didn’t work out so well. Others like Dishonored are unquestionably just the beginning of something exciting. Square Enix found a winner in Sleeping Dogs, while Capcom surprised everyone with Dragon’s Dogma. Let’s not forget that 2012 was also the year that Nintendo listened to its fan and released Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story in North America. Now all we need is Pandora’s Tower and we’ll be set, so get on it Reggie.

Even though the end of the generation is unsurprisingly accompanied by a large number of sequels, the batch for 2012 impressed. 343 Industries showed us with Halo 4 that the series isn’t doomed to mediocrity just because Bungie is working on new projects. Ubisoft managed to revitalize interest in the release-heavy Assassin’s Creed series with Assassin’s Creed III, while Gearbox released one of the best games of the year in Borderlands 2. One of the biggest surprises of the year involved Far Cry 3 launching to critical acclaim, something many of us didn’t see coming. Oh, and did Sega just school Nintendo in the art of making a kart racer with Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed? I think it did.

Fans got riled up in 2012 too. Project Rainfall, for instance, was a major player in getting Xenoblade and The Last Story to North American shores, while angry fans for better or worse managed to get BioWare to change the ending to Mass Effect 3. That’s pretty big considering that BioWare stuck to its guns for a long time, saying for months that there weren’t any plans to change the highly controversial ending. Disgruntled players also got Ubisoft to back away from always-on DRM, which is something gamers and publishers went back and forth about all year.

We also have to keep in mind how big Kickstarter was for gaming in 2012. When Double Fine kicked off a campaign for an old-school adventure game and asked for $400,000, no one could have guessed that we’d be calling 2012 “The Year of the Kickstarter” by the time everything was said and done. The classic RPG Wasteland is getting a sequel after more than 20 years of waiting thanks to Kickstater, and Obsidian can now return to the computer RPG glory days of the past with $4 million in funding for Project Eternity. The biggest gaming-related Kickstarter of the year was unquestionably OUYA, the little Android console that raised a whopping $8.5 million in funding. Sure, some of the Kickstarters funded this year will ultimately fail, but we also have a number of great games to look forward to thanks to Kickstarter. This is made even sweeter by the fact that many of these games would have never seen the light of the day had it not been for Kickstarter’s very existence.

We also saw the big companies that run the show open up their platforms more in 2012. Microsoft changed around some of its policies so Minecraft players on XBLA could get frequent title updates, and it’s even letting free-to-play titles like Happy Wars on Xbox Live these days. Steam expanded its offerings to include non-software titles and rolled out Big Picture Mode so it can have a stronger presence in the living room. It also opened the floodgates for Linux users, as Steam for Linux is now in open beta. Welcome to the party Linux users – we saved you seats between Team Fortress 2 and Torchlight.

There were some bumps along the way – as there always are – but overall, 2012 was another great year for gaming. Developers can really flex their muscles with the hardware we have available, and Nintendo has already kicked off the next generation with the Wii U. 2013 is bound to be just as, if not more, exciting than 2012 was, due in large part to the expectation that either Sony or Microsoft will unveil their new console. Get excited, because I have a feeling that 2013 isn’t going to disappoint on the heels of 2012.

That’s a great way to start the sale, but of course there are plenty of other discounts to take advantage of. These include flash deals, which at the time of this writing are offering discounts on games like Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, Operation Flashpoint Red River, and Fable III. Before long, community choice deals will begin appearing as well, with players being asked to vote on Braid, Limbo, or The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition at the moment.

Like the holiday sales before this one, there are also sales on publisher catalogs. If you’re more of an indie gamer, there’s a hub dedicated to deals on indie games, with Steam even offering a huge indie game bundle. This bundle, dubbed the “Indie Super Mega Pack,” brings together 30 games for $70, including such gems as Bastion, Legend of Grimrock, and Hotline Miami.

So, it would seem that the Steam holiday sale is off to an excellent start. The sale is going to run through January 5, so there are quite a few days left to go. Expect plenty of excellent featured deals, flash sales, and empty bank accounts between now and then. Are you ready to go nuts on some gaming deals?

