PC Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

Alienware is looking to abduct a few console devotees with its new gaming PC, the X51. What separates it from Alienware's normal crop of powerful rigs, you ask? The X51 is all about form factor, cramming decent horsepower into a diminutive, console-like package. It features a slot-loading optical drive, front facing USB ports for controllers, lots of rear USB ports and plenty of output options.

Engadget recently got some hands-on time with the X51, which ran Street Fighter IV swimmingly (and Portal 2, which isn't exactly a graphics showcase). The base configuration runs for $700, while the top-of-the-line model will set you back $1150.

Cell: emergence, the experimental medical shooter puzzle… thing from Deus Ex writer Sheldon Pacotti and his team at New Life Interactive (who really sound like they should make Christian games), is out tomorrow. And if you want to try to get your head around one of the most peculiar games in recent times, there’s a demo. I’ve been having a play of it, and will speak my thoughts about it when it’s out. But I can assure you while it’s not as complicated to play as it appears, it’s every big as strange. It will be on GamersGate amongst others from tomorrow, where it will cost the peculiar price of £8.05. Take a look at the demo – it’s well worth a look.

For every amazing game in the pile just to the left of your monitor (I have TWO copies of Tresspasser, there), think about how many didn’t get made. That didn’t make it past the development scribbles, or the publisher pulled out somewhere long the line. Are you thinking of a number? Now subtract one, because Square Enix have just announced Sleeping Dogs, by United Front Games. In a previous life it was known as True Crime: Hong Kong before Activision canned development. We have tiny wee details.(more…)

Square-Enix has announced Sleeping Dogs, a new "gritty, open-world cop drama" from developer United Front Games. Set in Hong Kong, it promises "intense shoot-outs, adrenaline-fuelled street races and intense, brutal martial arts combat". (So... pretty intense, then?) The studio had been working on True Crime: Hong Kong for years before Activision canned it in 2011. Square-Enix picked up the pieces in August last year, and Square-Enix London has been supervising development since...

Introversion’s Prison Architect is the mysterious tumour that ate away at Subversion. Wait, that’s a horrible thing to say! Let me get my Men In Black Mind Eraser thing and we’ll pretend I never said – *flash* [Editor's Note - at this point Craig accidentally flashed his own memories. He doesn't know who he is, so we've told him he's Oor Wullie]. Crivens! They sais it’s oot fur a’body aroond September, if yer up for contributin’ tae tha alphu.(more…)

When The Hivemind asked me if I had any experience of pulling swords from stones and I replied “None, but I’ve removed quite a few splinters, thorns, and bee stings from T. Stone.” everyone in the room collapsed into helpless laughter. It was the subtle kind of helpless laughter, the kind where the laughers don’t make any sounds, or show any outward signs of being amused, but I could tell my little word-play had gone down well because moments later I was being asked to provide a joke-free (they were most insistent on that point) Wot I Think on Neocore’s latest Arthurian epic.

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With Tim Schafer and Markus Persson now in talks over the possibility of a Psychonauts 2, it gets us to wondering what other games we’d like to see Notch’s millions spent making happen. Notch reports that he and Tim will likely meet at next month’s GDC, but also stresses that people shouldn’t yet get their hopes up. Too late! But were it not to happen, to which game should those spare riches be directed? We’ve made Notch’s mind up for him.

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Today in our series of chats with (almost) all the PC and Mac-based finalists at this year’s Independent Games Festival, it’s indie collective CoCo&Co’s fascinating, dialogue-free co-op puzzle-platformer WAY. The game is nominated for the Nuovo award, and was also a winner at this year’s IGF Student Showcase. Here, the team talk about their impressive games industry origins, the concept of playing games with an anonymous partner, how games can form emotional connections with their players, breaking down the barriers that so often separate gamers who don’t speak the same language, and their answer to the most important question of all.(more…)

This is going to be really embarrassing, and potentially painful. This Sunday the Austin game collective, Juegos Rancheros, will host the Foddy Winter Olympics, featuring new and bizarre versions of Bennett Foddy's finger-twisting games.

