The Computer Gamer

How Diablo Destroyed Tristram

2012-01-23T07:38:00.000-05:00

Happy 15 years.

How to Setup a skirmish match for Age of Empires:Online

2012-01-13T17:29:00.000-05:00

With the offering of Skirmish Hall Booster Pack for Age of Empires:Online for free (limited time), many new users are entering the system strictly for skirmishes, and skipping the less popular Farmville like grinding the game originally offered.

To Coop with "a" friend (2 player only), here's the best method. After logging into the game and Windows Live...

Hit the 'Home' key to setup and identify your friends also on the windows live network.
Do Not start a skirmish lobby yet
Next in the game, look for the Party Invite icon in the top left, and invite a friend.
Now its okay to go to Cyprus and start a skirmish match.
You should be able to include your coop partner
Lastly, to leave a "party" type /leave in chat

2012 PC Coop Game List

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

The cooperative list of PC games continues for 2012. I expect the zombie craze is over. Probably gonna see more co-op titles springing up in the "Free-to-play" online market.

Coop list for a different year.

Rules for the following list:

Online or LAN, no split screens
Involve 2 or more human players
Players work along a progressive storyline, campaign, or various goals
Does not have to be the same as single player campaign
Generic RTS Skirmishes and Team based game types like CTF and Deathmatch are not included.
No MMOs (game must have a conclusion or set goal)
I'll be subjective with Survival/Horde modes as the genera has matured a bit.

Syndicate - shooter - 4 player - February
[ Video ]
Coop runs a seperate campaign from the single player. If this game sounds familiar, its because this is a reboot, dropping the tactical elements of the original.

The Darkness 2 - shooter - 4 player - February
[ Video ]
Coop gameplay will intertwine with the single player storyline. Seems a bit like Dead Island without the RPG.

Mass Effect 3 - RPG - 4 player - March
Fight alongside your friends as the galaxy goes to war. This mode will enhance the single play experience without directly effecting the storyline of single player.

Ibb and Obb - platformer - 2 player - March
[ Video ]
An indie title of sorts, It'll defy gravity and require working together, much like Trine but cuter.

Diablo 3 - ARPG - 4 player - Q1
Jesus finally, this game has been in the coop list for the last 2 years. Sorry, Battlenet play only. This game should be extremely fleshed out at this point. The question is, can it live up to hype?

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - Shooter - 4 player - Q1
Okay, its a zombie coop game. Late to the party. What more is there to say?

Star Trek - Shooter - 2 player - summer
Builds from the J.J. Adams reboot of the franchise. Looks like a generic action title in the Trek Universe.

Arma 3 - shooter - summer
In the past, its been one of the most inaccessible, confusing games ever. Can this tactical shooter polish the gameplay without loosing its authentic elements that the series is known for?

Ghost Recon: Online - shooter
Ubisoft has killed the PC release of GR: Future Soldier [Then revived it] in favor of the "free-to-play" micro transactional model. They claim this will help combat the pirating of their software.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - shooter - 4 player
Ubisoft pulled this game from the PC lineup after a rant about piracy. Now they decided to add it back to the PC, after presumably noting PC games sales on the rise. This may place it in the crappy 'port' category, but at least GR:4 is a PC option.

Spec Ops: The Line - shooter - 3 player
A tactical shooter. The Spec Ops series has been less then stellar in the past. The decision to pull coop from the campaign, indicates a bad start for this one. Its possible coop will be a parallel story.

Aliens: Colonial Marines - FPS - 4 player - Q3
Its not Zombies, its Aliens. Same thing really.

Defenders of Ardania - strategy - 2 player
Its a Tower Defense game, with RPG elements. Will allow players to be offensive or defensive players. Guess that makes it a Tower Offense game too.

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 - shooter - 4 player
The series has become desperate, now taking a Inglorious Bastards/BF: Bad Company approach. IT could work, but I always liked the authentic style.

Grim Dawn - ARPG - 4 player
The spiritual successor to Titan Quest. Like Torchlight, game is being developed on a small budget.

All Zombies Must Die! - ARPG - 4 player - Q4Low budget arpg with guns and zombies.

MechWarrior: Online - shooter - 4 player
Free to play. Very little known at this time.

Torchlight 2 - ARPG - 4 player
The first Torchlight was more of a pilot, just bare bones, single player ARPG. This adds coop, and is a planned lead-in to an MMO.

Path of Exile - ARPG
Another Diablo clone, with more blood. It dabbles into MMO space, so I'll need more info on this title. Defiantly another Free-to-Play micro-transaction game.

Eternal Light (Witches) - Action - 3 player
Scantily clad chicks with swords.

A Valley Without Wind - Action/platformer
From the indie developers that created AI War, Arcen Games are known for focusing on coop game play. The platformer genera has found a resurgence in the indie world (Brade, Trine) it'll be interesting to see what twist is in store here.

Kingdom Under Fire 2- ARPG - 15 player
Small amount of info on this title, the coop element may become MMO style, disqualifying it from this list.

Firefall - shooter - 4 player
Looks like a cross between Tribes and Borderlands. It'll be a MMO Free-to-play, but should have a coop gameplay element that'll include 4 player coop PvE. Limited info at this time.

Resident Evil 6 - shooter - 6 player - November
All rumors at this point.

Warface - shooter
[ Video ]
Crytek's free-to-play shooter. Promises Co-op missions that "reward teamwork and individual skill."

Hours played - FIXED

2011-11-28T07:07:00.000-05:00

Comparing Digital Download PC Game Stores

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Once it was simple. I had one icon on my system tool tray; Steam. The one place I could find all my downloaded games. That's the past now, and although digital downloads only make up 25% of the video game market, every online store hub seems to have its own version of digital distribution. Each with its own gimmicks, biases, and shady fine print in the user agreements. The purpose of this article is to compare the different stores, to allow the consumer to make a logical choice, and not necessarily just based from price.

Note: All international companies have US/int downloads available. Specific games may still require accounts for different venders, even tough the game was not purchased via that particular site.

Steam
Owned by: Valve; USA, Wa
Online required for Gameplay: Sometimes
Cloud & local save sessions: yes
DRM in service: Yes
Game Matching: Yes
Client patches games: Yes
Client required: Yes
Resale Option: No
Mac Support: Yes
Popular Sales: Week in December & July. Midweek and weekend sales.
Notes: The site that leads the digital download revolution. As they've been around the longest, considered the most reputable & reliable. Although, service has been recently hacked. Humble Bundle and other games cam often be tied onto the service library. A dispute over patching has eliminated modern EA games from library.

Impulse (Gamestop Now)
Owned by: Gamestop; USA, Tx
Online required for Gameplay:Yes
Cloud & local save sessions: Yes
DRM in service: Yes
Game Matching: Yes
Client Required: Yes
Resale Option: No
Notes: Formally owned by Stardock, was purchased by Gamstop, to get into the online action.

Good Old Games
Owned by: CD Projekt; Poland
Online required for Gameplay: No
Cloud & local save sessions: No
DRM in service: No
Game Matching:No
Client required: Optional
Resale Option: No
Popular Sales: weekend
Notes: Focuses on mostly older games, best known for DRM free libraries for game and service.

Green Man Gaming
Country: UK
Online required for Gameplay:Yes
Cloud & local save sessions: No
DRM in service: No
Game Matching: No
Client required:Yes
Resale Option: trade back
Popular Sales:Free game promotions

Gamers Gate
Owned by: Swe
Online required for Gameplay: No
Cloud & local save sessions: No
DRM in service: No
Game Matching: No
Client required: No
Resale Option: No
Popular Sales:
Mac support: Yes
Notes: Site has rewards system called "Blue Coins". For buying games and utilizing their social tools, you'll gain "Blue Coins". This virtual currency can be used to get new games, however the coins expire after 12 months, if not used.

Direct2Drive
Owned by: Gamefly; USA, Ca
Online required for Gameplay: No
Cloud & local save sessions: No
DRM in service: No
Game Matching: No
Client patches games: Pre patch only
Client required:Optional
Resale Option: No
Popular Sales: Black Friday deals
Mac support: Yes
Notes: Site has a history of denying games that require Steam hookup.

Other Online Stores:

Origin - EA

Notorious for invasive user agreements

Big Fish Games

Specializes in unknown bargain bin titles

Amazon - Digital Download

Much like their music service, its direct download of game, no strings attached

Battle.net - Blizzard

Blizzard games only; also supports micro-transactions

Ubi Shop - Ubisoft

Buyer Beware, Ubisoft has some of the most draconian DRM

Questions will always linger about digital stores, and the meaning of "ownership". What if your account is hacked? Why did a ban in a forum, ban me from my games? The consumer will never truly know what will occur to their libraries, if a company is bought out or goes under. Unlike your money in a bank, you have no protections in place if something happens to the company storing games that you had purchased.

My Choice: I'm sold on all the good Steam deals. You simply can not ignore some of their great pricing. Overall, Valve supports PC gaming and in turn, I'll support Valve. I also like Amazon Download option. Its simple, no complicated applications, just DL and install game, much like you bought it from a retail store.

PC Zombies

2011-11-01T07:34:00.000-04:00

All the Zombies to grace the PC over the years. Can you guess them all?

The List - November 2011

2011-10-31T06:40:00.000-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)
This is it, the last of 2011 Christmas releases. Publishers play it safe with no new IPs.

Batman: Arkham City - Action
PC plays catch-up to consoles, so we already know if you likd the first one, this one will be even better.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - RPG
The single Elder Scrolls RPG series returns, unforgiving that its not an MMO, happy not to be. Too bad their publisher is being an ass to the Minecraft creator right now.

Lord of the Rings: War in the North - ARPG
Diablo clone in the Tolkien Universe. Just remember, the archer class is human, not Elvin in these here parts.

Jurassic Park: The Game - Adventure
Episodic Adventure game by Telltale Games, based on the titled movie. This really is make it or break time for Telltale. They've been running flat lately, but dinosaurs make everything better right? Takes place during original movie, untold story.

Need for Speed: The Run - Driving Sim
They're taking the Smoky and the Bandit approach with this one. Diverse environments, long stretches of racing, action film plot. Sounds like fun.

Saint's Row: The Third - Action
Over the top GTA clone, now with more sophomoric humor. Get your pimp on.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Shooter
For the record, I'm looking forward to the reviews to see how this new team works out, more then the actual game.

Defining the Sub Generas

2011-10-21T07:13:00.000-04:00

Nobody really cares anymore which games created or made popular a core genera. For instance, when was the last time someone said, that game plays like Dune or that game played like Wolfenstein. No, we just say its a RTS or FPS respectively.

However, sub-generas are very different. In many ways, we still don't have true containers to put them in, so we continue to compare to a particular game. Else we just slap it with the meaningless label 'Action' game. Here are a few games that have made a particular type of sub-genera popular (for better or for worse).

Plays like... Gears Of War
This classification indicates a 3rd person shooter, practically on rails. You run and gun, a tank with legs. Collect meaningless shit, see lots of explosions, and sleep through the plot.
Games in this Family: Warhammer 40k: Space Marine; Transformers: War for Cybertron.

Plays like...Doom
This classification indicates its a throwback to the classic FPS days, where nothing mattered accept staying alive and killing cool things animated in front of your reticle.
Games in this Family: Serious Sam; Painkiller; Hard Reset.

