Vote for your favourite downloadable game in the Golden Joysticks
Competition is hotting up in the Golden Joysticks. Voting for the shooter category is still ongoing, but it’s not just the big violent FPSes battling it out. Read on for a video outlining the nominees for the best downloadable game category, and a chance to vote for your favourite.
Microsoft: “It is our job to lead the way on PC”
Microsoft has admitted that it needs to “step up” on the PC front. Dave Luehmann, Microsoft Game Studio’s general manager, has said, “Other companies should look to Microsoft for leadership, but I’m not sure they do. It is our job to lead the way on PC.” How do you reckon they should do that, then?
StarCraft II’s first patch – how does it play?
StarCraft II’s first major patch since its launch has arrived, and it’s tweaked a few things. I’ve spent many an evening with the game since patchification and now feel qualified to weigh in on the changes, having already lost days to the vanilla version. Polite note: those of you unfamiliar with StarCraft’s intense multiplayer, please be mindful that the addition of five seconds to a unit’s build-time is a game-changer; those of you who play regularly, WTF THEY NERFED THE SIEGE TANK!?
Global Agenda competition winners
We’ve endured much, you and I. You had to endure two weeks of waiting to see if you were one of ten lucky readers who’d won a free copy of Global Agenda. I had to endure reading through a billion entries, each better than the last. To the ten of you who’ll now be jetting around playing Global Agenda for free, my congratulations! We asked you for the ten lamest reasons or ways to use a jetpack. Here they are:
Blizzard on Starcraft II 1.2 patch, Zerg balance issues
On Wednesday, Blizzard deployed the first major balancing patch for Starcraft II, swinging the nerfbat at supposed Terran dominance. Already, the Starcraft II team are planning their next update, which as Chris Sigaty, Starcraft II’s lead producer explains, “we’d like it out by the end of the year.” Read on to discover what’s on the table.
Why Syndicate was “bad to the bone”
PC Gamer is blessed with a seasoned 17 year history. Occasionally we reach into our deep archives to retrieve something wonderful about a game we love. Today, we’ve dredged up ex PC Gamer shoe-shine-boy Kieron Gillen’s fond memories of Syndicate.
An undead ninja dressed in gaudy yellow has just grabbed the eye-sockets of his opponent and torn his head clear of his body, dangling a couple of feet of glistening wet spinal cord after it. Cue screams from the horrified tabloids. Gamers laughed at it or with it, depending on their temperament. It’s 1993, and Mortal Kombat, in terms of press controversy, is the Grand Theft Auto of its day. But only in those terms. Anyone who has actually played the game knows that it belongs purely to the Grand Guignol tradition of video nasties, a comedy fountain of gore. Mortal Kombat was just slapstick with a very sharp stick. It wasn’t bad to the bone.
No Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm at Blizzcon
The second part of the Starcraft II trilogy will not be shown at Blizzard’s fan festival this October, says Starcraft II lead designer, Chris Sigaty. Speaking to PC Gamer, Chris explained that the next game won’t be on display, or shown. There is hope – a story panel the Blizzard team are planning might answer some of your questions, but don’t expect to know what happens to Kerrigan and the gang.
How to install a Minecraft texture pack
Tired of the bland boring bright look of Minecraft? Want it to be more realistic looking? Darker? Perhaps a higher resolution look? Then look no further for today, you will learn about the wonders of texture packs in Minecraft.
UPDATE – The way in which you install texture packs has changed, the new method is inside.
Blistering new trailer for Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
Burnout developers Criterion are in charge of the upcoming reboot of Need for Speed’s Hot Pursuit, and it’s looking pretty damn exciting. The world of Hot Pursuit is like a rough part of town where the gangs are in an arms race with the cops, except it’s set in the wide alpine outdoors, and instead of guns it’s got cars. Impossibly sleek, ludicrously expensive cars. See them action in the new trailer below.
Content, not visuals, makes a new game
It drives me absolutely nuts to hear people dismissively complain that a follow-up game that uses the same engine and some of the same graphics as the original “looks like a mod.” Lately we’ve heard it about Left 4 Dead 2 and BioShock 2, and we’re hearing it now about Fallout: New Vegas (which comes after the whining that Fallout 3 is a mod of Oblivion).
I just don’t get it.
Good Old Games on online activation: “it’s just bollocks.”
It’s been a rollercoaster week for retro game publisher Good Old Games. They closed! No they didn’t! They’re back! They apologised! They’re wearing monk costumes! They’re making money hand over fist! What the hell!
Before it all kicked off, PC Gamer sat down with GOG co-founder Marcin Iwinski and Managing Director Guillaume Rambourg to discover the story behind their relaunch, and how they convince publishers to release their games without DRM, how they combat piracy, and their holy mission to improve PC gaming. Warning: this interview contains Poles explaining themselves using slightly awkward metaphors.
To re-iterate – this interview took place before GOG closed their site.
Fallout: New Vegas TV ad proclaims superiority of PC version
The latest UK TV trailer for Fallout: New Vegas shows us plenty of stylish pre-rendered cutscene action, but when it comes to shots of what it’s actually like to play, every frame is taken from the PC version of the game. We’re taking that as a clear indication that the PC version is the best. Here’s the footage.
PC gamers to get Medal of Honor multiplayer open beta
DICE have released a new trailer revealing a new multiplayer mode, and a date for the start of a three day PC multiplayer open beta, to kick off on October 4th. The trailer follows.
Civilization V is out worldwide
Civilization V is finally out in the UK and the rest of the world. You can read about why it’s awesome in our review. If you’re still unsure about it, then you can still get the demo from Steam. If, after all that, you’re still on the fence, then maybe the new launch trailer, included below, will tip you over the edge.
Fight Saxton Hale in Team Fortress 2
Can anyone out there step up and take down the near immortal CEO of Mann Co? Can anyone stand against the iron fists and manly chest hair of the very Saxton Hale himself? Find out in this mod for TF2.
