Gamernode: Latest PC News

Mass Effect/Spore will require online validation

Over in this now locked thread on the official Mass Effect Community forums, BioWare Technical Producer Derek French explained what type of copy protection and activation systems Mass Effect will use upon its release for PC on May 28th.

To say the least, BioWare/EA's plans for the game caused massive complaints from the community. To put it bluntly, Mass Effect for PC will require online validation every 10 days. Taking hints from 2K Games using SecuROM with BioShock, the game will only allow up to three game activations as well.

"After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez'd and gets banned). Just so that the 10 day thing doesn't become abrupt, SecuROM tries its first re-check with 5 days remainin...

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EA-Land shutting down in August

EA-Land was initially known as The Sims Online and launched in 2002. Earlier this year, the game was renamed and was given new servers and new features.

Electronic Arts recently announced that all EA-Land servers will be shut down and users will no longer be able to access the game.

The reason may have to do with the fact that the game didn't reach the same amount of success as other Sims titles did. And that may have to do with, as one commenter put it, the fact that players don't have much to do without paying the $15 subscription fee.

EA Land apparently didn't show enough promise to further the venture. The Sims franchise has been milked for all it is worth and the closing of EA Land may be the writing on the wall that the venerable Sims may be reaching a saturation point, even with fans ...

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Hefty Team Fortress 2 update hits PC

It's a week late but we're messing with Valve time, so this is actually pretty good. With that said, a major content update for Team Fortress 2 was released today adding a new map and gameplay mode type called Goldrush, a new unique item/weapon loadout system (debuting with new Medic equipment) and 36 new achievements for the Medic class.

In addition, this coming weekend from May 2-4 will be a Team Fortress 2 Free Weekend. It'll promptly begin on Friday at noon PDT so make sure to nab Steam early and enjoy the new content.

After I nabbed the update, many of the servers were filled with Medics trying to quickly grab achievements so I'll probably take it easy when earning the new achievements (after all, I am quite a Medic buff). Nonetheless, I immediately earned Intern (Accumulate 7000 heal p...

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Portal 2 may take a while

Valve's Doug Lombardi recently told the gaming press that gamers shouldn't be expecting more of the critically-acclaimed Portal in 2008.

"In typical Valve tradition, it won't be Portal with different colors. I think that when you hit something like that, you have two choices: you can quickly replicate it and stick it out there - do the opportunistic thing and cash in on it; or you can do the crazy thing like we did after Half-Life was so successful and go off and try and say, 'Okay, that was revolutionary, so its successor has to be equally as revolutionary.'

That's the spirit I think we're approaching it in. You won't see a new Portal at retail this Christmas because of that. That's the trade-off. People want more, but we don't want to give them more of the same right away because that wo...

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Age of Conan pricing revealed

Developer Funcom has revealed the pricing structure for their MMORPG, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, which is scheduled to hit store shelves on May 20th. An Aprill 22nd investor update states:

- The standard game SKU will have a Suggested Retail Price (SRP) of 59.99 USD in North America and 49.99 Euro in the European Markets.

- The subscription fee will be priced at 14.99 USD in North America and 15.99 Euro in the European Markets (plus VAT where applicable).

This monthly rate seems to be in line with other MMORPGs, but the retail box cost matches up more closely with Xbox 360 pricing than with current PC offerings (these are usually far less expensive than Funcom's SRP).

To make things more confusing, GameStop lists the PC version at $49.99 and the 360 version at $59.99, flying right i...

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Devil May Cry 4 headed to PC this summer

Capcom announced today that Devil May Cry 4, released earlier this year for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, will be coming to the PC sometime this summer.

According to the press release, the PC version will feature "new modes, enhanced graphics options and some additional content." Capcom will also be releasing a demo version of the game before the final retail package is shipped, allowing potential customers to test out their PC's performance before blindly diving into a regrettable purchase.

Hopefully DMC4 doesn't suffer the same fate as the shoddy port of Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, which disappointed PC gamers back in 2006.

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The Witcher enhanced edition delayed

Bummer, I was pretty pumped for May to roll around to check out the swank re-release of an enhanced edition of The Witcher for PC. But according to this news post on the game's official site, the enhanced edition has hit a delay; a revised release date will be posted in a few days.

The developer CD Projekt RED attributes additional polishing and tweaking required to ensure a steady worldwide release date -- attention was given to translations, especially changes to the English and German versions.

Don't forget, for you fans who already own the game, you'll be able to download all of the new enhancements and content for free! Here's a brief yet lengthy rundown of the new features in the enhanced edition of The Witcher:

"The Witcher: Enhanced Edition will be free of the majority of criticisms ...