Plays like... Borderlands
This classification indicates a multiplayer coop shooter with meaningless RPG elements tossed in. You can randomly pick pieces from the "progress tree" and the game will still play the same. Expect senseless side missions, with a dash of real plot in the main storyline.
Games in this Family: Dead Island; Brink

Plays like... Call of Duty
This type of game is a shooter, mostly FPS. Generally will have lots of explosions, waves of enemies that won't stop unless you move forward, pretty graphics, and utilize the wait and heal mechanic. Plot is generally over-the-top filler, designed for kids that missed out on growing up to Stallone and Schwarzenegger on the big screen.
Games in this Family: Homefront; Halo

Plays like... Tomb Raider
For this, your jumping from cliff to cliff, roof top to roof top, generally in the third person perspective. Snobs like to use the word: parkour. When your not fighting the camera angles, you'll be collecting stupid crap for an 'Achievement', while shooting waves of stupid AI enemies that seem to be wrestling with the same camera problems. If you survive, you'll be graced with a cut-scene that will progress a storyline that's reminiscent of your favorite action movie. Game requirement: must have some type of Sci-Fi twist.
Games in this Family: Prince Of Persia; Assassin's Creed; Uncharted

Plays like...GTA
That's Grand Theft Auto III specifically. Indicates you'll be in a open world, full of unlimited opportunities to do stuff, approach objectives from different angles, and most importantly, add many elements without the distraction of monotony.
Games in this Family: Far Cry 2; Red Dead Redemption

Plays like... Farmville
This classification indicates you'll be spending a good chunk of your time doing meaningless repetitive tasks, all while telling others how cool it is, and how they need to do it too. Meanwhile, your plant just died of thirst, and you just made somebody you never met, very rich off your stupidity and loneliness. Micro-transactions a must.
Games in this Family: Age of Empires:Online, World of Warcraft, Mafia Wars. Any modern game that claims to be free.

WoS - id Software

2011-10-10T07:33:00.000-04:00

Like most candidates, id Software was long overdue for the Wall of Shame. Writing this breaks my PC gamers heart. id Software is the grand daddy of PC shooters, so, I've given them time to redeem themselves. However, even grandpa knew when its time to retire, before he jeopardized the line.

Rage was to be id's saving grace. An opportunity to show they can still make revolutionary products. It was not. In fact, it was the final death kick for the company. Bugs upon release, I can live with and are today's norm. But with Rage, id Soft decided to remove the capability to set your own graphic setting, a PC must. That's like saying you can't use a mouse as your controller. Rage is a blatant console port that adds nothing to the post-apocalyptic shooter genera.

Historically, id Software hasn't had a good game since Quake III. That was 1999. Carmack and Cliffy B may as well be brothers. They both pioneered PC shooters, now all they do is complain about the PC, "We do not see the PC as the leading platform for games". The lack of titles and quality from id Software indicates they are incredibly out of touch with the PC and gaming market as a whole.

In summary, id Software is no longer the same company it had been. It's no longer an indie developer, but rather owned by ZeniMax Media Inc. Only John Carmack is left, and he's a moron who became famous by walking on the backs of others. Those others have long left the company, specifically:

John Romero - best known for grandfathering the term "Deathmatch".
Tom Hall - who left to make what many consider the best shooter ever: Deus Ex.
Adrian Carmack - who is actually suing id Software for not giving him his share of revenue.

WoS features either a game developer or publisher that has screwed the PC market, generally with a complete lie or shady practice. In today's tight economy I believe its important to understand where your money is going, and who you should and should not support regardless of your gaming console preferences.

Work around for the Dead Island Open Mic VOIP problem

2011-10-03T19:27:00.000-04:00

[EDIT: Dead Island has now patched the open mic problem, however, the following solution can apply for other games that foobar the option in the future]

[EDIT: These instructions via the application can also be used to enable additional mouse buttons, such as mouse button 5. ]

Lets face it. Dead Island could have been good, but the problem generated from sloppy porting has crippled the game play. One such problem, it always has the microphone on. This creates feedback problems for users that do not use headphones, it'll generate noise traffic, and cause privacy problems when your online. My solution is to turn off the mic by mapping a hotkey. Note: this will not fix the double voicing if you have a 3rd party app turned on, such as Teamspeak. This solution is ideal, if you do not have a mic with its own mute feature (ie software solution is your only option). My OS is Windows 7, 64-bit. My sound controller can not support the MUTE microphone function without additional driver support.

What is Does:

How to turn off microphone with the push of the mouse button.

What to Do:

1) Download the newest AutoHotkey app. Its highly respected, so no worries about ad/spyware.

2) Install AutoHotkey. I had to install the Unicode 32-bit option, as my script didn't work for the 64-bit install. This helps to avoid using compatibility mode later.

3) Run AutoHotkey. When prompted, let the app create a file in your documents folder.

4) Insert the following script into the new file (probably called AutoHotkey.ahk):

XButton2:: SoundGet, currentMicVolume, Microphone, Volume
If ( currentMicVolume = 0 ) ;
{
      SoundSet, 100, Microphone, Volume
   ToolTip,Mic is On, 0, 0
   SoundPlay *48
   Send {ScrollLock}
}
Else
{
   SoundSet, 0, Microphone, Volume
   ToolTip,Mic is Off, 0, 0
   SoundPlay *64
   Send {ScrollLock}
}
Return

In the above script, I'm using mouse button 5 (XButton2), since Dead Island can't map it anyways. If you don't have a 5th mouse button, try changing XButton2:: to F1:: which would bind the F1 key to your mic. Or read the AutoHotkey docs for your own combo.

5) Restart AutoHotkey.

6) That's it, test it out with you native mic software to see if it works.

Features:

Turns on Scroll Lock light to indicate status of mic.
Displays a message if on or off.
Sound chime (you could map a .wav )

Bugs:

Adjusts mic boost volume, instead of main mic volume
On/off message does not display while in game. "Always on top" message can not crack the GUI of the game.

How to reset your mic sound, display current properties:

Control Panel | Sound | Recording tab
Double click your active mic
Levels tab

Troubleshooting:

If your not getting any voice - make sure your Mic volume and Boost are not set to 0 (see 'how to display current settings' above).

Autohotkey is a very powerful tool, and there are better ways to approach the problem, but this one worked well enough for me.

The List - October 2011

2011-09-29T07:11:00.000-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Battlefield 3 - Limited Edition -Shooter
This looks to be best overall multiplayer shooter experience to date.

Rage- Shooter
This is it, Id Software next big thing. During conception, wastleland shooters were rare, now though, they are like zombie games. Not sure how this will stand out.

Civilization 5 GOTY - strategy - Bundle
Well, this explains the recent sales for the game. Contains all DLC and core game. Civilization Pack: Babylon, All 4 Cradle of Civilization Map Packs Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca, Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia, Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings, Explorer's Map Pack, Official Digital Soundtrack.

Serious Sam 3 - Shooter
While SS1 was a romp of dumb fun, SS2 ended up being too much of the same. Which leaves a big ??? for SS3.

PAYDAY: The Heist - Shooter
This game reminds me of SWAT 4, only it revolves around the "bad guys". 4 player coop. The problem though, it looks very low budget, and seems like it'll have the DLC nickel-dime business model to it.

Deja Vu: Harley's a vamp

2011-09-27T07:33:00.000-04:00

Why is it every time I see Harley Quinn from the Batman: Arkham Asylum

I keep thinking about my old character.

TIL: There is a way to win ET

2011-09-25T09:42:00.000-04:00

Battlefield 3 vs Call of Duty MW3 v Red Orchestra 2

2011-09-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

	Battlefield 3	CoD: MW3	RO 2

Graphics	Best	Mid	Worst
Environment	Diverse	Diverse	Limited
Realism	Balanced	Least	Most
Difficulty	Best balance	Easiest to jump in	Hardcore
Movement	prone; no lean	prone; no lean	lean, dive, prone
Mods	mods tools	no mods at launch	mods tools
Controls	?	?	map all mouse buttons
Suppression Fire	Yes	No	Yes
Morale	No	?	Yes
Price	$60	$60	$32 - low budget
Players	64	18	64
Awards teamwork	Yes	?	No
Coop(dedicated)	2 player - campaign	2 player - survival	No
LAN support	No	Yes	Yes
Steam Integration	No	Yes	Yes
Dedicated Servers	Yes	Yes - No 3rd party req	Yes - No 3rd party req
Single Player	Yes - mid	Yes	Yes - worst
Can I fly	Yes	No	No
Tank you	Yes	?	Yes
Metacritic - Pros	89/100	82/100	76/100
Metacritic - Users	7.5/10	1.8/10	6.6/10

Tiger Woods 2012 Console vs PC

2011-09-12T06:37:00.002-04:00

So how badly did EA screw over PC gamers with the release TW2012?

Its not a port of the consoles
It is a port of the almost Flash looking TW: Online
The multiplayer actually goes to TW: Online
Horrible graphics, worse then TW: 2008
Missing features that were on the console

Tiger Woods 12 - PC

Tiger Woods 12 - Console

Tiger Woods 2008 - PC

The List - September 2011

2011-09-01T07:29:00.003-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Dead Island - shooter
Seems like we just saw the jaw dropping trailer for this game. Will this be a L4D killer? Or will it be a rushed mess of port death.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 - Sports
This is big. EA returns the Tiger Woods series to the PC. No reason explained, aside from waking up to the market that cares about golf games.

Red Orchestra 2 - Shooter
Can't decide between BF3, and CoD? Well, don't, and go with the 3rd option this fall. If you prefer your MP shooter to be like the original Battlefield 1942, this is the game.

Warhammer: Space Marine - Shooter
Space Marines! Warhammer franchise returns to the Shooter genera. I love the gesture, but fear the execution.

[July Rewind]
Bastion - ARPG
So, I missed this little gem for the July list. Lots of character for gameplay growth in what seemed like a over done/stale genera. My apologies to the indie dev team.

Monkey Island Music 8-bit

2011-08-25T14:38:00.003-04:00

Past the Hype - 1st half of 2011

2011-08-25T14:10:00.000-04:00

[Past the Hype focuses on the games that have been featured in the monthly The List, that failed miserably in reviews. Its my way of saying, sorry I as was sucked into thinking this game was going to be good.] January - July 2011. Gotta admit, this list is longer then I would have predicted, really upsetting on the part of the following titles.

BulletStorm
Its no secret, I don't like Epic. Its like they made this game to prove how they couldn't make a prophet on the PC anymore. If your going to play a game that's as dumb as Duke Nuke'm, play the real thing.

Dungeons
The game that compared itself to the classic Dungeon Keeper. It never made the expectations. Probably one of those games that improves if you pay $5 for it.

Test Drive Unlimited 2
They forgot to add the driver sim part to the game.

Dawn of War: Retribution
Just make DoW 3 already. The amount of DLC that came out for this game rates up there with the amount of hats in Team Fortress. Even if this game was good, when I see a over dozen $5 DLCs it tells me its not a game for me. Micro-transaction hell.

Homefront
It tried too hard to be like the newer CoDs. A series that is dead to me, as it should be to all true gamers.

Hunted: Demon's Forge
Meh, just didn't live up to what it tried out to be.

Brink
I'm still waiting for a large content pack to be put out for this game. Something that says, here's the rest of your game, sorry for the half ass'd thing you just bought. I expect that day will never come. If you want another Borderland ...wait for Borderland 2.

Dungeon Siege 3
Its time to let this series rot. Nothing good really came out of the game reviews.

Epic on the PC

2011-08-22T18:21:00.000-04:00

On Aug 18, 2011. Game developer Epic claims:

"It's nice to target the PC as a primary platform again, not just for ports,"

Next day, August 19 2011, Epic claims:

[On no Gears of War for PC] "It's a decision to focus on the market majority"

Translation:
Epic will no longer make AAA games for the PC, but is happy to start churning out crappy PC mini games with micro-transactions.Here's to World of Wargear-ville.

Gaming on a Mac

2011-08-22T07:40:00.001-04:00

As seen on Reddit

It really is a dumb argument, which is better Mac or PC, as far as gaming goes. A Mac is a PC, just as much as my beloved C64 was a PC. The Computer Gamer games on a PC, no matter the OS.

or as bchociej put it:
"Mac vs Windows : Apple vs Orange
Mac vs PC : Apple vs Fruit"

Diablo 3 vs Torchlight 2

2011-08-19T07:09:00.005-04:00

Diablo III	Torchlight II

Created by dudes that did Dawn of War, Comp of Heroes, and Fallout design	Created by Diablo 1 & 2 team
Music by WoW composer	Music by Diablo 1 & 2 composer
No LAN	LAN
No offline gameplay - Must be online	Offline option
Higher cost	Lower cost - $20
Micro transaction storefront	Micro-what?
No Mods allowed	ships with mod tools

The List - August 2011

2011-08-01T07:13:00.001-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Limbo - platformer
The dark indie gem arrives for the PC. I've LP'd it, its so good, you'll forget you hate platformers.

Age of Empires: online
Free to play, rebooted classic, lead by the team that did Supreme Commander.

