PC Gamer US Podcast #289: Mechs-ico
PC Gamer Digital is a go, and as the rest of the staff skips with glee throughout the office, Lucas, Evan, Dan, Chris, and Greg take to the recording studio to make good on their ancient podcasting pact. This week, we’re talking PCG Digital, even more LoL: Dominion ownage, the Battlefield 3 beta, TOR’s release date, and more. And get on your earmuffs, kiddies: Evan’s channeling his inner sailor this week.
Buy Episode 1 of PC Gamer Digital, get The Killer Exclusive hat in Team Fortress 2!
As writers, one of the ways we reassure ourselves about our career choice is by wearing fancy hats. Now, we finally have an in-game TF2 item to continue that tradition. If you buy Episode 1 of PC Gamer Digital from Steam, you’ll receive The Killer Exclusive–a dashing tan fedora that declares outwardly to your opponents “I am (or am impersonating) a member of the media, and I deserve your respect!”
Click within for answers to probable Qs that you may have about our stylish TF2 tie-in.
Frozen Synapse bundle receives some Trauma
Earlier this week we told you about the superb Frozen Synapse headlining the latest Humble Bundle, and today the deal just got sweeter. Acclaimed point-and-click adventure game Trauma is now part of the bundle as a bonus.
If you already jumped on Frozen Synapse, don’t worry: anyone who has already bought the Frozen Synapse Bundle still gets Trauma added to their Humble Bundle download page. But if you haven’t bought the bundle yet, Trauma is yet another reason to do so.
You can buy the Frozen Synapse bundle here. Proceeds from this sale support the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Child’s Play charity.
Special report: accessibility in games
This article originally appeared in PC Gamer UK 225.
Gareth Garratt is demonstrating to me how he plays Back to the Future. Gareth is a cerebral palsy sufferer, with specific problems regarding motor control. He finds his neck muscles have the best acuity, so Marty McFly is clambering all over the back of a van controlled only by Gareth’s chin. The specialised kit that allows this miracle of accessibility? A multi-button Toshiba mouse.
MechWarrior news coming soon?
That trailer for a new MechWarrior game caused a stir among BattleTech fans when it came out, but since then there has been precious little news about the project. Now Blue’s News (hat tip: Rock, Paper, Shotgun) has seen some signs of BattleMech-related activity from Piranha Games’ Russ Bullock.
And in other PC gaming news…
So the Battlefield 3 beta is open to all, Tom S has recorded his Battlefield 3 beta impressions and we’ve even asked you what you think. Like all betas, it’s come its fair share of bugs, including some hilarious ones. Like the ability to fall through the earth and continue the fight in the no-clip-mans’-land below, as documented in the jaunty silent movie above.
Check inside for a collection of buggy, unstable PC Gaming news.
Dead Island DLC delayed while devs fix bugs
The Bloodbath Arena DLC for Dead Island has been pushed back so Techland can spend more time fixing launch bugs. The devs made the announcement on the Dead Island Facebook page, spotted by CVG, and is good news considering the impressive selection of launch day bugs. A day one patch squashed many of them, but a little more polish would go a long way.
The Bloodbath Arena DLC will add a series of four survival maps that can be played co-operatively. It was due to arrive this month. Techland are set to announce a new date shortly. If you can’t wait that long, spice up Dead Island with the fan made mod that adds devastating head shots and more spectacular close combat moves. In spite of the bugs, Dead Island is fast, bloody fun. See what we thought in our Dead Island review.
The Sims 3 demo launched, runs in a browser
EA have launched a Sims 3 demo that will theoretically run in your browser. The demo was announced on the EA site, spotted over on Blue’s News, and contains “elements from The Sims 3, The Sims 3 Late Night, The Sims 3 World Adventures.”
EA’s link doesn’t seem to work, but we managed to launch the demo from the Gakai front page, the service providing the streaming tech behind the trial. The demo is time limited to 20 minutes. You’ll be able to create a sim and lead them to their a gruesome death in an Egyptian pyramid, a haunted house and a vampire lair. Or you could keep them safe and watch them live long, happy fulfilled lives, but where’s the fun in that?
EU Giveaway: win a copy of Sengoku
Don’t be scared. Rich is weird-looking but harmless. Promise.
