EA’s real-time strategy series Command & Conquer will get it’s next sequel next month with Command & Conquer 4. And to get you back in the swing of things the publisher is releasing three classic C&C games as freeware. Freeware means it’s free, you don’t have to pay anything for it. Free is good.

For $0.00 you can get your strategic paws on Tiberian Dawn, Tiberian Sun (including the Firestorm expansion), and Red Alert. Now you may run into issues running the older games on your newer PC but I’m including some links below to give you a hand.

Fans of the RTS genre will appreciate what these old titles have to offer, and it’ll get you in the mood for the release of Command & Conquer 4 on March 16. It’s the last chapter in the C&C saga so soak it up kids.

Here are the links to help you out via Big Download:

Download Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn for Win95 (843 MB)
Click Here for Tiberian Dawn Installation Instructions

Download Command & Conquer: Red Alert Allied Disc (499 MB)
Download Command & Conquer: Red Alert Soviet Disc (502 MB)
Click Here for Red Alert Installation Instructions

Download Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (1.24 GB)
Click Here for Tiberian Sun Installation Instructions

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Microsoft announced today that Remedy Entertainment will not be releasing a PC version of AlanWake, their upcoming eerie thriller. The announcement comes just months before the game’s release, and with no PC version in the works this would make Alan Wake a Xbox 360 exclusive.

A Microsoft spokesperson elaborated on the decision yesterday:

“Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience “Alan Wake” was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform.”

Alan Wake will be released on May 18th on Xbox 360. Assuming they don’t cancel that version too.

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That’s right. Over 28 billion (as in a lot) of zombies have been put out of their misery since Left 4 Dead 2 was released in November. They were whacked with frying pans, teed up with baseball bats, doused in gas and set on fire, shot in the face and well you get the idea. It looks like a lot of people have been practicing for the impending real life zombie apocalypse. And if these numbers are correct we have nothing to worry about.

Valve has some interesting facts to help you put the death toll into perspective:

• The entire population of the planet has been zombified and killed 4.26 times.
• With the average height of a zombie being 6 feet, if you stacked them end to end they would circle the globe 1,322 times.
• If you placed 28,981,249,043 rulers end to end, they would reach28,981,249,043 feet in the sky.

Let’s see if we can crack 50,000,000,000 before spring. Most of the country is trying to shovels themselves out of three feet of snow anyways. We might as well be productive!

Left 4 Dead Blog – Don’t worry, we’ll make more

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2009 was a huge year for the gaming industry. Games like Modern Warfare 2 shattered sales records and raked in profits never before seen. We are talking swimming in gold Uncle Scrooge like money. And if Steam’s user base growth is any indication then Valve is riding the success wave as well.

In 2009 the digital software distributor saw a 25 per cent growth from it’s user base in 2008. The service now has over 25 million registered users logging an average of 13 billion minutes of playing time a month.

Valve’s president Gabe Newell had this to say about their success:

“Steam turned five years old in March 2009. With the introduction of each new platform feature released over the years – such as the Steam Community, Steam Cloud, and Steamworks – we’ve seen corresponding growth in account numbers, concurrent player numbers and developer support for the platform. As such, we plan to continue to expand and grow the platform to better serve the developers supporting the open platform and millions of gamers logging in each day.”

With so many people ready to put the last nail in PC gaming’s coffin it’s good to see that Valve is doing everything they can to keep it relevant.

SOURCE: GamesIndustry

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PC owners itching to get their hands on the latest installment in the Assassin’s Creed saga will have to wait it out for a couple more months. The game will hit store shelves and digital download services on March 16th. Ubisoft originally planned to release the console and PC versions simultaneously but that wasn’t the case, it’s been out on consoles since November.

There will be two versions to chose from, each at it’s own price level. The standard version will cost $59.99 and a download-only “Black Edition” will set you back $69.99. Each version will include the Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities DLC’s that will also be making their way to consoles. Those who buy the Black Edition can look forward to as yet undetermined “additional content.”

OK so we know when it will be released and how much cash it will cost, now let’s get to the PC requirements:

Minimum Configuration:

• SUPPORTED OS: Windows XP (32-64 bits) /Windows Vista (32-64 bits)/Windows 7 (32-64 bits)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ
• RAM: 1.5 GB Windows XP / 2 GB Windows Vista – Windows 7
• Video Card: 256 MB DirectX 9.0-compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list)
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0-compliant sound card
• DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0
• DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
• Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
• Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller
• * This product does not support Windows 98/ME/2000/NT

Recommended Configuration:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better
• Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700 or better
• Sound: 5.1 sound card
• Peripherals: Keyboard, mouse, joystick optional (Xbox 360 Controller for Windows recommended)

Supported Video Cards at Time of Release:

• ATI RADEON X1950, HD 2000/3000/4000/5000 series
• NVIDIA GeForce 7/8/9/100/200 series

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Steam has released it’s list of top selling games for the week of January 17-23. And pre-orders take four of the top five spots.