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - shooter
A shooter made by PC gamers, for PC gamers. Tripwire is best known for incredible support, and updates after the release of the game.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - shooter
Sorta like FEAR, in the sense that the 1st Deus Ex rocked, the second was horrible, so the 3rd will be somewhere in the middle.

Tropico 4 - strategy
Always been a fan of the series, but it may be too soon, since we just had Tropico 3 in 2009.

How content owners will kill your favorite service

2011-07-27T07:34:00.001-04:00

This month its become clear. Content owners, such as movie studios, music publishers, and game publishers are all looking to cash in on the latest online distribution methods. Hint: the consumer loses.

The Ghost of Distribution Present...
The biggest service, Netflix, made big news this month when they increased fees by 60%. I'll make this clear, I love Netflix and I love their streaming service; out of all the available options online. But don't blame Netflix. Its been predicted, the publishers royalty fees will increase by 200% over a span of 2 years (between contracts). The reason for this increase. Content owners now have their own service, which directly competes with Netflix. HBO "on Demand", Sony.com, or Hulu (which is joint owned by NBC and Fox) just to name a few. Sony recently pulled all their videos from Netflix, in favor of their own media streaming startup. Remember how nice it is your Wii/Xbox/Blu ray will stream Netflix videos. No way those box venders will be able to keep up with the 101 streaming options that are coming your way. So it'll be premium pricing, or nothing.

The Ghost of Distribution Past...
Another service I had enjoyed was a gaming service called Gametap. Gametap was basically a place where old games could go to die. Gametap basically has a library of games subscribers can play at anytime, as long as they are members. Annual fee was about $60. Soo, a library of 1000+ classics was really awesome. Then....Publishers learned they could still make money from their old IPs. Xbox arcade, and HD renux versions of classic became profitable. So, as expected contracts ran out, and were never renewed with Gametap. It decimated the library in half, where most of the Gems were lost. Gametap holders were forced to sell its company where it was picked up by a European company that now pushes mostly obscure social crap games to their service. Again, not Gametaps choice, but that's the reality. If Netflixs looses too much revenue, it'll follow the Gametap story (i.e. a library of triple B movies).

The Ghost of Distribution Future...
Lastly, there's Steam. Another gaming service, that's more of an electronic distributor of games that sell majority of games, and often for great deals. However, EA, one of the biggest game publishes are pulling their games from the virtual shelves of Steam. Their citing contract talk breakdowns, but you can bet, EA will be more then happier if you'd go to their online store to download their latest games.
[EDIT: EA has announced Origin, their Steam killer]

While this may open up the options, the results will not equal cheaper for the consumer. Content owners will price out the competition, not with better deals from their service, but by raising royalty fees. Yes, even the iStore could be at risk (though the model is a bit different). Aside from higher costs, they all seem to have their own special app, that needs to install their own special application, which will equal more resources being used and more conflicts to occur. The joys of one more id/password to remember.

Crysis Comparison

2011-07-07T07:23:00.001-04:00

IGN puts together a nice video comparing DX9 to DX11 for Crysis 2.

The List - July 2011

2011-07-05T07:31:00.000-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Its summer, go out and enjoy the weather. There's nothing to see here.

....Or....

Go get something from the ongoing summer Steam sale!

Let's Play Non-PC Exclusives

2011-07-01T07:30:00.008-04:00

No no, I'm not going console. Just simply sucked into the hype of non PC titles. So, I'll often resort to watching the game on a Youtube "Let's Play" recording. I know, its not truly the same as actually playing them, however, I am from the crowd-around-the-arcade-cabinet to cheer on the player..er...generation. In some ways the value of the recording, commentary, choice of gameplay will effect the experience too. So, I'll concede its not the same experience, but its close enough to understand the hype and determine if I'd really want to get a console someday.

So here's my take on a few I've watched:

Uncharted -
I get the feeling kids that love this game have no idea they're playing an interactive version of Romancing the Stone with a Tomb Raider engine. Gun play, banter, jumping puzzles, its been done and stale. Seriously, being able to shoot and move at the same time is an unlockable achievement. PS3 players live sheltered lives if they love this game.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 3DS version
I've had tons of people tell me if I like RPG, I've "got to" play this game. So, I figure with the re-release of it on the 3DS, I'd give it a look over. Jesus Christ, what the hell? This game is obviously embracing nostalgia, from folks that played it when they were 10. What crap, couldn't finish it, after about 15 videos. Make no mistake, this game is a JRPG, and this game does not change my view on the genera. As for those that recommended it. I forgive them, as I understand the power of nostalgia. I'll still love the D&D cartoons, even though they're pure crap.

Limbo
Wow, this game is one for the history book for pure awesome. I actually regret watching this, as its recently been announced for the PC. This game is proof, I don't hate all Let's Play non-PC exclusives...er, well I guess its not an exclusive anymore. Hmmmm.

DLC Uprising

2011-06-13T18:22:00.000-04:00

Lotta DLC hate online today. Credit: Unknown

Best Stories; as per some Dudes

2011-06-10T07:02:00.001-04:00

IGN asks what developers who has the best story?

I don't really give much credit to some of those that were interviewed, while other greats just were not interviewed, so take the list for as it is: a dirty sample of randomly picked folks in the industry.

Photopia
Beyond Good and Evil
Planescape Torment
Call of Duty 4
Half-Life 2
Deus Ex
Mass Effect series
Half Life
Portal
Yakuza 2 - Not available on PC

Ico - Not available on PC
Red Dead Redemption - Not available on PC
Heavy Rain - Not available on PC

The Temple of Elemental Evil Mod

2011-06-06T18:00:00.004-04:00

Just came across this mod for Temple of Elemental Evil from The Circle of Eight. I've gotta admit, I've always want to play the game, but had kept avoiding it, due to the dismal reviews. Nor did I have the heart to try one of the Neverwinter Night's user based modules of ToEE. This mod aimed to fix all the problems, and even added new content. For this reason, its time to put on my ol'school RPG hat and dive into one of the classic D&D modules.

Additional info from their forum.

The List - June 2011

2011-06-05T13:14:00.006-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

This month, your old games return from the dead.

Dungeon Siege III - ARPG
Gas Powered Games nods out of the 3rd release (that's okay, DS2 not very good), to make room for Obsidian Entertainment stab their first aRPG.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River - Shooter
Continues the coop tactical shooter genera. Dragon Rising was pretty good, as long as you bought it on sale. We don't get many good tactical shooters, so best giv 'em some love.

Duke Nukem Forever - Shooter
The White whale is found: the return of Duke Nukem. For real. Granted, always thought Serious Sam was Duke reincarnated.

Alice: Madness Returns - Platformer
Loved the original Alice. Unfortunately, it turned into American McGee's one hit wonder as all his other stuff bombed. Bombed so bad, Alice 2 no longer has his name on it, though he is involved. Low on my list, as its looking like too much of a stupid jumping puzzle game.

F.E.A.R. 3 - Shooter
Never played the second FEAR, due to the dismal reviews. Probably also marked the end of developer Monolith, as FEAR 3 is from a different dev team.

Obama's got no Game

2011-05-03T07:27:00.002-04:00

Obama was voted out of the guild, after crashing his helicopter the night of the big raid.

The List - May 2011

2011-05-02T07:20:00.002-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Witcher 2 - RPG
After the fantastic post release support from the first Witcher, the potential success for this game is high.

Brink - shooter
A run and gun shooter that looks a heck of a lot like Borderlands...without the cell shading.

Hunted: Demon's Forge - Action
Its Gears of War with bows and swords and stuff.

Fable 3 - RPG
As a PC gamer, I really don't know whats going on anymore in the Fable Universe. They have guns now? All the popular kids played it though, so now its listed.

Sony Down-loads

2011-04-28T07:03:00.001-04:00

Well, I wanted to make a comment about the whole Sony hack. From how they focus on DRM more then your privacy. Or how this story took the sail out of all the Potal 2 talk. But the image below really says it all. Thanks Reddit.

The Evolution of Battlefield's Theme Song

2011-04-09T15:11:00.006-04:00

The original Battlefield 1942:

Battlefield 2: Armored Fury:

Battlefield 2142:

Continue on for the rest:

Battlefield Bad Company:

Battlefield Heroes:

Battlefield 1943:

Battlefield Bad Company 2:

Play4Free:

Battlefield 3

Bonus-

Fan Based for BF3:

Play! A Video Game Symphony: Battlefield

Mirror's Edge: Battlefield Easter Egg

The List - April 2011

2011-04-09T12:26:00.000-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Portal 2 - Adventure
Original was the best game I've played in a long time. It now gets a sequal.

Darkspore - ARPG
From the makers of Spore, this game combines Spore with Diablo gameplay. Could be just the twist the aRPG genera needed.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover- simulator
Worth noting the IL-2 series is still alive.

Links Augusta

2011-04-05T07:12:00.011-04:00

There's much talk in the Golf world about how the premier golf course, Augusta, is finally loosing it cherry. As it will be included in the new Tiger Woods golf game from EA. Once again, EA will not publish the game for the PC. A PC gamer is left to only reminisce on the golden age of PC gaming, when we actually had a good golf game. Of course, I'm referring to the Links series by Access.

What a wonderful into:

Course little did I know at the time, the intro was based on Genghis Khan!

And if that wasn't enlightening enough...modders continue to add course updates to the Links franchise....including an annual updates to the mighty Augusta National.

Beyond Good and Evil; PC v HD

2011-03-08T19:00:00.018-05:00

In 2003, Beyond Good and Evil was one of the best games I've played to date. Eight years later, and we have yet to see a sequel to this very unique universe. Instead we (Xbox) get a HD version for 2011, which includes improved graphics & sound, but lacks overall camera/interface improvements. Generally, these HD versions test the market for the potential of a sequel, and a good way of getting the brand into the hands of new buyers, who may have missed the game during the original release.

My issues, the HD version isn't much of an improvement over the original PC version. So if you've played the PC version, your really not going to see much of a difference. Need proof? Check out the screenshots after the break:

What better test, then a close up of Jade. Top is PC, bottom is HD (Xbox). The rock on the right seems slightly more textured, but still pretty tame for today's standards. If you look closely, the HD version has some hair (very top) that is out of place, where the PC does not. Not really something noticeable outside of a still image. Oh, the bushes seemed to have moved closer together.

Yeah...I'm not really seeing it.

Video examples:
PC - HD

The List - March 2011

2011-03-01T07:04:00.001-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Homefront - Shooter
Penned by John Milius (Apocalypse Now, Red Dawn), this is a rare original shooter that has the storyline that puts you into a Red Dawn like universe.

Crysis 2 - Shooter
Don't have a gaming rig good enough to run Crysis? don't worry, that's all a myth..just lower the game settings ya dolt. Crysis leaves the familiar jungle for New Your City.

Shogun 2: Total War - Strategy
After the gigantic Empire, Total War's developers have deciding to go back to the game that started the TW series: Shogun. Coop multiply included.

Dragon Age 2 - RPG
Bioware's fantasy RPG continues.

Darkspore - ARPG
From the makers of Spore, this game combines Spore with Diablo gameplay. Could be just the twist the aRPG genera needed.

Dawn of War II Retribution - RTS
DoW series continues with this stand alone that introduces Imperial Guard. Also includes: Space Marines, Tyrannids, Chaos, Orks, and Eldar. Still lacks the massive battles seen in the past DoW, but getting closer. Title is a better single player game, then multiplay.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Action
Considered best of the series, now available to PC gamers.

Fallout 2 at 2560x1600

2011-02-14T07:39:00.001-05:00

Or 16 times the regular viewable area. Part of the Fallout 2 Restoration Project. Originally seen on Reddit.

Past the Hype - Q2-4 2010

2011-02-08T07:04:00.002-05:00

[Past the Hype focuses on the games that have been featured in the monthly The List, that failed miserably in reviews. Its my way of saying, sorry I as was sucked into thinking this game was going to be good.]

HAWX 2
Ubisoft basically did nothing to improve this overly arcadie dogfighter game. While there's a market for games like this, its really an insult to the Tom Clancy brand.

Arcania: Gothic 4
Just never lived up to the modern day expectations for a good RPG. With so many games to choose from, this one is a pass.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed II
Repetitive button mashing, compiled with a storyline that fails to add to the great lore of its predecessor. Basically an obvious money grab; typical Lucasarts.

