“I never heard anything about it until I woke up this morning and checked my Blackberry, which John McCain invented,” cracked Lombardi. “There’s really nothing else to say." Doug Lombardi is Valve's Marketing V.P.

Already there is controversy regarding the post from “The Inquirer”. Many seem to frantic to disprove the theory as they cite the success of the “Steam” engine over the years. While it had a disastrous start when it didn't have the resources to authenticate everyone who got Half-Life 2, every company except for Vivendi and Microsoft have signed on to use the engine. If they sell to Google, who knows if anything would actually change.  The buyout is looking to do nothing more than to stir up some curiosity instead of actually happening.

Toms Hardware

If you recently picked up STALKER - Clear Sky, you'll be interested in this bit of wizardry from Koroush Ghazi at TweakGuides.com .

Here is his introduction to an extremely in depth TweakGuide for the new S.T.A.L.K.E.R game.

Looks like the best tweak there is turn sun-rays down to low.  The other thing I thought was interesting was  to use DX10 since the extra effects are nice and don't impact performance much.

A panel of Penny Arcade enthusiasts discussed this topic at a convention in Seattle recently.  The five girl-gamer panelists had some advice for the audience of 100-plus. 

Here are some of their suggestions.

• Don’t impose your favorite game on your gal pal. “Girlfriends may not be into ‘Halo,’ but they might like something else, so don’t force ‘Halo’ on them and expect them to love gaming,”
  
• Play co-op. Many games have a cooperative mode, where you and a buddy can tackle missions as a duo. Or if that’s still too intimidating, have your girlfriend sit with you and watch while you game. Heck, you can even ask her to be your wingman.
•  Ask her to help you spot snipers,  Chicks like flattery. If she feels like she’s helping, then you’re making it a positive experience.
• Internet casual games — which are popular with the female set — are a great entrée into the video-game world. Some are just online versions of offline games, such as poker and Sudoku, and still others are variations of well-known themes, such as match games and hidden-object puzzles.
• And, of course, everyone gave props to Nintendo for making gaming more inclusive. Heck, Carrie Underwood has a pink DS, right? And the Wii made being a gamer as easy as operating a TV remote.

Basically, treat it as a way to spend time together and interact.   Even if its not a girls game, just sit down with them cause you never know, they might just be a natural at it.  Above all, try to ignore the stereotypes and myths.

Source: MSN

This is actually quite famous throughout the gamer community, but for those that don't know, Stardock (the people behind Galactic Civilization II and Sins of a Solar Empire) published its own Gamer's Bill of Rights, upon many of which can be agreed on personally. The full list includes details about DRM, micro-fees and other issues that are up in the air for the gamer world. The full list can be found at their website (the link below).

http://www.stardock.com/about/newsitem.asp?id=1095