Gamernode: Latest PC News

Full Steam ahead for Codemasters!

The latest publisher to join the growing ranks of Steam is Codemasters. The only currently available game is Clive Barker's Jericho (which is pretty darn fun, I have to say) for $39.95 USD.

The press release stated that Overlord and DiRT are available too, but they're not listed on Steam at the time of this writing. As of now, the only other planned release from Codemasters on Steam will be Turning Point, Fall of Liberty.

Peter Chan, director of business development for Codemasters, said:

"With major new content in the portfolio, Codemasters continues to expand its publishing and distribution reach. As the industry's leading online platform for digital delivery of PC entertainment, Steam is a natural addition to the suite of leading platforms Codemasters is targeting with its leading new a...

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Perks and beta extension for Hellgate: London

I don't know about you but I was pretty letdown with the recently released Hellgate: London demo. There's something about trying to represent an online game through a single-player demo that completely fails because the demo and its gameplay can be pretty mediocre and unrepresentative of the actual game.

Thankfully, the ongoing Hellgate: London beta completely blows away the demo and definitely showcases what the game is all about.

Today, Flagship Studios announced that the ongoing beta would close this Friday at 10AM PST. While all the beta characters will be wiped, the final game will be released a few days later on October 31st.

But if you haven't gotten your complete fill of the game, the beta will actually re-open during the week of the game's release. Flagship's rationalization is that...

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Psychonauts sequel is not in the works

Update: An update on Next-Gen reveals from Tim himself saying that there's no Psychonauts sequel in the works. Double Fine is planning to release an information page about Psychonauts on their website, that's it. Big bummer.

For the past week or two, you couldn't even move around without running into news regarding Tim Schafer and his company Double Fine Productions.

Schafer's new game, Brutal Legend, was revealed, but this week offers something many of us gamers have been hoping for.

If you head over to Double Fine's projects page, you'll clearly see a section for Psychonauts, but it has a big "Coming Soon" pasted over it.

I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to see what's happening because it's pretty evident that Double Fine is definitely working on something related to Psychon...

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Fight "General" British in a Tabula Rasa beta even...

Do you play Tabula Rasa, Johnny? If you answered "Yes!", that means that I now know your name is Johnny, and, more importantly, you're taking part in the Tabula Rasa beta.

If that's the case, this Friday, October 26, from 10 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST you'll be able to take on General "Lord" British himself, Richard Garriot. No word yet on what you'll get if you beat him (other than bragging rights the likes of which most gamers could only dream of), or on any details other than the date and time.

Stay tuned to GN for more as it's revealed. In the meantime, don't forget to circle November 2 on your calendar, because that's when Tabula Rasa comes out. And if you manage to beat Richard in his own game, you can totally tell your friends he's leaving for space to escape the shame, not to partake i...

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Hellgate: London demo features adware

Picture this; you're in an abandoned train station that hasn't seen use in decades. It's dark and you can hear screams in the distance. Something in the dark leaps at you and a quick slash from your sword reveals it was a zombie now dead, again.

When you look up and get ready to leave, a big fat Pepsi ad hits you in the face.

Sound familiar? It should if you played the recently released Hellgate: London single-player demo because it features adware.

Arg! The outrage! The inhumanity! I can hear all the advertising haters exclaiming, "How dare EA implement ads in games!" In any case, adware is something no one really wants to have on their computers, especially without express consent.

One thing I hope happens is that all of this advertising lowers the planned optional subscription. In other ...

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LOTR Online DLC Update

Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar has been doing a "twelve chapter epic quest arc" for users that gradually introduces not only new quests for players to get involved in, but also new content.

In its eleventh chapter, titled Book 11: Defenders of Eriandor, LOTRO makes some big changes to the world of Middle Earth.

First, they are introducing the much anticipated player-owned housing which will allow players to kick back, store loot, and walk around naked like in real life. They'll be offering four uniquely styled race specific homes to chose from, as well as over 200 decorations and furniture.

Also, two of the classes are being updated and enhanced: The Lore-Master, and the Minstrel. Each comes with a couple new features including new high level skills. For more details you can c...

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October 18th GameTap releases

Move over weekly updates for Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console and PSN, here's one for GameTap. This week's new game releases include a jolly ol' Cricket title and a strategy game. As for new free play games, an excellent fourth part in a five adventure series, a classic NES action game and a vampire title were added.

If you want to check out the two new games added to the subscription games and take a gander at the updated list of 46 free play games (newly added games noted in bold), check the full story.

New Subscription Games:

1. Brian Lara Cricket 2007 (PC-WIN)

2. Maelstrom (PC-WIN)

Free Play titles for Thursday, October 18th:

1. Bloodrayne

2. Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2

3. Ghosts 'N Goblins

4. Ghouls 'N Ghosts

5. Sam and Max: Ep. 4 (Abe Lincoln)

6. Vampire Savior

7. Hitman: Agent 47

8. Discipl...

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Hellgate: London gone gold, demo now available!

