GAME, the high street retailer whose name must be SHOUTED because of the CAPS, have launched a download service called GAME Downloader. They’re selling Mafia II on it. Wait, what? You don’t have to go into a shop, or put on trousers, or anything? Watch out Steam! Your days are nu- oh, you still need Steam to play Mafia 2 anyway.
At PC Gamer, we hate redundancy. We hate redundancy so much that we won’t even tell you how much we hate redundancy. But we hate it. That’s why during this weeks podcast, we decree that the two Dakotas shall be consolidated into one. And in between our political proclamations, we discuss all manner of PC gaming news, including:
A little over a month ago, Valve asked Steam users for information on the programs they had installed on their PCs. The results of the latest Steam hardware and software survey are out, and they contain a few interesting tidbits, and lots of hot graphs.
Earlier in the week Shacknews sighted a popup in a demo of the PC version of Relic’s upcoming Space Marine action game that led them to speculate the game would use the much-despised Games for Windows Live service. Previously, Relic has used GFWL in its Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II games.
Much to our delight, THQ contacted us to refute that claim. Global Communications Manager Simon Watts officially confirms that Space Marine will use Steamworks, not Games for Windows Live, for its DRM and multiplayer matchmaking.
Alien Swarm, Valve’s free top-down xeno-blaster is now available to download from Steam. There is absolutely no reason for you to not download it and try it out immediately. It’s like aliens, crossed with some guy yelling “OH GOD OH GOD I’M GOING TO DIE” down Teamspeak. We’ll have an official PC Gamer server up and running ASAP, and will update the details in the comments below.
Just like they started asking a selection of gamers for permission to scan their hardware, Valve are gearing up to pop round and politely ask you for the go-ahead to have a gander at your installed programs.
Wow, here’s a Friday surprise. Valve just announced that it’s releasing a full version of Alien Swarm, a co-operative shooter based on an old Unreal Tournament 2004 mod, next week. And it’s free.
Steam is in the midst of an unprecedentedly huge sale. Literally hundreds of games have become stupidly cheap for ten days – too many to easily keep track of. I’m the kind of gamer who’s actually bought things he already owns on Steam, just to have them on Steam, so I’ve been poring through all the offers to find the best. There are some clear winners, some absurd bargains, and some fairly obscure gems that are now close to free. These are my twenty picks of the best, cheapest stuff. Today’s deals will only last till 6pm BST, 1pm EDT. The rest are all good till July 4th.
The second map pack for Modern Warfare 2 is now available for purchase on Steam. Resurgence is five new maps for £10.99/$14.99, except that when they say new maps, they mean that two of them are old maps. From CoD4. You know, that game of yours that they’re slowly selling back to you for a tenner a chunk?
Uh oh. Steam has just started a new summer sale. Valve say that the sale will run from today until July 4th, and include “massive savings on today’s top releases, classic titles, and publisher catalogs. In addition, special 1-day sales will offer discounts up to 90% off regular prices.” Worry for your wallet. You can find the latest deals at the Steam store.
