Football Manager 2011 sweeps UK all-format charts
If there were any doubts about Football Manager’s status as a PC gaming colossus, they’ve been dispelled today by the release of the results of the official UK all-format charts for the UK. Football Manager 2011 has rocketed to the number one spot, beating the likes of Fifa 11, Fable 3 and Fallout: New Vegas to go top of the table, and it’s only been out since Friday.
Star Trek Online could go free-to-play, Champions to get mission creator
Cryptic announced recently that Champions Online will be going free-to-play early next year, and many immediately wondered if their other MMO title, Star Trek Online would follow suit. Cryptic’s boss, Jack Emmert, has been speaking out in a recent interview about Star Trek Online’s chances of ditching the subscription fee, and about plans to introduce a City of Heroes style mission editor to Champions Online.
Win a bundle of Peggle loot: give us your best shot
If you’ve never wanted a tiny plushie Splork of your own, you haven’t got that far in Peggle yet. Well, now you can get one of those, a Peggle mug, two Peggle badges, a Peggle mouse mat, a Peggle iPhone skin, Peggle, Peggle Nights, £30 of iTunes vouchers to buy Peggle and anything else on the iPhone, a bumper sticker reading XTRM FVR, and for some reason a bunch of Chuzzles.
All you have to do is save a replay of a great Peggle shot, zip it up, and post it on our forums. It can be Peggle Deluxe, Peggle Nights, or Peggle Extreme, but it probably has to be the PC version. We’re not looking for the highest score, just that mix of style, skill and dumb luck that makes Peggle fun. Here’s how to submit one.
Great moments in Modern Warfare 2 commentary: “Sandy Ravage is VISIBLY UPSET”
Here’s a ridiculous kill streak in Modern Warfare 2 by player Sandy Ravage, commentated with hilarious enthusiasm by El Presador.
A while back I was singing the praises of StarCraft 2 pro-gaming commentators Tasteless and Artosis – their nerdily smart insights and zealous enthusiasm are perfect to make a frantic RTS comprehensible. I think El Presador’s thunderously macho bellowing and hilarious improvised lingo is just as perfect for the merciless bloodbath of instakills that is Modern Warfare 2 online.
Crap Shoot: Alter Ego
Richard Cobbett reminds you that life is worth living, and there’s always someone worse off than yourself. If not, you can create one of them to torture into an early grave in this life simulator from Hell.
Life is pain. Anyone who tells you differently never played Alter Ego. You know how most games are built around fantasy, high-adventure and living the life you wish you had? Alter Ego is like being psychoanalysed by your evil mother-in-law, who shows up out of nowhere to spend an afternoon driving you to suicide, literally drives you to the nearest cliff, and then, just when you’re about to leap into the embrace of the jagged rocks below, calls over: “Wait! Have you thought what this will do to your parents?”
“Actually, never mind,” she adds. “You were an accidental ejaculation anyway.”
Show us your garden, win a gargantuan pack of Plants vs Zombies swag
A huge wave of zombie loot is approaching! To round out PopCap week, we’d like to give away a few more awesome prizes. If you like Plants vs Zombies as much as we do, take a screenshot of the coolest or most interesting garden you’ve made and post it on our forums. Our favourite will win this mega-pack of awesome loot, including one of the best gaming T-shirts ever, a zombie figurine, and a goddamn apron. Here’s what else you get.
Beyond Black Mesa is the Half-Life movie you’ve dreamed about. Watch the trailer now
A spectacular second trailer has been released for Beyond Black Mesa, a live action short film set in the Half Life universe. It’s packed full of explosions and tense shoot outs with the Combine, and features the coolest holographic wrist display gadget ever. You’ll find the video embedded below.
Details emerge of canned Steven Spielberg game
Fresh details have emerged about the cancelled Steven Spielberg game LMNO, painting a picture of an incredibly ambitious project, canned before it could realise its tremendous potential. The game was to feature an AI companion whose relationship with the player would grow over the course of the game, and whose behaviour and abilities would evolve according to your actions. Read on for more details, and some early footage of the abandoned game in progress.