World Golf (Hank Haney's) 2011
I had high hopes, for a golf game that didn't have Tiger Woods/EA name in it. Something that would cater to the graphical power of the PC, a Crysis of Golf. This game failed on those expectations.

The List - February 2011

2011-02-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)
The calm before next months storm.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Action
The latest AC rendition comes to the PC. Its not clear if Ubisoft is still going to use the persistent online DRM. Multiplay introduced.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Driving Simulator
So I like the genera, even though most suck.

Dungeons - Strategy
For the niche market. Game similar to the classic Dungeon Keeper.

BulletStorm - Shooter
Epic returns to the PC, with this new shooter. Course PC gamers just see it as just another Unreal Tournament. For the record, Clifford Bleszinski is a sellout.

2011 PC Co-op Games

2011-01-12T07:31:00.063-05:00

The cooperative list of PC games continues for 2011. 2011 clearly shows a new trend; one part due to the shoddy economy, one part due to easy electronic distribution. The new trend saturates the list with its small, light weight, quasi indie isometric action based games.

Coop list for a different year.

To be considered for co-op, game must be:

Online or LAN, no split screens
Involve 2 or more human players
Players work along a progressive storyline, campaign, or various goals
Does not have to be the same as single player campaign
Generic RTS Skirmishes, Survival/horde mode and Team based game types like CTF and Deathmatch are not included
No MMOs (game must have a conclusion)

Shooter:

Battlefield 3 - shooter - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 89 ]
Heck, I remember back in the BF1942 days, we'd have somethin called bots. 6 maps of coop shoot'n, that runs parallel to the single player campaign.

Dead Island - Shooter - 4 player
[ Metacritic - 81 ]
A cross between L4D and Dead Rising 2. Game is nothing like its mind blowing trailer.

Rage - shooter - 2 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 79]
Separate from the single player campaign, coop acts as a prequel the the single storyline. 9 missions, about 15 minutes per mission.

PAYDAY: The Heist - shooter - 4 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 75]
This game reminds me of SWAT 4, only it revolves around the "bad guys". The problem though, it looks very low budget, and seems like it'll have the DLC nickel-dime business model to it.

FEAR 3 - shooter - 2 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 74 ]
In an act of desperation for this license (much like RE5), WB adds coop play to the mix. This title will not be developed by Monolith.

Serious Sam 3 - FPS - 16 player
[ Metacritic - 71 ]
Its SS2 with better graphics. Classic shooter, run & gun.

Brink - shooter - 8 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 70 ]
A cross between Borderlands & Battlefield.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River - shooter - 4 player
[ Metacritic - 66 ]
This game continues with the Dragon Rising formula, similar to a Ghost Recon game.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel - shooter - 3 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 48]
Campaign coop with an alternate ending from what single player get...doesn't save the game from being a flop.

Strategy:

Shogun 2: Total War - strategy - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 90 ]
Concept tested in the Napoleon:TW expansion, it would seem turn based coop has now become a standard entry into the Total War series.

Dawn of War II: Retribution - RTS - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 80 ]
Continues the coop campaign option in the DoW2 series. The very same series RTS fanboys don't talk about because their too busy playing Starcraft and talking about how what a dump Supreme Commander 2 had become.

Men of War: Vietnam - RTS - 4 player
[ Metacritic - 65 ]
The Men of War series has had a heck of a time getting respect, mostly due to the success of Company of Heroes. MoW tries to break out of the shadow with a time jump to Vietnam, while continuing their coop options.

RPG:

Two Worlds 2 - RPG - 8 players
[ Metacritic - 76 ]
Does not include coop single player campaign. Coop campaign will take place between the first and second game.

Fable 3 - RPG - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 75 ]
Another Fable title that failed to live up to the expectations. Getting married and procreating with my coop partner should be reserved for the Sims MMO.

Magicka - ARPG - 4 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 74 ]
Diablo clone with just wizard types. Lots O'magic options. Satires overplayed ARPG genera.
Magicka: Vietnam - ARPG - 4 player
Expansion to Magicka, only it has goblins with guns.

Dungeon Siege 3 - ARPG - 4 player
[ Metacritic - 74 ]
Sorta the "go-to" for Diablo fans. This will be developed by Obsidian Entertainment, and not veteran Gas Powered Games.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - ARPG - 3 player
[ Metacritic - 68 ]
Baldur's Gate in the Lord of the Rings universe. I'll take the "wait and see" approach with this, given the developer has a weak resume.

Darkspore - ARPG - 4 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 65 ]
From the makers of Spore, this game is a hybrid between Spore and Diablo.

Hunted: The Demon's Forge - ARPG - 2 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 61 ]
A fantasy dungeon crawler. Thinking Gears of War, with bow and swords n stuff.

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale - ARPG - 4 player
[ Metacritic - 49 ]
Somewhere in the realm of Hasbro, some jester noted the D&D brand never had a CARPG. In 2011 this will no longer be true, as this budget title hits the interwebs.

Other:

Portal 2 - adventure - 2 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 95]
Coop campaign is separate from single player. Much like a Splinter Cell coop game, you must work together to get through each level.

Trine 2 - platformer - 3 player
For Trine 1, they promised a online coop patch, but it never happened. Trine series as some puzzeling, but mostly focuses on jumping skills.

Saints Row: The Third - Action - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 86 ]
Campaign coop, which allows both to save progress as single player. Feels like 3rd wheel, as storyline centers around one person.

F1 2011 - Driving Sim - 2 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 83]
Team based racing, finally. Still competitive, even though it coop.

The First Templar - Action - 2 player
[ Metacritic - 57 ]
Aims to be a coop Assassins Creed like game.

The Cursed Crusade - Action - 2 player
[ Video | Metacritic - 54]
Aims to be a coop Assassins Creed like game. Deja vu.

(Last edit:Dec 2011)

The List - January 2011

2011-01-07T07:22:00.000-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Dead Space 2 - Shooter
The continuation of a once original title in the gaming industry, now reduced to a sequel. Oh and now with multiplayer. First was more of a shooter Doom style, then Horror. Probably more of the same, and fills the void Doom left behind.

Two Worlds 2 - RPG
First release had a rough start, bugs and such. This one is a new engine, witch can mean anything. Worth this list for my love of RPGs.

Early C&C Installers

2011-01-02T07:58:00.004-05:00

C&C Installer:

Tiberian Sun Installer:

Red Alert Installer:

End of Year Award Analysis 2010

2010-12-28T07:37:00.001-05:00

That time of year again to break down which system received the most awards as per various review sites. Something to note, the problem with looking at the heavy hitter review sites, is they totally miss the fabulous indie titles which easily contend with the AAA titles.

Gamespy

X360 - 11
PS3 - 9
PC - 8
Wii - 3

Gamespot (Categories & GotY)

X360 - 7
PS3 -4
PC - 4
Wii - 3

1Up Annual Report Card
PC - A
X360 -B+
PS3 -B
Wii -C+

Xplay

X360 -15
PC - 11
PS3 -7
Wii - 3

Analysis...

The Read Dead effect -
For the majority of the lists, the PC gets edged out from multiple awards due to Read Dead Redemption. Additionally, Limbo game Xbox an additional edge. Both games are predicted to be available for the PC in 2011 (no official announcement).

Death to the categories -
I simply don't understand how sites still recognize Music/Rhythm as a category, while ignoring Horror and Adventure. Music/Rhythm is the same shit title with a incremental number tacked on to the end of the brand. Horror titles seem to only show up on years Resident Evil has title in play, yet we saw probably the best Horror ever this year: Amnesia.

PS3 -
With the ratio of PS3s in living rooms closing in on the other consoles in 2009, publishers saw value in 2010 to develop titles for the PS3 (along with X360 and PC), bringing them closer and at times over the PC.

Inconsistencies -
This has been called the year of the Wii, when AAA "Grown up" titles are published for the Wii, yet at the end of the day, ya look at the lists above, and the Wii sits consistently at the bottom. While the PC is given grand kudos for its comeback, due to data from online purchases show that PC gamers really do exist, I don't personally feel it was a great year for PC. If anything online retailing is old news in 2010, and PC games are graphically crippled for the aging console market. I suppose, that gives way to some good news , as the PC market hasn't had the need to constantly upgrade, opening its audience base.

In Summary...
Many sites won't release GotY articles until after the new year. Unless there's a big shocking twist, this sample should sum it all up for 2010. In conclusion, if you want a console that has simply the best selection of award winning games, its the X360, or just wait for Rockstar to release RDR for the PC.

C64 now with Windows

2010-12-22T07:49:00.001-05:00

The C64x...

The Vic-Pro

The List - December 2010

2010-12-16T07:18:00.000-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

This Month... NOTHING!

That's right, nothing. It seems the days of big releases for the holiday season are numbered. For the gaming industry, it really makes sense. Rushing out an incomplete, untested game is IP suicide. Publishers are finally getting this (except Stardock). Some of the best hits of this year, such as Mass Effect 2, Red Dead, and Starcraft 2, where not part of the holiday release force. So, did they hurt their sales? Hell no! If anything, patches, balancing and DLC have been added, so now if your looking for something this holiday season...why not go with something that's been ironed out.

Zork!

2010-11-03T18:15:00.001-04:00

A new way to interact with fiction from Jonathan M. Guberman on Vimeo.

The List - November 2010

2010-11-01T18:40:00.000-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

For this time of year, the selection is plain weak. A very strange collection of rare genera.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Racing Sim
The Hot pursuit brand is back! Can it save the faltering NfS license?

World Golf 2011 - Sports
Its a fick'n modern day golf game that doesn't start with "Tiger Woods". Its about time. Also has mini putt-putt mode. I'm still waiting for a Cysis golf mod.

Call of Duty: Black Ops - FPS
I've lost faith in the CoD licenses, but I'm willing to give it a chance.

HAWX 2 - Flight arcade
The 1st had mediocre reviews, looking to see if the setbacks could be resolved from the first.

Star Wars Battle Chess

2010-10-29T06:35:00.001-04:00

Actually called "Star Wars Chess", the Battle chess was a different publishing brand.

Gametap Status

2010-10-13T06:44:00.001-04:00

In the past few weeks, various gaming blogs have been reporting about some changes happening to the Gametap service. The problem; the actual paying customers have been left out in the dark....until now. An official response is given:

Official response thread

Games Added

Games Removed

Anything not listed, is presumed they'll stay and be upgraded to 64-bit compatibility.

Cooling with Liquid

2010-10-11T06:17:00.001-04:00

There's lots online showing systems running with Mineral Oil, here's the best I've seen:

Source: Puget Systems
Note: do not submerge a standard platter HDD, or CD-ROM!

Tie Fighter Cutscenes

2010-10-08T21:21:00.002-04:00

credit: MictheMAge

credit: HughJazz69

X-wing Cutscenes

2010-10-07T18:02:00.006-04:00

Retro compilation of the X-Wing Cutscenes, credit: Killeratte

The List - October 2010

2010-10-01T06:05:00.006-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Christmas season begins.

Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition - RPG; bundle
Finally, the unabridged version is released, no more DLC crap, just all game.

Medal of Honor - FPS
EA's MoH series is back! Tired of seeing Call of Duty going down hill, EA revives its old property to serve as an modern day shooter alternative.

Fallout: New Vegas - RTS

I'll admit it, still havn't played FO3. Doesn't mean I can't be excited for this follow up by Obsidian.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed II - Action

LucasArts gives the PC a bit more respect this round with parallel release to its console brethren.

Deathspank - aRPG
Not highly reviewed, Ron Gilbert's aRPG is released to PCs. The fact the PC, which highly favors aRPGs just made no sense.

Borderlands Game of the Year - FPS;Bundle

All your DLC's in one place, finally.

Arcania: Gothic 4 - RTS
The Gothic series gets a lot of bad press. Gotta love their moxy though, as they keep trying.

Top 25s (IGN)

2010-09-28T07:21:00.002-04:00

IGN has published another round of top 25 games for each console (X360 & PS3). While very subjective, these types of lists try to show the exclusive elements of each system. But how exclusive are these games really? I've tallied up the titles that are also available on the PC.

