It's Half-Life 2 week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of the release of Half-Life 2 —a game of historical importance for the artistic medium and technology of computer games. Each day up through the 16th, we'll be running a new article looking back at the game and its impact.

“Well, I just hate the idea that our games might waste people’s time. Why spend four years of your life building something that isn't innovative and is basically pointless?”

Valve software founder Gabe Newell is quoted by Geoff Keighley—yes, the Game Awards guy, back then a GameSpot writer—as saying this in June 1999 , six months after the original Half-Life launched. Newell gave his team no real budget or deadline, only the assignment to “follow up the best PC game of all time” and redefine the genre.

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It's Half-Life 2 week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of the release of Half-Life 2 —a game of historical importance for the artistic medium and technology of computer games. Each day up through the 16th, we'll be running a new article looking back at the game and its impact.

“Well, I just hate the idea that our games might waste people’s time. Why spend four years of your life building something that isn't innovative and is basically pointless?”

Valve software founder Gabe Newell is quoted by Geoff Keighley—yes, the Game Awards guy, back then a GameSpot writer—as saying this in June 1999 , six months after the original Half-Life launched. Newell gave his team no real budget or deadline, only the assignment to “follow up the best PC game of all time” and redefine the genre.

Read full article

Comments

It's Half-Life 2 week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of the release of Half-Life 2 —a game of historical importance for the artistic medium and technology of computer games. Each day up through the 16th, we'll be running a new article looking back at the game and its impact.

“Well, I just hate the idea that our games might waste people’s time. Why spend four years of your life building something that isn't innovative and is basically pointless?”

Valve software founder Gabe Newell is quoted by Geoff Keighley—yes, the Game Awards guy, back then a GameSpot writer—as saying this in June 1999 , six months after the original Half-Life launched. Newell gave his team no real budget or deadline, only the assignment to “follow up the best PC game of all time” and redefine the genre.

Read full article

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SpaceX's Starlink Internet satellites are responsible for more and more public reports of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAPs), but most recent cases remain unsolved, according to a US government report released Thursday.

Starlinks often move across the sky in "trains" that appear like gleaming gems in the blackness of space. They are particularly visible to the naked eye shortly after each Starlink launch.

In recent years, leaks and disclosures from government officials have revitalized open discussion about mysterious lights and objects, some of which move in, to put it bluntly, unquestionably weird ways. Some of these images, particularly those from sophisticated instruments on military fighter jets , have made their way into the national discourse. The New Yorker, Ars' sister publication, has a thorough report on how UAPs—you might know them better as UFOs—became mainstream.

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SpaceX's Starlink Internet satellites are responsible for more and more public reports of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAPs), but most recent cases remain unsolved, according to a US government report released Thursday.

Starlinks often move across the sky in "trains" that appear like gleaming gems in the blackness of space. They are particularly visible to the naked eye shortly after each Starlink launch.

In recent years, leaks and disclosures from government officials have revitalized open discussion about mysterious lights and objects, some of which move in, to put it bluntly, unquestionably weird ways. Some of these images, particularly those from sophisticated instruments on military fighter jets , have made their way into the national discourse. The New Yorker, Ars' sister publication, has a thorough report on how UAPs—you might know them better as UFOs—became mainstream.

Read full article

Comments

SpaceX's Starlink Internet satellites are responsible for more and more public reports of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAPs), but most recent cases remain unsolved, according to a US government report released Thursday.

Starlinks often move across the sky in "trains" that appear like gleaming gems in the blackness of space. They are particularly visible to the naked eye shortly after each Starlink launch.

In recent years, leaks and disclosures from government officials have revitalized open discussion about mysterious lights and objects, some of which move in, to put it bluntly, unquestionably weird ways. Some of these images, particularly those from sophisticated instruments on military fighter jets , have made their way into the national discourse. The New Yorker, Ars' sister publication, has a thorough report on how UAPs—you might know them better as UFOs—became mainstream.

Read full article

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A 7-year-old launch company that has yet to have a rocket successfully lift off announced a radical pivot on Thursday. Its new plan? Focusing on missile defense.

The founder and president of ABL Space Systems, Dan Piemont, announced the decision on LinkedIn , adding, "We're consolidating our operational footprint and parting ways with some talented members of our team." He said companies interested in hiring great people in Los Angeles or Mojave, California, should reach out.

A bright beginning

With a background in economics and physics, Piemont founded ABL in 2017 with the aim of developing a ship-and-shoot rocket. The idea was to set up mobile ground systems in remote locations on short notice and launch on demand for the US military and other customers.

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A 7-year-old launch company that has yet to have a rocket successfully lift off announced a radical pivot on Thursday. Its new plan? Focusing on missile defense.

The founder and president of ABL Space Systems, Dan Piemont, announced the decision on LinkedIn , adding, "We're consolidating our operational footprint and parting ways with some talented members of our team." He said companies interested in hiring great people in Los Angeles or Mojave, California, should reach out.

A bright beginning

With a background in economics and physics, Piemont founded ABL in 2017 with the aim of developing a ship-and-shoot rocket. The idea was to set up mobile ground systems in remote locations on short notice and launch on demand for the US military and other customers.

Read full article

Comments

A 7-year-old launch company that has yet to have a rocket successfully lift off announced a radical pivot on Thursday. Its new plan? Focusing on missile defense.

The founder and president of ABL Space Systems, Dan Piemont, announced the decision on LinkedIn , adding, "We're consolidating our operational footprint and parting ways with some talented members of our team." He said companies interested in hiring great people in Los Angeles or Mojave, California, should reach out.

A bright beginning

With a background in economics and physics, Piemont founded ABL in 2017 with the aim of developing a ship-and-shoot rocket. The idea was to set up mobile ground systems in remote locations on short notice and launch on demand for the US military and other customers.

Read full article

Comments