And there it was. Not just one-hundred plus megabytes of code anymore, but the real deal. The alpha. Sitting on a FTP somewhere out in Cali ready to be downloaded and abused by every fan on the planet. Five users at a time no doubt, but you get the idea. It was just there. The cigarette to a nicotine deprived smoker, the misty beer to a late night alcoholic, the lolly-pop to a sweet tooth. The source of our addiction. (No pun intended) It was Half Life 2. The game we all had been anticipating, right there, waiting to be ganked. Literally. Talk about temptation though right?. The first playable form of our beloved Valve crafted master piece was out and about gradually spreading itself to all corners of the internet. Mostly dark and troubled corners, barely passed by the average at home user, but there none the less. [Read More...]