Acclaimed multiplayer first-person shooter Team Fortress 2 got its first injection of hot user-created content today. The game update that shipped earlier today includes a slew of new items and weapons submitted through the TF2 Contribute site, from Elvis hair for the Heavy to a pimp hat that can naturally only be worn by the Demoman.
Valve is effusive in its praise of the TF2 community, saying, "The overall quality of submissions we're receiving is fantastic, by the way, so there'll be plenty of new additions to follow." Looking at some of the submissions, we have to agree.
It's great to see developers going the extra mile in supporting the mod communities for their titles. Many developers got their starts in the industry following this path, and tons of freely downloadable content awaits the patient mod searcher.
Of course, you could argue that dealing with driver issues that could nuke your graphics card and throwing down $600+ for a gaming rig is enough of a price to pay to reap the fruits of modders' labors. You'd be silly, because PC gaming is the gift that keeps on giving, but the argument is reasonably legit.