Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3 to get live demos at E3 2011
Spike TV have detailed the games that will feature at the EA conference at this year’s E3. VG247 scooped the details from a Spike press release, which promises an “explosive, never before seen demo of Battlefield 3″ along with live demos of Mass Effect 3 and Fifa 12. The event will last an hour, and will also reveal more news on Star Wars: The Old Republic. We’ll be there, too, covering every moment live, right here on PCGamer.com. Which of EA’s games are you most excited about this year?
Age of Conan is going free to play!
Funcom just announced that their gritty MMO, Age of Conan, will be adopting a hybrid free-to-play business model (meaning there will be an optional subscription and cash shop available, much like LOTRO and DDO). The upcoming update will also add a lot of new content at the same time, including new areas, items, and storylines. We sat down with Age of Conan’s Executive Producer, Craig Morrison to talk about how their hybrid business model will work, what they’ll be charging for, and why AoC’s mature content and siege-focused combat systems still has a lot to offer MMO players!
Giveaway: Beat up baddies with a Rusty Hearts beta key
Final Fight. Streets of Rage. Turtles in Time. These are games that many of us hold dear to our hearts, filling us with fond memories of roughing up thugs, beating on bosses with our buddies, and picking up loot that just happened to be stashed in random barrels. Perfect World knows the appeal of a good old beat-’em-up, and the addictive combo you get when you mix RPG elements with arcade-style combat. If you like fighting-game MMOs, like Dungeon Fighter Online, you’ll love Perfect World’s upcoming action MMO, Rusty Hearts. Want to play it before everyone else? Read on to see how you can win a closed beta key!
And in other PC gaming news…
Ghost Recon is back in a big way, and it’s going to be free. We’ve got hands on impressions and the new trailer. What do you think, would you pay nothing to play Ghost Recon Online?
Today’s rush of news has been almost enough to drown out the strange mix of astonishment and fear that comes with the announcement that Duke Nukem Forever has gone gold. Nothing can stop it at this stage, surely? It looks as though it’s really coming out in June. We’re bracing ourselves in preparation.
Be warned. Today’s list of PC gaming news is small but extremely potent, like a Honey Badger, or a laxative. Get all the latest below.
Gamecamp 4 – an Unconference about games
Last Saturday, nearly 300 people converged on London South Bank University, to attend the fourth Gamecamp. Not a one of them knew what was going to happen.That’s kind of the point.
Gamecamp is an Unconference, a term built to eschew the normal conventions of the conference format; the rigid schedules, the crappy hotels, the serious faces. Changing any one of these things intentionally can make an Unconference. This particular brand, though, is about harnessing the chaos of improvisation, and getting people talking.
Free-to-play Ghost Recon game announced: Ghost Recon Online
Ubisoft have just announced Ghost Recon Online, a free-to-play multiplayer game in their near-future combat series. It’s a primarily third-person shooter with an unusual cover system, three player classes, and unlockable weapons and abilities. It’s built for 16-player games, uses dedicated servers and is exclusive to PC. There’s no server browser, but there is a party system to let you play with friends. We’ve had a play of it, see what we thought in our Ghost Recon Online preview. We’ve also got the first trailer, showing a lot of the class abilities in action. Screenshots below.
Ghost Recon Online trailer
Ubisoft have just announced Ghost Recon Online, a free-to-play multiplayer game in their near-future combat series. The launch trailer is above, showing some in-game footage of the character classes in action. We’ve had a play of it, and you can read what we thought in the first Ghost Recon Online preview.
Frozen Synapse out this week, pre-order to get bonus copy
The simultaneous turn-based strategy game, Frozen Synapse is finally getting a full release this Thursday after a long beta period. It will be available to buy on Steam, Matrix games and on Mode 7′s Frozen Synapse site. The game’s still available to pre-order right up to the Thursday release date at the price of £16.99 / $25.99. Pre-ordering will get you an extra copy of the game to gift to a friend.
