Running With Scissors used Gary Coleman as a character in their last title, the open world first person shooter Postal II. Now it looks like the developer is bringing in more pop culture members to appear in the next game, the Source Engine based action game Postal III. Today they named their first such quasi-celeb, Randy Jones of the original line-up of the 1970s disco group The Village People.Never afraid to "go there", the game will have Jones' voice and likeness used as a leader of a gay biker gang. This will apparently be the first of a series of celebs that will appear in Postal III which should be on display at Akella's booth at E3 next week....

Russian game developer/publisher Akella is set to make an appearance at E3 next week showing off all PC titles in their line-up. One of those titles is the sci-fi RTS game Heavy Duty and today the company released some new screenshots showing the game in action.One of the more interesting things about Heavy Duty is that it takes place on a planet that you can zoom out from and even rotate rather than the typical flat maps you see in other RTS titles. You control mech-like vehicles on the battlescape and Akella states that the maps will have deformation aspects that will allow for things like landslides.and sinking of the ground to deform the area. Again we hope to see Heavy Duty at Akella's E3 meeting room next week....

There's an interesting article over at Venture Beat about this week's Games For Windows press event in San Francisco (look for our own articles on the event later today and Monday). The article claims that E3 2008, the big annual media event for games, will be mostly a console games show when it begins in mid-July. The article claims that there is "very little room for PC games" at this year's event.So what is the evidence that the article gives for that assumption? Well it claims that Microsoft won't mention PC games much during its E3 events and that PC processor maker Intel won't be there at the show in any capacity. The Games for Windows press event this week showed eight live PC games, but two of them had previously been released and another game just used a demo that's freely available to download. That left a whopping five games at this press event which Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Windows gaming at Microsoft, said was designed specifically to not let the PC game industry be overshadowed by the supposedly console game heavy E3.Well with all due respect to Mr. Unangst, he doesn't seem to know what PC-only games and what PC related products will be shown at E3 this July. While it's true that console games will get a lot of attention that doesn't mean PC games won't have a lot to look forward to at the show as well....

Your daily wrap-up of the hottest stories in PC gaming in the last 24 hours. Guide to TF2 Pyro Achievements, Part 1We want to help you. We love your work. The pile of screaming, burning scouts? Exquisite. That's why we have crafted for you this very guide to ease your attempts to fulfill the strange objectives given to you. Soon you'll be back on the road, setting fire to all the wildlife as you pass by. MacMonday: Does Spore force your Mac to evolve?Welcome to MacMonday, a weekly column where we'll talk about issues related to gaming on Apple's platform beyond "Why isn't PC Game X coming out on the Mac?" In this inaugural edition, let's discuss Spore, Will Wright's latest masterpiece. Shipping this week: Alone with the glow of a monitorHitting store shelves this week is the return of Edward Carnby in Alone in the Dark from Atari (aka Infogrames) and the Alaskan fishing simulator we've all been dreaming about, Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm. Arguably the one-two shot gamers need this summer to stave off the hot days until E3 rolls around, this week also features the addictive puzzler Roogoo and Ikea branded furnishings for your Sim characters. In-Depth: The Political Machine 2008You'd think with all the mania surrounding the race to the White House that a game like The Political Machine 2008 would fit right in. Yet, when everything is said and done, putting a lighthearted and simplified spin on the political race only makes for a mildly entertaining strategy game. In-Depth: Armageddon EmpiresIf you've kept up with the indie scene at all within the past few months, chances are you know about Armageddon Empires. It's a nice mix of board game, trading card game, and turn-based strategy game that the developer, Vic Davis, keeps adding on to with patches and mini-expansions. It's a game with a lot of addictiveness. It's also very frustrating at times. So in that sense, it is exactly like a trading card game. But let's take a deeper look at the game, shall we? ...

Earlier this month Big Download attended the North American press event for the Russian based 1C Company to check out a number of their upcoming titles. Well, they are not the only Russian based game developer-publisher aiming for a bigger US audience. Moscow based Akella is planning to show a number of upcoming games at next month's invite online E3 event.The company's official web site has the full list of games being shown (all PC titles by the way). The list includes the WWII naval sim PT Boats, the racing game Moscow Racer, the fantasy strategy game Disciples III, the mech-style sci-fi action game Heavy Duty, the first person shooter Showdown Scorpion and the Greek myth-themed action-RPG Numen (and yes, we know that pronouncing the title makes it sound like a character from Seinfeld)....

Valve's co-op zombie shooter Left 4 Dead has generated a ton of press long before its planned release later this fall. Now the residents of Russia will be able to get involved in all of the undead action thanks to a new publishing deal with Russian based Akella. The company, which develops its own games as well, announced that it will handle the distribution of Left 4 Dead in Russia as well as other CIS countries. The game itself is being developed by Turtle Rock Studios which helped Valve on a number of previous projects before Valve decided to acquire them outright several months ago....