The beta was launched with Team Fortress 2 included, in addition to access to 26 others games, most of which are indie titles. Games include Amnesia: The Dark Descent and World of Goo. Earlier today, Valve announced the release of Humble Indie Bundle 7, adding 5 more games to the catalog. In addition to opening the beta up, Valve has made some changes and implemented some bug fixes, as well as a new way to track bugs using GitHub rather than the forums.

The problem with the processor being used up by Steam when gamers played Team Fortress 2 has been corrected, as well as the overlay crash that happened with Cubemen. The user interface has been improved for better back navigation from the closed beta client, and the store has been updated as well, gaining discount timers. New bug fixes will be rolled out over time, with current issues presented in the forum being worked on.

Steam for Linux beta require Ubuntu 12.04 or higher. Over time, the client will be available for other Linux distros as well, but has been made available only for Ubuntu for now because that is the most used distro by Linux Steam users. Current users need to update their application, while new users can nab the download from the Steam for Linux website.

[via Steam Community]

The digital download of Resident Evil 6 will be available through Steam and will also come with Steamworks functionality. The PC version of the game will include all of the content in the console release, as well as all the title updates, which means Ada Wong’s campaign and the No Hope difficulty mode will be available to play from the get-go.

As far as minimum requirements for the PC version of Resident Evil 6, users will need at least need an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz processor or better, equivalent to AMD’s Athlon X2 2.8GHz chip. Other requirements include at least 2GB of RAM, 16GB of hard drive space, and an NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS or better.

In related news, the second title update for Resident Evil 6 will hit consoles on January 22, adding Agent Hunt mode, stage selection, and Quick Time Event assistance. The game will also become a downloadable title on the Xbox 360 during the holidays, where it will be available for purchase in the Xbox 360′s Games on Demand service.

[via Euorgamer]

Sharp has unveiled a ridiculously large and expensive 64-inch Ultra HD TV, but if you want one, you’re going to have to plop down an astounding $31,000. Google+ was given a massive update on Android today that includes things like full-sized image uploads and improved hangouts, and the next iPad mini is rumored to have Retina Display (surprise! Bet you didn’t see that one coming!). RIM showed off BlackBerry 10′s keyboard in a new video demo today, so if you’ve been waiting anxiously for the new OS to arrive, be sure to have a look at that.

We heard today that Wireless AMBER Alerts will be rolled into the Wireless Emergency Alert system at the end of the year, and Dropbox for iOS has been completely redesigned with a new update. AMC has announced that it will re-air the first two seasons of The Walking Dead in black and white, while Valve was busy rolling out a new Steam Game Guide beta today. NASA will be sending two lunar orbiters plummeting into a mountain on the moon in the name of science, and a new Android device called the Acer V360 was leaked running Jelly Bean on its 4.5-inch display. The UN’s telecommunications director said he was surprised that the US had backed out of a controversial new treaty, and Walmart is now offering iPhone 5s for $127 and the fourth-generation iPad for $399.

Finally tonight, we’re serving up some original posts for you to fill up on. Don Reisinger asks when Apple’s oft-rumored television will finally launch, while Chris Burns goes hands-on with the new free-to-play PC game Hawken and walks us through three phablets that are rumored to be coming from Huawei, Samsung, and Nokia in 2013. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the weekend folks!

Yes, that means we’ve got a beta within a beta on our hands folks. Starting today, those who are in the Steam Community Beta can whip up a game guide of their own, which other Steam users can use as a resource to get through particularly tricky parts of a game. It seems pretty straightforward in that you can upload your own images or use screenshots you already have saved to Steam Cloud. You can also place YouTube videos in your guide if you happen to be one of those YouTube Gamemasters we mentioned earlier.

When your guide is done, all you need to do is hit the publish button and it will go live for the entire Steam Community to see. Game Guide tabs can be found in a title’s Game Hub, with guides for some of Steam’s more popular games already live. A word of warning though: the community can comment on game guides, so if you post one that’s sub-par, don’t be surprised if you get a little bit of backlash for some users.

