Gamer seeks companion for FPS, possibly more
Now that games such as Modern Warfare 2 have thrust multiplayer gaming into the news and the mainstream, isn't it about time we had more sophisticated game matchmaking?
And I'm not just talking about the usual player statistics coupled with geographical filtering. What we really need is the gaming equivalent of eHarmony.com's deep compatibility magic.
Gamers may not want to have some 'deep and profound connection' with the people they game with - or want to sleep with them - but armed with anonymous demographic data about an individual, matching players up effectively could vastly improve.
Why then can't we have matchmaking systems that scrutinise other players looking for a game and give consideration to whether they will offer you what most online gamers are after - the ‘GG' or ‘Good Game' vibe?
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Virtual perspiration
Jeremy Ford - 18 August 2010 - 11:50am
The world is divided into two camps – those who like to run around in public and those who don’t. Most of us would rather throw our PCs in the toilet than heave our bodies at high speed around the pavements with one finger ready and primed to dial 999. So it was the latter camp that was relieved when the concept of the exercise game sidled onto the market. Everyone’s heard of the idea. Hell, there’s probably a hermit in the Himalayas who, even now, is powering up his yak-driven PC and stepping onto his dance mat. read more »
Win! A Gainward GTX 470
Henry Winchester - 16 August 2010 - 11:19am
We like games, and we like graphics. And because of that we like graphics cards that make games run smoothly and look dead pretty. The GTX 470 is one such card to make with the moving pictorial loveliness.
Based on the same GF100 GPU that made the overheating GTX 480 such a graphical behemoth, the £300 GTX 470 will quite happily make mincemeat out of pretty much any game you care to throw its way. With 448 CUDA cores for their parallel processing goodness, and 40 whole ROPs, this card is a bit of a beast.
That’s why we think NVIDIA’s second spin of its first Fermi GPU was so super-special, and we think it’s so good that you readers ought to have one as well. The folk that make Runes of Magic (PCF233 84%) think so too, so we’ve got together to bring three lucky readers a brand new Gainward GTX 470 graphics card as well as a boxed copy of the client and some fantastically stylish RoM threads.
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Preparing for Cataclysm
Alan Dexter - 13 August 2010 - 12:58pm
The shadow of a new expansion makes for some interesting times for WoW devotees. While it's the perfect time to clear up some achievements, go and play other games and generally enjoy the world around you, it's also a time to start planning what to do when Cataclysm hits. read more »
The arts of war
Jeremy Ford - 11 August 2010 - 10:09am
Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your blog every day! There’s nothing more satisfying than sitting back and watching an impressive army of tanks, rocket troopers, orcs, or whatever else happens to be in your unstoppable electronic army march roughshod across anything that gets in your way. Whether it’s part of some great scripted campaign, or simply a skirmish against a friend, it’s the only chance most of us are going to get to feel like the great general, unleashing hell on all who dare oppose us. read more »
Team Fortress 2: Everybody can dance now
Agro - 10 August 2010 - 4:03pm
Trying to get a nut to move your butt to the dance floor...
I had the pleasure of interviewing one of Lionhead's rising stars this week for Kritzkast, the Team Fortress 2 podcast. James Benson is a self-taught animator working on such high profile games as Fable 3 and Milo and Kate. Our interest, of course, was nothing to do with these long-anticipated games but with our obsession - Team Fortress 2. read more »
EVGA's free speed boost
Dave James - 10 August 2010 - 12:32pm
We're all agreed, NVIDIA's GTX 460 is an awesome li'l card, especially in the sub-£200 market. There's nothing between the 768MB card at £150 and the HD 5870 at £300 that comes close. And if you check out next month's issue you'll see all the SLI goodness the GTX 460 gives when you pair up a couple of the GF104-based bad boys.
But EVGA doesn't think the GTX 460 is good enough. Not content with pumping out overclocked...sorry...Superclocked versions of both 768MB and 1GB flavours of the mid-range marvel, it's now offering owners of its cards a free performance boost. read more »
Deus Ex Human Revolution - Your Questions
Henry Winchester - 10 August 2010 - 12:11pm
I've been stunned (with a riot prod) by what I've seen of Deus Ex: Human Revolution so far, and Eidos Montreal seems to have really captured what made the original game such a unique and enjoyable experience.