You'll be able to face off against a friend in a race to the ground in two-player QWOP. You'll experience the climbing game GIRP turned into a Twister-like experience in Mega GIRP, a new version by Johann Sebastian Joust creator Doug Wilson that uses four dance pads for the controls. You'll also be frustrated by other Foddy creations, including Poleriders and Winner vs. Loser.

This is going to be the angriest party.

Indie Royale's Valentine's Day bundle makes no promises, unlike some people we know who promised us the moon on a string last February 14, but who showed up three hours late, drunk and with a box half-full of chocolates -- all fruit-filled. You know who you are.

Indie Royale is offering its Valentine's Bundle for pre-order at the lowest minimum price, $3.99, but is keeping the games a mystery until the big day itself. If you live life on the edge, don't read the following clues before buying the bundle:

"The games offered this time include a fantastical first-person action-adventure game (Steam for PC), an IGF-nominated puzzle adventure title (Steam for PC and Mac, Desura for PC and Linux, DRM-free PC, Mac and Linux download), a 'scorching' single and multiplayer arcade-strategy game (Steam for PC and Mac), and a world premiere on PC for a pair of retro RPG-defense games (Desura for PC, DRM-free PC download)," Indie Royale writes. On its Facebook page it added, "None of these titles have been in previous standalone indie game bundles such as Humble, etcetera!"

Pre-orders will receive the Valentine's Bundle the moment it launches, along with One Life Left's "Music to Play Games by Too."

Robot Unicorn Attack evolved from browser game to mobile title and will now live in harmony, harmony on Facebook as Robot Unicorn Attack Evolution. The pseudo-sequel for the social network adds new control elements, new animals (PANDAS!), daily challenges, and a bevy of microtransaction options.

Players can purchase Fairy Dust, which will allow them to add "enhancements" for extra abilities and bonuses before a session. Enhancements include triple jumps, slowing the game down, blasting through a star without dash, and "Freevolution," which allows players to start the game as the panda. And, really, what game wouldn't we pay to start off as a panda in?

I’ve never understood the charm of those games where you have to make sure you don’t spill something. Going for a walk in a forest is fun. Going for a walk in a forest where I’m trying to balancing a china tea service on the end of a pole is a slow, awkward time where I can’t appreciate the woods for the teas. However, clearly I’m a tiny fool because they’re immensely popular, and the brilliantly named Snuggle Truck continues the theme in 2D cutesy truck-bouncing. And it’s out now.

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Mr Lewis Denby, he of Beefjack, occasional RPS postings and, well, all manner of gaming publications the land over, has made a game. It’s called Masked, it’s a room escape game, but it treads where that odd, deathless genre usually fears to – the realm of emotion. “You’re trapped in a room, for goodness’ sake.” he observes. “That must be one of the most emotional scenarios it’s possible to be in!”

Made in AGS, it constitutes a few haunting point’n'click minutes, it’s a creepy mystery with an all-knowing, all-seeing narrator in the SHODAN/GlaDOS vein (but a rather more human connection to to the player character) and, aside from a couple of stylistic wobbles, it’s a confident first effort from Sir Denby. Grab it here.

If I had a Thief 2 commemorative mug, I’d be supping water (because of water arrows, of course), while pondering losing weight just in case I need to use rope arrows. As it is, I just have a hoodie up. Why? Right now “The Making of Thief 2” is playing on my other monitor as the full game is downloading from GoG.com. Given how excited I was when Thief: Gold hit there last week, I’m even more excited that the second game available now. I loved the first game, but the second game’s rangy missions just edge it for me.(more…)

Developed by one-man team RichMakeGame – aka Rich Edwards – Pineapple Smash Crew is an indie take on top-down action shooters that was the winner of our Indie Games Arcade award, and has recently arrived on Steam. I’ve played it through to the end, which makes me Space Captain Walker and able to tell you Wot I Think.

