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Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

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Half-Life 2 available now

You can find it at your local gamery on the high street, or you can just click a few buttons and it'll come through on Steam. (Honestly, we're also surprised it works.)

Half-Life 2 is now available to buy at retailers around the world, and has been unlocked on Valve's content delivery system Steam for those who purchased it that way. We're playing it right now.

Well, that's not strictly true. One of us is playing it right now. Another of us is sat here typing these words desperately trying not to throw jealous and barbed comments through the door. And what pointless words they are. You know Half-Life 2 is out. Everybody does. According to our research, even girlfriends - as a group - have figured this out. Mad.

However, on the off chance that you somehow haven't managed to work out that HL2 is quite literally available to buy right this second, here's a link to buy it on Simply Games if you're that way inclined, or you can always slope down to your local games shop and find it there.

And if, more likely, you've skipped work or school and are already playing it - perhaps popping out every now and then to check on the world with a sort of post-coital glow about you - then we'd be very interested to hear what you think about it. Just try to keep it spoiler-free...

Oh, and in case you've forgotten, the release of Half-Life 2 also marks the distribution of Half-Life: Source - a Source Engine reworking of the original game - for people who bought the Silver or Gold Steam packages, although we reckon it might be a little while before you get round to playing it. Day of Defeat: Source will also follow in the near future.

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