Someone is getting either pissed off, or really afraid by the sudden “console” invasion. PC gamers are no longer safe in their apartments, cats and dogs alike are beginning to sense the terror of not being able to randomly press our keyboard buttons exactly in the middle of a raid... More and more producers and publishers are greedily eyeing the console environment, which, let’s face it, has its advantages. Like not having to daily invest millions of yen into new hardware.

That’s why some of the big names in the gaming industry, especially in the PC department (like Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD), decided to announce a strategic alliance at the upcoming Game Developers Conference. This seemingly desperate PC Gaming Alliance is meant to promote our good old hunk of wires, conductors and processors as a TRUE gaming platform. In the face of annihilation. In the presence of a God.

Ah well, best of luck to them. As long as World of Warcraft stays on the PC, they are safe with me.

I distinctly recall Mark Skaggs (ex-Westwood / EA Pacific) dropping the bomb in late 2004, that work on a new Red Alert game had already started at that time, so let's not call this an "announcement". Rather, it's something even better: an unexpected details blowout, incoming very soon in the printed press around the world! So far, the Hungarian PC Guru (going on sale tomorrow, February 14) and the American PC Gamer magazines are the first to have their covers invaded by the red army, paving the way for the moment we've been waiting for, ever since EA "blew it" with Westwood.

Tick-tack...

... the bomb is ticking.

Freshly served with today's announcement of a PC version, here are the first eight Mass Effect PC screenshots we yanked from BioWare's website.


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 Continue reading 'Mass Effect PC Screenshots'...

Holy grenade, NovaLogic is still alive and kicking! I could've sworn they were dead for the last three years (in my eyes for sure), ever since I stopped caring about their increasingly crappy Delta Force games. But maybe - just maybe - taking a huge break will turn out for the best.

For now, it seems that NovaLogic is working on something called Delta Force: Angel Falls (or "Black Ops" according to other reports), as teased on the company's front page; good thing we have CryoCopy to freeze it in place, otherwise it redirects you after a couple of seconds. The splash image has a clear "2008" splashed on it, (mis?)leading us to think that we might be sniping our asses once more by the end of this year. Just like good ol' times. But on what platforms, through what virtual locations, and for what purpose? Such details, sadly, still elude us.


The Delta Force had better be strong with this one!

The rumour of Ace Combat 6 getting a PS3 version pales in significance, compared to the initial betrayal of the series' decade-old PlayStation legacy, by fraternizing with the Xbox 360. Nevertheless, less exciting topics are making the "news" these days, so I might as well fake some interest. So, as the story goes, the British PSM3 magazine published a feature titled "2008 Year of the PS3", which - as shown below - also happens to include Ace Combat 6. An honest mistake? I doubt it. A hazardous speculation? Could be. Anything official? Nope, not yet.

- Super Smash Bros. Brawl sales top 1 million in Japan, making it the fastest selling Wii game to reach that sales figure over there. We should start stocking up on booze early, for when it launches over here (next month?). An insane Wii session is sure to ensue.

- Devil May Cry 4 demo hits 1 million downloads on Xbox Live, through some questionable math (25,000 downloads a day since January 24 isn't even remotely close to 1 million). No wonder Capcom's game owns the UK charts.

- Sam & Max Episode 203: Night of the Raving Dead launched on GameTap today. Tomorrow also on Telltale's website, along with a demo.

- Darkeden free vampiric MMORPG launched by Joymax, along with a new Daden Market (the item mall of Darkeden). From the communique, "players can log in today and slay vampires, fight humans, or crush oysters". Oysters?... Oh, I'm sorry, ousters.

- Need for Speed ProStreet has a new Porsche demo on the PC, featuring the Porsche GT2 and GT3RS cars, and Porsche's Leipzig test track. No use, there can be only one NFS: Porsche Unleashed!

- WorldShift beta up on FilePlanet for 5,000 gamers. "Subscribers only". F.U.

- Dynasty Warriors 6, now armed with the Gold status, will invade US retail on February 19.

- Battlefield, Halo veterans form Tyrant Studios in Seattle, setting out to "change the way games are made" with their combined tyranny experience. I don't suppose their motto is "Liberté, égalité, fraternité"?

- "More churches" in Resistance 2! I loled.

September 7, 2008, to be more precise. This is now the official new (tentative) release date for Spore, as announced in the game's first newsletter, signed by Will Wright, that popped into my inbox just now. Ironically enough, Maxis and Electronic Arts even felt the need to make a special teaser trailer for this "joyous" moment. You can watch it right here on Playkon, but there's absolutely no in-game footage, just the above release date. "Thanks again. You'll hear from us soon", he says. The nerve...


Will Wright's message: "check out our launch date teaser".
(Because it's too fucking infuriating when written down!)

Lagging a couple of years behind the pack, Take-Two has finally licensed Unreal Engine 3 for its 2K Games label. Today's announcement issued by the engine's makers from Epic Games only mentions some "unannounced games in development", so we can only guess what exactly they're working on... Neither party had anything intelligent to say on this occasion (other than the reciprocal pat on the back, as usual), so I won't drag this on any longer than needed, either.

Along with the expected confirmation of a "re-designed" PC version of BioWare's sci-fi role-playing game, Electronic Arts announced today that they'll be releasing Mass Effect on the PC in May 2008, after having struck a publishing agreement with Microsoft. Great news, certainly, even though the rest of their press release isn't exactly inspiring. Among the cutting-edge optimizations listed below, those "fully customizable controls" are an epic wonder of PR stupidity, much like rest of the so-called features. Bravo, EA, you have outdone yourself once again! What's next, telling us we can actually play it with a mouse and keyboard?

Optimized for the PC, Mass Effect for the PC incorporates the following features:
- Optimized controls designed specifically for the PC.
- High resolution visuals - Mass Effect for the PC features highly detailed textures, characters and environments.
- Fully customizable controls - PC gamers can re-map the control scheme any way they like.
- Run & Gun Control - Players can assign biotic powers or skills to 'hot keys' allowing them to play Mass Effect with a heavier focus on action.
- New decryption mini-game.
- New inventory screen GUI and functionality - The enhanced inventory system makes it easier for players to equip and modify their weapons and armor.

The only real novelty there is that "new decryption mini-game", which they're not elaborating on at this point. Probably just a cheap, worthless gimmick, anyway. Still, great news.

Update: We now also have the first screenshots.

Taking BioShock's graphical beauty and slaughtering it, to fit on a mobile device, might not sound too appealing. But the thought of carrying little sisters in your pocket sure does! And we'll soon be able to do just that, thanks to today's announcement of a mobile version of BioShock.

The miniature Rapture will be brought to pixelated life by a certain online and mobile games company called Indiagames (guess where they're located!), and served through their international publishing arm, IG Fun, who secured the global rights to develop and publish BioShock for the mobile platform from 2K Games.

"Bio-shock on mobile will herald the next level in mobile game development and gameplay experience. The PC and console version of the game has already been a huge hit and we are confident of replicating the success on the mobile platform too", confidently proclaimed Indiagames boss, Vishal Gondal.

... But will it get you chicks little sisters?