Author: Matt Byrd (Page 6 of 34)

      Good Guy Good Old Games Holds a Special Government Shutdown Sale

      October 9, 2013 /

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      Video game download site Good Old Games has long been known for their incredible deals and nearly unrivaled collection of classic PC titles available for download, but only those that regularly follow them will catch on to their often tounge-in-cheeck sales that in some way usually reflect some sort of event going on in the gaming world.

      This time, however, they’re reaching beyond the gaming world to join the ever growing discussion regarding the government shutdown by offering a shutdown special, where any furloughed employee can send a picture of their furlough letter to thanksobama@gog.com (let it be known this sale is less subtle than those in the past) by October 11th at 12:00 PM and get a series of politically inspired titles like “The Guild,” “Capitalism Plus,” “Capitalism 2,” “Tropico Reloaded,” and “Alpha Centauri,” for free. To help understand the difficulties of balancing finances and providing health care, you also get “Theme Hospital,” and, in a move which GOG assures people is unrelated to the root cause of this shutdown, the whole thing is topped off by the classic FPS “Redneck Rampage.”

      Even if you’re not a recently released government employee, you can still get in on the action as all of these games are on sale for the length of the free offer.

      While it would probably be best in the future if video game sales are not targeted specifically at the unemployed, serious kudos has to go to the good guys over at GOG for giving those that are more frustrated with the government than the rest of us right now, a chance to show their employer how its done.

      Or, in the case of “Redneck Rampage” show some extraterristials why Amurica is spelled with a double barrel.

      News

      The Best of the Most Recent Steam Greenlight Games

      October 4, 2013 /

      Zombies

      Though featuring the word zombies in the title, the developers of this indie project are very insistent on letting everyone know, that this game has nothing to do with the “played out” undead.

      Instead this is the isometric adventure of an office drone whose had enough and decides to rescue the innocent people trapped by the zombies of the bureaucratic and corporate worlds, and escape their clutches through extreme violence. Featuring a fun pixelated style and some catchy/trippy music, this could just be the spiritual video game adaptation of the 1993 classic film “Falling Down” that we never got.

      Pulsar: Lost Colony

      For years gamers have dreamed of the ultimate “Star Trek” game that would allow you and your friends to man a space ship and explore the galaxy. Some games have come close, but nothing so far has truly re-created the experience conceptualized by so many childhood imaginations.

      “Pulsar” aims to accomplish just that, and might just have found the formula. Featuring randomized galaxies, you and four friends each take a role with unique responsibilities required to keep your ship afloat. Explore and form away teams as you engage on a variety of assignment, but be careful as the game does feature permanganate death should something go awry. Unfortunately “Wrath of Khan” style space funerals are unconfirmed.

      The best part? “Pulsar” supports Occulus Rift

      Nihilumbra

      Born in a dark void, the protagonist of Nihilumbra finds himself in a world not different from our own and discovers that he can use these newfound colors to access different powers, and manipulate his environments. You’ll need to master these new found powers quickly too, as it turns out the void doesn’t like to have a part of itself separated and is trying to overtake this new world to get you back.

      Incredibly dark and amazingly stylish, conceptually this game reminds me of a twisted version of “Kirby.” Innovative 2D games never really go out of style, and from everything that’s been shown so far, this looks destined to be an indie cult hit on the PC, just as it has been for the mobile scene.

      MouseCraft

      Dubious name aside (it has nothing to do with “Minecraft”) “MouseCraft” may just be the biggest sure thing of the newest Greenlit titles.

      In it you are asked to use a series of Tetris like puzzle pieces to complete a path for some rats so they may reach the cheese on the other side. Naturally, the difficulty increases as you go along and new pieces become available to throw a wrench in the works, but even in the early levels demoed show an original puzzle experience that screams addiction. So far this is only set for PC, Mac, and Linux, but don’t be surprised to see this come to mobile very soon.

      Hyper Light Drifter

      A game that wears its old school action/adventure game love on its sleeve, “Hyper Light Drifter” graphically looks like an extremely well designed Sega Genesis game, and it’s colorful cyber-ish world design immediately makes this game noteworthy.

      While it’s gameplay is slightly more mysterious, the developer’s description of it as a cross between “Diablo” and a “Link to the Past” is an encouraging sign it will follow suit and provide an advenure/RPG hybrid in line with so many classic games of past. Simple and addictive old-shcool games of this style are not easy to come by, so if you’re a fan of the genre, this is the one to watch.

      News

      Half-Life 3 Kind Of, Sort Of, Maybe Confirmed

      October 1, 2013 /

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      Call me ignorant, but I never thought that it was a question that a game called “Half-Life 3” does exist in some form and, though it may be maddeningly slow going to get released, will one day see the light of day once it is good and ready.

