The Steam forum got an unprecedented cosmetic makeover last night. I know that statement sounds gay, but the new forum appears somewhat metrosexual too.

However, I do think it's easier to navigate than the old interface.

Valve recently announced that weapon pricing within Counter-Strike: Source is going to be fluctuating according to market demand. This new dynamic weapon pricing system is going into effect on October 11, 2006.

Previously, the weapon pricing is fixed, which led to some weapons being heavily favored by players. This really restricted the range of weapons utilized in combat.

The new dynamic pricing encourages players to consider alternative weapons that may be cheaper when cash is low. It increases the gameplay competitiveness.

Finally, mapping for Counter-Strike is possible again!

• Source SDK
• SDK shaders have been revamped
• Linux Dedicated Server Build now properly builds and links
• 'vbspinfo.exe' and 'splitskybox.exe' have been added to SDK
• 'mathlib' source code has been added to the Source SDK
• Procedural materials now working

Updates to Counter-Strike: Source and the Source Engine, along with some improvements to SourceTV have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

• Counter-Strike: Source
• Added zoom/scope to first person view in SourceTV
• Fixed exploit to access full map overview while alive
• Fixed exploit to bypass mp_forcecamera 1 restrictions
  
  Source Engine
• Fixed clock synchronization while recording a demo
  
  SourceTV
• Added number of spectators and broadcast title in spectator GUI
• Added chat groups for SourceTV spectators

With a flurry of commotion, Valve released five new gameplay trailers in the past two days. Because the trailers were just made public, there are no Google video made available for them yet. However, you can count on me to post them here once they do become available.

You can check out the trailers if you have a Steam account.

Here is an Episode Two trailer (YouTube) released earlier in the week to whet your appetite. Episode Two, along with Portal and Team Fortress 2 , are scheduled to come out in the first quarter of 2007 (sorry, no Christmas treat this year).

If there are any mature gamers out there, you might want to know that I am starting a community for adult gamers.

More specifically, it's a gaming site designed for parents who play video games. I just figured it's about time that a site is created for us grown-ups who still enjoying shooting each other in the virtual world. I believe the adult gaming community is underserved online.

If you are interested, come check us out. We are at GamingParents.org.

P.S. There is no age requirement to become a member, so adolescents are welcome too.