World of Warcraft is seven, free stuff for all players
If World of Warcraft were an Indian child, it would have just reached the age of criminal responsibility. This is a round-about way of saying that World of Warcraft is seven years old. To celebrate the game being legally responsible for its actions – if it were an Indian child – developers and publishers Blizzard are giving away a “Celebration Package” item, according to their official blog and reported by our chums at CVG.
The item consists of a few fireworks, a “feat of strength” added to your achievements, a visual only tabard and a 7% bonus to experience and reputation gains while active. To get the package, you’ll need to log in between now and 3 December. “It’s been a truly incredible seven years, and we’d like to thank you all for joining us for yet another fantastic year,” say Blizzard, adding a request that players “please observe all goblin and gnome fire hazard warnings and celebrate responsibly.”
Minecon keynote and closing ceremony features Minecraft 1.0 and a marriage proposal
Notch pulled a giant ACTIVATE MINECRAFT lever on stage at Minecon this weekend, finally releasing Minecraft 1.0 into the wild. See that moment in Gamespot’s video of the Minecon keynote event. It also features Hat Films’ video retrospective, which takes a charming jaunt through Minecraft’s journey from a game about placing blocks into the phenomenon it is today full of netherworlds, villages, dragons and amazing multiplayer mega-builds.
The closing ceremony was also filmed by IGN, featuring a great big cheque for the Make a Wish foundation, and a man proposes on-stage 15 minutes in with the words “will you be my pork chop?” Does she say yes? Find out in the video below.
Counter-Strike Global Offensive closed beta set to GO on November 30
Details are slowly emerging on Counter-Strike Global Offensive’s closed beta, which is due to start on 30 November. You’ll need a key to join in, and it will initially consist of two maps: the ever-popular Dust, and, er, Dust2. “Can’t wait to see people getting to play the changes in Dust,” said csgo_dev’s Twitter feed.
It’s very much a closed beta, though. To be in with a chance of playing you’ll need to have grabbed a key from PAX Prime or the Eurogamer Expo. There are likely to be beta key giveaways on certain popular gaming sites in the near future, too.
Don’t panic if you haven’t got a key. This initial closed beta is merely to nip any problems in the bud, and the testing period “will start small and grow until eventually everyone is in,” according to the Twitter feed. The Counter-Strike Global Offensive team are very open to feedback, too. “Everything. Everything is open to change in the beta,” they said.
Battlefield 3 patch to improve stability and balance weapons this week
A “significant Battlefield 3 client update” is imminent according to a post on the Battlefield blog. The update will add “improved polish, stability, weapons balancing, squad control functionality, user interface enhancements, and several feature enhancements that address feedback the community has provided to date.”
One of those feature enhancements will likely be the much requested tactical light nerf. DICE also say “we’re removing the so called “negative mouse acceleration” and promise to continue handing out bans to cheaters. They say the patch will hit later this week.
It’ll be interesting to see which weapons get balanced. Mortars are absolute hell on infantry maps like Seine, and it feels as though RPGs are still a little too effective against infantry. The narrow corridors of Bazaar are like a traffic jam for rockets. What would you like to see changed in Battlefield 3?
This week’s best free PC games
Have you completed Skyrim yet? Ha! Still, if you fancy a bit of a break, there are a couple of older Elder Scrolls games to revisit for absolutely no coins at all. If that doesn’t float your boat, then how about high-speed racing, collapsing environments, and small blob-creatures that enjoy dismembering themselves? You can have them all in this week’s best free PC games…
Watch the world’s best pro-gamers at MLG Providence live this weekend
A portion of PC Gamer has just got back from Bristol’s very first Barcraft event, to watch the Providence Major League Gaming finals. Many drinks were drunk and much StarCraft II was watched, making it a turbo-excellent night. It’s getting close to kicking out time here in the UK, but fans of tip-top level pro-gaming, don’t panic: the MLG Providence finals are still ongoing, closing up tomorrow. If you want to watch them – and you really should, as they’ve been brilliant so far – get over to their website and catch the live stream. There’s some incredible games still to go, and the whole event to play for.
We’ve also got two high-quality MLG Providence passes to give away to the first two people who comment with the name of a previous MLG StarCraft II winner below. Be quick about it, mind.
Revisiting Star Trek Online: Klingons, combat and more
It’s been a rough ride for Star Trek Online. Many Trekkies lamented that the space combat lacked some punch, and ground combat felt more like watching paint dry than a space-faring sci-fi adventure. Previous updates have addressed the first problem, and the latest patch offers some exciting new enhancements to ground combat.
The “shooter” control scheme is simple to enable: either go into the menu and select it from a drop-down, or hit B on the keyboard. A targeting reticule will pop up on your screen, and the camera will switch to over your shoulder, similar to a third-person shooter. Going into shooter mode also changes the way you enable your abilities. The left and right mouse buttons are your main and alternate attack, and the middle button is your melee attack. Just point at your target and use an ability to activate it. No more Tab targeting for you!
