PC Gaming News

You all have built some amazing things on our Minecraft server over the past year, and we’re excited to keep things going! We recently upgraded our server’s hardware and software to boost performance and allow for more simultaneous users, and we added some new plugins to keep things interesting.

Check out the video that Jpang (one of the server’s volunteer moderators) made to showcase the awesome things the community has built, and then come join us!

Server IP address: 207.210.252.12:25566
Steam group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/PCGMCUS
Contact mdoerators: pcgmcusmods@gmail.com

The full list of upgrades made in the past few months:

• Upgraded to Bukkit 1.0.1-R3 in order to support Minecraft 1.0
• Doubled the server RAM to 1GB, which allows us to have a 20 player cap
• Spoutcraft plugin, which improves some graphic elements and adds things like menus and capes.
• iConomy plugin, which adds a virtual currency to Minecraft. Every new builder on our server starts out with $1,000 of in-game currency. They can earn more by mining or farming in-game, and selling their earned items. It also allows you to hire people to help with a job and purchase items at the in-game shop (type “/warp shop” to travel there). Builders can also set up their own shops to sell items using trade signs.
• Towny plugin, which—just as the name implies—allows users to create towns and ally with other towns to form nations. A user can found their own town with a moderate amount of in-game currency and start building with friends.

Atari has announced a new version of Test Drive, but instead of the open-world, tropical setting of the two Unlimited iterations, this time the franchise is headed back to the race track. Test Drive Ferrari Racing Legends will focus on Ferrari's history across almost all of the racing disciplines, including Formula One, rally racing, and GT. There will be over 50 different Ferrari vehicles to drive, and each will show off full realistic interior and exterior models, as well as damage effects, which means Atari didn't skimp on the Ferrari licensing budget.

The game should be out for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC later on this spring. Too bad the company didn't stick with the more fantasy-based version of the Test Drive series, this time based exclusively on night drives in Africa; They could have named the game the Starry Atari Ferrari Safari. Don't like that joke? Sorry.

Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends announced by Atari originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The wily gentlemen at NeoGAF have spotted a copyright registration by Insomniac Games for something called Outernauts, supposedly a new game the developer is working on. If you thought the company was already working on "O-something," you're also right: Overstrike was announced at last year's E3. But Outernauts is new, and Insomniac has also registered "outernauts-game.com," and "outernauts-game.net," so the game, as they say, is afoot.

There's more, too: A Google search for the recently unburied title revealed a wiki page that was apparently meant for EA Partners marketing planning, and revealed both Overstrike and Outernauts, along with "Respawn" (probably the new project from the studio of the same name), The Secret World (which EA is publishing with Funcom) and "Populous," which might be a new version of that old strategy series. And as if all of that isn't enough, the wiki page was created by one "pmarineau," which matches up to Phil Marineau, who happens to be EA's director of marketing.

Whew! Did we mention that the NeoGAF folks were wily? We've contacted Insomniac for comment on this one, but it's unlikely they'll confirm at this point. We'll probably just have to wait for the official Outernauts announcement to know what it's all about.

'Outernauts' trademarked by Insomniac, could be part of EA Partners deal originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every two weeks, we give you our verdict on whether or not the latest League of Legends champion is worth buying. Take a seat at the table with Josh, Lucas, and Hollander Cooper as they wax poetic on the joys of blowing people up with magical bombs as a maniacal Yordle. Could Ziggs be the diminutive demolitions expert you’ve been looking for?

If you grew up on the LucasArts side of the adventure game turf wars, you missed out on some really wonderful Sierra stuff -- specifically, the Space Quest series; a consistently funny, wonderfully designed set of sci-fi adventure games.

GOG just happens to have them on sale this weekend for 50% off, so you can get the entire series for ten bucks. Other Sierra adventure game packs are marked down too, including King's Quest and Police Quest. Those are fine, but they lack a certain something. There are no pet facehuggers, for example.

