“The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “Seeing which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale – these are all features customers have requested. Mobile is changing way people interact, play games and consume media, and the Steam app is part of our commitment to meet customer demands and expand the service functionality of Steam to make it richer and more accessible for everyone.”

To join the beta, just download the app and log in to your Steam account. While you won’t be able to get in immediately (I speak from experience), you’ll be added to the list of people who want in to the closed beta, and gamers will be added gradually.

For more information, visit the Steam for Mobile Devices page.

Unfortunately, as of now, Steam admins have discovered that unauthorized access extended to a database containing, “names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information,” said Newell. “We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating.”

So, there’s a good chance that your info is in the hands of someone who isn’t you. Accounts have yet to be compromised following this intrusion, so as of now, Steam isn’t forcing any user actions, meaning that they’re not forcing you to change your account password.

If you’d like to do that, though — better safe than sorry. You should be able to enter your Steam preferences and find a little set of buttons resembling this:

That little “Change password or secret question…” one is what you’re going for. (NB: This is on a Mac, so I don’t know if Steam for Windows looks different.)

So — be safe, be careful, all of that.

You definitely do want to change your forum password if you have one, by the way (those are separate from account passwords, but you never know.) The forums are currently offline as a result of this intrusion.

Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: November 16, 2011
Genre: Action/Adventure
Price: $24.99
Age range: 14

Valve has created some very strong fan favorites in terms of game IP. Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress and Portal are now the subjects for a collaboration with Dark Horse. The hardcover collection features stories from these worlds. The book is hefty at over 200 pages.

As a fan of Valve products, I was pretty excited to read this when Dark Horse sent us a copy to review. I love an opportunity to be placed back into the worlds of these games I loved so much. First thing I noted, was reading these comics did make me want to jump back into Left 4 Dead or start Portal 2. The comics themselves don’t read like a game, in fact, most tend to give back story for a deeper dive into the characters.

Left 4 Dead: The Sacrifice follows Francis; Bill; Zoey; and Louis, all characters in the actual game. Throughout the story you learn about their background and what happened in the beginning days of the infection. The comics were originally released to coincide with the DLC in 2010. In the comic Bill makes the ultimate sacrifice so the others can go on, but in the game, any of the players can choose to make the sacrifice. The artwork fits in with the game very well and delivers on the gore factor.

Team Fortress: Unfortunately I don’t have anything positive to say about the Team Fortress section in this collection. The story started in a very interesting way with the control center being upset that a guy on the blue team had become friends with a guy on the red team. I was really engaged in the story and watching how the guys were being played against each other, then all of a sudden the story was interrupted with lots of quick changing art styles and stories. I had trouble following it and in the end, really didn’t care to read it at all. Very disappointing.

Portal 2: Lab Rat: This comic covers the events between the first and second Portal games. The comic was previously released in April of this year. The story follows Doug “the Ratman” and we dive into how the AI robots were originally created. We also see Doug following Chell all while talking to his Companion Cube. The art by Andrea Wicklund matches the psychotic mood of the story. I loved it.

Valve announced today that Portal 2‘s first DLC, “Portal 2: Peer Review” will be released October 4.

The free content (for PC/Mac, Xbox 360 and PS3) is primarily a new addition to the game’s co-op that continues the story of Atlas and P-Body. New challenge modes will be added to both single-player and co-op, and there will be leaderboards added as well so you can get even more competitive with your friends after you work with them.

Now, this is a little bit after their target “Summer” date of release, so to soothe the pain that is waiting on free things, here’s some free things you don’t have to wait for — the third volume of “Songs to Test By” and a new Turret Comic. Aww.

Ladies and gents, you can’t beat that price….unless you were giving something back. In a way, Valve is.

As seen though the new website that gives you the link to download either the Mac or PC version of Portal for free, Valve is promoting “Learning with Portals,” which uses the game to teach math, logic, physics and engineering concepts. (I get the warm and fuzzies when education and gaming are combined.)

This is not the first time that I have heard that teachers are using video games within the classroom. (I wrote an entire master’s education paper on such a concept, I should know.) This is the first time that a company as huge as Valve has provided their game for free for education purposes.

Now, don’t be tardy with the download, unlike the last high school assignment that you might have handed in. This offer ends September 20.

So get your learning on, and maybe a little cake, too.

Learning with Portals

Steam Trading, which allows you to exchange in-game items and game gifts, officially launched yesterday after a beta that lasted a few weeks and saw over one million items and games exchanged.

Two new games have been added to the list of titles that are part of the “Steam economy” — Portal 2 and Spiral Knights.

“The addition of Steam Trading is the latest example of how Steam continues to evolve with new features and functions developed based upon feedback,” said Jason Holtman, director of business development. “We look forward to seeing how gamers and developers have fun and move this functionality forward.”

Support for trading has been added to Steamworks, so we may see more titles adding it in the future.

Guess which game is?

Valve confirmed today that Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be on Steam and use Steamworks. Excited gamers can now also pre-purchase the title before its release on November 8. If you prefer to get a tangible copy of the game, that’s going to use Steam, too, meaning that Modern Warfare 3 gets the auto-updating and Steam Achievements that many Battlefield 3 hopefuls wanted.

Like I said, it’s another shot fired. And this is a war between war games that is getting increasingly dirty. Maybe stuff like Steam integration won’t make or break a title, but it sure does make some gamers think a little harder about which game they’ll purchase.

Kim Swift, previously at Valve, is now at Airtight Games. Airtight let her create her own game, and pretty much gave her creative freedom over the whole thing. So, what did she come up with?

Quantum Conundrum.

It’s a first-person puzzle game with platforming elements (hey, that’s partially familiar) set in a mansion (okay) that is apparently very much all about science (which is also pretty familiar). You control an “Interdimensional Shift Device” that does what its name says, allowing you to alter the physics of your environment. You’ll be working your way to the bottom, but every room is a puzzle.

When you put it like that, it’s all pretty familiar-sounding. But once you switch to the basic plot, that’s when things seem to get…a bit of an interdimensional shift. Gamespot got the exclusive, so I’ll give you their summary:

The basic premise is that you play as a kid who has been dropped off at his eccentric uncle’s place by his mom. It turns out that your uncle, Professor Fitz Quadwrangle, is a talented scientist and has transformed his lovely Victorian mansion into a labyrinth of wacky scientific experiments. However, as with all successful experiments, there are bound to be some failures. We’re told that shortly after your arrival, there’s an explosion, and you learn that your uncle has vanished. Now it’s up to you to go find him.

It’s all a lot more adorable than the initial description really lets you know. This game releases in early 2012 on Steam, PSN, and Xbox LIVE Arcade. But you know we’ll hear a lot more before then.

Here’s a video to get you acquainted:

This is DOTA 2‘s Gamescom trailer, and I have the feeling that it would be very gameplay-driven — if DOTA 2 weren’t making its official debut at the show. You know, at the tournament with the $1 million prize.

Valve announced today that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is currently planned for release in early 2012 via PlayStation network, Xbox LIVE Arcade and Steam.

The game will feature new maps, characters and weapons as well as updates of classic content. The game will also add new modes, matchmaking functions, leaderboards and more.

“Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999,” said Doug Lombard, VP of Marketing at Valve. “For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS’ award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac.”

The game will be playable at both PAX Prime and the London Games Festival.

Here’s what appears to be an early trailer for the game: