Most Recent: PC

New IPs to Play Before the End of Days

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Andrew Rainnie

The Mayans and film director Roland Emmerich would have us believe that the end of the world is nigh. Really nigh. Knee nigh almost. But despite the warnings, it seems most game designers shirked off the warning that was Emmerich’s masterpiece 2012 and decided to roll out the same old stuff. We have Final Fantasy XIII-2, Guild Wars 2, Borderlands 2, Darksiders II, The Darkness II, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Soul Calibur V, and Street Fighter X Tekken (I know the X doesn’t equal 10, but it might at well). I am sure some of these games will be amazing (and I have my £40 saved for Borderlands 2 already), but if it really, truly is the end of life, the universe and my games consoles, then is it too much to ask to play something new before we’re all burned, drowned, stabbed or frozen to death (depending on which mood Emmerich is in) instead of say, another instalment of Call of Duty or, hypothetically, taking an isometric political espionage strategy game from 1993 and turning it into yet another First Person Shooter?

Thankfully no. (more…)

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New Releases: Star Wars The Old Republic

Posted on December 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

This is the news post where we’d normally list all of this week’s new releases. However, there’s only new release to talk about, so for this week, this is the news post where we talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The Old Republic is the second attempt at a Star Wars MMORPG and it combines the talents of BioWare, LucasArts, and Electronic Arts while making liberal use of the Knights of the Old Republic setting last seen in the much-maligned Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.

BioWare promised to have the game out before the end of the year and they made good on their pledge as The Old Republic will be the final game released before the calendar turns over to January.

So enjoy the rest of your 2011 folks! We’ll be back with another New Releases report in 2012!

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Minecraft tops Time Magazine’s top 10 video games of 2011

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Time Magazine has announced their “Top 10 Everything of 2011” lists, which of course contains a list of video games. Did your favorite games of this year make the list? Number 10…

10. Battlefield 3
9. Sword & Sworcery
8. Dark Souls
7. The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim
6. Bastion
5. Batman: Arkham City
4. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2. Portal 2
1. Minecraft

My favorite game of 2011, Dead Space 2, did not make that list – nor have I seen it on any other lists. That’s what happens when games get released at the beginning of the year, I suppose. Ah well. For full commentary, check out the Time Magazine article.

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10 million copies of Skyrim shipped

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Nicole Kline

In an announcement surprising to no one, Bethesda Softworks said they’ve shipped 10 million copies of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. In PC games alone, it outsold all other PC games three to one in the first month of its release. Digitally speaking, it’s also the “fastest selling title in Steam’s history,” according to Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve Corporation.

Skyrim has also been raking in countless awards and attention, from Game of the Year at Spike TV’s VGAs to Raptr’s Most-Played Game of 2011. G4TV, Official Xbox Magazine, and Machinima.com also gave Skyrim their Game of the Year Award. This comes as no surprise, seeing as this same developer also got game of the year in 2006 with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and in 2008 with Fallout 3.

I haven’t played any of the Elder Scrolls games, but this might be the year that I cave and get one. I might start with Oblivion and then ease my way into Skyrim. Don’t be alarmed – that sound you hear is just my backlog weeping.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Risen 2: Dark Waters sets sail on April 24

Posted on December 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

Deep Silver has announced that Risen 2: Dark Waters, a pirate-themed RPG from developer Piranha Bytes, will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on April 24, 2012. You can also check out the newly-released box art to your left.

And if the name Risen 2: Dark Waters has left you scratching your head in confusion, here’s an official description from Deep Silver:

“Piranha Bytes combines Risen’s authentic role-playing gameplay with a fresh setting, new content, further-developed technology and multiple, thematically varied islands. With its highly interactive game world and dynamic day/night rotation – influencing countless aspects of the world – Risen 2 allows players to plunge into one of the most intense role-playing worlds ever created.”

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 makes $1 billion in 16 days, surprises no one

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Activision announced on Monday that their latest blockbuster, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, made $1 billion in the first 16 days of its release, beating out the previous record set by Avatar in 2009, which got to that milestone in 17 days.

The press release was full of random facts, including this one, which gave me pause: “With more than 30 million gamers, the Call of Duty community now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid.” For the record, the total population of those five cities is 42 million. You fail math forever, Activision!

The article went on to say that the CoD games are “now amongst that rarefied group of sustained franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the National Football League (NFL) that attract or engage tens of millions of people every year or every new release.”

Wow. Comparing Call of Duty to the NFL? That’s pretty intense. I still haven’t picked up my copy of Modern Warfare 3, but maybe Santa will leave it in my stocking.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Alan Wake coming to PC in 2012

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Remedy Entertainment has announced (or rather, reannounced) Alan Wake for the PC, scheduled to release in early 2012. These are the same developers responsible for the PC development of Death Rally and Max Payne 1 and 2, so it’s clear they’ve got the experience necessary.

This PC version will also include both downloadable expansions, The Signal and The Writer. This announcement comes as no surprise in the wake (see what I did there?) of last weekend’s VGA announcement detailing Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.

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Doink-Doink! Telltale announces Law & Order: Legacies

Posted on December 13, 2011 by John Scalzo

There’s been a murder in the offices of adventure game specialists Telltale Games. Don’t worry, all the developers are fine. But their episodic adaptation of Law & Order: LA is dead. In fact, Law & Order: LA is so dead that Lennie Briscoe was heard making one of his trademark quips about its demise from beyond the grave.

Speaking of Lennie Briscoe… he’ll be making an appearance in Telltale’s new “Law & Order” game, Law & Order: Legacies. Legacies brings together an all-star lineup of detectives and DAs to investigate a case that spans from 1999 (Briscoe’s heyday) all the way up to 2011. Besides Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), players will be able to play as Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Mike Logan (Chris Noth), Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), Adam Schiff (Steven Hill), Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon), Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) and Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston).

Law & Order: Legacies will be released in seven episodes with the first two episodes available to download from the iTunes App Store on December 22. Additional episodes and a PC/Mac release will follow in 2012.

You can check out a behind-the-scenes look at Law & Order: Legacies after the break. Doink-Doink! (more…)

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