Space (and other) Quests half off on GOG this weekend originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That first-run copy of Mass Effect: Deception you picked up may just be turning into an odd collector's item. Bioware has issued a statement on the slew of errors fans have found in the novel, stating that all will be fixed in future editions of Deception.

"The teams at Del Rey and BioWare would like to extend our sincerest apologies to the Mass Effect fans for any errors and oversights made in the recent novel Mass Effect: Deception," the apology post on Bioware's forums reads. "We are currently working on a number of changes that will appear in future editions of the novel."

Currently, there's no word on when the revised edition will be available.

Bioware fixing Mass Effect: Deception novel mistakes in future editions originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard has announced that 100,000 more Diablo 3 beta invites have been sent out in North America, so if you opted in to beta access with your Battle.net account, you should log in and see if you've gotten a notification. Blizzard warns that phishing activity may increase with this new wave of invites, so take care.

If you weren't one of the lucky one hundred thousand, don't fret: Blizzard promises to send out more invites eventually. You can go back to rolling classes now!

PSA: 100,000 more Diablo 3 beta invites sent out originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Deus Ex is leading the revenue revolution for Square Enix, whose digital entertainment -- games -- department in April-December 2011 grew 6.2 percent from the previous fiscal year, totaling $704.7 million in net sales. Games now comprise 56 percent of Square Enix's total revenue, where in the same period of 2010 they made up just 52 percent.

The company's operating profit rose 11.5 percent to $169.4 million and its net income ended at $65 million, up 175.2 percent from the previous period. Square Enix cited Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its online and social titles as the main factors behind its financial progress.

Square Enix thanks games for 2011's rise in revenue, profit originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve has finally put together its schedule of events for 2012, announcing the big things happening in Team Fortress 2 in the coming months. Most notably, Valve says its final character video, Meet the Pyro, will air in 2012 and it will feature "lots of blood pretty much all the way through."

The TF2 team is also working on a secret project that isn't a hat or a map, Valve reports. This leaves speculation open to new characters, a feature-length film, a live-action feature-length film, or a live-action feature-length film starring Brendan Gleeson, Jude Law and Emma Stone. These are the only options.

The Steam Workshop has a shiny new blog, and Valve says it plans to unveil another secret at the second annual Saxxy Awards. We're pretty sure this secret will be the announcement of the TF2 movie's sequel, starring Katherine Heigl as Brendan Gleeson and Brendan Fraser as everyone else.

TF2 in 2012: 'Meet the Pyro' is coming, more secrets originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’ll admit it. The first time a rift’s tentacles came out of the sky at me, I squealed and ran like a little girl. A lot has happened in the year since that terrifying exchange. Scott Hartsman, Chief Creative Officer and Executive Producer at Trion Worlds, helps us reflect on all that’s changed and reveals what might come to Rift in the next year.

It’s easy to forget how much Rift has changed since the beta, especially with the nearly monthly updates and constantly evolving content. Just to list a few of the changes Scott mentions:

• Five new raids debuted, for groups of both 10 and 20 players: River of Souls, Gilded Prophecy, Hammerknell, Drowned Halls, and Rise of the Phoenix.

• Celebration weekends that provide a way to get your friends checking out the game easily, while adding bonuses to our esteemed subscribers.
• Master Mode difficulty for one dungeon (as of the time of this writing) with more on the way soon (edit: NOTE! This post was written for translation before 1.7′s release)
• Alternate Gameplay Warfronts and Weekend Bonus Warfronts, Post-50 soft bracketing, PvP Rifts, and world PvP bonuses. And a new warfront entirely: Library of the Runemasters
• A new world event every update, each with its own new zone event and frequently its own rifts
• A new Addon system that enables creators to add some really great things to the game. From buff management, to custom layouts, to outfit management, to auctions, and countless others!
• A new Costume system, giving you the ability to look like what you want to look like
• A Veteran Rewards program that rewards loyal subscribers, and Ascend-a-Friend that gives us a way to say thanks when you get your friends on board
• That is not even counting the hundreds of quality of life and playability improvements we’ve brought to the core game.

