Play the Old School Fallout for Free

Though I am overwhelmed with excitement for Fallout 3, I have to admit that I never played the original PC games. Truth be told, I hear constantly that they were not only incredible, but also among the best PC games ever developed and then placed into the hands (or drives) of gamers.

So, imagine how cool it was to hear that GameTap is currently offering Fallout for free right now on their website, and all you’ve got to do is just sign up for free.

Granted, they might pester you at some point about, you know, giving them money, but hey- a free game’s a free game.

Source- Shacknews

Got this PC? Left 4 Dead System Requirements

I used to try in vein to keep my PC up-to-date, but as those of you who are into this have already surmised, it is an expensive bit of business. Luckily, I play most games on consoles these days, though the dreaded Diablo III looms in the nether-distance in some far-off-but-maybe-close future.

For those of you dying to play Left 4 Dead on your PC in November, Valve has finally released the Left 4 Dead system requirements. Give it a browse and see if your specs match up.

Continue reading Got this PC? Left 4 Dead System Requirements

Dead Space And “Strategic Dismemberment”

I don’t do too well with scary things. Ask any of my friends, and they’ll tell you that I scream like a little girl and cover my ears during most horror movies (or games). Needless to say, I have never been a fan of the survival-horror genre for this reason, though I will give grace to things concerning Zombies.

Dead Space, however, combines survival-horror with science fiction, and it looks delicious. I’m particularly intrigued by the unique lack of a HUD, and the UI is incorporated into the environment, really making the gameplay experience feel like a literal camera attached to the hero. It just oozes atmosphere, and not all games have that. Plus, strategic dismemberment just looks insane.

First Person Zombies in Left 4 Dead

To me, one of the cool aspects that hasn’t been talked about in Left 4 Dead is the “Director”, an AI system that creates encounters for you as the game goes, meaning no 2 single-player (or co-op) playthroughs might be the same.

In versus mode, this changes. You play as a zombie, which makes you the “Director”, designing the campaign experience for your friends, in a sense.  You can even call other zombies to your aid to battle your human foes. A new video interview has appeared on the webz, highlighting some of these features.

Rumor: Mass Effect Movie?

As we all know, the world of video game movies has been a tough one for studio execs to crack. Nearly every movie based on a video game has been wretched, and it just doesn’t seem to show any signs of letting up.

However, it seems that Avi Arad, one of the bigwigs responsible for Marvel’s recent comeback, has optioned the rights from EA to produce a movie based on the RPG Mass Effect. Pretty wild.

Continue reading Rumor: Mass Effect Movie?

More Diablo III Crazies

We all know that the Internet is full of crazies. Loonies. Nutsos. Especially when it comes to tampering with their favorite hobbies, namely gaming. When that game happens to be Diablo III, it seems that people move from regular crazy into the territory of slobbering fanboy crazy, which is a different kind of crazy altogether.

After all of the months of moaning about the brighter more colorful approach to the world of Diablo, Blizzard says that fans will have more reasons to hate them in the near future, when they release the next class of character that can be found in the game.

Continue reading More Diablo III Crazies

Portal Begins

A new Half Life 2 mod is underway called Portal:Prelude, which is exactly what it sounds like. The huge mod (19 test chambers and 400 lines of dialogue) is a fan-made prequel to last year’s beloved Portal, and will be completely free to download. 

The project seems ambitious and terribly impressive. They’ve even been contacted by Valve, which is more than some of us who work with the Source engine can say… If you’ve played Portal, I’m sure you’ll be interested in this.

Source- Kotaku via Portal:Prelude

Creative Expressions on Spore

We all know that people have been quite upset about Spore’s DRM debacle, which limits user ownership of the game and only allows one account per PC. It’s definitely somethings that’s ticked off the game’s users, and it doesn’t sound like EA is going to relent at any point in the future.

How have people expressed this? Well, apparently, Spore is capable of producing more than just genitalia monsters, as gamers have started to make creatures that proudly show off displeasure at the DRM.

Continue reading Creative Expressions on Spore

Dark Knight Plus TF2 is Awesome

As the title indicates, there are some things that are absolutely stupendous when throw together, much like eggs and bacon. Recently, the TF2 death icon generator was released to the public, and already an Internet gem has risen from its depths.

Over at Ubercharged, someone has thrown together The Dark Knight retold as a string of TF2 kills. It’s really humorous if you’ve seen the movie, but beware of spoilers!