X360 - 16 of 25 available for the PC, where the top 3 were for the PC. The pattern is this, X360 exclusive often become a PC game a few months latter. Red Dead, I'm looking at you.

PS3 - 8 of 25 available for the PC. In true Sony form, we see heavy emphasis on exclusives. Can't say this is really good for the industry, as none of the games listed take advantage of what the PS3 has to offer. Additionally, this doesn't account for good games, that simply were not available for PS3. For example, a "breakout" game was listed for PS3...seriously?

A PC list was also made by IGN.

The List - September 2010

2010-09-02T07:49:00.004-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Civilization V - strategy
It's Civ 5! Aside from WoW, its one of the few great PC exclusives. Has hex tiles, instead of square, no stacking, and many new features/updates. I'm not really done with Civ 4, so maybe I'll give this a try next year.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Horror
This indie dev game gets back to the Survival Horror roots. No Guns, very little light, all about the environment, and you ability to survive in it.

Dead Rising 2 - Shooter
This franchise is new to the PC, dev probably figured PC gamers are into zombie games (like duh). Has campaign coop, so basically its a Resident Evil like game. That's not a bad thing.

RUSE - RTS
A new take on the RTS WW2 genera. Looks a bit like a table top game, but its real time. Introduces tablet/touchpad gameplay. Called Ruse due to its capability of faking out your opponent. Reminds me of one of those twisted psych experiments in college. Game has had many delays, developer has little RTS experience.

HAWX 2 - Flight arcade
The 1st of this title took some heat for making all the planes too similar. If they mix it up better this time, this'll be a pretty good coop title. PC version may only be digital DL.

Tropico 3 Gold Edition - strategy (bundle)
Safe to say its Tropico 3 with the expansion.

State of Diablo 3

2010-09-02T07:05:00.005-04:00

IGN User Quote:

"You know with Runic's Torchlight having TWO releases within a couple years of each other and other games of similar style coming out fast with small teams, I don't understand why such an enormous company like Blizzard can't even get one game out without 10 years of developement. I'm so glad amateur studios are keeping the genre alive, Blizzard employees must work either 2 hours a day or waste most of the day talking about WoW. This game [Path of Exile] looks nice!"

-Delta-Storm

The List - August 2010

2010-08-16T07:34:00.000-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Elemental: War of Magic - Strategy
Stardock is the definitive 4x strategy game developers at this time. They take a leap into fantasy with Elemental. Game presents many user tools and will rely on mods to give the game greater depth.

Mafia II - Action
GTA in the late 1940s.

The Truth about DRM

2010-08-09T07:52:00.001-04:00

Sex Education in Gaming

2010-08-09T07:48:00.004-04:00

Edu-games sure have come a long way since Oregon Trail.

1984 Gaming

2010-08-04T07:13:00.009-04:00

Chinese have recently passed a law that requires online gamers to register their real names before playing online games. The idea is to track and monitor online overuse. Reading many comments on the subject, there seems to be a superiority complex Americans have, where that's just one more communist activity those poor saps have to deal with...no freedom for them.

But the sick twisted reality is, we have that already here in the United States! Only instead of the government, its corporations...which is Worse! Good example: I bought GTA4... I had to register at...

Windows Live
Steam
Rockstar Games Social Club

Want to play Mass Effect? Gotta register with

Bioware
EA

...and these are just stand alone solo games!

The justifications are extremely vague why I have to setup accounts for each. The reason is obvious though...data collection. It really is what drive the market these days. Make no mistake, once a company has your info, the government can legally require them to release info they have collected.

So, in the United States, not only does the government have access to how much your online and the games you play, so do the companies you just paid to play. Land of the Free indeed.

Where are the Starcraft 2 Reviews?

2010-08-03T07:48:00.005-04:00

It would seem the professional sites that review games are taking their dear sweet time with reviewing Starcraft 2. And for what reasons? The beta has been out for about a year, so its not like there's much more newness. The reason, they actually want to play the game all the way through.

This exposes the biggest problem when you put your trust in one of these sites. The sad truth is, they simply don't have the time to play a game from begginning to end before they put out their review. Reviewers are built of the Atari 2600/NES mentality, where you play a game for a few hours, and thats pretty much the entire game.

The year though is 2010. Games have tremendous depth. An RPG can take me a year to play. A good RTS can take a year to master. No wonder Adventure games get poor reviews...the whole story is the game Would be like watching half of Inception, then writing a review. The simple facts, when you look at a review, keep in mind your looking at something that is incomplete. If anyone knows a site that really takes its time, please list in comments.

Now in HD!

2010-07-07T19:07:00.000-04:00

Although republishing a game with small enhancements is nothing new, we've seen many classic arcade games rebirthed in publishers "game packs" bundles, as well as, service sites like Xbox arcade or Marketplace rekindle a title.

However, it seems there's a new movement to go one step further, and market the game like its a whole new game, often in wake of a new title based on that license. Look for labels like HD (High Definition) or SE (special edition). Some recent examples would be Monkey Island SE (in the wake of MI:Tales) and Serious Sam HD (In the wake of a SS3). A recent interview indicates a new MDK maybe on the horizon, as a MDK2 HD is in the works.

Overall, I think this is a great concept. Simply because, if your a purist...don't buy the remake, and hold on to your memories. However, if you want to see a legacy license alive again (aka Full Throttle) it needs to sell. To do that, you must introduce the game to a new audience whom missed out in it last time...because they were in diapers. Some publishers should consider gobbling up some development studio, simply to rebirth some of their classics. While I'm a fan of the DosBOX project, Good old Games, and Gametap, to help get around those pesky OS version updates, there's much to be said about a new coat of paint on the old classic.

My greatest concern, would be when the publishers looks too deep into the numbers. A remake will never sell as well as the original. By no means should sales indicate whether an old license gets the green light. As always; the talent, development team, and plot should be the deciding factor in any new sequel. And not how well the game sells, as its a great way to kill the license. Additional concerns would be if the team goes too overboard with the HD version. I don't really like the new look of Guybrush in the SE versions, but the overall art was much better. Too many enhancements could completely kill the license for a whole new generation.

One final thought, we've seen many fan sites and mod sites already redevelop some old classics. In many ways, its a copyright tightrope they are walking, which have led to cease and desist orders. I really hate to see this happen, when there is merit to these indie titles on what had been thought to be vaporware. These indies will help the license to a certain degree. However, they'll never get the recognition that a true publisher could hype up. Additionally, it may get back to the numbers. If a modder doesn't share their numbers with how well the remake did, then the copyright holders may not recognize the potential.

The List - July 2010

2010-07-06T07:02:00.009-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Starcraft II - RTS
This game literally has scarred any other game of interest from releasing this month. I'm already board of all the SC2 articles that have been written. With the latest dumbing down of RTS titles, this game significance has greatly improved.

Activision's Comeback ?

2010-06-29T06:45:00.001-04:00

Like Lucasarts, it would seems Activision is trying to turn over a new leaf. Recently, Activision has decided to allow a fan made game "The Silver Lining" built in the Kings Quest universe to continue progress. Activision had originally put a cease and desist order on it. I've also accused them of lacking in original IPs. Yet this month, they released a new IP called Singularity. Although mediocre reviews, its at par for a typical Raven game. Additionally, this month they released what reviews are calling the first good Transformers game. Not what I would have expected a year ago.

In part, with the loss of the Infinity Ward team and lawsuit, Activision is trying to recover from bad press. Although what once made Call of Duty great is now dead, it doesn't mean Activision can't take the series in a new direction. As long as the consumers know this and what their in for, then I'm fine with that. As consumers, we ultimately decide the fate of such games. If only professional review sites would have been a bit more honest about the past CoD game....but I guess harping on your financial backers isn't very professional either.

[EDIT: It's still not all sunny for Activision. They are still responsible for breaking Starcraft 2 into a trilogy, a production model that still isn't fully understood by the gaming community. Aside from....how to milk a license for all its worth.]

2010 E3 Proves PC Gaming is Strong

2010-06-18T07:29:00.003-04:00

While consoles bumbled their way through new tech demos, often giving the viewers a queasy feeling that the death of gaming is near, as the industry moves toward social, casual, and family oriented gaming. Reading the gamer blogs and review sites, it was had to find actual upcoming games in all the noise. Fortunately, with a simple click on a PC link or tag, whoala, there you will find the E3 games, without the peripheral clutter.

As usual, I'll rank the awards, from review sites. Here's the IGN breakdown:

PS3 - 8
PC - 7
360 - 6
Wii - 3

While the PS3 had the most titles win per category, if you look at the overall candidates, all but one (a Wii exclusive) will be a PC game. In fact, on candidate Civ 5 is a PC exclusive. The overall winners for both the PS3, and X360 are both available for PC as well.

A great showing for PC, and to think many of the big PC Developers like Blizzard & Stardock were not at the event.

The List - June 2010

2010-06-01T06:16:00.001-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

I've left out a few releases this month, simply because I'm tired of all the rehashed titles.

Alpha Protocol - RPG
An RPG that doesn't involve swords and Dragons, not a Space Station. This game has been in the making for a very long time. Described like a Tom Clancy RPG, only its not Tom Clancy. Made by Obsidian is a plus.

Transformers: War For Cybertron - Action
Lots of hype indicating this will actually be a good Transformers game. That hasn't been done yet, however I'm open minded.

Singularity - FPS
An original title published by Activision? Huh. Main character uses a Time Manipulation Device that, hmm, manipulates time and stuff. Like many Raven games, probably end up in the bargain bin real quick. So much for being open minded.

PC Gaming Articles

2010-05-14T07:46:00.001-04:00

I'll admit, they're bigger PC gaming fans then myself, better writers too. Here are some extremely excellent articles that have been written in the last few months. These are must reads for both PC and console fans. Enjoy.

How to fix what's wrong with PC gaming

A Brief History Of Modern Retro

Game Sales - By the Numbers

2010-05-11T06:05:00.002-04:00

International group Newzoo recently put together a report (pdf) on what gamers spend their money on. This group, finally takes a different approach then the traditional "retail" sales that the US tend to base this type of data. Newzoo surveyed 13,000 respondents ages 8 and up. It refreshing to see a group take this approach...finally.

Below is a graph from the report. I do have problems with how they conducted this though. Basically, the console group gets 3+ devices pooled together for their stat, while the PC gets split between, Casual (portal), Hardcore (PC), and MMO.

I interpret the USA more like 30% for Wii; 15% for X360; 15% for PS3; 35% for PC, and 4% for mobile. Other countries favor the PC even more. This shows, there's not only money to be made in the PC market, but its where the majority profits reside.

The List - May '10

2010-05-01T06:16:00.000-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Two similar games compete during the low point of the year.

Total War Battle Pack - strategy - bundle
Includes, TW:Rome, TW:Rome Barbarians, TW:Medieval I, TW:Medieval II Kingdoms.

Split Second - Racing/action
Haven't seen a good shoot'em up racing game since Rollcage. PC version costs $15 less then the console option. Disney's attempt at a racing Sim

Blur - Racing/Action
Haven't seen a good shoot'em up racing game since Rollcage. (Deja vu) PC version costs $15 less then the console option. Has coop/teamplay option. Warning: its a Activision game.

Waiting for the Right Date

2010-04-16T06:37:00.002-04:00

Back in my alter boy days, the priest told me good things would come to those that wait. At the time, I thought he was referring to premarital sex, but now I realize he must have been referring to today's videogame market.

There seems to be a large amount pressure put on developers to sell their product in just one month, the month it releases. The game is considered a failure if it doesn't yield a high amount of sales in the first 3 months. This I find mind boggling, as its generally the worst time to by a game. Its much better to wait out the storm, or the feeling that you have to get the game now, because some review site over hyped the game. Here are some reasons to wait...

DLC, GotY, WTF
Mass Effect was a great example why you should wait. Hurray! You finish the game...but wait, a DLC came out, so you load a game that was saved before the "point of no return" part of the game (you have an old save game right). The "point of no return" in the gaming world, is that event horizon that triggers the end of the game, not giving you ability to go back to the mundane side quests which are referred to as DLC. So you finish the DLC, good for you. But damn it, now ME2 is out, and they say you can import your character (you did save your games after uninstalling right). But, the sequel won't know I played the DLC until I finish the game again, to import the character that played the DLC too. Arrrgh. Just get all that teaspoon sized DLC crap out of the way. It seems "Game of the year edition", or "gold edition" is the publishers way of telling you, hey, this is the completed product, this is how the game was ment to be played.