GTA 1, 2, 3, Vice City and San Andreas for £5 on Steam
The bloody-good-deal alert klaxon has just gone off at PC Gamer HQ, signalling the appearance of another bloody good deal. Right now you can steal away all but the most recent of the Grand Theft Auto Games, from the 2D original through to GTA: San Andreas, for just £5, which is a saving of 75%. The first two games aren’t even available to buy on Steam any other way, and GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas are all brilliant, and in many ways, very different games. The deal will last until Monday and you can grab it now on Steam.
PC Gamer US Podcast 246 – Legal Experts
The Supreme Court has been abuzz with talk of video games lately as they tackle the question of whether or not states are allowed to ban minors from buying violent video games. But you don’t have to read through hours of transcripts to find out what’s going on–our heritage-based legal counselor, Dan Stapleton tells us what’s going on in that big white court of theirs. We also prepare for the end of the world…of Warcraft as the first signs of the Cataclysm creep out of Azeroth, discuss who want to win this weekend’s StarCraft II MLG tournament, find out how excited we are for CoD: Black Ops, and of course, answer listener questions.
Download, and receive your free legal counsel*
*you get what you pay for.
Win an epic PB&J sandwich! [giveaway]
@robohathorne: “Those are the best PB&Js ever made!”
@prenticegede: “Best PB&J I’ve ever had.”
@Ohthatflo: “Those things are bomb.”
@leah: “Totally jealous of the PB&J action I’m seeing on twitter. If anyone at PC Gamer needs a diaper change, I’ll make a trade.”
PC Gamer editors, contributors, and fans agree: No peanut butter and jelly sandwich holds a candle to the PB&J wedges from Courtney’s Produce at the corner of 14th Street and Castro Street in San Francisco’s Castro District. Each sandwich includes a generous mound of peanut butter folded into a scoop of strawberry jam tucked between two slices of delicious cinnamon bread—and one lucky bite includes a tart slice of strawberry!
Now you can experience the sandwich that took PC Gamer by storm!
Look below for contest details.
Update: Nathan Reimer has won, his comment:
“i like raspberry… did i just enter a contest to win a sandwich?!”
The Making of Peggle
PopCap Games are the creators of Bejeweled, Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies, each of them one of the biggest and most lovable games on PC. When casual and social games are reaching ever larger audiences and their developers are getting a bad reputation for poor design practices, how have PopCap managed to find fans amongst gamers and grannies alike? To find out, I visited the studio and interviewed everyone I could find. We’re running those interviews each day this week and calling it PopCap Week.
Today I’m speaking to PopCap co-founder Jason Kapalka and the designer of Peggle, Sukhbir Sidhub. It’s only now when looking back at the transcript that I realise there are long periods when I don’t ask any questions. Jason and Sukhbir have worked together for years, and it shows. They talk away without my intervention, revealing details of PopCap’s forgotten first release, a strip poker game called Foxy Poker, and follow it up by going into detail about the many variants of Peggle, including a Thor-themed version called Thunderball, and what would have happened if co-founder John Vechey’s mum had been PopCap’s accountant.
THQ might go back to Games for Windows Live
I remember back when I heard that THQ and Relic were dropping Games for Windows Live for Dawn of War 2 Retribution. I cheered out loud, because it was a move that would put an end to the months and months of frustration I’ve had trying to play Dawn of War 2 with my friends over Microsoft’s much lambasted service. However, recent words from Danny Billson, THQ’s Executive Vice President of Core Games, suggest that THQ might move back to Games for Windows Live again.
Report from the frontlines of Arma II: Private Military Company
The dodgy business of contracted military firms and mercenaries make up the back drop to the next slice of DLC for ARMA II. The ten new missions added in Private Military Company will introduce a host of new weapons and vehicles, and provide a single player and co-op campaign in which you play as a new faction. Read on for more information and a video report from the front line in Takistan.
Fan made map brings World of Warcraft to Civilization V
Deathwing’s bringing a fiery cataclysm to World of Warcraft next month, but imagine if instead of a colossal dragon bringing the apocalypse, it was an army of giant robots, supported by tanks and fighter bombers. Now you can make that a reality, with this wonderfully crafted map of Azeroth for Civilization V.