It’s an interesting idea, but since some other websites like GameFAQs have this whole walkthrough thing on lock down, it doesn’t really seem all that necessary. We’ll have to see what Valve does with Game Guides as the beta rolls on, and what the feature looks like when it launches for everyone at a yet-undetermined date. Do you think this is a good idea, or will you go somewhere else for your tips and tricks?

[via Steam]

We give you a run-down of what’s changed in regards to Facebook’s privacy settings, and GE has announced a new ultra small cooling unit for use in the thinnest notebooks and tablets. New York City Taxi apps are going up for a vote tomorrow, but not before all of the contenders can say their piece, and the Pope used his @Pontifex Twitter account for the first time today. We learned that the next Mass Effect game won’t be arriving until late 2014 or mid-2015, and we received the first details about Redbox Instant today as well.

Nokia has announced the Lumia 920, 820, and 620 for China, and Toshiba has revealed its new free positioning wireless charging chipset. A rocket launch in North Korea has a lot of people on-edge, while we heard that entry-level smartphones will make up the majority of sales by 2017. Apple is now rolling out iTunes to more countries, and a 120-foot wide asteroid passed between the Earth and the moon today. The iPhone 5 and 4S are $50 off at Radio Shack today if you’ve been thinking of picking one up, the dual-screen YotaPhone has been turning some heads, and Valve has rolled Steam Community Market into beta.

Finally tonight, we have a heaping helping of original posts for you to check out. Chris Davies reminds us why we’re not any closer to an Apple television despite the rumors, Philip Berne examines the power a single, tiny tweet yields, and Chris Burns gives us his reviews of the Brookstone Big Blue media tower, the JayBird BlueBuds X, and the Sony XPERIA Tablet S. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

At the moment, Steam Community Market is only available for Team Fortress 2, but Valve says that more games will become compatible as we head into 2013. Team Fortress 2 will find that they can now sell off the consumable items they have on-hand, including things like Mann Co. supply crates and crate keys, tour of duty tickets, paints, and name tags. Valve has set up a handy little FAQ to answer any burning questions you might have and discuss some of the finer points of the Steam Community Market, like fees.

Those who purchase items through the Market will have to pay a 5% “Steam Transaction Fee” on each item as a way for Valve guard against fraud and cover the cost of the Market’s continuing development. If you want to buy and sell on the Market, it’s required that Steam Guard has been enabled on your account for the last 15 days, and that you’ve made at least one successful purchase through Steam “between 30 days and one year ago.” Valve has the Market hub up and running in the Community tab of Steam, which shows the items that are available and their lowest prices – don’t expect to get rich selling supply crates, as those start at just two cents a pop.

So there you have it – just like that, Steam has expanded community trading to allow users to buy and sell items. Provided you can get the right items to sell, you might just be able to rack up some cash to put toward your next game purchase. We’re excited to see where this goes after we’re into 2013, so keep it here at SlashGear for more details!

Looking into the not-so-distant future, what’s on deck for Valve is rolling Steam for Linux out of beta. After that’s done, Valve wants to make Big Picture Mode compatible with Linux. Doing those two things will apparently pave the way for Valve to develop its own hardware for the living room. Newell suggests that PC manufacturers will begin releasing packages aimed at the gamer, which would be computers that players could hook up to a TV and use to run programs like Steam.

It would appear that Newell counts his own company among the ones that will be releasing these PC packages, which he points out will compete with the console world’s next generation offerings. Unfortunately, don’t expect Valve’s hardware – if it ever comes into existence, that is – to be an open system. “Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment,” Newell said. “If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that’s what some people are really gonna want for their living room.”

Of course, we’ve been hearing for a very long time that Valve will one day begin creating gaming hardware of its own, and we have to remember that Gabe Newell is a man who likes to talk about the future of technology, especially as it relates to games. In other words, this doesn’t necessarily count as confirmation that Valve is actually working on the oft-rumored Steam Box, but it is something fun to think about. We’ll just have to wait and see how this whole thing unfolds, so stay tuned.

