Is Xi3′s Piston a Steam Box? Isn’t it? That’s a bit unclear right now. While Xi3 is specifically avoiding using that label, it points out that SteamOS will run on any living room machine. Thusly: “SteamOS should be able to run on Piston Consoles (PCs) as well, but we’ll have to wait until SteamOS is available to confirm this.” So, with that all (sorta) cleared up, how’s the ol’ outer space grapefruit looking? Well, the short version is “decently potent,” but all that computational mecha-muscle comes at a fairly hefty price. When the tiny marvel launches in November, it’ll run you $999. And that’s just the entry level model.

(more…)

I’m going to start off with Titanfall by giving you an insight into, I admit, my unimpressive journalistic methods. Being old-school I attend events with a notepad rather than an iPad, and while playing I dash down a few notes by hand – weapons, levels, how it feels, those kinds of things. Afterwards these disconnected scrawls jolt the memory as I’m writing, and a preview appears. Right now I am looking at the page of my notepad reserved for Titanfall, and it’s only got three words on it. “Just fucking amazing.”

Let me explain why that is.>

(more…)

What happens when one half of a development team goes on holiday and leaves the other, slightly agoraphobic half at home? In a roundabout way, it ends up in The Binding Of Isaac. That’s the origin of the game, the very moment that sent Edmund McMillen down into the basement to confront elements of his religious upbringing in a Flash game. Isaac’s odd story is told in this interview from the makers of Indie Game: The Movie. Want to hear about how Ed’s Team Meat partner Tommy Refenes’ holiday turned into a game of contradictions? It’s posted below, and it’s absolutely fascinating.EDIT: The video was live when I wrote the story, and now it’s private. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

(more…)

Portal 2 wasn’t nearly as messed-up as it could have been. I loved it, and still pop in now and again to enjoy the physics and writing, but I always wish they’d went further and curly-wurlied the gravity and surroundings. Every time a room was fixed in front of me, I wished the same tech was used to just turn everything upside down, inside out, or that it would twist the testing chambers into odd, broken configurations. I am a very needy person. With that in mind, I’m interested in this Greenlight begging puzzle game, Tri. A FPS puzzle game where you drag out triangular walkways to cross the world. (more…)

It’s hard to believe, but there are parts of space that aren’t full of gigantic ships firing lasers at one another, or heavily armoured marine boarding parties burning gibbering monsters to a crisp. I know it sounds improbable but it’s true. Considering the sheer size of the place – the landlord, Ian Space, pays a king’s ransom in bedroom tax – it shouldn’t be surprising that quiet areas exist, although they do make up less than 1% of the total. Solar Flux is found in one of the calm regions, even though it is about the death of a thousand suns. You can see the salvation of those suns and hear some gentle music below.

(more…)

Well, it’s finally confirmed, and yup, it turns out that Ubisoft’s promises of avoiding delaying the PC build of their games haven’t exactly proven, well, true. The PC version of Assassin’s Creed IV, as speculated after a developer accidentally blurted the truth, will be released three weeks after the current-gen console versions. It’s now getting the same release date as the PS4/Xbox One versions. So it’s because it’s a vastly superior version and they can’t blow thei… no, because the Wii-U version comes out that day too. Oh, and three days later in Europe, too!

(more…)

Magnetic Realms sounds like the name of a studio from gaming’s past and it’s fitting that the first release from the one-man band is an attempt to capture the strange beauty and mystery of the 16-bit home computer era. It’s a sidescrolling adventure with an action garnish, taking place on a distant planet where a mining expedition has uncovered terrible things. Terrible Lovecraftian> things. It looks lovely, with an optional CRT screen simulation effect to make your fancy monitor seem like a beautiful relic. Inescapable is available now, DRM-free, for $9.99 and you can see it in action below.

(more…)

In the time it’s taken me to write this article, I could have started and finished at least two games of Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. I live with that knowledge hanging over me, and I mentally convert every moment of the day into potential games the shortform galaxy explorer. “I’m going for a game of Infinite Space”, I’ll tell my girlfriend as pop off for a plop. “You’ve had me on hold for a trip to Oberon!”, I once told a confused bank phone operator, who apologised and then put my on hold for a full FTL! I took my mega-Peggle of savings to another bank. The video below is only about an sixteenth of a game of Infinite Space long, showing off the mod tools and a few motes of content. It’s enough for me. (more…)

When I see block-pushing puzzle games, which require the sort of forward-thinking and careful positioning that I’m somehow incapable of, I reckon my response is similar to John’s when he’s assaulted by a popular sports management simulation. I don’t want to push the block to redirect the laser onto the switch to open the gateway that leads to the next puzzle. I don’t want to because I can’t. Games like CLARK stump me at the first pass, requiring reserves of patience that I have been somehow denied. Still, Golden Tricycle’s puzzler is an attractive example of the form and seems to have been fairly well received on the Ouya. It’s now on Greenlight and there’s a trailer below.

(more…)

I tend to just glom onto one mode in multiplayer games, which means when I’m playing other modes and maps*, and people are shouting at me to do the thing with the thing, all I hear is “Blah blah Craig is handsome and best blah”. I just stick to what I know, because I don’t need affirmation. Anyway, other people like variety in their games, and therefore demand modes for every occasion from the likes of DICE. Battlefield 4 will come out with seven game modes across ten maps, and I will now list them and give some commentary based on my previous experiences on the Battlefield. (more…)