The biggest surprise is Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition taking the number two spot. The pre-order was only available for two out of the seven days. I expect it to handily take the number one spot from Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition’s pre-order. Mass Effect 2 will be out this Tuesday.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is still holding strong in the number four spot, keeping it in Steam’s top five most popular games, a place it’s been since it’s release in early November.

And look at Counter-Strike: Source, the October 2004 release is still making it’s presence known in the top ten. BOOM HEADSHOT!

Here’s the entire list:

1. Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition (Pre-order)
2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition (Pre-order)
3. BioShock 2 (Pre-order)
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
5. Aliens vs. Predator (Pre-order)
6. Mass Effect 2 (Pre-order)
7. Company of Heroes Complete Pack (Sale)
8. Global Agenda (Pre-order)
9. Mass Effect and Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition (Pre-order)
10. Left 4 Dead 2 and Counter-Strike: Source

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Fans of Team Fortress 2 know how fun the game can be. And they also know how great Valve has been at supporting their favorite game post launch. Like way post launch, it’s been over two years since it hit Steam. Almost every class in the game from the Spy all the way to the Sniper has been updated. I say almost because we are still patiently waiting for the Engineer class update. But if you think Valve will wash their hands of the game after the last character update you are sorely mistaken.

In an interview on the Team Fortress 2 community site Community Fortress, Valve’s Robin Walker was asked how much support they had left in them:

We’ve got multiple updates in the works still, at least one of which will land before the Engineer pack. As always, we haven’t planned too much out beyond that point, because we want to see what feedback we get from the community.

That’s dedication.

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Infinity Ward’s lack of dedicated servers for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 was a big deal to some. And Swedish developer DICE was well aware of this fact. So much so that they took the opportunity during the controversy to inform everyone that their upcoming FPS Battlefield: Bad Company 2 would in fact have dedicated server support.

But they left out one tiny detail, those servers could only be rented rather then letting players build their own.

In an interview with Eurogamer DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke elaborated on their reasoning:

“This does not earn DICE a profit, but we will see where the game goes and support it post launch.”

Those wanting to host a private dedicated server will have to do so by renting from DICE authorized hosts that have been picked in “all major regions of the world”. This is the first Battlefield title to not support community built and hosted servers.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is set to release on March 5th with a live PC beta starting January 28th and ending February 25th.

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Cryptic Studios  and Atari have finally announced the subscription information for their highly anticipated MMORPG Star Trek Online. Prepare to beam money out of your wallet because for a limited time you can get your subscription at a reduced price.

Those seeking the usual month to month subscription will be paying $14.99 a month. Pretty much the standard monthly rate for MMOs. But for those of you who are looking for something a little more long term they will also be offering yearly subscriptions. It will set you back $119.99 and is only available for those who sign up before February 2nd. Players who take advantage of the year-long subscription will also be rewarded with two extra character slots.

But for the hardcore gaming Trekkie there’s something even more epic. For $239.99 you can get yourself a lifetime subscription. If you are willing to get their credit card out for the ultimate Star Trek Online package will also have to do so before February 2nd. Just like the year-long subscription you will gain access to two extra character slots, as well as a Starship captain who has recently been reclaimed from the Borg collective, Picard style.

Star Trek Online’s Executive Producer had this to say:

“This subscription pricing and launch promotion announcement is one of the last steps we take before officially releasing Star Trek Online. We are absolutely thrilled to reveal these final details and we are incredibly excited about launching Star Trek Online this February. For us, this marks the beginning of our game’s life — a life of new adventures, discoveries, and dangers. Truly, ours is a universe that will never stop expanding and we simply cannot wait for people to experience it with us.”

You can find out more at Star Trek Online’s official site.

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The next in a long line of glitches exploited in Modern Warfare 2 has been found. No it’s not the Javelin glitch, or the infinite care package glitch, or the bouncing claymore glitch. This ladies and gentlemen is the Ice Skating glitch.

Instead of running at normal speeds, players zip across the screen as if they are “skating”. Making it ridiculously hard to shoot or melee anyone. From doing a little investigating I found out that the glitch is actually a PC mod that was somehow migrated to the Xbox 360 version.

Keep reading to check out the video.

So far I’ve only run into these “skaters” in Sabotage matches. So if that’s your match of choice be ready. I’m sure now that word has spread Infinity Ward will be releasing a patch soon…hopefully. According to GamerGlitch there have been over sixty glitches found and exploited so far in the latest Call of Duty. Ouch!

Hey Infinity Ward, why don’t you write this thought down and  stick it in your comment box: Grow a pair and get us some dedicated servers!

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One look at the new line of Mad Catz  gaming mice and two questions come to mind:

How much is it? And where do you load the bullets?

Their new line aptly called the Cyborg R.A.T. series was put on display this week at CES. With prices ranging from $49.99 all the way up to $129.99, there’s a mouse that will fit almost any gamers needs. Of course the higher the price, the higher the dpis and the more customization you’ll get. And I like customization.

