Welcome to the PCGamesN weekender, the first in our weekly round up of what’s happened this week, what’s happening this weekend and more. We make a startling amount of stuff for you guys to read – here’s a chance to look back and catch up what you might have missed.
Take a moment to enjoy this time; we’re living in a golden age. This week has been phenomenal for PC gaming; with new game launches, new releases, forward thinking new platforms, and a load of great stuff to play.
This weekend only
Celebrate the Battlefield 3: Armored Kill launch with a Double XP Weekend.
Rift is free-to-play for this weekend. Jump in.
Out this weekend
Indie space-ship management sim/interplanetary roguelike FTL is now available. It’s $9 from the official site. Jump in. Just beware of pirates. And rebels. And the federation. And nebula. And…
Black Mesa Source, the long anticipated recreation of Half-Life, is out now. It’s free, so there’s no excuse not to play it. While you’re waiting for it to download, here’s Richard Cobbett on what the original Half-Life is like to play today.
The F1 2012 demo is out now and well worth a play. In it, you can blast around Monza, or take on ‘young driver challenges’ in Abu Dhabi.
Big reads
How the original Diablo creator has brought his design for Diablo 3 to Marvel Heroes
Why The Walking Dead game is Telltale’s masterpiece
Why Guild Wars 2 matters.
Big deals
Green Man Gaming are offering a good deal on Borderlands 2 downloads.
It’s also your last chance to pre-order Torchlight 2 for a reduced price – it’s out next week.
The week that was
It was a massive week for Steam as the Big Picture Mode beta began. It’s going to be huge for the PC: it makes the PC the very best platform to buy games for. Meanwhile, the first 10 games on Steam Greenlight were approved, including Black Mesa Source, and friends of PCGN, Project Zomboid.
Drinks are on NCSoft: Guild Wars has just hit two million unit sales, even after suspending digital sales to ‘preserve the experience’ and only switching them back on earlier this week. The MMO’s rampant popularity has brought with it some inevitable attention from opportunistic hackers probing for weak logins. Along with adding new servers to cope with demand, NCSoft have been busy tweaking and updating many of the game’s systems; the latest Guild Wars patch promises to make the ‘F’ key less frustrating.
Just, don’t try and think too hard about what the firewalkers are meant to signify in the live action Guild Wars 2 trailer.
The biggest story in Eve Online was the tragic death of Sean Smith, AKA Vile Rat when the US embassy was stormed during riots. The responses and memorials created by Eve’s playerbase were extraordinary.
Also tragic, but with far reaching consequences; the arrest of two of Bohemia’s staff on espionage charges on the Greek Island of Limnos.
With World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria now only weeks away, Blizzard were discovered to be marking every WoW screenshot with account and server details. Blizzard have yet to respond to the allegations. Meanwhile, lead Producer John Lagrave discussed some of the challenges of World of Warcraft’s rated battlegrounds.
Back in Valve land, on our Counter-Strike channel, you’ll have learned that the Arms Race maps from CS: GO are based on Left 4 Dead maps. In our League of Legends channel, we’ve got a review of Syndra: The Dark Sovereign, while, in the run up to the Season 2 championship, Riot told us that “there’s got be room for a little bit of drama” in eSports.
And more…
The latest Minecraft snapshot teases Halloween comings
Diablo 3 1.0.5 patch will make players take less damage whilst also nerfing their abilities
Firefall beta milestone to focus on PvE say Red 5
Tribes: Ascend Marksman update brings new weapons and lederhosen
The Secret World is having a miserable time of it, see why we think Funcom deserved better
Borderlands 2 skill trees revealled
Planetside 2 beta to get at least one new continent before launch
LEGO Lord of the Rings to feature open world
Medal of Honor: Warfighter getting Zero Dark Thirty map pack, which chronicles the ten year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden
Cloud Imperium sees Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts return to gaming: “I would like to create a world for you”
Dishonored coughs up two new dev diaries
Football Manager 2013 devs on classic mode but still no release date
Skyrim Mods now topping 10,000 on Steam
SWTOR free to play getting closer
Heart of the Swarm beta receives patch; Terran Warhound removed
And finally…
Valve want yourHalloween TF2 items
Here’s aMinecraft mod showing the Maze from The Shining
Don’t forget to vote in the Golden Joystick Awards for bonus World of Tanks and League of Legends stuff!
There is aGTA 4 mod that turns you into an elephant. Giraffe also available.
Have a great weekend.