“My name is Marco Spitoni, I was born in 1970 in the north of Italy and I’m presently living and working on the other side of the world in New Zealand… I’m presently working at Weta Digital, Peter Jackson’s VFX facility as Previs Supervisor, here in Wellington, NZ.”

You’ve just been introduced to one Mr. Spitoni, a fellow who has a passion for 3D graphics, Star Wars and videogames.

From the looks of a teaser video for one of his animated CG short movies dealing with the universe of Half-Life and featuring Gordon Freeman, Mr. Spitoni also has a passion for making the dreams of videogame geeks come true.

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Actor Robert Culp has died at the age of 79, after taking a fall while walking in a park near his home in Los Angeles, California yesterday (March 24th).

To TV viewers of an… ‘older’ generation, Culp would be known for his roles in ‘I Spy’ starring opposite Bill Cosby, the series The Greatest American Hero, and appearances in the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.

To gamers, we would know Culp as the voice of Half-Life 2’s antagonist Dr. Wallace Breen, last seen in Half-Life 2: Episode One.

While questions hung over whether or not Dr. Breen would ever make another showing in the Half-Life universe, Culp’s death sadly gives us this answer (I don’t think Valve would seek to replace a voice as distinctive as Robert Culp).

You can view Culp’s extensive resume over here.

OK, sure, it’s only a mod, but it’s looking extremely promising and will manage to weaken the knees of anyone who played through the original Half-Life all those years ago.

Oh, but where are my manners? What is Black Mesa, you ask? Well, it just happens to be a mod (user made modification) using the upgraded Half-Life 2 engine to recreate the original first-person shooting classic, Half-Life. All of the assets have been remade, from models and textures, to levels and animations, complete with new sound effects and music. It truly is a mammoth task, but one the developers say is wrapping up nicely.

Black Mesa (formerly known as Black Mesa Source) is being made by an entire team of modders, and you can see a slice of their work so far in the official trailer below: