GGL Wire

Every now and then I find a piece of news that makes me glad I’m a PC gamer. Today Valve announced that the Xbox 360 version of Team Fortress 2 will be getting the updates, that us PC gamers have had for a while now, “later this year.” The update will include all the new guns, achievements, maps and game modes. As if the wait wasn’t bad enough, Microsoft is making Valve charge money for the update.

Currently no price has been set, but Valve has stated that they wanted to keep is as low as possible. In all reality, expect something in the $10 range.

There has been no word on if the update will make it’s way to the PS3.

Now I don’t mean to gloat, but the PC never gets more love that consoles do. Us PC gamers always have to wait longer for games to come out on our chosen platform, and when they do arrive, they turn out to be crappy PS2 ports. So please forgive me if you are a Xbox 360 TF2 player.

Read: Team Fortress 2 Updates Coming To Xbox 360 Later This Year.

Yesterday I posted a news item about next week’s Team Fortress 2 update and the changes it will bring, including new weapons for the Heavy class. Today Valve announced the first of the Heavy’s new weapons, the KGB. KGB stands for the”Killing Gloves of Boxing,” and Valve goes on to explain: “Any time a Heavy kills an enemy with the K.G.B he receives five seconds of guaranteed critical hits. This crit-boost can be used to punch and kill further enemies, extending the boost time. Alternatively, the Heavy can switch to another weapon and use the boost to take out an enemy at range. The Heavy’s slow movement speed, and the K.G.B’s slower swing speed, make it a risky prospect.”

Also included in the announcement is the list of new Achievements for the Heavy. Valve is still keeping their lips seals when it comes to details on how they are obtained. Just glancing over the names, a few of my favorties are: “Iron Kurtain,” “Party Loyalty,” “Division of Labor,” and “Communist Mani-Fisto.” As someone with a somewhat morbid facination with the U.S.S.R., mainly stemming from 80’s movies like Red Dawn, I absolutely love these Achievements. I can only hope there is one for only playing on the red team.

Read: The Killing Gloves of Boxing.

Blizzard announced that they have developed an achievement system, ala Xbox Live and Steam, for World of Warcraft. The achievements will range in difficulty and category. For example, there are achievements for PVP, PVE, exploration, professions, etc. Blizzard is also including what they call “Feats of Strength”. These will be near impossible achievements that only appear once you have earned them. Think of them as secret achievements for the hardest of the hardcore. The achievements will be arriving when Wrath of the Lich King ships.

I have a feeling in my gut that this might make the gaming world implode. World of Warcraft is addictive enough as is. With the addition of achievements, WoW addiction will escalate to heroin strength. Thank god I was able to get my brother off the WoW before this hit. I can see it now, Age of Conan will be the methadone clinics for WoW junkies.

Read: WoW achievements coming with Wrath of the Lich King.

Today Valve released the next installment of “Meet the” videos for Team Fortress 2. This time we are treated to making the acquaintance of the Sniper. As usual, Valve delivers a hilarious looks at one Team Fortress 2’s player classes. If you haven’t checked out any of these videos, they are available on steam.

Valve also announced that this Thursday, June 19, the Pyro will be getting 35 new achievements as well as 3 new unlockable weapons. So far the only unlockable that has been announced is the “Axtinguisher,” which does half the damage of the regular ax unless the target is one fire, then it hits as an automatic critical.

I really am showing my fanboy colors right now, but as a PC gamer I love what Valve is doing. They keep their games fresh and interesting, something the PC market desperately needs.