It gets even better though, because Valve has decided to celebrate the official roll out of Big Picture with a sale. The sale will be going on until December 10, with all of the games on sale coming with full support for controllers. By “full support,” Valve means that you can use a controller for everything – including the installation process – making them the perfect choice for Big Picture players.

In all, Steam lists 41 games with full controller support, and another 386 games with partial controller support. If you pick up a game with partial controller support, be aware that while they’re compatible with controllers, they may need a mouse and keyboard at times. In any case, there are plenty of games that are primed and ready for Big Picture mode, so you should have no lack of titles to play on the big screen.

Notable titles that have been discounted for this sale include a number of games in the LEGO series, Castle Crashers, Sonic Generations, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, and Braid. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though, with many games being discounted by as much as 75%. Even if you aren’t planning to play these titles in Big Picture mode, this is still a good time to snag a few deals you missed during the Steam autumn sale. Are you planning to take advantage of Steam Big Picture mode?

[via Steam]

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2012 turned out to be the best ones ever for Amazon’s Kindle family of devices, and Evernote Clearly has added text-to-speech for its premium members, which is a pretty awesome new feature if you ask us. Gmail has added support for 10GB attachments so long as those attachments are stored in your Google Drive account, and Outlook.com was able to boast 25 million users today, with Microsoft telling us that an Android app is on the way.

We heard today that Foxconn might be manufacturing Microsoft’s rumored Surface phone, and Apple reassured everyone today that the new iMac is still on track to launch later this month (November 30 to be exact, which is right around the corner). Cyber Monday sales topped a whopping $2 billion this year, and we learned that Nintendo TVii will be launching in Japan on December 8, which leads us to believe that it won’t be long before the service is available in the US and Europe.

HP and Nomadix have settled their patent lawsuit, while Nintendo launched new nostalgia-fueled DLC for New Super Mario Bros. 2. Fans are petitioning Rockstar to release Grand Theft Auto V on PC, and indie hit Super Hexagon is now available on Steam. Microsoft might be opening its first retail store in Europe as early as next year, the NYPD is building a database of calls made with stolen phones, and Rdio has been updated on iOS and Android with an entirely new UI.

Finally tonight, we have a couple of reviews for you to check out. Vincent Nguyen delivered his review of the new Jawbone UP earlier today, while Chris Burns takes on Hamilton’s Great Adventure THD for some mobile gaming goodness. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

Super Hexagon has you guiding a small cursor through gaps that appear randomly from six sides, but you have to act quick, since the barriers come at you pretty fast. The game is meant to be an incredible challenge, and Cavanagh names the difficulty levels of his game “Hexagon”, “Hexagoner”, “Hexagonest” — a fun play on words for “hard”, “harder”, and “hardest”.

The ultimate goal of Super Hexagon is surviving at least 60 seconds to unlock the Hyper mode for each level. Completion of the game is awarded when 60 seconds are survived on Hyper Hexagonest, which is the hardest level of the game. Several people have beaten the game, but it’s certainly not an easy feat.

For what it’s worth, my best score on the easiest level is only 34 seconds, so I haven’t even made it to 60 seconds in order to unlock the Hyper mode for that level. Of course, I don’t have the best hand-eye coordination or the fastest reaction times, but it’s still a fun game to play and I’ll certainly keep trying to beat my best score. It’ll happen at some point.

“So what do you think of the autumn sale?” one of my friends asked.

“Not impressed,” I replied. The look his face indicated that he agreed with me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good deal as much as the next gamer, and I am always willing to spill some serious cash during a Steam sale. I went into the autumn sale thinking that I was going to be buying up games left and right, but we’ve now entered the final day of the sale and so far I’ve purchased two games for a grand total of $17.48. I’m in fine standing with both my bank and my girlfriend as a result, but I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed.

