The ultra violent and very cool sci-fi first person shooter Bulletstorm has been lacking a free PC demo, unlike its console versions. That made PC gamers, understandably, not happy. That situation changed today as Epic Games announced that the demo for the title is now finally available via both Steam and the Games For Windows Live client software.
It's not immediately clear what content is in the PC demo but we are betting that it will be identical to what was put into the console version. That demo was released a few weeks before the main game itself shipped to stores on February 22.
For some unknown reason, the Steam PC game download site has failed to bring us any major price cuts this week. Hopefully this isn't a trend. Meanwhile it's time to find some other PC game sales deals:
Microsoft says it's fully behind PC gaming now after relaunching the Games For Windows web site last year and planning to release at least two PC games this year (the PC port of Fable 3 and Age of Empires Online). Now an internal Microsoft video has been leaked that shows some possible future plans for PC gaming via Windows.
The video was discovered by ZDNet which states that was first made back in May 2010 which means that some, if not all, of the things in the video may have been changed or dumped since then. The video from the Windows Gaming Experience team shows Xbox 360-like avatars doing things like purchasing more avatar outfits via Microsoft points, playing games on Facebook, finding new games to play and getting invites from friends to join online games. It's all pretty tame stuff, actually, and nothing that isn't available already via third party programs and companies.
Oh, and apparently Microsoft doesn't know how to spell "pwned".
If you like free stuff (and who doesn't) today's entry in the PC game sales offers will make you happy.
Direct2Drive is giving away the casual RTS game Westward as part of its newly launched casual games section. From now until March 16, the game will be available for free (a $7) if you put in the promo code "D2DCASUAL" at checkout.
Games For Windows Live is the online service from Microsoft that a lot of PC gamers love to bash for various reasons. The truth is that the service, which launched back in 2007, has improved quite a bit from its original incarnation when Microsoft thought that PC gamers had the same needs as its Xbox 360 fans.
In a new chat with Computer and Video Games Kevin Unangst, the senior producer of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, admitted, "I think because it was designed originally as a partner to the console service more than the PC service, we had a rocky start." However he adds, "I think the underpinnings are great, I think it's going to continue to get better. We launched a new Marketplace which was great, we're selling Live and non-Live enabled games." He also feels that input from game developers such as Lionhead, who are making a PC port of Fable 3, will also improve Games For Windows Live.
There's just a few days left before the end of February 2011 but there's a few (actually a lot) of PC game sales that will make the last days of the month fly by:
BioShock 2's PC players have been waiting (and waiting) for publisher 2K Games to fullfill its promise of releasing the remaining DLC content for the 2010 first person shooter. Now it looks like some players downloaded the game's Protector Trial DLC ahead of its official release.
According to forum posts on the BioShock 2 message boards, the DLC appeared in the Games For Windows Marketplace, priced at $5.75. However while some players have purchased and downloaded the DLC, no one has been able to actually play it, suggesting that the game itself needs a patch in order to access the content. 2K Games' community manager has confirmed that the DLC wasn't supposed to be out yet, saying, " ... wait till my word before you go grab it - it's not ready yet."
While we had some weekend PC game sales to tell you about on Thursday, we have discovered or learned about some more weekend or one day sales to let you know about today.
The first PC game that has been develop or co-developed by Epic Games in over three years is now complete. A post via Twitter has announced that the over-the-top first person shooter Bulletstorm has now "gone gold" and is heading to replication for its release on February 22. Epic's last PC game was the port of the first Gears of War game title that was released in December 2007.
The game is also a milestone for its other co-developer People Can Fly. It's the first original game from the Poland-based developer since it released Painkiller way back in 2004. Ironically People Can Fly helped to develop and port the PC version of Gears of War as well.
The Baconing (6/23/11)
X Rebirth Screenshots
Rise Of Immortals Nysuss Screenshots
The Witcher 2 Screenshots
Trackmania 2 Screenshots
Prey 2 Screenshots
Mass Effect 2 - Arrival Screenshots
Magicka Vietnam Screenshots
Choplifter HD Screenshots