Hot fixing the patched patches
This is another case of what happens when a publication of a game is forced out too soon and not ready for prime time. How many great games have we seen at least 2 deductions off their score from a review site, simply because it was buggy. The absolute best case was a game called: "The Witcher". A year after launch, the developers put out a 2Gb patch called enhanced edition...and it fixed and improved EVERYTHING! The game was fantastic, thank god I waited. This also shows the dedication the devs had for their product.

Price cutting
Don't let that pre-order price bait you in...there's a good chance you'll see a sale for the same price a month after the release. Or even better, a year from release it'll be half the price. Better yet $15, 2 years later.

Weed out the kiddies
Its extremely frustrating jumping online and being called every racial slur in the book. I'm not a gay black Jew from Canada already. Sure, the online community will be a smaller number, but you can rest assured, it'll be composed of players that love the game.

Distribution - Have it your way
Some people are old school collectors and like it physical, some people just don't trust digital downloads, some people just don't trust Steam but love other digital distribution sites. Whatever your tastes may be, if you wait long enough there will probably be plenty of choices, including eBay. Here's a tip, if its a Ubisoft game, it'll most likely show up on Gametap as part of the premium service...eventually.

Hardware
But will it run Crysis? How many times did this question get asked about any given hardware on the market. Seems like a silly question today right? Assuming you've bought a decent $1000 desktop in the past 3 years, you'll not only be able to run Crysis, you can crank it up to the max settings. Again, your playing a game, the way it was meant to be played. Do yourself a favor, and don't play a game of the medium setting, just for the mere fact of saying you played the darn thing. Side note: you'll also get better versioning of the video drivers too.

Past the Hype
Its simply amazing to see how well a game can get hyped up before launch. Its so over the top, I've created a "Past the Hype" section in the blog, just to keep track of some of the games that failed to deliver on their promises. Another example is to keep an eye on the support a product gets. Its happened far too often, game gets hyped by publisher; released to the public; public buys based on hype; publisher closes developers studio; product gets crap support; consumer gets stuck with unfinished, buggy game with no closure.

[All images from other sites on the internet-tubes]

Past the Hype - Q1 2010

2010-04-08T06:47:00.002-04:00

[Past the Hype focuses on the games that have been featured in the monthly The List, that failed miserably in reviews. Its my way of saying, sorry I as was sucked into thinking this game was going to be good.]

Dark Void
This game took the novelty concept of a jet pack, and made it into a novelty shooter. 58 Metacritic score reflects similar message.

Aliens vs. Predator
What had been considered a quality game in the late nineties, translates into just another vs shooter in 2010. While some shooters from the ninties, can still live up to its greatness today (System Shock 2, Outlaws, No one lives Forever, etc) its because they have a great plot line/story. Redux the same thing with the same gameplay elements (or lack of), and you'll get a 'meh' game.

Silent Hunter 5
Its never good when a series takes a step back from its past successes, best to stay with SH4 if you enjoy sub sims.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
Anytime you claim, "This is the final chapter" to a well loved series, you best get it done right. After 3 previous iterations of the story, and various other spin offs, all the developers needed to do was deliver a solid story, enhance the graphics, and call it a day. Instead, they killed the base building strategy formula for the tactical approach. Really, C&C hasn't been the same, since Westwood Studios was gobbled up.

The List - April '10

2010-04-06T06:50:00.003-04:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Finally, the Christmas season of gaming has ended. Things begin to slow down as we head into summer. Yes, this is a good thing, the over saturation of games, reminds me of the days leading up to the death of Atari.

Splinter Cell: Conviction - TPS
Many have waited a long time, to see what happens next to Sam. New control scheme and team of developers raise valid questions if the same feel will continue to exist, or will the once stealth game feel too arcadey . Tack on Ubisoft's horrendous DRM, and this game could flop on the PC. The pluses; co-op is back, and so is Sam.

Sam and Max 2 Beyond Time and Space - Adventure
~~I'd prefer to wait for the episodes to be bundled, however, worth noting Sam and Max has begun a 3rd episode officially. They'll be less episodes this season, then in the past.~~
Really messed this one up. Just know Season 3 has started, its called "The Devil's Playhouse", 5 Episodes, probably end in August.

April 1 Game Jokes Suck

2010-04-04T12:02:00.001-04:00

At this point, its safe to say, April 1st jokes on gaming review sites, or the whole internet for that matter, has jumped the shark. Yeah, we know what day it is, yeah we know not to believe what you say. My defense to all this is purely, stay away and read a good book. I really don't mind, finding an excuse to read a good book.

However, one problem remains...its April 4th, and still the over used April 1st jokes are still lingering on professional sites. This just plain sucks, considering this is the time of year that gaming news is a bit slow. The A1 jokes just don't get cycled fast enough. I understand the need not to remove posts for historical sake, but it would help if an editor would come by a banner each joke with a disclaimer at this point. Instead I'm forced to waife through all the crap comments by 8 year olds, to see if a post has any validity to it.

Its been bad enough trying to believe some of the crap reviews some sites give games (due to site advertising, publisher deals, invested interest, lack of knowledge, etc) April 1st simply will not help your site.

Starcraft 1 vs Starcraft 2 - Protoss

2010-03-15T07:14:00.004-04:00

IGN shows the difference between versions for the Protoss.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty PC Games Video - Evolution of StarCraft - Protoss

WoS - Activision

2010-03-08T07:39:00.004-05:00

Next candidate marks the first publisher for the Wall of Shame. Activision. How they have fallen... and where the hell to begin explaining why all should avoid giving Activision any of your money. Guess a bullet list would be easier....

They just killed the last hope for a good Infinity Ward game
They like to rehash the same shit every year

Guitar Hero
Tony Hawk

Responsible for chopping up our upcoming favorite series:

Star Craft 2
Diablo 3
Call of Duty

Turned former StarCon maker Toys for Bob into a Disney developer
Sent a cease and desist order to a fan-site working on another Kings Quest game, even though no KQ is planned.
Title list has been relatively dismal since the Atari days (well, guess it was a different Activision back then too)
They rushed Vampire:Bloodlines into a buggy mess.
Guilty of turning movie licenses into crappy video games (Howard the Duck, Judge Dredd, and many more)

WoS features either a game developer or publisher that has screwed the PC market, generally with a complete lie or shady practice. In today's tight economy I believe its important to understand where your money is going, and who you should and should not support regardless of your gaming console preferences.

The List - March '10

2010-03-03T07:36:00.003-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Lets face it, Christmas 2009 shopping never ended in the gaming world. Good games keep getting pumped out while publishers keep asking, why aren't you buying all our games. They blame pirates, I blame ....life.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 - FPS
Also known as the CoD:MW2 killer. It has vehicles, bigger maps, destructible environments, dedicated server option, and a lot of other PC goodness.

Supreme Commander 2 - RTS
SupCom 1 was best known for its massive amount of everything. Huge maps, huge units, huge economies. Course, it also had a huge processor requirement, one that still does not exist to the average consumer even today. While GPG promises better handling of your system resources, they simplified the in-game resource/economy element. Unfortunately, that was one of its strengths. Expect a good mix of land/air/sea units.

Dragon Age Origins: Awakening - RPG - expansion
An expansion pack for Dragon Age Origins. Thanks to all that DLC crap, its not very often we see an RPG expansion. At $40, I think I got my answer.

Metro 2033 - FPS
A shoot 'em up set in a post apocalyptic Moscow. Developed by some of the original STALKER team.

Command & Conquer 4 - RTS
Last of the C&C Tiberium Saga story. End of the franchise? Another simplified economy system from past formula.

Warhammer 40K Dawn of War II Gold Edition - RTS - Bundle
While Chaos is finally being added to DoW2 this month, I find it more interesting the Gold Edition will also release in March, to include Chaos and the original for $10 more.

Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic - Simulator
I just love the fact Silent Hunter is still produced in this arcade driven gaming environment.

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City - Action - Bundled expansions
The Lost and Damned & The Ballad of Gay Tony expansion finally released for PC.

Starcraft 1 vs Starcraft 2 - Terrans

2010-03-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

IGN shows the difference between versions for the Terrans.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty PC Games Video - StarCraft 1 vs. StarCraft 2

Winter Olympics 2010

2010-03-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

For those that remember the old EPYX Olympic Games series, EPYX had a method to determine who won overall, based on a scoring matrix; Gold=3, Silver=2, Bronze=1. As I do after every Olympics, here's the real overall breakdown.

USA - 70
CAN - 63
GRM - 63
NOR - 49
SKO - 38
AUT - 30
RUS - 26
CHI - 23
SWE - 23
SWI - 21
FRA - 18

Although Canada had the most Gold, they still were unable to top the USA overall collection. Canada tied Germany, however gaining more Golds would act as the tie breaker. South Korea would have shifted over Russia and Austria, putting both at a lower rank (Love to hear what Putin would say to that). The French would have also been bumped by the Swiss.

WoS - Infinity Ward

2010-02-25T06:17:00.003-05:00

This entry probably is one of the most painful entries added to the Wall of Shame. Given their history with the PC, Infinity Ward championed great production in both their Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises. In fact, they even earned my 'Best FPS' series of the decade. The sad truth though, is how horribly the ended the last decade. There's no reason to go into detail at this point, on how poorly IW implemented the PC version of CoD:MW2. Even IGN, the review site that gave it the bullshit 9.5 score, just published a 5 ways to improve multiplay in MW2. Oddly those 5 points have been dealt with back when we had dedicated servers ran by clans that cared. Unless drastic measures are taken, may as well count Call of Duty series dead.

Infinity Ward managed a clear message to PC gamers: give up on us. Go buy the next Battlefield game, Bad Company 2; which is rich in PC goodness.

[UPDATE: How much has changed since the writing of this article. Infinity heads have been fired and since joined Respawn Entertainment. Additional employees have also left, likely to join in on the fun at Respawn. So, in a nutshell, Infinity is no longer the company it was, buyer should beware.]

WoS features either a game developer or publisher that has screwed the PC market, generally with a complete lie or shady practice. In today's tight economy I believe its important to understand where your money is going, and who you should and should not support regardless of your gaming console preferences.

Bioshock 2 reviews

2010-02-18T07:31:00.000-05:00

Reading about Bioshock 2 and looking at the overall rating, it seems like two different stories. Based on previous writing, such as The List, I suspected there would be some backlash with the lack of Irrational's development of the sequel. IGN recently took a second opinion on the game from its various reviewers...here's a sample...

"I just can't get into BioShock 2. I've played for a few hours and have stopped with little need to continue. I keep thinking the same thing as I play: "I really want to play BioShock 1 again." I don't see the reason for returning to Rapture. The excitement of the original was discovering the underwater city. The only thing exciting is the ability to use plasmids and guns at the same time. But that also adds more fast-paced shooting to the mix and kills some of the brilliant pacing from the first game.

Ok, so maybe being a Big Daddy is fun? Eh, not really. Except for the visor on the edges of the screen and the fact that I take no fall damage, I don't feel like a bad ass Big Daddy. Not in the least. There is a story of Rapture that needs to be told -- but it's of how Rapture fell, not what came even further after the fall. "

"I feel that the first BioShock gets by largely on its unique atmosphere and compelling story. Its few unique gameplay elements are a nice diversion from typical FPS fare, but in reality the game plays like any other shooter 95 percent of the time. And if we're all being honest with ourselves, BioShock doesn't do shooting as well as games like Doom, Halo or even Killzone.

My hopes for BioShock 2 weren't high, but I was surprised to find how unchanged the game is. There's very little, looking at the game or playing it, to differentiate BioShock 2 from its predecessor. That might be okay if the gameplay was stronger, but BioShock isn't Halo. New levels and a couple of fresh weapons don't make a compelling case for having another go.

The atmosphere of Rapture is still strong, and while the plot and characters of BioShock 2 don't match the wonders of the original, they're still the driving forces of the game. Folks motivated by presentation might have zero problems with the sameness of BioShock 2, but as someone that values gameplay over all, I'd rather not have played it."