There have been some good deals, to be sure – earlier in the sale, Skyrim took the stage as a featured deal, and right now Dishonored and Torchlight II, the latter of which being one of my 2012 favorites, are both 50% off. The problem, though, is that there’s going to be another Steam sale in less than a month. It’ll be big too, as Steam holiday sales always are. The autumn sale just pales in comparison to the blowout events that the holiday and summer sales have traditionally been, which leaves me wondering why we even need the autumn sale in the first place.

I understand why the autumn sale exists – everyone is going nuts over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so Valve holds a sale of its own to net some of the shoppers who have cash and are ready to spend it, provided the deals are good enough. With the autumn sale, however, it’s hard to get excited in the same way I’m excited for the holiday sale. In fact, it feels like the autumn sale is intentionally watered down in anticipation of the incoming holiday sale. It’s shorter than its summer and holiday siblings, there aren’t any publisher catalogs on offer, and the discounts don’t seem as deep. So, what’s the point when the holiday sale is knocking on the door?

Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe the problem is with me and not with the sale itself. With the holiday sale on the horizon, I’m hesitant to spend money during the autumn sale because there’s a feeling that they might be even cheaper in just a few short weeks. Even if I see a deal I know is good on a game I’ve been wanting to play, I question whether or not I should take advantage of it since I know (or at least assume) I’ll spend a lot of money during the holiday sale.

I can’t be the only one who feels that way, can I? I’d be interested to see how many people bite during the autumn sale in comparison to the summer and holiday sales, because I would imagine that the numbers for the autumn sale end up falling short. Valve – and other digitial distribution platforms for that matter – have something of a unique problem here. Most retailers don’t hold a holiday sale on the scale of Valve’s, only hosting massive sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since PC gamers are used to blowout holiday sales and therefore expect them year after year, it makes pulling off an equally impressive Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale a bit trickier for those in the digital distribution arena.

What about you – has this been a great sale for you, or are you like me and feeling a little underwhelmed at the end of it all?

Rounding out the featured deals, we have Magic 2013 half-off at $4.99, Terraria for a measly $3.39, The Walking Dead for $12.49, and Age of Empires III Complete for $9.99. Those are some pretty deep discounts, but then, what else would you expect from a Steam sale? Of course, featured deals are only one part of the equation, as there will be plenty of other deals to take advantage throughout the duration of the autumn sale.

These include flash deals, which pop up on the Steam store for a short amount of time and usually feature some pretty tempting offers. Current flash deals include the entire Operation Flashpoint franchise for $12.49, Limbo for $2.49, and Payday: The Heist for $4.99. If you’re more of the indie gaming type, you’ll be pleased to know that Steam has you covered with a dedicated hub for indie gaming deals. Today’s featured indie deals have Sanctum, World of Goo, Cave Story, and Audiosurf all down to just $2.49.

The featured deals will change daily and the flash deals will switch up even more frequently, but it’s worth pointing out that there are plenty of other discounted games available through Steam, despite them not having featured status. The Steam autumn sale will go until November 26 (that’s next Monday), after which time things will go silent until the Steam holiday sale kicks off. That’s apparently going to happen on December 20, so you might want to hold off on spending all of your money during the autumn sale.

We had a lot of talk about Black Friday deals and sales today, with Apple kicking off its Black Friday festivities at midnight on November 23. Xbox Live has plenty of deals for you to take advantage of as well, while we heard that Steam will be kicking off its autumn sale tomorrow. T-Mobile strengthened its 4G network in a number of markets today, while the 2013 Nissan Leaf was revealed in Japan. A new survey is saying that kids want Apple products most for Christmas, with new rumors tipping the Galaxy S IV for a February 2013 launch.

A snazzy looking white Nexus 4 has popped up on TalkTalk, while Lenovo unveiled the new ThinkPad Carbon Touch today. The FTC may not have enough evidence to hit Google with an antitrust lawsuit, and Razer has released its new Death Adder 2013 gaming mouse. Reggie Fils-Aime is saying that the Wii U has a long way to go, while Nintendo says that more Wii U stock is on the way, with the US as a priority. Skype 3.0 has landed on Android, and today was the 27th birthday of Windows 1.0 (they grow up so fast).