      It seems though that the “Half-Life 3 Confirmed” mania on the internet has more to do with the acknowledgment that “Half-Life 3” exists, and not the visual reveal of the game itself. If you are one that subscribes to that form of the craze, then you may be interested by the recent finding of a NeoGaf user who found a listing on a trademark website filed on 9/29/2013 for “Half-Life 3” under the classification or computer game software, and filed by Valve corporation.

      The full information regarding the public filing can be seen here.

      Now this is still pretty far from a release date or true reveal of the game, and this is most likely just some sort of security measure to cover all legalities of the property, but it’s hard to deny the feeling of joy that comes from hearing that in some form, somewhere, Valve is acknowledging the existence of what is rapidly becoming the most anticipated game of all time.

      So go ahead and prematurely pump your fist in the air and say “Half-Life 3” confirmed you increasingly impatient fans of the world. You’ve certainly earned it.

      News

      Surgeon Simulator 2013’s Biggest Secret Has Been Solved

      September 26, 2013 /

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      If you think hard enough you may recall a simpler time when developers put easter eggs into games with a certain snarky superiority fueled by the belief that us mere players would be so caught up in the game itself, we would never ever find them. It was a time when inside jokes could remain as such and, if you actually discovered something out of the ordinary in the game, you were well within your rights to feel that you and you alone had found something truly unique.

      With the rise of the internet gaming community though, Easter eggs in games last about as long as the candy that Easter eggs hold in real life does, as gamers with seemingly super power like abilities to find things that shouldn’t have been found have proven that your occasional childhood findings were not quite as unique as you may have hoped. While some major games (the “Arkham Asylum” Easter egg and a the apparently undiscovered secret in “Shadow of the Colossus” spring to mind) do a good job keeping their biggest secrets at bay for a long period of time, eventually all secrets fall prey to those dedicated treasure hunters.

      Now you can add another somewhat long running secret to the fallen, as a cryptic message in “Surgeon Simulator 2013” has been solved.

      The mystery started after the “Team Fortress 2” update to the game, when it was discovered that upon completing the new surgeries, you were awarded a small statue on your desk that contained a cryptic message on the bottom. Theories ran rampant (many of them involved some sort of Valve related content) but outside of some highly educated guesses, there hasn’t been much actual progress towards figuring out what the whole thing meant.

      YouTube user MattShea369 appears to have cracked the code recently, when he discovered an extremely complicated series of steps (detailed in full at the beginning of this video) that lead to the appearance of a new tape on the main menu screen that leads the user to a new outer space level where, upon opening a keypad controlled pod, you are tasked with operating on a gray alien, and replacing one of six probably vital organs whose functions, names, and looks are all very cryptic.

      Besides the added challenge of trying to figure out what organs are what and a really cool new environment to play in, the content of the secret itself isn’t exactly life changing, but once again the dedication and intelligence applied to uncovering it has to be acknowledged and appreciated by gamers everywhere. Big kudos then to MattShea369 for proving once again that no gaming secret ever really remains one for long.

      Reviews

      The Team Behind “Thief 4” Give a Small Preview of What the DualShock 4 Can Do

      September 24, 2013 /

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      Sony is a company with a checkered history of controller innovation. Sure they hit a sweet spot with the basic original PS1 controller which just felt right in your hands, but the biggest tech additions to that model (analog sticks and vibration) were lifted from the successful innovations of the N64. Even then they were so unsure regarding the whole “Analog” thing, that the original model of that controller had a button that allowed you to disable it, and the first game to require the sticks didn’t come to the PS1 until 1999.

      Also, as the SixAxis proved, when it comes to home brewed innovations the folks at Sony lag behind. It would seem they are really vested in changing that image with the PS4 controller, which may maintain the timeless structure of the Dual Shock model, but introduces a miniature touch area, a share button of somewhat ambiguous specific functionality, and LED lights on top similar to those on the PS Move.

      While the true test of these features won’t really be applicable until developers have had a year or so to play around with it and explore their full benefits, the folks behind “Thief 4” have provided a small preview of what we can expect from this new controller, specifically as it relates to the LED bar which in the case of “Thief” will remain dark when your character is hidden, and light gradually as you become more and more exposed. They’ve also noted that the touchpad will be used for enhanced menu navigation, and the more accurate motion sensors allow them to incorporate bow aiming mechanics into it, as well as a motion controlled dash option.

      They also spoke of incorporating a mechanic that would allow you to blow onto a controller to blow out candles, but that it might be removed if it is “too gimmicky.”

      Granted this isn’t game changing stuff, but it does remind me of the first time I played “Tiger Woods” on the PS2, and noticed how the enhanced graphics actually allowed me to better read the course at a glance, thus improving the gameplay through a cosmetic upgrade. It’s a little touch to be sure, but its an interesting first step towards what appears to be a new day for Sony controller integration and innovation.

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