It's over to you now. If you've got any questions about the prequel, post 'em below, and I'll put them to Deus Ex's Game Director on Thursday, and post the answers on Friday. And no rude questions either. I'm sure the Game Director will be wearing trousers.
In the meantime, enjoy this stirring and rather Dark Knight-esque trailer. read more »
Mafia 2 demo out on PC
Chris Thornett - 10 August 2010 - 10:42am
Here's an offer you can't refuse - yeah, I know I can't resist a Godfather reference - The Mafia 2 demo for PC is out on Steam!
Says here in the press release that you'll be able to try out a 1950s mission where you as "Vito Scaletta and his buddies, Joe and Henry, are sent to take out a mobster known as "The Fat Man". This mission showcases vibrant edge-of-your-seat action, era-evoking cars, memorable characters and a snapshot of the expansive city of Empire Bay in this colorful era."
We would say more, but it's verboten - embargoes are in place (and attached to Dave's family jewels and wired into the mains), but Dave has reviewed it for the next issue of PC Format.
Slage - footage from the French hack 'n' slasher
Chris Thornett - 6 August 2010 - 4:26pm
I don't know what 'Slage' means either but it's probably not what Urban Dictionary is trying to define it as...
It seems the prospect of Diablo 3 and popularity of the Diablo series has injected lightning through the nips of the monster that is action-RPGs and has let it sire some more prodigy.
We've seen Torchlight rock up from the ashes of Flagship Studios and there seems no stopping them with the announcement of Torchlight 2. Maxis, the developer behind Spore has also stepped into the fray with its own sci-fi twist called DarkSpore (see the presentation).
And now we've got some work in progress footage of Slage, another multiplayer only, Diablo-esque contender squeaked out by French developer, Ankama. read more »
ay 'Howdy Doody Neighbour' with Skype
Had to post this - A fake ad in the style of Fallout for Skype. Makes me wonder what Google would look like with its 'Don't Be Evil' tag.
Apparently, this ad and others were done by Momo, a South American ad agency. Hit the via link for some more vintage ads that will start a flame in your heart (Thanks Christian!).
VIA Betapond
Gish: Pay your own price
Jeremy Ford - 4 August 2010 - 11:00am
Following some recent successful 'Pay your own price' promotions in the indie gaming world, Chronologic have followed suit with Gish, their superb 2005 hit which still very much stands the test of time to this day. The game is a mix of platform, physics and puzzles, following the squishy adventures of Gish, a tarball on a mission to rescue his abducted girl friend. If you are still not convinced on parting with pennies, tryout the demo first. There is no listed expiration date on this offer, so pick it up soon to avoid disappointment.
Tech Briefing: Gaming could get touchy feely
Chris Thornett - 3 August 2010 - 4:57pm
Soon we'll be able to feel our games?
Touch screen technology is in vogue again and while the launch of the iPad didn't excite us, the way it's kickstarted R&D companies to invest in perfecting touch and tactile tech does.
Take Senseg Oy in Finland which has come up with a film that sits over a touchscreen and imitates sensations.
Imagine gliding your finger over a representation of a mini-zen garden and actually feeling the bumps of the sand as you swish it around or searching a room in a simple adventure game and actually feeling your way to the clues. Apparently this tech can do that. read more »
Lead and Gold: Growing Pangs of the Wild West
Chris Thornett - 30 July 2010 - 6:32pm
The Good, the Bad and the Fugly Server Mess...
Here I go again, writing about the underdog when I should be going for the rich, gushing vein of Starcraft 2 google juice that's been unleashed on the planet, but by Great Lord Tennyson's beard I'm British and I like an underdog!
Lead and Gold then: a great, multiplayer-only, third-person shooter set in the darn tootin' shootin' Wild West. We gave it 85% in PCF240 June and for a while it became a lunchtime favourite in the office. In fact, Dexter still gets his poncho on from time to time and massacres Clint Eastwood quotes while playing it.
Looking at the server browser list (assuming it's working properly) Lead and Gold's player base isn't looking very healthy. As I write this there are 120 players online. There are 49 servers up and most of their pings are ridiculously high and 14 of the servers are official ones supplied by the developers, Fatshark. What's the crack then? Why's a good game flagging? read more »
Make: My first USB device
Jeremy Ford - 28 July 2010 - 2:26pm
Hold on to your breadboards, we’re going to try and make a fully working USB device. We’re a little scared… While we regularly like to disembowel, disassemble, disfigure and generally ‘dis’ USB devices in all of their forms, it’s always either standing on the shoulders of the geniuses that made the device in the first place, or at least leaning on the fact that the USB interface offers a handy 5v supply. read more »
ARMA 2: The Brits are coming!