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Apparently, the PC (and gaming) is alive and well...

In response to earlier accusations that the PC is dying, Games for Windows boss, Kevin Unangst, has stepped up to the plate to announce that PC gaming is not kicking the bucket. Rather, PC gaming is fine, and is not going to pass on anytime soon.

Unangst declared recently that there is no physical obstacle that the PC must overcome. No more attention is needed by retailers and developers to boost sales. "The roadblock, if any, is the perception that there is a roadblock in PC gaming," Unangst wisely declared. He went on further to say that the idea of PC gaming death is near ludicrous, and those who believe so simply haven't looked at the facts.

However, when one does look at the NPD numbers, as Unangst recommends, it can be seen that for both 2006 and 2007, PC sales for The Sims and Wor...

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Team Fortress 2: Meet the Scout video

Here's the next character profile video for Team Fortress 2, this time focusing on the Scout. I've seen mixed reviews for the video but I personally enjoyed it; it's quick and fast, along with a lot of cuts to match the Scout's furious persona. Also the brief scenes of the struggle with the Heavy was great, boink! If you've forgotten, a big update to TF2 is expected to hit PC this week -- including 36 new achievements for the Medic, a new gameplay mode and the first round of weapon loadouts.

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Mass Effect PC system requirements revealed

If you're tallying the number of days left till Mass Effect gets released for PC on May 28th (North America), then you're not alone. In addition to screenshots of the revised UI and mini-game exclusive to the PC edition, BioWare announced the system requirements for the game.

From my point of view, the hardware requirements aren't too steep; if your PC can handle pixel shaders 3.0 (or Unreal Engine 3), then you can handle Mass Effect.

A few follow-up questions were answered by BioWare's Derek French, including that there's no support for Direct X10 or the Xbox 360 controller in the PC edition.

Here are the requirements from Community Manager Jay Watamaniuk:

Minimum System Requirements for Mass Effect on the PC

Operating System: Windows XP or VistaProcessor: 2.4+GHZ Intel or 2.0+GHZ AMDMemory:...

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Servers being cut for Pirates of the Burning Sea

After receiving generally favorable reviews across the board, including 8.0 out of 10 from GN, the waves may have settled for Flying Lab Software's MMORPG Pirates of the Burning Sea. But according to a report on Wired's gaming blog Game | Life, troubles may be on the horizon.

Despite the reviews, Flying Labs will be closing seven of the game's 11 servers "in an effort to consolidate the PotBS fanbase." Players who made their homes on a condemned server will be given the option to move to one of the remaining servers.

According to a statement from Flying Labs, "Through feedback from our players and evaluation of our server populations, it has become clear that key game features require populations of higher density in order to function at optimum levels. When you take into account both the di...

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Pystar claims to sell Mac clones for $399

Pystar, a company from Miami, Florida, is currently selling a Mac clone called OpenMac with Leopard pre-installed for $554. A considerable amount less than what Apple charges for their offical Macs. The system comes with:

* 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, * 250 GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM), * 2 GB DDR2 667 RAM, * Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics, * DVD+/-R Optical Drive, * 4 USB ports,

If you dish out an extra $110 you can get a GeForce 8600GT thrown in. Another helping of $50 will add FireWire support to your OpenMac. What's rather funny and ironic is that the Leopard EULA states "You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so." I don't really think I need to explain the irony here.

On the subject...

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The Weekly Grind 2: April Showers

Welcome to The Weekly Grind, a weekly roundup of all of the important news that graced the ever-growing genre of the MMORPG. Make sure to check the end of the post to see how a reader like yourself can get involved! Sit back and relax while we take a stroll through our favorite virtual worlds.

PvP Beta Weekend for Age of Conan - This is a pretty sweet in deal with GameSpot selecting 15,000 eager players to play PvP nonstop during the April 18th - 20th weekend. Too bad you need to be a GameSpot member to sign up, though.

One Crazy Party - The Farewell to Gaile party went smoothly, and many people came by to join in the festivities. Even the infamous Frog visited the major areas of Guild Wars giving players in those zones party buffs. So if you were there, I hope you enjoyed your spirits and ...

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EA Sports stops PC games. Apocalypse to follow

How can one tell when a platform is dead? When EA Sports abandons it, it's a damn good way of measuring the life cycle of a platform. There's usually one EA Sports game at launch and one as its final ballad (i.e. Madden 08 for Xbox and GameCube).

Using my impenetrable logic as a guideline, it can only spell disaster for the PC as a viable gaming platform (don't hate me).

