Gamernode: Latest PC News

Dawn of War 2 gameplay teaser trailer

Oh yes! If you are as huge of a fan of Warhammer 40k as I am, then you are going to love these next 30 seconds of awesome!

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Age of Conan ships over 1 million copies

Funcom's Age of Conan was only just released three weeks ago and it has already shipped over 1 million copies.

"As a result of the tremendous interest from gamers, Age of Conan has for the past few weeks been claiming number one spots on sales charts across the Western world - including the US, Germany, France and the UK"

"Sales data shows that Age of Conan is the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft," said Funcom Vice President of Sales and Marketing Morten Larssen. "The numbers are very promising, and we are very proud to be one of the fastest selling PC games ever in a launch month and the biggest simultaneous Europe/US MMO launch in history."

According to Yahoo! Finance, "In the US, Age of Conan has a strong #1 chart position and is now moving past the 500,000 shipped mark. Meanwh...

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Crysis Warhead announced

On Monday Crytek announced that they would no longer be making patches for Crysis because of a special surprise they had for us in the very near future. Fast forward two days later and Crytek along with Electronic Arts announced Crysis Warhead, sort of stand alone expansion to the original, this time focusing on one of the other prominent characters, Psycho.

Crysis Warhead is expected to ship in the fall exclusively for the PC. The game is said to run on "a new, enhanced, and optimized version" of CryENGINE 2, the technology that powered the original. Expanding on the story of the original, Warhead follows Sergeant "Psycho" Sykes as he tries to survive the other side of the island during the time of the first game. Said to pack more weapons, new vehicles, and new multiplayer content, the ti...

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Gabe Newell of Valve defends the PC

With no one else to do so, Valve has stood up for the PC at a presentation to prove that PC gaming isn't just alive, but an intuitive and innovative canvas.

Gabe Newell blamed the thought of PC gaming's death on perception. Where the 360, Wii, and PS3 all have great champions, the PC does not. "...there's no equivalent on the PC, and the people who are traditionally driving these messages, like Microsoft or Intel or Apple are, for various reasons, not very effective champions," Newell stated.

He also stated that PC gaming dwarfs console gaming, brining up Garner Group data indicating that the PC is home to 260 million online gamers and that Steam, one of but many online game distributing systems, serves 15 million gamers and has a 191% year-over-year growth.

This brought him to his next, ...

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CoD 4 Variety Map Pack hits PC on June 5th, free

The Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack that was released back in April for the Xbox 360 will hit PC this Thursday, June 5th. In a move that may cause some distress to 360 players, the map pack will be free, thanks to a sponsorship with NVIDIA; 360 players had to pay 800 Microsoft points.

The Variety Map Pack includes four new multiplayer maps: Broadcast, Chinatown, Killhouse and Creek.

In related news, the new 1.6 patch for Call of Duty 4 will also be released for PC this Thursday. Included within the patch notes are support for the new maps, fixes for some server crashes and other additional features.

For you folks who use NVIDIA hardware, we have you to thank for getting these free new multiplayer maps! I hugged my motherboard afterwards.

[Via Voodoo Extreme]

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Red Alert 3 trailer!

I play very few games on my computer. I do, however, enjoy the Command and Conquer franchise. Red Alert 3 is coming this year and it makes me all tingley inside.

EA has just released a trailer with gameplay footage. I highy recomend you check it out. it looks to be fantastic. I. Can't. Wait.

Take a look after the jump.

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Tweaking WoW-- How to make the game look better

World of Warcraft is three years old, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to hear the game doesn't look the best or is the biggest drain on a normal system. Where WoW makes up for the lack of graphic fidelity is style.

To this day few games have managed to nail its appealing look. But let's assume for a moment that you are sitting with a nice gaming rig at your feet. Crysis on high barely makes the machine sweat, so World of Warcraft is a joke to your computer. Would you like some graphic tweaks that exceed those of the settings within WoW itself?

The best way to do this is setup a marco for a quick, one button change as opposed to making it one individually through the chat window. Ease of use is what we want.

/console farclip 777 /console horizonfarclip 6226 /console groundeffectdensity 2...

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1 million strong for Age of Conan beta

With World of Warcraft dominating the MMORPG market, seasoned online gamers are always on the lookout for new online titles to play. One of the most anticipated online RPGs to hit the market this year would be Age of Conan from Funcom.

In fact, yesterday, Funcom and publisher Eidos announced that over 1 million people have signed up for the game's beta. In the months leading to the game's release, Funcom mentioned that over 5 million unique visitors went to the Age of Conan website in 2008.

Morten Larssen, vice president of sales and marketing for Funcom, said, "Funcom has not been able to find any higher beta numbers for MMOs in the western world. We believe it represents the largest ever beta sign-up figure in the history of the genre. How all of our strong figures convert into later sales...

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Dell phasing out XPS line of computers?

It looks like Dell's high-end computer line may be seeing its last days as the Wall Street Journal is reporting that starting next month, Dell will be discontinuing four of its XPS PCs in order to concentrate on their Alienware computers. Dell purchased Alienware in 2006 in its effort to appeal to the hardcore PC gamer.

Dell also makes XPS laptops as well, but there is no word as to the plans Dell has for this popular line of computers.

Alienware CEO, Nelson Gonzalez, said at the time of the takeover by Dell last year, "We believe that this acquisition will offer our customers the best of both worlds an Alienware that takes advantage of the world-class business practices and operational efficiencies that have made Dell one of the most respected companies in the world, while preserving the D...

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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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