Chris Thornett - 22 July 2010 - 4:58pm
A bit of Blighty is on its way to Operation Arrowhead
Cameron may think we're a bit junior and get our military history wrong, and upset the PCF forumites but Bohemia Interactive think we're worth a special DLC for Operation Arrowhead - ARMA2: British Armed Forces (or BAF for short).
The DLC for the uber military sim will include a singleplayer campaign where you'll command a mobile observation team and take on the Takistani guerilla forces amassing in the mountains. read more »
Console gamers suck...
Chris Thornett - 22 July 2010 - 2:20pm
But really it's a matter of control...
Microsoft discovered through research what any PC gamer could have told them - consoleheads would get creamed if they went toe-to-toe with PC gamers and their keyboard and mouse combo.
Rahul Sood, the CTO of HP's gaming business has said that Microsoft canned it's cross-platform gaming plans because: "The console players got destroyed every time. So much so that it would be embarrassing to the Xbox team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative,"
Sood doesn't say whether this included game genres that favour game controllers, such as football games and racing titles, where you'd think there wouldn't be much of difference. But in the TechRadar article he's certainly not happy that the MS cross-platform project was canned. read more »
Vindictus MMO: now with added brutal
Chris Thornett - 21 July 2010 - 5:24pm
Nexon has released a vid of the combat to expect in its latest MMO - Vindictus. It's action-tastical stuff and you'll note the combat is real-time.
This particular video is showing 'Lann' and his two swords. Vindictus uses Source-engine to present it's dark and brutal Celtic-themed world and sports destructible environments. read more »
Darkspore: Watch the game presentation
Chris Thornett - 21 July 2010 - 11:13am
Who needs teasers, watch the actual presentation...
Darkspore has been announced, a Diablo-style or an "action role-playing game", if you don't want to mention Diablo. It has a sci-fi setting and is by Maxis, who made Spore. The video (Nice work by AddictedtoGamez) after the break tells you pretty much what everyone knows about it right now. No point regurgitating what they said in the presentation in my different words then. read more »
Bump up the buffering
Jeremy Ford - 21 July 2010 - 10:53am
Frantic fragging demands fast frame rates. That’s one of the central tenets of PC gaming, right? Attempting to rail gun the opposition between the peepers as you artfully jump-strafe through the air doesn’t really fly if your PC is dropping frames like a pathological litterbug, that’s for sure.
However, peak frame-rate performance is only part of the problem. The order and manner in which the individual image frames appear on your screen also matters. Enter, therefore, the concept of frame buffering.
Download this article in PDF format (first published in PC Format 230)
I feel sorry for CEO of Activision Bobby Kotick. Every time he opens his grinning chops to say something about the future of Call of Duty he gets accused of not loving the gamers and making small children and unicorns cry.
Take, for instance, his recent Financial Times interview. That got him into trouble, because he was of the opinion that Activision ought to get a slice of the Xbox Live pie as, apparently, 60% of players were principally using Live to play Call of Duty.
Actually he used the phrase "We don't really participate financially in that income stream". I imagine this to involve a Crystal Maze-style dome where Kotick gets to keep all the gold shiny paper he can shove down his trousers in two minutes (Steve Ballmer would be there too, dressed as Richard 0'Brien and playing the harmonica soulfully). read more »
Alien Swarm free from Valve!
Jeremy Ford - 20 July 2010 - 3:12pm
Valve has launched Alien Swarm on Steam, a Sci-Fi based alien bug hunting shooter in the Alien Breed mold. And it's completely free for everyone to enjoy! Not only that, it comes complete with the full SDK for gamers to create their own unique content like maps, and potentially more elaborate complete mods.
We've had a quick bash on the early sections of the game, and although it's nothing ground breaking in game design, feeling very much like a decent indie title. But being free makes it an essential download. Alien Swarm includes an offline practice level, but ultimately is made for Left 4 Dead style online co-op gaming. There are 4 character classes and over 40 unlockable weapons (accessed through earned XP), along with Steam cloud support and a gamut of achievements.
