tech e blog

While Contra for the NES and Half-Life 2 are both excellent games, this mashup by Machinima is simply incredible. Best of all, "the music is lifted straight from the NES game." Video after the break.

Also, we're not seeing any Konami code being entered, which means a quick end could not be far behind.

According to modder "Trase- aKa Patcher aKa Tr45e", nearly all the sounds in this version of Half-Life 2 were replaced with his voice -- he "did not edit any of them, its fresh from the microphone." Video after the break.

Sure, Half-Life 2 is a shining example of how to do sound effects right, but still...sometimes it's OK to have a little fun with it, and replace those mechanical sounds with something a little more human.

Waterloo Labs decided to play "Half-Life, with a suppressed .22 pistol; using accelerometers and LabVIEW, [they] can triangulate the position of where the bullet hits a piece of drywall and generate a mouse click at that location in the game." Video after the break.

The intensity of the vibrations in each accelerometer is measured to determine where exactly on the board the bullet impacted, which is fed into the host PC, where the coordinate data is translated into an aimed, ingame shot.

If Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. was developed with the Half-Life 2 engine, this is what a first-person version would look like. Yes, the powerups include the HEV suit. Continue reading to see it in-action.

(Thanks, Madison)

For those who found the original Half Life 2 box art a bit bland, graphics designer Pavel "Mad Spike" Protsenko has come up with a few custom designs to whet your appetite. Continue reading to see the original or click here for first picture in galery.

I don't feel that enough respect has been given to the artist for all his efforts to design alternative, superior covers to Valve's flagship video game, Half Life 2.

At first glance, this may look like a sequel to 28 Days Later, but this Half-Life inspired test film "successfully combines gadgets, sci-fi and film making into a nice little package." Video after the break.

That it apparently doesn't have any point whatsoever, and ends somewhat abruptly with a "singularity," well, that's another thing.

Dubbed Escape from City 17, this Half-Life 2 inspired short film was shot "guerilla style with no money, no time, no crew, [and] no script; the first two episodes were made from beginning to end on a budget of $500." Continue reading to watch.

While standard LEGO models are nothing special, this Half-Life 2 scene was designed with gamers in mind. It even includes a Gordon Freeman minifig -- most of the figures seen above are custom.

There are lots of details to check out in this diorama, including several custom minifigs (note Gordon Freeman himself and the poor dude parasitized by a headcrab).

At first glance, this may look like Cosplay, but it's really a highly detailed Halfe Life 2 model / render. Click here for an interesting comic on why Gordon never talks.

This picture is not a cosplayer getting up to face the day as a Combine Elite soldier from Half-Life 2. It's actually a render of one into a shot of someone's bedroom.

If you've never played Half-Life or the sequel, then check out this clip, which gives you the Cliff Notes version of both games in just 60 seconds. Video after the jump.