Personally, I loved The Dark Knight, so it’s neat to see all the little fan spoofs that keep popping up.

Source- Ubercharged

Left 4 Dead Demo to Eat Your Brains

As some of you know, I’m kind of a huge nut about most things Valve-related. Whether it’s head crabs, crowbars, portals, layzorz, scouts, I’m all about it. Another thing I’m a huge fan of is Zombies. Also, co-op play. Mashing all these things together like potatoes gives you Valve’s upcoming gave Left 4 Dead.

So, it was to my delight that Gabe Newell confirmed that a Left 4 Dead demo is going to be hitting XBox Live and the PC soon. If I’m frothing at the mouth, it’s not the T-Virus, it’s just that I’m so happy.

Continue reading Left 4 Dead Demo to Eat Your Brains

CERN is Black Mesa

So, if you haven’t heard, be forewarned that the world is ending today, no thanks to CERN in Europe experimenting with black holes and supercolliders, etc. The details are a little fuzzy for me as I lack the proper brain hemispheres to compute the physics of it, but I know that poop could hit the fan, and I’m prepared.

The funniest part of all of this, is what CERN is doing is essentially the premise behind the Half-Life games, starring crowbar wielding Gordon Freeman. It is for this reason that some dudes sent CERN a crowbar and a strategy guide for the game. I think it’s hilarious.

Source- Reddit

Sims 3 Equals Wacky Fun

I’ve always thought of playing The Sims as an odd sort of time travel. At least it was for me, sitting in front of a computer for hours as I lived vicariously through other people, sometimes trapping them in swimming pools without ladders or rooms without exits. Call me sadistic, but The Sims is darn fun no matter how you play it.

So, naturally, I’m pretty thrilled about Sims 3, whose developers released a behind the scenes video today. Let’s hope that EA doesn’t castrate this game with a terrible DRM like Spore’s, but only time will tell.

Spore, EA and Castration

In a move that can only be described as completely moronic (or evil, depending on your view, really), EA has essentially crippled Spore with a horrendous DRM. It is basically rewarding its customers the way a totalitarian regime might reward people who steal food: Chopping dicks.

Why EA would do this on the heels of the whole Mass Effect PC clusterflub when that game was released on PC is completely beyond me, and many other consumers for that matter.

Continue reading Spore, EA and Castration

Half Life 2 Meets Mr. Cruise

So in possibly one of the freakiest mashups ever, a new video titled “The Combine Interview” is a re-imagining of that Tom Cruise scientology promo with characters and story elements from Half-Life 2. Seriously.

This thing is all kinds of messed up and all kinds of awesome. Two interesting tastes that taste kind of screwed up together.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run along and find Gordon Freeman.

Source- Digg

Spore Not Perfect, Internet Poops Bricks

Sometimes, the Internet’s view of game reviews really just drives me crazy. And not just normal crazy, but bat-crap-freaking-loco.  Take this news, for instance, that Spore is getting less than stellar reviews out of Europe. In fact, some media outlets like German mag PC Games are going as low as an appalling score of 73%. Out of 100, even!

The sky isn’t just falling. Bitch done collapsed.

Continue reading Spore Not Perfect, Internet Poops Bricks

PAX: Inside Bioware’s Dungeon

So right when you walk onto the exhibit hall at PAX, you come face to face with what looks to be a huge dungeon erected right in the middle of the hall. This ambitious construction belongs to none other than Bioware, makers of Baldur’s Gate, Mass Effect and one of my favorite games of all time, KOTOR. And inside, they were showing off their next PC game, Dragon Age: Origins.

Continue reading PAX: Inside Bioware’s Dungeon

PAX: Fallout 3 Booth Kind of Rules

In continuing with their tradition of Fallout 3’s ridiculously awesome art, Bethesda seems to have gone all out with their PAX booth this year. While I was kindly asked by a Bethesda dude to not take any video, I was able to grab some pretty incredible pictures of the set-up that they had going on, which included but was not limited to a trailer, burned-up mannequins, and a huge metal cylon looking guy.

It also included perhaps the best piece of SWAG of the day…

Continue reading PAX: Fallout 3 Booth Kind of Rules

MM-O-Noz!

I must admit that I have always been tempted to jump in to the MMO genre. But over the years, having lost my friends (and even some in my family) to the big hungry MMO lords like World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot and Everquest, I decided to keep my distance.

Also, I never wanted to be these guys, who hooked up a treadmill in an attempt to simulate running across the plains of Azeroth in search of grand adventure.