2010 Golden Joystick Awards
Jeremy Ford - 16 July 2010 - 4:51pm
The 28th Golden Joystick Awards is coming this summer. This prestigious event celebrates the past year’s finest gaming titles across all platforms, where the gaming public is the judge and jury on which games and publishers take home the coveted awards. Last year an impressive 1.2 million votes were cast. read more »
KritzKast Con 2, a TF2 meet-up in London
Agro - 16 July 2010 - 3:02pm
There’s nothing quite like getting together with a few friends and slaughtering each other...
That’s a feeling that many of us have every time we boot up and log in to our chosen game. For me the game is Team Fortress 2, and has been for quite a while. read more »
Friday WoW: Beta Cataclysm
Alan Dexter - 16 July 2010 - 11:51am
Closed beta's were once magical, secretive things that only a select few had access to. They were closed. There were cliques. These people clearly weren't very good at playing the way the vast majority of people did though, and games still shipped with bugs in them. Thus the Open Beta was born, and now anyone lucky enough to get their name drawn from a virtual hat stands a chance of getting in the next big thing. read more »
Develop 2010
Henry Winchester - 15 July 2010 - 3:59pm
I'm not sure if it's always this windy in Brighton, but it feels like the town is in danger of being blown into the sea. I'm at the Develop conference, where the gaming industry's bigwigs, a bunch of journos and politicians like Ed Vaizey (above) discuss the industry and drink copious amounts of free booze. I'm not here for the latter, obviously.
Peter Molyneux's just given an excellent presentation on the new features in Fable III, and it's looking like a really, really good game. Best of all, it's coming to the PC as well. One of its key innovations in the Graphical User Interface - or lack of. Instead of having to scroll through thousands of menus, it's all contained in a special level, known as "The Sanctuary". This includes a 3D model of Fable III's world as opposed to a 2D map, as well as wardrobe and weapon rooms. It's clever shizzle. read more »
Future tech
Jeremy Ford - 15 July 2010 - 10:59am
The doors have closed on the annual technology jamboree that is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which traditionally kicks off the year with exciting new toys and defines the technology trends that are to come. As usual, every pundit and their mum was on hand to try and make some sense of all the flashing lights and shiny new boxes that filled the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Centre and quite a few hotels beyond. read more »
Makers of Runescape announce sci-fi MMO out 2011
Chris Thornett - 14 July 2010 - 11:57am
I had a conversation with a sales guy once that asked me what "Run Escape" was. It had come up in one of his search results for the biggest names in gaming on the web and he was very excited by the numbers. The name has stuck for me, even though he was actually talking about that insanely popular browser-based MMO by Jagex called Runescape.
Now Run Escape developer and publisher have announced the closed beta of a sci-fi MMO and the fact it'll be out next year. It's called Stellar Dawn. read more »
The sound of C64 past...
Dave James - 12 July 2010 - 2:42pm
On this day when all the PC-focused webnauts are stuck on NVIDIA's latest graphical opus, I've stumbled on something that's taken me right back to the days when 8-bit ruled.
Sure I've spent much of this weekend focused on the GTX 460, but today, walking around in the sun I found myself listening to a radio station that's new to me. While searching for a decent dub station to while away my lunch break in the sun I found a station with the unassuming moniker Radio 6581.
Lo and behold it's a 128kbps station playing Commodore 64 SIDs and remixes all day long. Now I may well be late to the party on this one - I could never claim to be at the cutting edge - but I've been thoroughly enjoying this station since I found it.
I'm still waiting for the theme from Parallax to tip up...
Resurgence Pack map guide by DeadElviS
DeadElviS - 9 July 2010 - 7:14pm
A quick 'n' dirty rundown of Modern Warfare's new maps
Lets get one thing straight before I give my opinion on the new Modern Warfare 2 - Resurgence Pack: These maps are nothing like the Stimulus Map Pack, the only similarity is that Infinity Ward has revamped two of the old CoD4 maps, Strike and Vacant.
The new maps we get this time are Carnival, Fuel and Trailer Park. The new pack will cost you another £10.99 but in my view its well worth the money, if you're a regular MW2 player and play it for hours on end like myself and a lot of the PCF community.
Okay, down to business. read more »
