Archive for February, 2011

Captain’s Quarters is coming to EVE

CCP have revealed in a blog that player avatars will soon be able to walk around their own “Captain’s Quarters”.

The developers have been aiming to have space stations that will be fully explorable by avatars, but this first step will be available on the test servers within the next six weeks. Read on for more details.

They did it first

In a world of clones and copycats, it’s worth remembering that every idea was once new.

Whether it’s Richard Garriott turning himself into the world’s first cosplayer by showing up at conventions dressed as his alter-ego Lord British, or Westwood inventing the RTS in Dune II, these are the moments that defined the games we play today. On PC, anyway. Herzog Zwei? What’s that?

But what about some of the more obscure firsts? Who made games talk? Who made film ratings part of our industry? Which FPS first came up with the idea of mixing driving and shooting, in much the same way that the genius who first combined salt and vinegar crisps and broken up pieces of Kit-Kat created the most delicious snack of our age? That is the question.

We’ve gone back into the archives in search of the geniuses, the dreamers, the designers and games that proved there were still ideas left to explore – just as today’s designers continue to prove how much more can be done.

Jerks should be ‘charged accordingly’ in multiplayer says Valve’s Gabe

Gabe Newell – head of Valve – has come out and said that annoying and ‘jerk’ players in multiplayer games should be ‘charged accordingly’ to reflect their actions. Read on for all the details.

Saturday Crapshoot: Bouncing Babies

Can games be art? Oddly, no matter how many hundreds upon thousands of times the question is asked, nobody ever seems to have an answer. You’d think it would be simple. Yes, they might say. Or no. Maybe something in the middle, served up in the most faux-intellectual, self-aggrandising, tiresomely sesquipedilian way possible. Who can say? Nobody. Or can they? Yes. For, lost in the depths of time, there is one game and one game alone that dared to let action speak louder than words… even really loud ones like BANG! This classic’s name? Please. It is already burned into your soul.

Intern Arena: Is the Dead Island trailer overrated?

Sometimes our interns get into heated debates about the latest PC gaming news. But heated debates never solved anything, which is why sacred PC Gamer law requires that when interns fight in the office, they must fight to the death! And they will do so for your entertainment in our new column: Intern Arena! Two interns will enter… only one will leave. Tell us who you think won the debate and who should be put to death in the post’s comments!

Gears of War free with Bulletstorm

The Games for Windows copy of Bulletstorm will ship with Gears of War in the US.

Those who purchase the PC retail copy in America between launch and March 8 will find People Can Fly’s insane shooter bundled with Epic’s equally insane shooter Gears of War.

People Can Fly and partners Epic have been pushing the PC version of the game, with president of Epic Games Mike Capps claiming Bulletstorm will make your machine “weep if you play it in 3D, full screen, full resolution.”

The game launches next week, on the 22nd in America and 25th in Europe.

[via VG247]

Blizzard ‘love’ Torchlight

When Torchlight was released in 2009, it wore it’s Diablo influence proudly on it’s sleeve. It’s success certainly kept fans of Blizzard’s dungeon crawler happy, having been without a new title for nine years. But what do Blizzard think of Torchlight? “We play those and we generally love them,” said art director Christian Lichtner when talking to Eurogamer. “Torchlight – we love it, we play it a lot.”

Extra Telltale announcements

Surprise! (Or not.) Telltale confirmed that it’s working on a Walking Dead episodic adventure game based on the comic (which is also the basis for the hit AMC TV show). Telltale says it won’t be an action game about shooting zombies – like the source material, it’ll be more of a human drama about survival.

Here’s one that was kept under wraps a little better: Telltale’s making a game based on Fables, the DC comic that retells classic fairy tales in dark, contemporary settings.

One more: Hector: Badge of Carnage is coming to PC. It’s a port of an existing iPhone game about a crude Irish detective. Telltale, a big believer in putting games on every platform under the sun, has partnered with the developer to bring the first episode and future games to the PC (Telltale now owns the character).

Telltale to reboot King’s Quest series

Adventure game factory Telltale has announced that the classic Sierra adventure series is the next to get the Tales of Monkey Island treatment, with a “rebooted” episodic adventure series planned for later this year. Nothing’s known about how the game will look or play, but it’s definitely coming.

Bioware launch Dragon Age 2 Call To Arms challenge

Bioware have announced that if next week’s Dragon Age 2 demo hits one million downloads, they’ll give everyone who plays it two items to use in the full game, including a tome that will earn your character bonus experience.