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I don’t have the digital dexterity to be a Super Meat Boy master and VVVVVV took me to my limits, so the sight of a new spike-laden contender for most malicious platformer ever appears, my every instinct commands me to step to one side and let it pass. Cloudberry Kingdom has been in development for three years now, originally placing tenth in the 2009 Dream Play Build Competition, and is almost ready for release on both the MicroBox and PC. The most recent trailer makes it seem the kind of challenge that will have some people flexing their fingers in preparation for. I’m just scared, though intrigued by the brainy brainwork behind this madness.

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You there! You enjoy an independent game from time to time, don’t you? I can tell by the way you walk, chin forward, face to the front, heels to the rear. It’s the kind of sensible approach to ambulation that befits a voyager in the wilder realms of the land called Game. You’ll be pleased to hear that the voting for the IGF 2012 Audience Award is now open, meaning you can pop over to the site, download any entrant that has a publicly available build and then vote for your favourite. In the meantime you can also familiarise yourself with the main event finalists in this fine series of word-speaks.

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Crazy Taxi was half of a decent game. The driving about at silly speeds in order to pick up a fare and ferry him to his destination had the potential to be extraordinary good fun. What youngster doesn’t dream of being a taxi driver? A crazy taxi driver no less? But despite flirting with perfection and even caressing her cheek, Crazy Taxi had a serious flaw. The people waiting for your services weren’t bleeding, vomiting, broken wretches, shivering and wracked with agony. Thankfully, Emergency Ambulance Simulator has arrived to correct that severe oversight.

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I woke up on Friday morning in shock. My body told me that I must have been in some kind of plane crash and I went immediately scrambling around for the black box recorder. But all my phone could tell me was that I’d been to what they call a Rumpus. Some kind of Wild Rumpus. Pisshead Airlines flight 343 to Cape Hangover had reached its destination after all. But I was only here to get a transfer. So I quickly hopped on the bus to a Bit of Alright.(more…)

Alec’s gone to a quiet place, to wash away the emotional stress of trying to keep up with bundled up charitable independent games. He’s using the sound of the seagulls to drown out the buzzwords of “pay what you want”, and “donation”, while I man up in RPSes montage gym. I just did seven squats and fought a bear to a double-knockout, all cut to Total Eclipse of The Heart. Now I’m ready for you, Indie Gala 2. (more…)

When a developer is bought out by a publisher, it’s usually the case that they then don’t see any ongoing royalties from the games they make for them, or indeed for any existing intellectual property that was swallowed up as part of the studio acquisition. It’s standard practice, part of the dark deal some studios made to ensure immediate financial viability and larger project budgets. But what it does mean is that a great many of the PC games we regularly celebrate around these parts are no longer bringing in any money for their creators, despite still being on sale. Whenever we excitedly see an old classic appear on Steam or GoG (such as Thief last week), chances are very high that whatever we pay for it goes purely to the publisher and the download service. The men and women who toiled over that game’s creation won’t see another penny from it.

Veteran developer Simon Roth – now working with Frozen Synapse creators Mode 7 – has compiled a partial list of some of the games for which this is true. I have selected just a few of the most renowned, including Deus Ex, System Shock, Vampire Bloodlines, Dungeon Keeper et al, but there are many more listed on his site, and many, many more yet to be compiled.(more…)

Atari have affixed a serious face to announce the next Test Drive game. I tried to make them smile as they did it by capering about, but the news was so grave and grim that not even a glimpse of a smile appeared. No Hawaii, no holidays, no career mode where you take a busboy all the way to luxury car owner, no balloons and bouncy castles. Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends has 50 determined classic Ferrari cars and 36 no-nonsense tracks. If it could be represented as a smiley, it would be :-|(more…)

10,000 fans of the Half-Life series logged on to play Half-Life 2 over the weekend in an attempt to force Valve into revealing more information on the Half-Life series, whether that be Episode 3 or Half-Life 3...