The folks at Flagship Studios can now breathe a sigh of relief because their debut hack n' shoot title, Hellgate: London, has gone gold and is currently set for release on October 31st for the PC.

But don't worry if you can't wait to start slaying demons because a single-player demo has been released as soon as you have read this. The demo will feature two of the game's six classes -- the Blademaster, the Marksman and some quest trotting through London's Holborn Station.

Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios, said, "This has been an amazing journey for us and we couldn't be more proud of what we've accomplished. We're anxious to get Hellgate: London into gamers' hands and we can't wait to play right along with them."

Here's some general information about the game:

"Hellgate: London combines the...

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Peter Moore explains EA's sports GameShow

When you think EA Sports, what are the first titles that pop into your head? Madden? NBA Live? FIFA? What about GameShow? Does that even sound appealing?

Peter Moore is talking about it like it's the next big thing, but when you break it down, it seems like it's a thing of the past. Whereas games like Madden have been evolving into increasingly more complex experiences, GameShow looks like its simplifying into nothing more than 15 minutes of live trivia.

GameTap also thought this was a little odd, and decided to hunt down Peter Moore to investigate. And after breaking it down, GameShow is starting to show some depth and potential.

Peter Moore explains that its simplicity will help with what he calls "approachability", explaining how most "consumers don't even come up to the house. They say &...

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Full Call of Duty 4 weapons lists revealed

Call of Duty 4 is just around the corner, scheduled for a simultaneous November 5th release on the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. After the very successful Xbox Live beta, which showed off the game's innovative multiplayer mode, you can be sure that gamers everewhere are eagerly awaiting the final version.

Now there's even more of a reason for the adrenaline to flow, because a few resourceful individuals over at the CoD4 Forums have excavated the full single- and multi-player weapons lists from the dev code of the PC demo.

I won't waste any more of your time with idle banter; here are the lists (this is a TON of weapons):

Call of Duty 4 Weapons List

Multiplayer-Ac130-Airstrike-Ak47-Ak74u-Artillery-at4-aw50-barrett-beretta-binoculars-bomb-bomb defuse-c4-claymore-cobra20mm-cobraFFAR-colt45-con...

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AMD's latest Catalyst drivers to greatly improve g...

Last week AMD released new drivers for its Catalyst graphics cards, the ATI Radeon line, boasting huge performance increases in a large number of games, particularly newer games like BioShock, Company of Heroes and Lost Planet that support DirectX 10.

Now when I said AMD were boasting huge performance increases I wasn't joking. According to AMD GAME the following performance increases are noticed with Catalyst 7.10 drivers:

-Battlefield 2142: CrossFireTM performance improves 5-23% on ATI RadeonTM HD2600, HD2400 and ATI RadeonTM X1300/X1550

-BioShock DX10 CrossFireTM performance improves 70% or more on all ATI RadeonTM HD2x00 series of products

-Call of Duty 2: performance improves up to 6.7% on both single card and CrossFireTM ATI RadeonTM HD2600 and ATI RadeonTM HD2400 configurations

-Call of...

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Universe at War delayed till December

Over in this post, SEGA revealed that its upcoming RTS game Universe at War: Earth Assault has been pushed from its October 30th release date to early December. Also developer Petroglyph mentioned that they're still working on the long-awaited beta patch.

SEGA gave some reasons why they had to push the release date back, "As many of you have remarked, the game still needs some time for refinement, and even though you beta participants are playing a build that is a couple months old and has improved immeasurably since then, we still need more time to address your feedback and include it in the game."

As for the beta patch, it still needs to be certified since it's already completed internal testing. SEGA remarked to the participants who are experiencing trouble that "help IS on the way, but I...

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BioShock activation revoke tool available

If you've been worrying about the PC activation system for BioShock, then you're in luck because 2K Games released the activation revoke tool today. What the tool does is that it'll de-activate the current license on the PC.

There's an accompanied FAQ, which addresses some key questions. There's still a problem with installing BioShock on multiple computers though, since that'll use up an activation.

Even with this activation revoke tool out, unfortunately it can't revoke the activations under multiple accounts. The few questions below should free up any confusion:

Q: Can I install BioShock on the same computer under different user accounts?

A: Yes, although you will be asked to activate it for each user account, which will use up one of your activations.

Q: Will I be able to revoke the activ...

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UT3 Beta Demo now pre-loading, release within hour...

Earlier this week FilePlanet begun allowing subscribers to reserve a spot to download the upcoming Unreal Tournament 3 Beta Demo, and at long last the Beta Demo is now available for pre-loading.

This of course means the predictions of a Friday release were correct and gamers everywhere are mere hours away from getting a taste of the latest iteration of Epic's hugely successful Unreal Tournament series.

