x-com posts

This past week Irrational Games returned to its original name and as a result its head Ken Levine has been giving a few interviews to various web sites. He also chatted with Game Informer magazine in its latest print issue and Shacknews reports that in that chat Levine still refuses to talk about their next game, saying, "I can't say yes or no to any particular thing, but I can say this: Don't believe everything you read." That's likely a reference to various rumors that the studio might be working on an X-Com remake.

So when will we learn about their first game? Our sister site Joystiq got Levine to say the announcement will happen "sometime after PAX (East) and GDC." That sounds awfully like an E3 2010 reveal to us.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

X-COM is one of those classics that every older PC gamer remembers with fond nostalgia. Despite its age, incompatibility with newer operating systems, and somewhat clunky interface, it's still one of the best games ever made. It had a sequel that was little more than cranked up difficulty and a new environment, but the real innovation and continuation comes with the appearance of the third game. X-COM Apocalypse is the second game from the original developers, and it's an improvement upon the original in every way. It may be polarizing, but it's impossible to deny that Apocalypse has the X-COM spirit and design sense behind it.

We've been down this road before and it looks like we are going that way once again. Rumors of a revival of the classic X-Com turn-based strategy PC game series have been popping up on the Internet tubes for years. This week the new rumors center on 2K Games' developer Firaxis working on a new version of the original game.

This new rumor comes from the Twitter page of the anonymously updated and trademark-obsessed web site Superannuation. The statement also revives the rumor that there's a first person shooter X-Com game that's also in the works. 2K Boston has been named as the developer for that title for quite some time and it's head man Ken Levine hasn't exactly denied that possibility. Indeed 2K Boston's sister developer 2K Australia has apparently worked at one time on such a project as Superannuation has found a (since removed) resume from a former developer at that studio that mentions such an X-Com game. We just wish 2K Games would spare us more time to speculate and come clean; the suspense is killing us.

Fallout 3 isn't the only game on sale on Steam this weekend, In fact there's a ton of games that have just been collected into a new game bundle via the download service. 20 titles from 2K Games are now available to purchase as one big game pack for just $59.99. If you bought each game individually it would cost $229.80. Oh, and did we mention that from now until July 7 you can get 10 percent off that already low price, making the bundle $53.99?

Here's the full list of games in the bundle:

Sid Meier's Civilization IV,
Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Shattered Union
Prey
CivCity: Rome
Civilization IV Warlords
Sid Meier's Railroads!
Railroad Tycoon 3
Railroad Tycoon II Platinum
X-COM: Terror From the Deep
X-COM: Apocalypse
BioShock
X-COM: Interceptor
X-COM: UFO Defense
X-COM: Enforcer
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Freedom Force
Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization.

IGN's Direct2Drive game download site is going nuts (nuts, we say) with their newest sales deal. From now until May 31 a large number of their tiles from the 2K Games library have had their prices cut 50 percent off their normal amounts. There's quite a few cool deals here if you have a few extra dollars.

There's quite a few titles on sale for just $9.95 including BioShock, Civilization IV, Prey, Serious Sam Gold and more. And if you have always wanted to try out the classic X-Com game series, this sale has a bundle of all five X-Com game titles for just $7.50. That's a steal in of itself.

Welcome to the new Boot Disk. Same delicious format, tangy new flavor! Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more.

There's a lot of strategy games available on the PC. So many that it can be hard to determine which one to play. From the classic turn-based gameplay of Civilization to the roaring explosions of Command & Conquer, there's just so many options for the budding strategist to choose from. None, though, will ever measure up to the inspired genius that is X-COM: UFO Defense. A combination real-time and turn-based macro-strategy game, X-COM: UFO Defense has stood the test of time to prove that being old does not mean being dated.

The BioShock team at 2K Boston has been pretty silent about their upcoming plans and in a new Gamespot chat, its head man Ken Levine doesn't really give too many new details about what they have planned next. He does say that the game " . . . will probably come as a huge surprise to our audience and yet at the same time will make total sense once they see it."

He adds that the project " . . . will include a type of gameplay that is completely new to us--something the BioShock team has never really explored in depth before." But don't expect details about the game for a while. When asked if it's a new X-Com title (something that has been rumored for some time) Levine says, " I will say that I'm probably the world's biggest X-Com [fan]. I won't say I'm working on an X-Com game."

He also repeats that he and his 2K Boston team have nothing to do with the upcoming BioShock 2 title which is being developed at 2K Marin. Levine states, "Frankly, I'm trying to keep myself at a distance from it so I, like all the other fans out there, can play it fresh when it's done." 2K Boston is actively recruiting and our sister site Joystiq has the word on the developer's hiring drive.

Speculation about what Ken Levine and his group at 2K Boston are doing to follow up on their 2007 smash hit BioShock continues. While another group, 2K Marin, are doing the official BioShock sequel, we still don't have a clear idea on what 2K Boston is doing next (although rumors of an X-Com revival are still popping up).

In a new job entry on Gamasutra, 2K Boston announces it is hiring for a lead multiplayer designer to work on an upcoming first person shooter project. The job description states, "Understanding of online persistence is preferred but not required. MMO design or production experience also preferred." Since BioShock did not have a multiplayer component we are going to assume that 2K Boston's new title will have a faster pace than much slower BioShock. Hopefully we will learn more about this new game sooner rather than later.

[Via Kotaku]

On Tuesday we posted up a feature naming 10 classic PC games that we think would be perfect for a revival. The response to the article was extremely positive, so much so that we have decided to quickly post up another installment featuring 10 more PC game titles that are ripe for a comeback.

Among our choices this time are a mob-themed first person shooter, a fantasy RTS, a movie-based space sim and and tactical cyberpunk strategy-action game. Can you guess which games we are talking about before you check out our choices (there's a rather large hint in the image above)?

Click on the image above to read more on 10 more PC games that need a comeback

Congratulations, soldier: you survived another week. It's Friday afternoon, and instead of going out partying with your friends, you're anxious to get home, sit down at your computer, and play some new games. Sounds fun! Too bad you're broke. Lucky for you, PC gaming has an impressive library of classic games that are available online for cheap. Hang out with us every Friday so we can take you on a guided tour of some of the greatest bargains available throughout the many tubes of the Internet.

Welcome to Virtual Bargain Bin, the cure for your weekend gaming woes. This week's classics: The id Super Pack, and X-COM: The Complete Pack