Half-Life 2 is out, and you better believe it! But with new game releases come new bugs, and this is no different for Valve's HL2. For people who are running into the bug on startup that looks like "Map Version is 0, expecting 19," Valve's Erik Johnson suggested trying this to see if it works:

1. Go into your "/Steam/SteamApps folder"
2. Rename the file called sourcemodels.gcf to something else.
3. Relaunch the game.

This is going to require a redownload of this file, but if you want to get playing tonight it's probably the best path. There are a couple of people now who were in this situation and fixed the error in this way.

Electronic Arts and Cherry Lane Music Publishing today announced that the two companies have teamed up to create Next Level Music LLC, a music publishing company that will sign established as well as emerging new artists, acquire publishing catalogs, produce original music and further develop EA's rich catalogue of music.

Chat live with Yannis Mallat on PlayStation.com today Tuesday, November 16th @ 10:00am until 11:00am (Pacific Standard Time). Website visitors will have a chance to ask Yannis questions about the upcoming Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and his involvement with the critically-acclaimed, award-winning franchise.

Slitherine are pleased to announce Legion II, its new 4X strategy game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit & eXterminate). Initial design work on Legion II began early in 2004 and the game is slated for a late 2005 release. Legion II is set in the ancient Mediterranean world and players can choose to take control of any of the major civilizations at the time including the Romans, Carthaginians, Gauls and many more.

Mistland have another project lined up for the near future, "Alfa: AntiTerror". The sad reality of life in many countries. The global problem of modern times. A war, which can neither be won nor lost. The unpromising forecasts of scientists and experts concerning further development of things. Terrorism is waiting for our answer. An answer we are about to deliver.

Valve made good on its promise and has unlocked Half-Life 2 for people who pre-ordered it through its online delivery system Steam. "Half-Life 2 is available now for purchase and to play. Those who pre-purchased their copy via Steam may access the game by double-clicking on the Half-Life 2 icon in their Steam Games directory. To purchase your copy via Steam, please visit www.steampowered.com." The Source remake of the original Half-Life is now also available.

COPS 2170: The Power of Law is a colorful hybrid of tactical strategy and RPG elements where players take on the role of a rookie cop as she patrols the mean streets of a futuristic, cyberpunk metropolis. Read more for details and a few new screens ...

Jolt Online Gaming is pleased to announce that it is providing hosting and infrastructure for the German-developed MMORPG, Face of Mankind.

Former Argonaut development studio Just Add Monsters (JAM), creators of Kung Fu Chaos and one of the first developers to tackle next-generation development has been rescued and are now working under the Ninja Theory Ltd name.

"Stranger" is a real-time strategy game, with elements of role playing games set in a world, split in two parts, surface and a subterranean one, which are in a tenuous balance. 'Stranger' will also feature multiplayer although details beyond "The players may play on their own, or unite in teams" are a bit sktechy.