The game has two players controlling small squads of fighters in a neon blue arena. Orders are issued to each team in five second chunks. Once all of the commands are given, the result plays out, men are shot, walls are exploded and it’s back to the strategic view to adjust your strategy for round two. It’s a fast and extremely tense take on your traditional turn based strategy. There’s a full single player mode, too, with more than fifty missions. It’s rather good. Check out our Frozen Synapse preview for more information.
Windows 8 launch next year will start “a real new push into PC gaming” say Microsoft
In a speech in Tokyo, covered by Develop, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced that Windows 8 will be launched for PCs, tablets and smartphones next year, and has been designed with gaming in mind. According to a Techradar source, “Windows 8 will represent a real new push into PC gaming. Gaming will be a key component for the whole OS.”
Microsoft appear to have abandoned PC gaming in recent years. Even Sony had a stronger PC line-up than the software giant at last year’s E3. Things have shifted recently, however, with the announcement of a PC version of Fable 3, a revamped Games for Windows Marketplace, and recent work on the upcoming Age of Empires Online. If Microsoft are serious about returning to PC gaming, E3 2011 could represent quite a turnaround from last year’s conference. We’ll know for sure in LA in just a few weeks time.
Witcher 2 developers to announce new project at E3 2011
A message to Czech Eurogamer, picked up by VG247, reveals that The Witcher 2 developers CD Projekt will be announcing a new game at E3 2011 in just a few weeks time. It won’t be a Witcher 2 expansion pack, or an announcement of The Witcher 2 on consoles, it’ll be something completely new. We’ll know more soon enough. Keep your browser pointed at PCGamer.com. We have big plans for E3 this year. Until then, let’s speculate. What would you like to see CD Projekt do next?
Duke Nukem Forever has gone gold, hats eaten in their thousands
Can it be true? It must be true. We’ve had word from Gearbox that Duke Nukem Forever is finally, genuinely finished. “Today marks an amazing day in the annals of gaming lore,” says Christoph Hartmann the day where the legend of Duke Nukem Forever is finally complete and it takes that final step towards becoming a reality.” Going gold means that all the development on the game is complete. All that remains now is for the game to be mass produced and shipped to retailers for its release on June 14 in the US, and June 10 everywhere else.
Dirt 3 trailer celebrates worldwide launch
“Racing never stops” is the subtitle of the Dirt 3 launch trailer, which suggests a bold new take on racing in which there are no finish lines, only an eternity of overtaking. In reality, the new video celebrates the launch of Codemaster’s highly anticipated new racer with plenty of exciting footage of impossibly slick super-cars sliding around icy courses. The game is out now, worldwide. You can find out more about the game on the official Dirt 3 site.
Minecraft 1.6 patch adds multiplayer netherworld support, nerfs fire
The 1.6 update for Minecraft is set to hit this week. Notch has posted the enormous changelist on his blog. The main additions include multiplayer support for the netherworld, craftable maps, tall grass and fire that no longer spreads until the end of time. There are also a huge number of bug fixes, including “mushroom soup not leaving a bowl in multiplayer” and “pigs getting hit by lightning in multiplayer spawning client-side zombie pigmen”. You’ll find all of the changes below.
Brink patch fixes lag and improves performance
Steam brings news that a new Brink patch landed last night. The update should clear up many of the lag and performance issues many players have encountered. According to the patch notes, the server browser is now easier to use, ambient occlusion won’t kill your frame rate and alt-tabbing won’t explode your game. You’ll find all the latest updates listed below.
Bioshock Infinite screenshots have skydiving! Firebombs! A dead horse!
These are the first images of Bioshock Infinite we’ve seen since the poster for the Bioshock Infinite Name in the Game competition winner, which showed a robot horse. The new screens reveal the real reason why live horses are no longer used in Columbia, they were all killed so their bodies could be used as cover. It’s a cruel world up there in the clouds. You’ll find the new shots below, courtesy of VG247.
