Well, we just finished recording a new episode for you guys. Expect to see the episode up for download some time tomorrow. Hope you all enjoy the episode as much as we enjoyed it making it.
Thanks for all your ongoing support and patience 
!
File Mirrors
This week’s podcast features the following on-air personalities:
1337 C4T of Episode 8
This Week’s New Releases in 15 Seconds or Less
The following news articles were discussed on the show:
Now you can make your Steam purchases using Paypal… uh… great!
One of the most famous Half-Life 2 mods in now on Steam, and comes with a $10 price tag to boot. You can still play the previous version, gmod 9, for free though.
Sony Hits Brakes on Gran Turismo HD
Polyphony Digital’s PlayStation 3 driving sim will only be released in free downloadable demo form in Japan; no word on game’s US fate.
Sony today updated the game’s Japanese Web site with some good news and some bad news for eager fans of the game. The good news is that a free demo version of Gran Turismo HD with 10 cars and two layouts of a single track will be available for download in Japan from the PlayStation store on December 24, 2006. The bad news is that the full version of the game has been canceled, as the Polyphony Digital team is switching its focus to the next PS3 installment of the series, Gran Turismo 5.
A Japanese analyst is claiming that the PS3 will be Sony’s last console, and that they’ll go the way of Sega and transition to publishing only software and no hardware.
Napster founder targets WOW for next project
Shawn Fanning to build virtual online community for online gamers; Blizzard’s World of Warcraft to be first featured game.
The MySpace for Azeroth will pull data directly from WOW and publish stats and information on a personalized page. Gamers will also be able to instant message while playing, as well as track the progress of their guilds and organize playing time with their online buddies.
Duke Nukem Forever Possibly Nearing Release?
It’s been a long time… a looooooooong time. The developers of Duke Nukem Forever have made Half-Life 2 look like a fast turnaround, but the title is starting to show up on Best Buy and Amazon for a January 1st release.
Well, Bob and I were wrong. The mongoose is actually a 2 man, non-offensive quad bike used to to zip around the map quickly and efficiently.
Although, the one thing that gamers wanted to see was not featured in any of the screenshots… the man cannon. Still no word on that glorious invention as of yet.
Instead of buying a PS3 you could buy 250 gallons of gas, 300 Big Macs, or give a third-world kid shelter, food, and clothes for a year.
Halo 3 Beta to start December 4
While we’re still on the topic of Halo, the Halo 3 open beta should start on December 4.
Registration for the beta program will begin on December 4 at the Halo 3 Web site (currently the site redirects visitors to Bungie’s Web site). The beta will initially be open to North American gamers, and not everyone who applies is guaranteed a spot. Europe will run a beta program for the game separately. Bungie has not yet revealed the requirements to enter the beta.
Windows Driver for the Wii Remote
What would PC games be like with the Wii remote? Let’s find out!
Wrap Up
Keep your fan mail, suggestions, and comments coming. The coolest email address on the net is still fans@steampodcast.com, and the coolest IRC channel is #steampodcast.
Ramzy had his fair share of technical difficulties, now I guess it’s my turn. One of the three hard drives in my desktop (the OS drive wouldn’t you know it) is experiencing some emotional turmoil. Sometimes it boots up fine, other times it it gets to the Windows logo, hangs, and my hard drive “cha-chunks” until I turn it off. When it does boot up, after a while it will completely lock up. It’s quite cranky.
I’m not completely without internet, I have my laptop. However, I need two machines to record the podcast. I’ve asked Santa for a new hard drive for Christmas, and I’m hoping he’ll pull through for me. That said, it’s unlikely you’ll see another episode before then.
Assuming I get a new hard drive around Christmas time, we’ll try to pull something together for you guys before the New Year or shortly after. I’ve got emails out to three highly-requested mod teams, but sadly, none have responded in over a week 
. We’ll still do our best to get our interviews up and running again.
We’ll have a lot to cover when we get back, and make no mistake about it, we will be back.
Thanks for all your support, and happy holidays from The Steam Podcast!
