rrootage posts

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge! It's our one year anniversary! Here's to many more years of talking about the best freeware games out there!

It's been one full year since Freeware Friday debuted on BigDownload. There has been many freeware games featured, and there are many that are waiting to be found. In memoriam of the past year, we'd like to present to you my personal favorites of all the games we took a look at over that past year. These are the games that were enjoyable and memorable above all else. The games that really define the independent and freeware communities as being truly classic and entertaining.

Independent Minds aims to take various aspects of indie gaming and present them to you each week. From game round-ups to design elements to interviews with prominent members of the scene, it's an exploration of what makes indie gaming great as well as what makes someone an indie.

If you ask any respectable indie developer about making your own game, the very first thing they are likely to tell you is to be original. However, for the budding developer, being truly original is quite hard. Abstracts of design haven't yet fallen into place in that designer's brain, and the influence of the games one plays will likely be seen heavily duplicated in the end result of the game they are working on. It's easy to copy those that have done it before, and it's relatively safe. However, to forge new ground and be original, risks must be taken. People don't really like risks all the much.

Your daily wrap-up of the hottest stories in PC gaming over the holiday weekend

	BigCast iTunes and RSS feeds updated and online! After ironing out a few kinks we're happy to report that the iTunes and RSS feeds for the BigCast are officially up and running! Going into our third episode, the BigCast is the official podcast for Big Download that covers everyting in the world of PC gaming.
	Diablo III: Co-op focus means no on-the-fly PK toggle, PvP to be included When Diablo III was finally announced earlier this month, hardcore fans of the series were displeased by the level of color found in the gameplay footage for the sequel. Now, new comments made on the World of Warcraft forums by Blizzard poster Bashiok are expected to have naysayers up in arms once again.
	Freeware Friday: rRootage rRootage is, as stated in the introductory paragraph, one of Kenta Cho's freeware shooters. Unlike his other shooters, though, rRootage is not about a unique concept or wild innovation and refinement of a current formula. No, rRootage is all about practice. Practicing what, you say? The styles of 4 different kinds of shooters. Strap yourselves in, because it's a long ride to completion once you start this beautiful and challenging game.
	New Starcraft II screenshots reveal new hero unit It's been a week since the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational but Blizzard doesn't take any time off when it comes to its info on its upcoming games. The web site for the long awaited RTS sci-fi sequel Starcraft 2 just posted up some new in-game screenshots along with a look at one of the game's hero units, Zeratul.
	Will Fallout 3 be banned in Australia? The game isn't scheduled for release this fall but there's a rumor going around that Bethesda Softworks' post apocalypse themed RPG Fallout 3 may be banned in Australia. That country's version of Gamespot has posted up word from an unnamed poster on their message boards which claims the game will be refused to be rated by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification due to the use of drugs in the game. That move will effectively ban the game from being sold.
	We'll trade you a Heavy for two Demomen . . . The recently launched official Team Fortress 2 web site looks like it's going to be something a bit different than the normal marketing for a game title. The web site is giving folks a back door into the development process and one of the ways is showing off some unused artwork made for Valve's first person shooter.