While the pre-load is for FilePlanet Subscribers only, Mark Rein has confirmed that it will an open beta, so anyone will be able to hop onto FilePlanet tomorrow and download the UT3 Beta Demo.

Mark Rein also confirmed that the Beta Demo will consist of 4 maps and is around 750MB in size. While it is unknown which maps will be included, it has been stated that there will be no Warfare maps--the...

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October 11 GameTap releases

For some people, the weekly updates on Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console and PSN aren't enough. Good thing, then, that Thursdays mark the day of new releases on GameTap. This week's new game releases include everyone's favorite sequel to Wing Commander (or mine, at least), some good ol' fashioned zombie edutainment, and many popular titles in the week's free-play rotation.

If you want to check out the three new titles added to the subscription games and take a gander at the updated list of 43 free-play games, check the full story.

New Subscription Games:

1. F-22 Lightning 3 (PC-WIN)

2. The Typing of the Dead (PC-WIN)

3. Wing Commander II (PDC-DOS)

Free Play titles for Thursday, October 11th:

1. Hitman: Agent 47

2. Colin McRae Rally 2005

3. Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2

4. King of Fighters 95

5. ...

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Last Oblivion DLC to be released on Monday

This coming Monday, Betheseda Softworks will release the final downloadable content for their RPG, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In a final gesture of good faith, the DLC will be free for both Xbox 360 and PC players. The free price tag will drop off after a week, so mark it on your calendars.

The new DLC, dubbed Fighter's Stronghold, will include a new castle located in the Colovian Highlands in Chorrol, which you can take-over and fancy it up into your private home. Included within the castle will be patrolling guards, a vault, a combat trainer and an ancient Dwemer Forge.

In related news, main Bethesda man Pete chatted up on the Bethesda Blog recently and mentioned that PS3 owners will see Shivering Isles pretty soon. The final concept is not hammered down, but it'll be either through P...

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Call of Duty 4 PC demo requirements

Activision sent along word of the preliminary PC system requirements for the Call of Duty 4 demo, so note that these requirements maybe pretty solid to go on for the final game too. 

It's pretty clear; the past few weeks in the world of gaming have been great and nothing but pure awesomeness is expected for the near future.In its press release, Activision noted that the demo "will be out later this week," but considering that there's only Thursday or Friday left, the demo will be out either tomorrow or Friday!Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is being released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 5th."Recommended PC Specs"CPU: 2.4 GHz dual core or better is recommendedRAM: 1GB for XP; 2GB for Vista is recommendedHarddrive: 8GB of free hard drive spaceVideo card: 3.0 Shader Support recommended. ...

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Rumor: Battlefield 3 Revealed?

According to DigitalBattle, they've gotten their hands on an investors' PDF that outlines preliminary details of Battlefield 3. As of this writing, EA and DICE haven't confirmed nor denied the existence of the game, so as of now, I'll still label this as a rumor.

Notable details include a late 2008 release date, a continuation of the modern-day setting, 8 initial maps, 2 playable factions (NATO and MEC), 5 initial classes, 48 initial vehicles, 34 initial weapons, a public beta in summer 2008 and the game's official announcement in January 2008.

Other little nuggets of information include a specific mention of a map called Baghdad Burning, which appears to be a massive urban map, much like Battlefield 2's Strike at Karkand.

Also mentioned in the document was the use of the Frostbite DX engine...

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MMORPG Gods & Heroes put on indefinite hold

Originally rumored on Warcry, Perpetual Entertainment confirmed today they've placed its debut MMORPG Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising on indefinite hold.

In the post Chris McKibbin, co-founder and president of Perpetual Entertainment, explained the troubles when developing several different MMORPGs at once but thanked the support of its fans and beta testers.

"The development team established some very lofty and ambitious goals when the initial work was started on Gods & Heroes. Recently, we took a step back to evaluate the competitive landscape, the game's current state, and the overall goals for our organization. And while we are truly proud of and pleased with what we have created in Gods & Heroes, we also realize that achieving the level of quality and polish that we are committed to will t...

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Official Crysis system requirements!

Late last month, we reported on the official (unofficial) Crysis minimum requirements but like the title said, they were, well, official and unofficial. But to blow all the doubts away, EA and Crytek officially revealed the minimum and recommended system requirements for Crysis today, yay!

Of course, the PC demo has been delayed till later this month, specifically October 26th, so with these requirements revealed, you got a few weeks to get your necessary upgrades. Without further ado, here are the system requirements for Crysis:

Minimum System Requirements:

OS - Windows XP or Windows Vista

Processor - 2.8 GHz or faster (XP) or 3.2 GHz or faster* (Vista)

Memory - 1.0 GB RAM (XP) or 1.5 GB RAM (Vista)

Video Card -256 MB**

Hard Drive - 12GB

Sound Card - DirectX 9.0c compatible

* Supported Processors:...

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