The battle of Uncanny Valley is where CGI finally triumphed over reality: pixels stood proudly over humans showing off their parametrization maps and tone mapping that accurately depicted the imperfection of human skin and declared victory over reality. The first shot in the war fired when researcher Jorge Jimenez released this work on real-time realistic skin rendering, showing off the difference SSSS (Sexy Separable Subsurface Scattering – okay, I added that first ‘S’) makes.(more…)

One of our goals here at Joystiq is to notify you as soon as we possibly can about awesome things. It's something we've been doing for quite some time and now we've got something new and neat to inform you about: The Cat That Got The Milk.

No, we're not talking about that junkyard cat you're certain stole that half gallon of milk from your fridge (how would it carry the container?) but a new indie game that lasts around 10 to 15 minutes. And the best part is it's free -- all you have to do is go over to the website and download it for OSX or Windows.

As you can see in the video above, it's all quite simple: you use the up and down arrows to navigate a beautiful and abstract world that's meant to show us what cats see every day. Also, cats are apparently, like, high all of the damn time. Catnip must be a helluva drug!

RPS’ e-sports correspondent is ESFI World’s Samuel Lingle.

E-sports lacks many of the catalysts that foster rivalry in other professional sports. There are no Manchester Derbies, since teams and players are not regionally associated. There isn’t a Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees clash; there is no division to fight over or playoff spot on the line throughout a season. Instead, rivalries in e-sports must grow more organically, from chance meetings in important matches to drama outside the game. But there’s one thing that players of both electronic and traditional sports are sure to get pumped over – (pride in) their nation of origin.(more…)

No longer content with making incredibly technologically advanced games, Crytek is going after the casual space with a browser-based, social gaming platform called Gface (so that's what that trademark was for!), developed and maintained by an affiliate, also called Gface.

Gface is sort of like a game-focused Facebook: a cross-platform social network designed to facilitate playing casual or hardcore, 2D or 3D games with people, and finding more people to play with. Games are delivered through a plugin based on the "Seed Engine," enabling installation-free, streaming gameplay.

If you're interested in checking out Gface, the company is hosting signups for a closed beta. Maybe if you get in, you can find out what the games are!

Sundays are for recovering. Whatever the week dealt, you can sit back with a cup of hot drugs and have a rest. Ah, that’s the stuff. Time to collect ourselves, and also, perhaps, collect some writings about the state of videogames in the 21st century. That’s the right century, right? Sheesh.

• Eurogamer look back at a game that is fairly regularly reminisced, Grim Fandango: “The story of Manny Calavera – a grim reaper brilliantly reimagined as a travel agent – uncovering a web of corruption in the Land of the Dead is part Mexican folklore and part film noir. Given how well Grim Fandango blends the latter with a traditional adventure game template makes it a wonder why this hasn’t been done more, since both genres are predicated on crafty problem-solving, deception and wry humour.”

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While I normally count myself as a member the family of rigorous implacable impartiality that makes up the ranks of the International Games Press Corps, I will definitely be on the side of fans in the upcoming battle Air Buccaneers Fan vs Dev conflict, which is taking place in the new alpha build of Air Buccaneers HD. Ludocraft report that: “The battle will start at 18:00 o’clock GMT+2 time on next Thursday, February 9th. We will be playing on the Official LudoCraft Server and we’ll be using the latest Pre-Alpha version of the game.”

I’ll bring the hot air. You can carry the cannonballs.

The effort and ambition put into student game projects never fails to surprise me. I was a spectacularly lazy student, and hed I studied game creation I doubt I would have managed to produce anything like Noxious, which is a tribute to Dead Space made by Full Sail students. (Via Indiegames.) It’s a brief shooter (around 15 minutes) which can be downloaded in full, for free, here. Full playthrough video below.

(I feel that with this name it should have been inspired by Nox, but ah well.) (What a lot of parentheses.)(more…)