EA has announced that it will no longer be making NBA Live for the PC. This announcement comes eight days after we learned that Madden NFL 09 won't be coming to the PC. Interesting moves indeed.

EA is not a stupid company. Evil, yes. Stupid, no. The only way EA would stop producing a game on a particular platform would be if it were no longer profitable. NBA Live and Madden NFL are the two biggest EA Sports titles. If...

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World of Warcraft has "peaked" says THQ exec

World of Warcraft is going to reach its peak, if it hasn't already. This is the view of THQ executive Jack Sorenson. I'd have to agree with him. Even though WoW is ten million strong, with a highly anticipated expansion pack on the horizon, WoW is going to stop growing at some point.

Despite how big the game is, people are eventually going to be bored and move on to something else.

Also worth noting is that Blizzard has not recently released a press statement indicating how their numbers have grown. Sign of the times to come? Mr. Sorenson's opinion, though, has to be taken with a grain of salt. THQ is working on a Warhammer MMO, which would be in direct competition with Blizzard's currently unbeatable hold on the MMO market. Of course he wants the game to die down in popularity so that p...

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Mass Effect (PC) delayed, new UI and mini-game sho...

Not being able to play Mass Effect for PC has been aching me for quite a few months, so first hearing that the port would be released on May 6th in North America certainly made me smile. But this post on the official Mass Effect forums from Community Coordinator Chris Priestly notes that there's been a delay.

The new release date for North America is May 28th and for Europe is June 6th. Priestly briefly mentioned that BioWare and Demiurge Studios needed the extra weeks for additional polish and fine-tuning. Hey, some extra polishing for an already excellent game sounds fine to me.

Here's the word on the delay from the man himself, "The team here at BioWare, working closely with the good folks at Demiurge Studios, has decided that a few more weeks in the studio will ensure we deliver the qua...

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The Weekly Grind 1: Fools Abound

Welcome to The Weekly Grind, a weekly roundup of all of the important news that graced the ever-growing genre of the MMORPG. Make sure to check the end of the post to see how a reader like yourself can get involved! Sit back and relax while we take a stroll through our favorite virtual worlds.

As all of you know, April Fools Day made a quick peek this week, and surprisingly the video game industry took this opportunity to show their funny side a bit more than usual. I myself thought I was part of an April Fool's joke when out of nowhere a company called me on my cellphone and wanted to meet me for an interview. I was extremely excited and set up a date quickly after. As I started to tell the news to some of my friends, half of them were skeptical, telling me it was most likely an April Foo...

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Eidos Montreal working on secret game: Thief 4?

Remember when we reported on that Deus Ex 3 is being worked on by Eidos Montreal? Having thoroughly enjoyed Deus Ex and liked Deus Ex 2, hearing of the third game certainly peaked my interest.

According to a cryptic message on Eidos Montreal's website, the developer could be working on another game to a classic franchise.

The message simply states, "Eidos-Montreal is proud to announce the recruitment for our 2nd "AAA" project... A hint! The title begins with the letter "T".' Some speculation can rule out that this AAA project would be based on a current and existing franchise (or else this isn't much of a hint) right off the bat.

So just thinking about other possible series that begins with T from Eidos Interactive, Tomb Raider or TimeSplitters (now owned by EA), the last choice is Thief!

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First screenshots and trailer for Dawn of War 2

With Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II confirmed, folks are wondering how the game will look with the spiffy Essence 2.0 engine giving some beefy backing. Thankfully, THQ released three new screenshots that showcase the game in all of its awesome glory and they give some small insight on how the game will play.

As previously mentioned, the screenshots only show the two currently confirmed races, the Space Marines and the Orks. But examine the vertical jetpack jump the Space Marines undergo in the second screenshot, or the number of Space Marines squads that are on the screen in each screenshot -- Relic mentioned they're going to pay attention on the number of squads the player will control.

Also if you've missed it, all players who pick up the recently released third and last Dawn of War expa...

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Madden NFL 09 not coming to PC

Peter Moore, head of EA Sports, has a lot of plans to improve the future of the EA Sports brand, but unfortunately releasing Madden NFL 09 for the PC is not on the agenda. This will mark the first iteration in the 19-game series to not hit the PC platform.

The main reason for skipping the platform, according to Moore himself, was simply for business; in the end, the Madden series sells like hotcakes for consoles and EA would rather market the Madden series to the appropriate (and profitable) demographic. Considering that Madden NFL 08 sold over 1.8 million copies during its first week and ultimately over 4.5 million copies worldwide, EA can't turn its head away from those earnings.

Despite no Madden NFL 09 PC plans, Moore mentioned that EA Sports has "ideas for how to revitalize the PC for s...

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