Here are the feature sets for each mouse:

• Cyborg R.A.T. 9 Gaming Mouse – $129.99
• Wireless
• Fully Adjustable
• 5600dpi laser
• Programmable
• Weight System
• Powered by Rechargeable Batteries

• Cyborg R.A.T. 7 Gaming Mouse – $99.99
• Fully Adjustable
• 5600dpi laser
• Programmable
• Weight System
• USB powered

• Cyborg R.A.T. 5 Gaming Mouse – $69.99
• Adjustable Length
• 4000dpi laser
• Programmable
• Weight System
• USB powered

• Cyborg R.A.T. 3 Gaming Mouse – $49.99
• 3200dpi laser
• USB powered

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Valve has released an update to the Team Fortress 2 Source SDK making it easier to create and edit new maps for the popular online game.

Included in the update were the .vmf source files for 10 of the maps: Lumberyard, Ravine, Badlands, Dustbowl, Granary, Gravelpit, 2Fort, Badwater, Goldrush, and Hydro.

Dave Riller of the official Team Fortress 2 blog says:

“For the beginner map makers out there, we hope this gives you an easier entry point by allowing you to alter or edit an existing map, as opposed to being forced to start from scratch. For example, you could start by fine-tuning cover in Goldrush, alter the layout of Granary, or tweak the amount of health and ammo in Gravelpit. Or maybe you just have a ton of ideas on how you think you could improve Hydro or 2Fort. We’d love to see what you come up with.

For the experienced map makers, we hope this gives you a variety of examples of how we design and construct levels, the tools we use to finish the aesthetic/thematic elements, and some specific implementation solutions to performance and networking problems. We also hope that it’ll reduce the amount of confusion around the game logic and entity setup required for the various TF game modes.”

The update makes it a lot easier to edit maps because you no longer have to start from scratch. Having a template to work with and editing from that should simplify things for first time map editors and help speed up the process for the pros. Hopefully this translates into a steady stream of some great original content for the Team Fortress 2 community to play around with.

The Valve team teased at future releases as well “Our plan is to get more of our TF content source out in the SDK, so look for more maps & model sources in the future.”

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Check out this gameplay footage from ArmA II. Hundreds of AI soldiers fighting it out all around you. Air-strikes in the distance, tank rounds whizzing through the air. It all looks pretty great. The run mechanic looks nice and fluid, and the zooming gives it that cinematic effect. Great stuff.

You gotta feel sorry for whoever was playing though. After five minutes of running he finally gets into the battle only to get shot. Wah-wah.

ArmA II will be out for PC junkies on June 19th.

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UPDATE: The Poll is now closed.

Modern Warfare 2 had an awesome showing at this year’s E3 Expo. Seeing all of that gameplay footage made my mouth water. New environments, weapons and features. So much to look forward to! I want to know what you guys are hoping they add to the game the second time around. What new features do you want to see?

There’s a new poll in the sidebar that asks that question: What feature would you most like to see in Modern Warfare 2?

The ten responses to the poll were the ten most popular answers on Infinity Ward’s Twitter. They are all good answers and you can only pick one, so choose wisely.

If there is a feature you really want to see in Modern Warfare 2 and it isn’t on the list feel free to add it in the comment section!

Click the break to see the eyegasmic trailer.

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Those of you who aren’t too busy hating on Valve for their Left 4 Dead 2 announcement might want to take some time to pre-load America’s Army 3. Like the previous two America’s Army titles the game will be free to play.

America’s Army 3 is boasting some major improvements over it’s two predecessors. The ultra-realistic first person shooter was built from the ground up this time around, using the Unreal Engine 3 to do most of the heavy lifting.  And no more jumping. Gone are the days of hopping around corners like a Halo freak. Also the U.S. Army took a lot of time and effort to improve on the movement mechanics. Players will move more fluidly and have smoother transitions between crouching positions, prone positions and full on sprints.

Another new feature will be highly accurate ballistics properties. The Army painstakingly integrated all of it’s ballistic information into the game. So each bullet will have it’s own unique physical properties. Each shot will sound different depending on the bullet used, location of the shot and where the shot hits. Bullets will now be able to blast through some materials as well. You’ll have to be very careful where you choose to take cover. That wooden wall just won’t cut it anymore.

Along with the increased realism with inanimate objects comes realistic character damage as well. No health regeneration here. If you take a bullet to the leg sprinting won’t be an option. Get hit in the arm and you can kiss your accuracy goodbye. And if wounds aren’t treated by medics you’ll find yourself taking a dirt nap. That’s as real as it gets.

More new features include integrated team chat (finally!), achievements, and a very robust stat tracking system. All recommendations they received from the game’s online community. Kudos to the developers at the U.S. Army for listening.

Oh and let’s not forget the 126-player online action!

America’s Army 3 won’t be released until June 17th, but make sure to pre-load it now and save yourself some time later.

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