features posts

A Song of Ice and Fire is the overall title for the acclaimed fantasy novel series by author George R. R. Martin. 2011 will see fans of the series get the long awaited next novel in the series, A Dance With Dragons, in July. In April HBO will launch a TV series based on the novels, Game of Thrones. Finally the series will get a turn-based strategy PC game, A Game of Thrones: Genesis, from developer Cyanide Studio and publisher Focus Home Interactive that will be released later this year.

Big Download got a chance to learn more about the game from its designer, Cyanide's Regis Robin, including how the game fits into the novels' timeline, how Martin is involved in the game's development and more.

Zombies. Like the fictional dead corpses of humans that for some reason still walk around trying to eat living human flesh, we can't seem to get away from them in popular culture no matter what we do. From movies to TV shows to comics to, yes, games zombies continue to be a popular themed.

Game developer start up JumpCore Productions wants to get into the zombie game business with its recently announced action-MMO game Undead Online. While details about this latest game about the infected are scarce Big Download got a chance to get a little more info from JumpCore founder Cameron Petty who previous to this helped to found City of Heroes and Champions Online makers Cryptic Studios.

For the past few years, PC gamers have usually thought of the month of May as being on the slow side when it comes to new game releases. Indeed in 2010 there were only a few major retail PC game releases during that month; the racing games Split/Second and Blur (both of which turned out to be sales disappointments) and the MMO expansion Age of Conan Rise of the Godslayer.

That isn't the case for May 2011. Indeed there's a boat load of major AAA PC game title that are currently scheduled for release that month. They include the long awaited first person shooter Duke Nukem Forever (May 3) the fantasy RPG The Witcher 2 (May 17) the action-RPG Dungeon Siege 3 (May 31), the sci-fi shooter Brink (May 17) the racing sim Dirt 3 (May 24) and other titles like Red Faction Armageddon, F.E.A.R. 3, and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, all of which are currently scheduled for release sometime in May but don't yet have a specific release day that month (by the way the release dates in this article are ones that are confirmed by the publishers, not necessarily the dates shown on retail web sites which can be inaccurate). Even more PC games could be announced as being released in May in the coming weeks.

What's even more interesting is that for April there are only one or two major PC games that are currently scheduled to be released (Portal 2 on April 18 for example) and June is also looking pretty empty with Hunted The Demon's Forge the only PC game officially scheduled for release that month (and that game is due out on June 1).

So it begs the question: What is it about the month of May that is causing publishers to pile on with lots of new PC game releases while other months like April or June are at the moment looking relatively empty of new game titles?

On Monday Big Download posted up the first part of our two part look at upcoming games that are so secret you aren't supposed to know about them yet. These were the titles we are labeling as "Code Black" games (formerly as Black Ops games). These are the titles have have been mentioned only in passing or as a listing on an online job description but have yet to be formally announced to the public.

But there are still a ton of such games that we have yet to talk about, including some that have more recently come to light. What are these games and what do we really know about them? In the second part of our Code Black games feature we will once again try to open the doors and slide the windows out so we can see a little more about what these games are about.

In March 2008, the PC Gaming Alliance was formed and introduced with a press conference at GDC. The non-profit group combined PC hardware makers like Intel, Nvidia, AMD and others with game publishers, developers and other interested companies to help promote PC gaming as well as help developers with issues like piracy, minimal hardware configurations for games and others.

Recently the PCGA has had a change in leadership as Randy Stude, the organization's first president, has decided to leave that role. Taking the helm is Matt Ployhar who currently works at Intel but has previously worked at Microsoft in a number of PC gaming related roles. He also describes himself has a passionate PC gamer.

In his first interview since becoming the head of the PCGA, Ployhar tells Big Download how he came to be picked as its new president and his plans for leading the organization.

When Dell purchased the Miami-based Alienware in 2006, it was a signal that the big PC makers wanted to get into the hearts and minds of PC gamers, many of which spend thousands of dollars each year upgrading and/or building new systems on their own. The idea, of course, is to get those heavy gamers and DIY PC makers to purchase the high end models that made Alienware successful.

However, for a while it looked like Dell was fighting with itself on the high end PC gamer market with Dell's own XPS systems which had cool designs, liquid cooling, special lighting and more. Thankfully Dell decided to retire the XPS brand, at least for high end gaming, and do what it should have done in the first place: let Alienware PCs and branding be Dell's representative to PC gaming.

As we enter a new year (and indeed a new decade) we at Big Download are looking forward to playing a lot of great new PC games. But we also have certain things that we wish game developers and publishers would try doing in the new year.

You know the drill. There are certain issues in game releases we want addressed in 2010 such as not releasing games before they are properly tested or making sure that certain games have certain features that we enjoy. We have put our PC game wishes for 2010 out in the public for all to see. We just hope that these suggestions are taken to heart.

Click on the image above to continue reading Big Download's 2010 PC Game Wishes

There's lots of PC games that are due in 2010 but let's face facts; there are also some games due in the next 12 months that are (at the moment anyway) supposed to be console exclusive. We think that at least some of those titles should be made available to PC owners as well.

Big Download picked 10 games that are planned for a console-only release in 2010 that we think should be released for the PC platform. They include action-adventure titles, a co-op specific title, a long awaited fantasy RPG and a 256-player first person shooter. We also give our opinion on if in fact a PC port is possible, unlikely or never going to happen for each game.

Click on the image above to continue reading Top 10 2010 console games that should be PC games

Welcome to another edition of Mac Monday, your source for the latest and greatest Macintosh game demos! This week, we're taking a look at Machinarium, by the fine folks at Amanita Design, who gave us Samorost and Samorost 2. After that, we'll have a peek at QuantZ, a casual title by Gamerizon that offers a new look at the Match 3 genre. Check 'em out after the jump!

In less than three weeks, Microsoft officially releases Windows 7, the newest version of their PC operating system (although some PC makers could sell Windows 7-based rigs before the official October 22 launch date). After nearly three years of dealing with the last release, Windows Vista, all indications are that Windows 7 will be far more accepted by the public in general and PC gamers in particular.We can also expect far more support from game developers for the new OS.

If you are a PC gamer, chances are you have already tried out the release candidate for Windows 7 or are waiting for the final release. But there may be some things that you don't know about Windows 7 that you need to be aware of before making that final upgrade. Here are a few items that you may need to keep in mind: