Team Fortress 2 selling $100, $20, $7 hats for Japan aid
Valve has just deployed a two-week sale on three unique Team Fortress 2 hats, the proceeds of which will go entirely to the American Red Cross fund. Respectfully, we feel obligated to give this promotion a plug: we know your hunger for conspicuous hat consumption, PC gamers, and any transaction that helps relieve the immense toll of this disaster benefits us all. Click within for a peek at the headgear.
Eidos Montreal outsources Deus Ex–should PC gamers panic?
PC gamers recoiled in horror when Jean-François Dugas, director of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, announced in an interview with Shacknews that Eidos Montreal is outsourcing the PC version of the classic PC game to a joint in the Netherlands called Nixxes.
Dugas told Shacknews that the job both was and wasn’t being done in-house, and then clarified that the job is a “partnership” with the Dutch studio. It’s bracing news, especially for a game that’s a cornerstone in the foundation of PC gaming. But while there’s good reason to be concerned, there’s also evidence that the decision might be a net positive for PC gamers and Deus Ex fans.
20 ways Blizzard changed the world
We celebrated Blizzard’s 20th anniversary with a massive cover story in our April issue that analyzed just how far-reaching their impact on gamers across the globe has been. In part one of our Blizzard story, we put our collective minds together to put together a list of the many and varied ways that Blizzard has affected the “real-world” through their games. Here they are presented for your viewing pleasure: the 20 ways that Blizzard Entertainment has altered the very fabric of life.
And in other PC gaming news…
Spring is here! This is bad news. The outside world is going to get sunnier with each passing day, making us feel even more guilty about all the time spent indoors playing games. There’s only one answer, and that’s to do what Al Pacino did when he went bonkers in Insomnia, and cover all of the windows with blankets and newspaper until encased in a shroud of comforting gaming darkness.
In spite of all that, something about all this sunshine makes me want to give something away. Did you know there’s a Homefront novel? There is! Would you like to win it? Read on to find out how, and to get your daily fix of PC gaming news.
Update: A winner has been decided! There were loads of great entries for this one, but the book goes to kill4pie for a sly dig at the game’s 5 hour campaign.
Steam update improves voice chat, plans to add video recording in future
A new Steam update has upgraded the audio codec for Steam’s voice chat function to improve call quality. Valve have also been talking about plans to follow up the recent addition of a screenshot taking function, with a video recording feature, which should hit Steam soon.
Left 4 Dead 2 Cold Stream map now in beta
If you boot up Left 4 Dead 2 today you’ll notice a new addition to the campaign list. The modder made map, Cold Stream, has been added to the line-up as a beta campaign. It looks a lot more polished than you might expect from a beta map, but Valve expect players to find a few bugs. To help people report problems, they’ve extended the in-game bug reporting feature, and asked that fans post feedback on the Cold Stream Steam forums. For more information, check out the Left 4 Dead 2 blog.
Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition out now
JoWood have released Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition, a revamped version of their 2006 RPG complete with improved graphics, a retuned combat system and scores of new monsters and magical weapons. The new version of the game is on sale on Steam now, at 75% off. If you already own Gothic 3, all of the upgrades are available as a free patch. You can grab that now from JoWood.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit patch fixes video card crashes
Criterion have posted news of a new patch for the PC version of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit that claims to fix “47% of the top ten problems reported.” These mostly include fixes for players having problems running the game with Radeon graphics cards, but also include tweaks to DirectX performance. You can read the full patch details below.
Operation Flashpoint: Red River specs and trailer released
Eurogamer have posted system specs for Codemaster’s (whatever you do don’t call it as sim) military shooter, Operation Flashpoint: Red River.
Click more for the breakdown, and to watch the new “Taking The Hit” trailer. There’s about three military simul… shooter’s worth of bloom in there, but I’m not complaining.
Space Marine will feature the hordes of Chaos
Remember that Space Marine teaser image we posted recently? No? That’s understandable, it was mostly just a picture of a dark corridor, but the hulking figure at the end of the corridor suggested the imminent reveal of a new foe. The face of that hidden evil has been unveiled, and it’s pretty damn fugly. The forces of Chaos have been confirmed for Space Marine, meaning we’ll be chopping up Bloodletter demons, corrupted Imperial Guardsmen and Chaos Space Marines in Relic’s upcoming Warhammer 40K fighter.
Portal 2 “Panels” trailer hits
A new Portal 2 trailer has appeared on Valve’s official channel. You know how good Valve are at this kind of thing, so just watch it ok?
For more on Portal 2, check out out our most recent preview. It’s due for release April 18, and is available to pre-purchse on Steam now.
Rock of Ages screenshots released. Features stone ball in severe pain
Six new screenshots for Rock of Ages have been released. They show off the different environments you’ll be rolling your ball through, each influenced by a different period of art history.
Use console commands to enable hidden graphic settings options in Crysis 2
So it turns out Crysis 2′s graphic settings leave much to be desired. With a pitiful four options in your graphics settings menu, Crysis 2 falls far short of the tweakability we enjoyed in the original game. But as a Steam forum commenter pointed out, we don’t have to settle for the pitiful slim pickens our console friends are stuck with. By enabling the console (the “~” key) you can unlock more than 47 graphic and gameplay tweaks.
Go here for the entire list and start playing like a PC gamer should!
And in other PC gaming news…
Mad scientists are brilliant, aren’t they? When your world is being invaded by aliens, you can always count on them to come up with a ludicrous weapon to save the day. The super weapon of the day award today goes straight to Crysis 2 for the nanosuit. Its nano-brilliant abilities ensure that world will remain safe, until the next alien invasion. Check out our Crysis 2 review for our verdict on the game.
The mad scientists over at Valve are also up to something. We know they’re working on Meet the Medic, but what was that intriguing wall of artwork all about? What could they be working on?
Anyhow, that’s enough chat. You came here for knowledge. Read on for your daily dose of PC gaming news, including William Shatner, the original design documents for Grand Theft Auto, and your chance to win a Dead Space novel.
Update: And the Dead Space novel goes to … Bojo600, for a film plot that finally find a use for all those limbs you cut off during the games.
Scorpix, an exclusive hero reveal for Rise of the Immortals
As you might’ve read last week, Rise of Immortals is a new MOBA on the way that’s willing to take a few risks in the genre. That includes the controversial implementation of persistent levels for your characters, which has received mixed reactions so far from our readers. But I think we can all get behind a half-scorpion man who can summon other scorpions to tear apart his foes mercilessly. Enter Scorpix.
