Our trip to Valve Headquarters to play Left 4 Dead
About a month ago we received an e-mail from Michael Booth, CEO of Turtle Rock Studios, asking if we wanted to come check out Valve headquarters and play some Left 4 Dead. It'll be no surprise to you that as fans of Valve and just about every game they've released, we jumped at the chance.
On April 1st, 2007 we drove to the airport. It was April Fools Day, and having only contacted Valve through e-mail there was a small part of us worrying it could be some horribly evil elaborate hoax. Fortunately, they let us aboard and we were off to Seattle.
Monday morning at 10am we headed over, took some pictures (see below), and met up with Michael Booth. After being shown around the offices by the very cool Chet Faliszek, we got down to business. Stopping only for lunch and dinner, we played Left 4 Dead for hours and hours until after midnight when we sadly had to leave. It was an experience that neither of us will ever forget and we are eternally grateful to the kind folks at Turtle Rock and Valve.
To read our hands-on preview of Left 4 Dead, click here.
Below are some pictures. If you can't tell by looking at them, I have to admit I'm not a professional photographer. Click on any picture to get a higher resolution version.
 VALVe sign at the front doors |
 A giant valve sits right in the center of the lobby |
 Shelf with a lot of awards.. apparently I'm not too good at standing up straight |
 The valve from the other side, custom computer in the far corner |
 A table with dolls..? Action figures I'm sure. |
 Crate on the floor from Germany saying thanks for being so awesome |
 Fish tank built into the right side of the lobby wall |
 I was too excited to sit down, but I'm sure if I had it'd be real comfortable |
 Little bugger hanging on the ceiling |
 The golden crowbar |
 This sweet computer was running gameplay videos of Ep2/TF2 all day |
 Wasn't sure if I was allowed touching it, so I didn't.. the can is some sort of Half-life chili, I guess Valve is expanding into new markets |
 More awards and some crowbars on either side of the lobby door |
 The breakroom had some junk food |
 What do video game developers do on their breaks? |
 The room we came to call home.. 30" monitor, quad core w/ 8800gtx on the left, didn't know about the right one |
 A hallway right outside the test room, offices on the sides |
 Lots of games, and somebody likes knives |
 From the left: Frogopus, Michael Booth, Squerl |
 L4D411 and Turtle Rock: Frogopus, Michael Booth, Squerl, Chris Ashton (senior environment artist), Brandon Idol (art guy) |
