Skyrim won’t use Games for Windows Live on PC, will use Steamworks instead
Update – the Skyrim twitter account has just confirmed that they will be using Steamworks instead.
Our man Graham is out at GamesCom in Cologne at the moment, seeing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. He asked Bethesda’s vice president of PR Pete Hines whether the game would use Games for Windows Live – a DRM system that asks players to log in, and ties downloadable content and savegames to your online account.
Hines says no: it is published under the Games for Windows label, but it won’t use the Live part.
There was some concern back in June when the collector’s edition was announced, showing the PC version of the game with partly obscured Games for Windows branding on the box. It’s a huge relief to confirm we won’t have to tangle with the maddeningly unreliable GFWL.
I got to play Skyrim on Monday, but I’m not allowed to tell you anything about it yet. I am, however, booking a certain week in November off.
Aliens: Colonial Marines screenshots show facehugger infestation and alien lair
Are you a fan of creepy crawly things that exist to leap at your face and impregnate you with alien spawn? Come right in and have a seat, we’ve got a lovely image of a small swarm of them plastered across a window, freshly hatched from the Gamescom showing of Aliens: Colonial Marines. It’s a job for a flamethrower if ever I saw one. See that and four other new screenshots below.
Guild Wars 2 trailer shows sea dragon, huge robot, shouty giant
The new Guild Wars 2 trailer may start out slow, but don’t let it fool you. At around the two minute mark a bloody great dragon jumps out of the sea, then the epic score kicks in and and the real action begins. There’s some satisfyingly physical combat on show, along with some of the enormous bosses they mentioned before. In addition to the sea dragon there’s a gigantic steampunk robot who fires eye beams and a massive, stompy giant who bellows in the faces of the party in a true brown trousers moment.
Plus there’s airships, classical music and someone firing two pistols in slow motion. What more could you possibly ask for? Check out our preview to learn more.
Dota 2 tournament showcases Valve’s e-sports spectator package
The $1 million Dota 2 tournament has started at Gamescom. You can follow all the action live right this very minute on the Dota 2 site. It’s clear within a few minutes of watching that Valve aren’t just rolling out a new game, they’re trying to create the best e-sports spectator experience in the world.
Might and Magic Heroes 6 trailer contains spider lady and patricide
This CGI trailer for Might and Magic Heroes 6, the full version of the teaser we brought you earlier, is really rather swish. The gravelly voiced protagonist explains that his father was murdered by his sister, which for some reason let loose a tide of green glowing undead things lead by a scary looking spider lady. Fortunately our hero is awesome at swords, so he cuts them into little skeleton bits.
Might and Magic Heroes 6 will be released on October 13th.
Mass Effect 3 trailer: “fire in the hole!”
The new Mass Effect 3 trailer from Gamescom shows Shepard fending off waves of Cerberus enemies, including an armoured Turian inside an armoured mech, who drops in from orbit to crush Liara while Garrus hides unhelpfully with a scream of “I’m getting killed here!” The lesson here is clear. If you want a job done, do it yourself, Shepard style, with a reality-warping mega grenade.
So far, it looks a lot like Mass Effect 2 (and Mass Effect) which is no bad thing, but this is only part one of the “combat reveal.” Hopefully we’ll see more of the new close combat manoeuvres in trailers to come.
Dota 2 tournament happening right now, has character details
The International, Valve’s $1,000,000 Dota 2 tournament, has begun! You can watch it live on the Dota 2 website. Right now IG are playing EHOME in the opening match of the tournament.
Interestingly the stream page includes character descriptions for the different heroes currently in play. There are ten on show right now; Sven, Clockwerk, Tiny, Tidehunter, Pugna, Weaver, Ancient Apparition, Spectre, Lich and Lion. Check the tournament page for more details.
Wildstar trailer has robot swarms and plant dragon
Carbine are revealing their gorgeous new MMO at Gamescom this week. You can get the first details from our Wildstar preview, or check out the beautiful illustrated art style in the first Wildstar trailer above. It contains a good lesson for would-be adventurers. Don’t touch the “dormant” giant robot, even if you really, really want to.
Gamescom 2011: what to expect
Gamescom begins tomorrow, and the team is engaging in a Rocky style montage in preparation. We’ve been punching meat, running up steps and humming ‘eye of the tiger’ under our collective breath all day. That way we’ll be ready to bring you all the best news as it happens.
The big news will be the unveiling of DotA 2. On Wednesday they’ll kick off a massive tournament offering a cool $1,000,000 in prize money for the winner. It’s a pretty amazing way to unveil a new game. Prepare for an incredible spectacle and hands-on reports.
Bounty Hounds Online releases new trailer
Post nuclear war? Check. Mercenary-on-Mercenary action? Check. Big aliens in need of a smack down? Oh yeah. We haven’t covered the sci-fi MMORPG Bounty Hounds Online much before now, but it’s currently in closed beta and has some intense larger-than-life bosses for you to pump full of lead. There are five different classes, including one awesomely named the Chemical Brawler, and every character can build their own mini-transformer robot pet that fights alongside them.
Sounds like something you might be interested in? Check out the newest trailer and some screenshots below, and visit the game’s website to sign up for the closed beta.
Battlefield 3 trailer shows 64-player Caspian Border map, is incredible
This is the Battlefield 3 multiplayer trailer that was just shown at the EA Gamescom press conference. It shows a war raging across the Caspian Border, a new 64 player map featuring armoured vehicles, tanks, jets, explosions and WAR. Oh my.
The footage is running on a PC. We don’t just know that because of how it looks. Console versions of Battlefield 3′s multiplayer maps won’t be able to support 64 players. If you know anyone who’s planning to pick up Battlefield 3 on a console box, kindly show them the two minutes above. It’s all the proof you need that Battlefield 3 must be played on PC. Read on for some quick frame by frame impressions.
City of Heroes Dev Diary: Giant monsters
PC Gamer routinely features Developer Diaries: tales of what goes on behind-the-scenes in the development studios making your favorite games. In this entry, City of Heroes’ Art Lead Gilbert Martinez explains the concepts behind the artistic design of the three giant monsters that players will have to battle in the upcoming “Issue 21: Convergence” update. Let us know what you’d like to see developers discuss in future diaries in the comments.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Eternity Vault raid showcased at Gamescom
EA’s press conference at Gamescom just ended, where after announcing Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes, Dr. Ray Muzyka showed The Old Republic’s first “operation” – or raid, clarity fans – the Eternity Vault. It was first announced at E3 with a snazzy trailer, but this was the world’s first chance to see it being played.
The Eternity Vault is an eight or sixteen player mission on an ice planet “where an enemy older than both the Republic and the Empire has been contained.” It’s a prison, and it must hold some real bad people inside. How bad is up to the players, who can change the difficulty of the raid before they start.
Battlefield 3 screenshots show new map, jets and co-op
The Battlefield 3 demo has just finished at the EA Gamescom press conference and DICE have thrown out eight new screenshots. Jets! Graffiti! Tanks! Guns! Get them all below.
Fifa 12 release date and trailer
More release dates coming out of the EA conference, this time for Fifa 12, and with a spiffy new trailer along with it. I particularly like the bit where the attacker scores a goal by bouncing it off the bottom of an unfortunate defender.
There are three dates to remember, September 13th, when the demo is released, September 27th, when the game launches in the US, and September 29th, when the game launches in Europe. You can pre-order it now on Origin.
As we told you previously, Fifa 12 will make no distinction between the PC and console versions, with us getting the full set of features.