Its baffling with verbiage like the above, the game walked with a 9.1 rating. This really adds to the value for review sites to skip a scoring model an favor of telling you how it is (like Big Download or Zero Punctuation reviews). Then again, many of the "second opinion" verbiage did not make it into the original review. So really, whats up? Do professional reviews have to be rewritten...when the reviewer finally finishes the frick'n game? Just more proof, you really need to read reviews with little weight.

WoS - Remedy Entertainment

2010-02-16T07:13:00.002-05:00

Welcome to a new tag I am calling the Wall of Shame. This tag will feature either a game developer or publisher that has screwed the PC market, generally with a complete lie or shady practice. In today's tight economy I believe its important to understand where your money is going, and who you should and should not support regardless of your gaming console preferences. So, to kick off The Wall of Shame, I introduce:

Remedy Entertainment

The creator of Max Payne is finally talking about their new IP, Alan Wake. Unfortunately, part of the talking involved the announcement that no PC release was planned. The reason (via a Microsoft rep):

"Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience Alen Wake was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform."

That's a really bad excuse in my book, considering a 32" monitor on a desk looks bigger then a 50"er from afar. Alan Wake doesn't exactly seem like a "social" game that you need an audience either.

The real reason for the lack of PC has more to do with the publisher Microsoft. MS wants it to be an X360 exclusive, much as we've seen with Halo and Gears of War. Don't be surprised if we see Mr. Wake next year on the PC. Although it looks to be Microsoft's fault, Remedy must shoulder the responsibility to cut the pitiful excuses and stick up for PC development.

IGNs best of decade list

2010-02-10T06:56:00.001-05:00

IGN put out their best of overall game listing. Like most comments on the site stated, the list was really sloppy. Then again, most of the best of the decade lists a saw on other sites were sloppy, probably created by players that didn't even play some of the potentially greatest games. Oh well, so here's another breakdown of the platforms, and which is the best. To be fair, Xbox missed out on 2000, unlike the others.

PC - 6
Sony - 5
Microsoft - 3
Nintendo - 1

This break down really was what I had expected, however, only one quality title for Nintendo exhibits the sad state they were in, even before the Wii.

My picks of the best overall on PC.

The List - February '10

2010-02-06T18:09:00.003-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest and I explain why.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

STALKER: Call of Pripyat - FPS
The first true sequel to the original STALKER game. This game contains mostly more of the same, from the original with a few fixes and improved interation between comrades. I liked the original mostly due to its slower FPS nature. It seems unless your playing a "stealth" FPS, FPS are all run and gun. STALKER manages to create a pace in between the two.

Napoleon Total War - Strategy
This is a stand alone game based on the TW:Empire engine. Includes 3 campaigns, and an all new multiplayer that allows multiple folks to play the actual campaign.

Bioshock 2 - FPS
The first Bioshock was another masterpiece by Irrational Games. BS2 is more of the underground universe, made by a different developer, so the publisher IP holder can make more money. Generally this translates to more action, but less story. That's not a bad thing as long as you know what your getting.

Aliens vs. Predator - FPS
Yes, this game will include 3 single player campaigns, one for each faction. Plus the obvious multiplayer. Sega passed a coop marine "Aliens universe" shooter to make this instead. Will it be worth it?

Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity - Bundle - Strategy
Combines expansions Entrenchment & Diplomacy with the core game.

Overall Best PC Games of the Last Decade

2010-02-02T07:35:00.001-05:00

Overall Best PC Games of the Last Decade (2000-2009)

Best Shooter - Call of Duty Series
Hype you can believe in. The (soon to be Infinity Ward) team broke out with Medal of Honor, before signing on with Activision with the better known CoD series. The series manages to continue to keep the shooting genera feeling fresh with non stop heart pounding action. By the end of the decade, the CoD series is one of the most successful (non-bundled) selling game series of all time.

Best RTS - Rise of Nations
Brian Reynolds, IMO, was the real mastermind behind the Civilization series. So when Brian broke out of the grip of Sid Meier, he formed 'Big Huge Games' and set out to do the inevitable, yet thought impossible. Making a Civ like game, in the RTS genera. The result: Rise of Nations, FTW.

Best Strategy - Total War Series
With Civ stuck constantly trying to reinvent the same formula it had in the 90s, the Total War series continues to branch out into unknown territories. Hard to believe TW started just the last decade with Shogun, then moved into the more familiar Euro Medieval times. With a remake of Medieval 2:TW, to Rome:TW, to Empire:TW, Total War manages to merge large scale combat with precision story telling strategy. To date, nothing can compare, nor compete specifically with its diverse nature.

Best RPG - Baldur's Gate 2 Series
Though the first Baldur's Gate put Bioware on the map, BG2 put them on the road to success. Quite honestly, making them the best RPG developer ever. Toss in some near perfect gameplay storyline, mod support, and of course coop multiplay...this series set a bar that still has not been toppled.

Best Adventure - Portal
It was a triumph, taking a note here, huge success. Some may argue Portal is not an adventure game, but I ask, why the hell not? Do you kill anyone, no. Do you have puzzles, yes. Does it have a rich story with periodic humor, why yes. So it is an adventure to be sure, and the best I've seen since the LucasArts classics in the 90s.

Best Platformer - Beyond Good and Evil
When it came to deciding this genera winner, it really came down to, which would I like to see a sequel for? Well, all of the great original titles of course! But Beyond Good and Evil, edges out thanks to character development.

Best Multiplay - Battlefield Series
Class types - check; land/sea/air vehicles - check; mod support - check; dedicated servers - check; patch/update support - check; 32+ player support - check; unlimited fun - check. First to do it all - CHECK!

Best of PC Games of the Decade 2000-2009 per year

2010-01-31T21:41:00.000-05:00

The hardest problem doing a list like this, is simply, I'm not made of money or time. I haven't played them all. I suppose this equals a real reaction that real people have. I have a firm belief, when a gamer only buys 3 games a year, they're going to have a greater level of criticism, higher expectations for a game, unlike a professional game reviewer (whom gets paid to review, and in turn is given the game for review).

Another element, games devalue over time, so its likely, I've played all the good games between 2000-2007, but still light on the 2008,2009 titles. Availability is a factor; for example, is it on Gametap? In fact, I generally stay away from doing my own lists like this, but hey, every 10 years I'll make the exception.

Note: this list is, in part, formed by other popular opinions that I have come to respect and fit the above description of being 'everyday gamers', meaning: I may have not personally played all on this list...yet. Missing generas for each year = nothing that great for that category, for that year. That said, my listing will look very different then most online.

2000

Best FPS - No One Lives Forever
Best RPG - Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
Best Sim - Rollcage stage 2
Best Multiplayer - Counter Strike

2001

Best FPS - Undying
Best RPG - Baldur's Gate 2 - Throne of Bhaal
Best Action - Grand Theft Auto III

2002

Best FPS - Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault
Best RPG - Freedom Force
Best RTS - Age of Mythology
Best Action - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Best Multiplayer - Battlefield 1942

2003

Best FPS - Tron 2.0
Best RPG - Knights of the Old Republic
Best RTS - Rise of Nations
Best Platformer/Action - Beyond Good and Evil

2004

Best FPS - Half-Life 2
Best RTS - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Best Strategy - Total War: Rome
Best RPG - Vampire: Bloodlines
Best Multiplayer - World of Warcraft

2005

Best FPS - Call of Duty 2
Best TPS - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Best RPG - Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich
Best RTS - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault
Best Platformer/Action - Psychonauts
Best Multiplayer - SWAT 4

2006

Best FPS - Condemned: Criminal Origins
Best RTS - Company of Heroes
Best Multiplayer - Rainbow Six: Vegas

2007

Best FPS - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Best TPS - Resident Evil 4
Best Adventure - Sam and Max: Season 1

2008

Best Adventure - Portal
Best Multiplayer - Rainbow 6: Vegas 2

2009

Best Multiplayer - Left 4 Dead 2

2010 PC Co-op Games

2010-01-20T06:36:00.038-05:00

Coop lists for a different year.

Last year saw the the largest amount of cooperative titles on the PC. Count was about 21. If I was to graph it out, you'd see a gradual increasing trend. However, based on the 2010 outlook so far, PC coop has hit the ceiling. In fact, the amount of Coop games will severely drop in 2010, with very little coop original titles. As before; I'll define "Co-op games" this way...

[Edit: We indeed saw a decrease in coop releases, down to 14 for 2010 (from 21 in '09). 9 titles slipped to the following year; 3 games were empty promises; while 2 went MIA.]

Must be online or LAN, no split screens
Must involve 2 or more human players
Players work along a progressive storyline, campaign, or various goals
Does not have to be the same as single player campaign
Generic RTS Skirmishes, Survival/horde mode and Team based game types like CTF and Deathmatch are not included
No MMOs

Released...

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - Action - 2 player
Budget title, nothing like Tomb Raider. More like Gauntlet with guns.Online Coop is now available as a patch.
Metacritic - 82

Blacklight: Tango - FPS - 4 player
Budget shooter, Black-ops mode will have co-op play. Four objective based maps.
Metacritic - 65

HAWX 2 - Flight Action - 4 player
Last one had mixed reviews, sequel will try to clear up some of the issues. This game is basic arcade flight shooter, within the Tom Clancy universe.
Metacritic - 66

Lost Planet 2 - TPS - 4 player
Details on a PC release are sketchy. That aside, coop maybe just what this otherwise 'meh' shooting game needs.
Metacritic - 63

Dead Rising 2 - FPS - 2 player
A zombie shooter, its unclear how this game can top Left 4 Dead series, especially with only 2 players. Sorta like how Saints Row is overshadowed by GTA.
Metacritic -78

Alien Breed 2: Assault - 2 player
Top down shooter based on the unreal engine, very old school, in the likes of Alien Syndrome. Coop is not part of the main campaign.
Metacritic - 63

Ship Simulator 2010: Extremes - Sim
Ever wonder what it would be like to flank a Greenpeace ship, or ram an illegal whaler? Now you and a friend can. This game will take die hard vessel sims, er, to the extreme.
Metacritic - 49

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days - TPS - 2 player
The first release of this game on PC didn't have the online coop support. Will they fix that this round?
Metacritic - 66

The Scourge Project Episode 1&2 - TPS - 4 player
Somewhat of an indie project, this shooter will take on the episodic model. Promises different story-lines per each player type. About 5 hours of game play per episode.
Metacritic - 44

Serious Sam HD Second Encounter - FPS- 16 player
Serious Sam series continues the HD graphical upgrade to its original sequel. A new mode, "Coop Tournament" will be added.
Metacritic - 76

Splinter Cell: Conviction - TPS - 2 player
It has been confirmed, finally, this game should return to the classic story driven coop we've seen in Chaos Theory. Only its one American and one Russian working together toward a common goal.
Metacritic - 83

AI Wars: The Zenith Remnant - RTS - 8 player
This indie game will see its first expansion. Looks to go the way many RTS expansions go: to include new ships and the almighty "Titan" units. The concept of tweaking the AI strategy (which this has done) is something I'd like to see more of in an RTS exp.

Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising - RTS - 2 player
This expansion continues to utilize the base game options for coop, presumably you work together as Chaos this time.
Metacritic -85

Command & Conquer 4 - RTS - 2 player
Following the wake of Red Alert 3 introduction to campaign coop in the C&C universe, C&C4 chooses to continue cooperative gameplay.
Metacritic - 64

Metcritic average for 2010 - 63 out of 100.

modified January 2011

Past the Hype - Q4 2009

2010-01-16T08:29:00.001-05:00

Past the Hype focuses on the games that have been featured in the monthly The List, that failed miserably in reviews. Its my way of says, sorry I as sucked into thinking this game was going to be good.

Mini Ninjas
Its more of a kids game, not really a hit for adults. Guess the Mini part should have clued me in more. If you take the kid angle, then the game is reported to be good.

LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Another kids game, but when LEGO began with the Star Wars brand, it was fun for adults. Unfortunately, the model is now stale (like my yellow castle set), regardless of how good (or bad) the movie its based on. Luckily, LEGO is now focusing on a LEGO Online Universe game, as this formula should be shelved.