Saturday Crapshoot: Jurassic Park: Trespasser
Every week, Richard Cobbett rolls the dice to bring you an obscure slice of gaming history, from lost gems to weapons grade atrocities. This week, he’s sorely in need of a palate cleansing after five hours of tedium. And you know it’s bad when you resort to this to wash away unwanted memories.
On a day with Skyrim, Saints Row 3 and the Tribes Ascend beta on my PC, do you know what I wasted about five hours of my precious existence playing? That’s right – the new Jurassic Park game. Well, it claims to be a “game”, though I argue that “Jurassic Park: The Vaguely Interactive Machinima That’s Suspiciously Like Aliens For Some Strange Reason” would have been almost as snappy.
Did I like it? I did not. Do I recommend it? Only if you’re planning a time capsule full of warnings to the future. Honestly, we sent this kind of interactive movie the way of smallpox for a reason. Instead, how about taking a look back at something a bit closer to what the Jurassic Park movie deserved. Something innovative. Something ambitious. Something not shit. Trespasser is definitely two of the three.
See if you can guess which two…
MOBA hero spotlight: Smite’s Ymir
I’ve just become the frosty filling of an ice-wall sandwich. Josh and I are getting hands-on time with Hi-Rez Studios’ Smite, and we’re right at eye-level with the action thanks to the third-person camera angle. Through sheer coincidence, we’ve both chosen Ymir, the leader of the frost giants from Norse mythology, as the tank of our opposing teams. This astral plane isn’t big enough for two ice giants—may be the best frost titan win.
Exclusive: New EverQuest II trailer shows off revamped Freeport, city of EVIL
Freeport. That’s a nice name. It conjures up warm feelings of boundless possibility – and maybe a bunny or two. It’s like a verbal hug. Now, though, it’s almost hilariously un-apt, because Freeport’s the most puppy-kickingly evil it’s ever been. I’m talking jagged spiky towers, ominous red skies, and batteries that run on souls. Seriously. The revamp’s coming to EverQuest II in Game Update 62, and you can find out all about it by watching the above video.
Bethesda: Skyrim patch en route for week after Thanksgiving
Earlier this week, Bethesda asked fans to be patient as it flushed bugs out of Skyrim and then smashed them with its giant, enchanted death hammer. I may be paraphrasing a little, but you get the point. So, just how patient will we need to be? Well, Bethesda’s Pete Hines has offered an answer.
“PS3 & 360 updates have been submitted for certification. PC coming too. Current estimate is they will be live the week after T’giving,” he tweeted.
So that’s a bit of a wait. In the meantime, has anybody in this fine audience encountered anything particularly game-breaking?
PCG PSA: Minecraft officially out of beta
Minecraft’s been stealing gamers’ time and replacing it with pure, unbridled joy for more than two years, but that – as they say – was only a test. Today at Minecon, Notch officially flipped the switch on the full release, showering streamers on an audience that’d probably kill just to touch a person who touched the rim of Notch’s hat.
As is only proper for newly launched games, Minecraft is now experiencing customary crippling server troubles due to extreme demand. Aaaaaw, they grow up so fast.
PC Gamer US Podcast #295: Fond Farewells
Parting is such sweet sorrow, but it doesn’t have to be all bad. We bid Dan Stapleton a fond farewell on this week’s podcast, with Evan, Josh, Chris and Lucas giving him the best podcasting sendoff they can muster. You’ll find out the answers to some of life’s most profound questions: what’s the best game of the last 8 years? Is there anything bad about Skyrim? What’s the deal with quicktime events? And, most importantly, what’s the difference between a zombie and a mummy?
And in other PC gaming news…
Minecraft will be officially released later today. How should one cover such a momentous occasion? Well VG247 has the obvious answer, through the medium of rap. Truly the only way to really understand the game.
Check inside for sick beats and PC gaming news.
Rockstar’s Dan Houser gets nostalgic about Max Payne
Rockstar’s Dan Houser has been shedding a little light on the creative proces behind the gruff, manly second sequel to Max Payne. Speaking to Gamasutra he rightly points out that the rose-tinted glasses often blur out older game’s deficits – a challenge that Rockstar faces with Max Payne’s legions of dedicated fans. “I think the challenge of nostalgia is a more profound one, because one thing about video games is your memory tends to remove the horrendous,” said Houser. “You want to appeal to the fans of the original and bring in a new audience.”
When asked about Max Payne’s hair rotation (bald with beard), Houser commented that the issue was a contentious one. “We saw a lot of people questioning our parentage, and our right to be doing this and, you know, our right to even exist,” said Houser. “There is a lot of love for this property. The fact that there’s a huge rabid fan base is something that is very much in our favor.” It sounds like Rockstar is taking Max Payne seriously, and has a huge amount of respect for the franchise. We’re so excited that the four months until its launch in March 2012 might as well be taking place in bullet time.