RIM’s stock took a jump after an analyst predicted that BlackBerry 10 has a 20 to 30 percent chance of success, and Nokia released HERE Maps for iOS. Sony pushed update 2.0 for the PlayStation Vita out the door today, while Gearbox released Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage for Borderlands 2. Finally tonight, we’ll end with a couple of interesting stories from NASA: it turns out that the Mars Curiosity Rover has discovered something big that NASA isn’t telling us, while scientists have snapped a picture of the Super-Jupiter planet Kappa Andromedae b. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

Tamás Bakó, CEO of Secret of the Magic Crystals developer Artery Studios, outed the dates for both sales in a post to the game’s Developer Diary. According to him, the autumn sale will run from November 21 to November 27, while the winter sale will follow shortly behind, launching on December 20 and running until January 4. How does he know this? Because Valve contacted him to ask if wanted to include Secret of the Magic Crystals in the sales.

Joystiq has also spoken to an unnamed indie developer who confirmed the dates Bakó listed, so it looks like the Steam sales season will be kicking off soon. This, as many gamers know, is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there are always a ton of games that are given deep discounts, meaning that you can pad out your game library on the cheap. On the other, the games may be cheap but they still cost money, which can lead to some overindulgence on those sweet, sweet deals.

In other words, hopefully you saved up some money in anticipation of Steam’s end-of-the-year sales, because there will unquestionably be plenty of deals to take advantage of. As always, we can expect to see major retail releases and smaller indie games alike discounted in these sales, so there should be something for everyone. Is your bank account ready?

Apparently the hardware beta is already underway, and Valve has developed three different prototype controllers that are being tested at the moment. We’ve known about Valve’s foray into controllers for a while now, but this is the first we’ve heard of prototypes that are actually in testing. Valve’s development of controllers meshes nicely with the launch of the big picture mode beta, which boasts a special interface made for larger screens.

Of course, other controllers like the Xbox 360 gamepad work just fine when playing most Steam games, but it would be interesting what Valve can do when developing a controller with PC gaming in mind. Valve also has Steam in mind while developing these gamepads, so a Valve-branded controller could definitely be something worth picking up. Unfortunately, we don’t know anything about these controllers, so it’s hard to make any kind of call concerning whether or not they’ll be worth our time.

Still, we know they’re out there somewhere. Maybe this means that it won’t be very long before Valve starts talking about them more openly? If you’ve got some time, be sure to give the full video a watch – seeing a bunch of fans from 4chan pick Gabe Newell’s mind actually proves to be quite interesting.

[via Engadget]

We heard new rumors of an Xbox Surface again today, and AT&T announced that it will begin offering the Nokia Lumia 920 on November 9 for a mere $99. Apple OS X 10.9 has been popping up around the web today, and Opera has been updated to version 12.10, which brings support for high definition displays. Amazon has introduced a new monthly billing option for Prime, and even though you’ll be paying more than subscribing annually, it might be a better idea for some than plopping down one big lump sum.

A sequel to the classic game Elite is looking for funding on Kickstarter, while Instagram says that Hurricane Sandy was probably its biggest event ever. Vizio unveiled a new line up of HDTVs and sound bars for the holidays, while Valve officially kicked off its limited-access Steam for Linux beta today. Ford and Microsoft had reason to gloat today with the 5 millionth Sync-equipped vehicle, and EA & DICE are celebrating 10 years of Battlefield with free copies of Battlefield 1942 on Origin.

