This week’s Name That Game! is going to be special. I’ll be offering a real prize – a copy of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2 Episode 1. Which means that we’re going to have to be slightly more formal about how we do things this week.

At 8:00 AM Central Time (sorry, but that’s what local time is for me), I will post three screenshots. The first person to MAIL me with

* The names of all three games,

* The names of the developers of all three games, and

* The unique theme that ties all three games together

will win the prize. Please note the word MAIL above. Do NOT put your answers in a comment – indeed, I won’t be allowing comments on that post until AFTER the contest is over.

Because I want this to be slightly harder than your average Name That Game! I will not be restricting myself to the PC or a certain timeframe. I will choose games from all of space and time! So be prepared.

The prize will require a Steam account. If you don’t have one, get one. They are free.

I don’t anticipate any problems, but if there are…well, it’s my contest, so I am the arbitrator, which means that my judgement is final.

If in the past I have requested that you no longer guess on these contests, that restriction is now lifted. This means that you are now unretired, Warren.

Oooh, I can hardly wait for this! This is going to be so much fun!