Steam's current update message is showing a remarkable bit of news; the service is now set to host user created MODs for games based on the Source engine. The best part is that they will be completely free to any person who owns a Source based game (HL2, TF2, etc, everyone will own one of them!).

Via Steam

Elite was a masterpiece, a totally open ended game, programmed in mear kilobytes of memory. People have tried to make the modern "Elite" but have never quite managed it, so it's more than cool to hear the rumour that a new, official game might be on the way...

A teaser in the back of this month's Edge shows the wireframed space ship that we all know and love... could it be?

Via NeoGAF

With Ensemble today saying goodbye today (they close after Halo Wars ships), some interesting things have popped out into the open...namely, a concept art and mockups from the Halo themed MMO that they had in the works at one point.

The screen above is the main one that originally came out, but GamesUltra has some info, and a few more pics, check it out!

Here's quick roundup of two interesting games for you to try out;

Firstly we have Age of Booty, a cartoony Pirate RTS which really looks like quite a laugh, I'm currently downloading it, so hopefully it'll be worth the time. Via FilePlanet.

Also a demo of the truely brilliant Multiwinia is available from the game's official site. I honestly reccomend this one above all else; the original Darwinia was utterly stunning and playing it online against others? Brilliant!

In one of the slightly more oddball rumours that has come about lately, esspecially with Gabe Newell's recent insistance that VALVe are happy as ever being independant, The Inquirer has published a report stating that a Google takeover of Valve is imminent.

As unlikely as it sounds, Google are the sort of people who would strike me as the right type to buy out the company, if only for the established digital distribution service that is Steam.

Mirrors Edge is one of the games I am seriously, seriously looking foward to this year... I mean, running accross buildings and kicking ass with realistic hand to hand combat, how can it not be awesome?! As such, I am disapointed to hear the news that the game has been delayed until "sometime later this winter", compared to the 11th of November date for consoles.

Shafted by owning a PC again....

Via PR

Rockstar have let slip the system requirements for the upcoming PC version of GTA 4, although they have since been removed from the GamesForWindows site where they were spotted. Fortunatly, we've got them right here. You'll need a dual core processor, 2gb of ram, 18gb of HDD space, and a top end, 512mb graphics card.

They are hefty specs, but GTA is a very good looking game with a lot going on at once, so it makes sense.