Did you photograph your ballot and put it on the Internet today? Did you know that’s an illegal thing to do? Google was awarded a new patent that means something interesting for Google Glass, and Fisker was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Sandy. Microsoft has confirmed it will be focusing on Skype instead of Windows Live Messenger, and we heard that PlayStation: The Official Magazine will be going dark later this year. Finally tonight, Chris Davies explains why Apple will kick Intel to the curb if it can, and we tell you why you should probably wait on the all of the Miracast accessories for now. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

Valve has been working on this beta for quite some time, testing it internally over and over again before finally letting some of its users in on the action. Team Fortress 2 comes included with the client download (it is free-to-play after all), but if you want to play some other games, you’ll be pleased to know that there are a total of 26 Linux games now available on Steam. Most of these titles are indie games, but there is one full-fledged retail game – Serious Sam 3: BFE – that sticks out from the bunch.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the indie games that are available for Linux on Steam have been featured in the Humble Indie Bundle before – one of the big draws of the Humble Indie Bundle is that it supports Windows, Mac, and Linux. You’ve got titles like World of Goo, Space Pirates and Zombies, Dungeons of Dredmor, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent to pick from, so it sounds like it’s time to get to playing.

At the moment, the Steam for Linux beta is only compatible with Ubuntu 12.04 and above. Steam for Linux team member Frank Crockett says that Valve will eventually release Steam for more Linux distros, but since an “overwhelming majority” of applicants said they’re running Ubuntu, that’s the distro that got it first. The Steam for Linux beta also includes big picture mode, and Valve assures that at some point in the future, the beta will be open for all Steam members to try. Stay tuned.

[via Valve]

We also had plenty of news about SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which launched for the ISS yesterday. The launch went well despite a rocket blowout, and we learned that the capsule is carrying – among other things – ice cream and silly putty to the space station. Later on in the day, SpaceX released a statement about the minor problems on the launch pad, telling us that the mission should still go as planned. We heard that 10 million iPad Minis are on order, despite the fact that we don’t know for sure that it exists yet, and today Google started calling for more tablet-friendly apps.

The Samsung Galaxy S III was named T-Mobile’s best-selling device of all time today, and speaking of T-Mobile, the carrier received the LG Optimus L9 today as well. A 32GB Nexus 7 model was accidentally shipped to one lucky Japanese customer, and Microsoft has launched free Wi-Fi in both New York City and San Francisco. Windows 8 PCs started showing up early on HSN’s website today, and Microsoft released a Kinect SDK for Windows 8 too. Microsoft has apparently dropped its “Live” branding from its Windows 8 launch, and T-Mobile looks primed to receive iPhone 5 owners with a new NanoSIM delivery.

After being teased last week, Rovio revealed Angry Birds Star Wars today, an announcement that was quickly followed by additional details. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is available for pre-order on Steam today, while Blizzard told us that a World of Warcraft hack that allowed one player to murder others one city at a time has been patched. Pokemon Black and White 2 launched yesterday, and PETA has something to say about it, while Nokia announced that its new Lumia 810 will be bringing the Windows Phone 8 touch to T-Mobile.

That about does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, but before we part ways, we have one original story to cover: Chris Burns tells us why Nokia will need to push its graphic design abilities when it comes to making Windows Phone 8 a success. Enjoy the rest your night folks!

How about this: pre-ordering the game through Steam nets you some very attractive pre-order bonuses. The first bonus is the Elite Soldier Pack, which doesn’t seem to be more than a set of skins for your foot soldiers. The second bonus is a pack of three XCOM-themed items for use in Team Fortress 2, which is nice if not unexpected considering that you’re pre-ordering through Steam. While those two packs aren’t much to write home about, the third bonus is – a free copy of Civilization V which, despite what a handful of very loud dissenters say, is a really good game.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is something of a response to the fan outcry over XCOM, which is an incoming tactical FPS reboot of the series. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a tactical turn-based strategy game, much more similar to the XCOM games of years past, and it’s safe to say that fan enthusiasm is running high. There appears to be good reason for that excitement too, as early reviews of the game are excellent. XCOM: Enemy Unknown currently boasts a 91 out of 100 on Metacritic, so if you want a game that stays true to the franchise, it looks like Enemy Unknown is it.

As for the other upcoming XCOM game, it still doesn’t have a release date. XCOM has been in development since 2006, and though 2K was showing it off back in 2010, it’s been delayed numerous times. If you want to play a brand new XCOM title, it looks like XCOM: Enemy Unknown is your only choice for the time being, though we doubt many die-hard series fans will be complaining about that.