Scott doesn’t just reflect on the last year, he also talks about all of the interesting ideas they have planned for 2012. Reading over everything really reminded me of how much Rift has to offer, and now it even offers some of it for free via Rift Lite.

Tribes: Ascend enters a new stage in its closed beta--and introduces new weapons in the process.

 

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Five Kick-Ass Weapons in Tribes: Ascend" was posted by Kevin VanOrd on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:43:39 -0800

Tribes: Ascend enters a new stage in its closed beta--and introduces new weapons in the process.

 

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Five New Kick-Ass Weapons in Tribes: Ascend" was posted by Kevin VanOrd on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:43:39 -0800

We know you're used to coveting Mass Effect save files, so this should come as no surprise: you'll probably want to hold onto your Mass Effect 3 saves. In an interview with GamerZines, associate producer Mike Gamble said it "wouldn't be a bad idea" to keep them.

Of course, Gamble didn't go into any specifics -- the save files could affect future DLC or any potential entries in the Mass Effect series beyond the third and final Shepard-focused game. Or maybe it's just so BioWare can forever track those monsters who decided to shoot Wrex in the face. You know who you are and you should be ashamed.

Keep your Mass Effect 3 save files, BioWare suggests originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week we look at The Darkness II, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Resident Evil: Revelations, Gotham City Impostors, and Shank 2.

 

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"New Releases: Feb. 5-11" was posted by sampsona on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:05:36 -0800

8 new shots posted.

     

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"Allods Online Screens" was posted on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:10 -0800

19 new shots posted.

     

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"Legends of Atlantis: Exodus Screens" was posted on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:48:00 -0800

5 new shots posted.

     

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"TERA Screens" was posted on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:30:01 -0800

You'd have to be a fus-ro-dummy to think that Skyrim would be through with receiving accolades. At last night's New York Video Game Critics Circle Awards, the Bethesda Game Studios-developed RPG took home yet one more, earning the "Big Apple Award for Best Game" as decided by a cabal of NY-based game journos from various outlets.

Other winners include two apiece for Bastion and Portal 2, portable love for Super Mario 3D Land and Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, and explosive nods to both Crysis 2 and Saints Row: The Third. Harold Goldberg's "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" took home the "Algonquin Roundtable Award for Best Book" and Sony's "Michael" commercial won the "Mad Men Award," mysteriously beating out Robin Williams' luxurious beard. Frankly, we were baffled. The full list of winners can be found below the break.

Continue reading Skyrim takes top honors at NY Video Game Critics Circle Awards

Skyrim takes top honors at NY Video Game Critics Circle Awards originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bethesda Softworks puts a release date on eagerly anticipated mod tools for PC version of its open-ended role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V.

 

Gamers eager to leave their own mark on Skyrim will be able to do so starting early next week.

Maybe now Skyrim will get some Labradoodles.

Bethesda vice president of PR and marketing Pete Hines today announced via his Twitter account that PC Creation Kit mod tools for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be released Tuesday. He also teased that the publisher would have a "special surprise" to go with it, though he gave no indication what it could be.

Designed to support the modding community, the Creation Kit gives gamers access to Bethesda's own development tools to make new Skyrim content. Likewise, Valve's Steam Workshop tool for Skyrim will aid PC gamers in finding and installing community-created game mods.

While the PC Creation Kit will no doubt spur the mod community for Skyrim, the game's do-it-yourself fan base isn't waiting for Bethesda's help in tinkering with the game. Check out the video below for a look at some of the game's earliest fan-made modifications and where to get them.

[ Watch Video ]

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Skyrim Creation Kit lands Tuesday" was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:50:18 -0800

3 new shots posted.

     

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"Tribes: Ascend Screens" was posted on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:48:01 -0800