Anyway, enough about oddballs. We have ten copies of Sengoku to give away! It’s all thanks to the generous bunch at Paradox Interactive.
Tim Stone recently wrote a Sengoku preview for us. Nothing explains the character-driven strategy game better than this quote: “I might have been an incestuous cradle-snatcher with a patchy military track record and no allies, but I saved and quit feeling faintly elated. Sengoku is plainly a very strange game. If you’re growing a little weary of the Total War formula but find most Paradox games too dense and intimidating, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.”
You’re intrigued now right? Click through for details of how to enter.
Serious Sam 3: BFE release date strafes into November
Serious Sam 3: Big Frigid Elephant was originally due to bring its old school big-guns-’n-a-million-monsters formula to our machines mid October. We’ll have to wait a little longer, according to a message sent over from the devs. Serious Sam 3: Bouncing Fretful Elevator will now come out on November 22, and is available to pre-order with a 10% discount from Steam. “Chief creative guy” at Croteam, Davor Hunski explains that “the team wants to take a little extra time to make it perfect for Serious Sam fans worldwide.”
“The game is playing wonderfully and looks great so we are going through to balance the difficulty and fine tune the code to eliminate any technical issues at launch. And we’ll probably add some more enemies to the hordes to blow your mind,” he adds.
Sounds good. We look forward to trying out the 16 player co-op mode and blasting enormous enemies when Serious Sam 3: Bentley Fallout Extreme is released in ten weeks. But seriously, what does the BFE stand for? Croteam still haven’t said.
Rage trailer raids Jackal valley with sniper rifles and mind-control crossbow bolts
The new Rage trailer takes a trip to Jackal valley. Sadly, it’s not actually inhabited by jackals. Bandits moved in, ate all the jackals and then build some impractical but awesome towers and linked them together with flimsy wooden bridges and zip lines. It is a very good place to be the only one wielding a sniper rifle. Or a crossbow that fires remote detonated mind-control rounds. Rage is out next Tuesday in the US, and Friday in Europe. Will you be picking up a copy?
Fate of the World: Tipping Point makes saving the world easier, is out now
Fate of the World is a strategy game about saving the world from climate change. You’ll have to deal with the threat of rising sea levels, spiralling carbon emissions, species extinction, political uprising, flash fires and more over the course of 200 years. RPS note that a new version, Tipping Point, is out now. As well as some interface tweaks, new scenarios and the much needed addition of an easy mode, Tipping Point includes the Denial, Migration and Extras DLC packs. It’s all bundled together and available through Steam, Gamersgate and from the Fate of the World site. You can find out more in our Fate of the World review.
Batman: Arkham City trailer goes flying
Here’s a nice, straightforward bit of footage of Batman: Arkham City. No soundtrack, no clever editing, just Batman going for a glide. Using the hook shot in combination with your cape will essentially give you unlimited flying time. From the high vantage point, you can see how impressively large Arkham City is, and the thugs below can be attacked with a gliding, flying kick at any time. They don’t stand a chance.
SpecialEffect – making gaming more accessible for everyone
SpecialEffect are a charity dedicated to helping anyone with a disability to enjoy games. They’ve recently launched the GameBase – a site dedicated to sharing accessibility-related tips and info.
They’re also in charge of a Loan Library which loans out control devices to anyone with a disability and the StarGaze Plus scheme, which provides the equipment and training required to control computers by using your eyes alone; a bit like the technology Valve showed off at GDC.
It’s cutting-edge tech being used for an admirable cause. Now SpecialEffect are trying to improve accessibility in games from source with their handy developer’s guide. It’s still in beta, but there’s already value to be gleaned from the Game Accessibility Rating System. A bit like Minecraft.
Psychonauts gets Steam achievements, is still great
A surprise Steam update for the wonderful Psychonauts has arrived, adding Steam achievements and cloud saves. The update also tweaks the criminally annoying Meat Circus section that had players tiptoeing along tightropes a hundred feet off the ground, having to start again with every fall. It was the worst part of an otherwise fantastic game. It will also be ported over to Macs, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Psychonauts was the last title from Tim Schafer’s Double Fine studio before they stopped making games for the PC. That makes us sad. But as last memories are rarely as funny and bizarre as Psychonauts’ mental worlds.