Painkiller Resurrection
This game was doomed, well really the series was doomed when the original developer pulled out after the 1st release. This being the .. er... 4th, er 3.5th, this series should just be ignored. Coop couldn't even save it, that bad. Metacritic gives it a 38/100.

The Saboteur
This one was a mixed bag, had the potential, but with the developer studio shut down, its just too much to ask for a decent patch, support.

Gaming on an iTablet

2010-01-13T07:03:00.000-05:00

There's been much speculation about how the soon to be announced Apple tablet will revolutionize gaming, much as the iPhone has. The problem, its just more of the same Apple "Xfactor" at work. Tablets have been around for years. I myself picked up a HP tablet/laptop last year for $600. The iTablet is going to be over $1000. Gaming on a tablet does indeed offer a unique angle on gaming, Crayon Physics Deluxe is a good example.

However, while the iPhone gets hype for its 'drop in pocket' gaming portability. But no matter how light and thin the new Apple tablet is, its still not going to fit in my pocket, so I may as well carry around my PC laptop, which transforms into a tablet, that already has a huge gaming library. As far as iPhone game sales go for the iTunes, most are played for a week, then never looked at again, hardly what I'd consider true gaming, more like a quick way to pass them time.

Motion Controls for the PC

2010-01-11T06:58:00.002-05:00

Engadget demoed the new PC motion (aka Wii like) controller at CES. The article features it in action playing Left4Dead 2. It raises many questions, like with cases like L4D...why, when I have a mouse. However, depending on the support Razer gets, this could open up the PC to more of those family friendly games, like bowling, golf, and flail your hands around like an ass.

Kidding aside, I'm more interested seeing if Microsoft pushes the Natal for PC. I see absolutely no reason for them to deny the PC Natal, which means, why bother with this new gadget.

The List - January '10

2010-01-07T06:13:00.002-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest and I explain why.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)

Mass Effect 2 - RPG
The next installment to the over hyped Mass Effect storyline. I just hope they can expand past the generic sci-fi and deliver something better.

Dark Void - TPS
Shooter with Jet packs. So I liked Duke Nukem & Tribes for the jetpacks.

Blood Bowl - Sports
Yeah, a sure sign of a dork is when a Games Workshop game makes the list. As if blogging about PC games wasn't bad enough. This is football with elves and orcs and ...um blood.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Wings of Prey - Flight Sim
Its not clear if I missed this last month as it had a very silent release to the PC (maybe only on Steam). Being an IL-2 game its worth some notice, as the series is probably the best we can get these days in flight sims. That said, the is a console port and its from a developer that did not do the past IL-2 games.

Steam Sale

2009-12-23T07:20:00.001-05:00

I hate to advertise for companies without getting any kickback, but these are too good to miss. Steam Store is having their holiday sale, thought it be good to list the under $5 games worth a look over...

STALKER: SoC
World of Goo
Time Gentleman Please
Rome Total War: Gold
Freedom Force
Secret of Monkey Island: SE
Overlord
Knights of the Old Republic
Freedom Force vs 3rd Reich
Beyond Good and Evil
Lucas Arts Adventure pack

PC Game Titles for 2010

2009-12-13T15:20:00.023-05:00

As of 2/1/2010, this list is no longer maintained.

Listed are the 2010 big money pc games. Due to the unpredictability of game releases, this list is only for historical reference and will only be maintained through January 2010. Listed in no particular order, other then genera.

Shooter

Alien vs. Predator
BioShock 2
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield:1943
Brink
Crysis 2
Dead Space 2
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Metro 2033
Natural Selection 2
Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad
Serious Sam 3
Serious Sam HD Second Encounter
Spec Ops: The Line
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Singularity
Tactical Intervention
Tron: Evolution

RPG

Mass Effect 2
DeathSpank
Divinity 2: Ego Draconis
Mount and Blade Warband
Two Worlds II
Arcania: A Gothic Tale
Fallout: New Vegas
Alpha Protocol
Magicka

Action

Alien Breed Evolution
Assassins Creed 2
Dark Void
Dead Rising 2
Mafia 2
Max Payne 3
Just Cause 2
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Splinter Cell Conviction
True Crime

Strategy

Arsenal of Democracy
Command & Conquer 4
Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising
Elemental
Supreme Commander 2
Sins of a Solar Empire:Diplomacy
Kingdom Under Fire II
Napoleon Total War
R.U.S.E.

Adventure

Sam and Max:Season 3
Gray Matter

MMO

Star Trek Online
Final Fantasy XIV
APB
Huxley
Global Agenda
Lego Universe
Mytheon
Need For Speed World Online
City of Heroes: Going Rogue
Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Simulator

Silent Hunter 5
Split/Second
Blur
Ship Simulator 2010: Extremes
Tiger Woods Online

* 2010 Big Unknowns
Alan Wake, Starcraft 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 3, DC Universe Online, Jumpgate Evolution, ARMA II Operation Arrowhead, Deus Ex 3,Thief 4, Far Cry 3, Batman: AA 2, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty 7:Nam, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Homefront, I Am Alive, Scivelation, Postal 3, Puzzle Quest 2, Victoria II.

2009-12-07T06:29:00.001-05:00

As seen on Conan O'Brian, I could not pass on posting this vid. Game is called Sumotori Dreams and has got to be the goofiest thing I've seen in a while.

Mana Potion

2009-12-01T06:47:00.001-05:00

"You've been there before. You are playing your level 70 priest and are about to cast Circle of Healing to revitalize your group during a raid in the bowels of Azeroth's nether regions. But alas, you've been playing for 40 hours straight, and you fall asleep before you can cast the spell. And then everyone in your group dies. And then they all hate you. All because you couldn't stay awake. Loser. Well, let us deliver your salvation from this impending disaster. Let us gift you with more Mana - Mana Energy Potion, that is."

Well, if anyone was to carry this stuff, it would be ThinkGeek.

The List - December '09

2009-11-30T06:26:00.003-05:00

PC games worthy of mention for this month, ordered by interest and I explain why.
(Monthly US releases are only estimated, game may end up all hype and really suck)
Dec = Holiday left overs.

Monkey Island Tales - Adventure
Final episode this month. Overall, knowing we'll never get a true Monkey Island 3, casts shadow onto an otherwise good game.

Dirt 2 - Racing Sim
Dirt 1 was a nice change from the usual racer, giving us off road racing at its best. It did have its share of drab points, Dirt 2 maybe fixes them.

The Scourge Project - FPS
From unknown Spanish game developer, this title promises a unique coop experience from the ground-up. Specifically, each character will have their own back-story and cut-scenes. Episodic content, with the 1st & 2nd episodes for $20.

The Saboteur - TPS
A WWII stealth game sounds intriguing. Plus the use of B&W with splashes of color give it a unique art style to the storytelling. EA shut down Pandemic Studios, developers of this game, so the support from original team will be nonexistent.

Divinity II: Ego Draconis - RPG (Eu only; NA Jan 2010)
3rd in the Divinity series. Genreally doesn't get the press the AAA titles get, but the series has been notable. Uses the Oblivion/FO3 engine. Reports indicate, this title may slip to Jan 2010.

Top 25 Xbox games on PC

2009-11-23T06:28:00.001-05:00

IGN is celebrating the X360 four year birthday with a top 25 "best games" list for the console. So how many of those games are available on the PC?

15 - available for the PC
10 - not available for the PC

Of the top 5, all were available for PC.

Non-MMO Multiplayer RPGs 2009 - 2012

2009-11-17T19:48:00.010-05:00

The purpose of my Single Player RPGs article was to prove that the single player RPG genera was not going away due to the increase of MMO options. Its been about 2 years, since I wrote that article, and with 22 games listed, the attitude has changed. In fact, with key releases such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Fallout 3, single player RPGs are stronger then ever. Now, that said, it would seem the non-MMO multiplayer RPG genera is what's really on the verge of extinction (ie Baldur's Gate). So, this article will monitor the RPGs that are available for those RPG gamers that like coop, but prefer a scripted ending ...and have social lives outside of gaming.

For a complete list of all PC coop games per year

Traditional RPG

Two Worlds 2 - 4 player - 2011
Can not coop single player campaign. Instead, coop campaign will take place between the first and second game.
Metacritic -76

Fable 3 - 2 player - 2011
Features drop in/drop out multiplay; you can carry over items and gold; plot progression does not transfer; enemies do not scale up; and something about marring your coop buddy...
Metacritic -75

Neverwinter - 5 player - 2012
A reboot of the Neverwinter franchise. This aims to be similar to Dragon Age game play.
[EDIT: this game is going MMO]

Action RPGs

Borderlands - (FPS) 4 player - 2009
Considered the fastest selling original title of 2009. Could it be ...people really still crave this genera, numbers don't lie.
Metacritic - 81

Dead Island - (FPS) 4 player - 2011
A cross between L4D and Borderlands. Game is nothing like its mind blowing trailer.
Metacritic - 81

Darkspore - 4 player - 2011From the makers of Spore, this game is a hybrid between Spore and Diablo.
Metacritic - 65

Dungeon Siege 3 - 4 player - 2011
Gas Powered Games will not be developing this next entry, but rather Obsidian. The DS series is best known for being a good Diablo clone, although DS2 fell a bit short in my book.
Metacritic -71

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale - 4 player - 2011
Somewhere in the realm of Hasbro, some jester noted the D&D brand never had a CARPG. In 2011 this will no longer be true, as this budget title hits the interwebs.
Metacritic - 49

Grim Dawn - 4 player - 2011
The spiritual successor to Titan Quest. Like Torchlight, game is being developed on a small budget.

Lord of the Rings: War in the North - 3 player - 2011
An RPG with LotR characters and licensing.

The First Templar - (FPS) 2 player - 2011
Aims to be a coop Assassins Creed like game.
Metacritic -57

Magicka - 4 player - 2011
Diablo clone with just wizard types. Lots O'magic options. Satires overplayed ARPG genera.
Magicka: Vietnam - 4 player - 2011
Expansion to Magicka, only it has goblins with guns.
Metacritic -74

Torchlight 2 - 4 player - 2012
The first Torchlight was sortta the dev testing the waters to see how they can fare with a new IP in the ARPG market. With some success, they push forward with the ever excepted multiplay element.

Diablo 3 - 4 player - 2012
A continuation of the Diablo series. The original talent is no longer on the license, but the new team has a great resume.

Mass Effect 3 - (shooter) - 4 player - 2012
Fight alongside your friends as the galaxy goes to war. This mode will enhance the single play experience without directly effecting the storyline of single player.

All Zombies Must Die! - ARPG - 4 player - 2012
Low budget arpg with guns and zombies.

Path of Exile - ARPG - 2012
Another Diablo clone, with more blood. It dabbles into MMO space, so I'll need more info on this title. Defiantly another Free-to-Play micro-transaction game.

For a complete list of coop games per year

CoD:MW vs CoD MW2

2009-11-16T23:31:00.001-05:00

Found from Amazon comments, simplified well...

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Networking: Client/Server
Avg Ping: 25-40ms
Console Commands: Yes
Lean: Yes
Custom Maps: Yes
Number of Players: up to 64
Competitive Mods: Yes
Mod Tools: Yes
Ability to Record: Yes
Kick/Ban Hackers Immediately: Yes
Profiles Saved Online: No
Manually Select Server to Join: Yes
Control Bad Language: Yes
0 ping Advantage for Host: No
Lan Play: Yes
Free Demo: Yes
Price: $50

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

Networking: Peer 2 Peer (downgrade)
Avg Ping: 100ms+ (downgrade)
Console Commands: No (downgrade)
Lean: No (downgrade)
Custom Maps: No (downgrade)
Number of Players: up to 18 (downgrade)
Competitive Mods: No (downgrade)
Mod Tools: No (downgrade)
Ability to Record: No (downgrade)
Kick/Ban Hackers Immediately: No (downgrade)
Profiles Saved Online: Yes
Manually Select Server to Join: No (downgrade)
Control Bad Language: No (downgrade)
0 ping Advantage for Host: Yes (downgrade)
Lan Play: Yes
Free Demo: No (downgrade)
Price: $60 (downgrade)

[EDIT: TheComputerGamer]
Also would like to add...
MW2: lacks Anti Aliasing over 4x
MW2: has an actual 'Xbox Live' error in it.