I’m Alice0 and I’m here to say, some great Bethesda games are out in a DRM-free way. GOG this week added the Dishonored games and two of the new Wolfensteins. That’s some lovely gaming right there, so I’m just briefly highlighting it for people who prefer their games without DRM. They’ve got hefty discounts for one week to celebrate the launches too.

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The best shooters endure. While other genres warp beyond recognition, there is something solid about the first-person shooter that makes it as dependable as a nice big AK-47. Maybe it s the gung-ho simplicity – look down a barrel and pull the trigger. It’s as fun to fire a double-barrelled shotgun from an early 90s FPS as the slick shotties of today. For that reason, this list runs the gamut from genre classics to those released in the last year. There’s bound to be something for you in this, our list of the best 50 FPS games on PC. Let s lock and/or load.

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The best shooters endure. While the state of the art moves on in other genres and leaves old designs in the dust, it’s as fun to fire a well-made shotgun from an early 90s FPS as from one released today. For that reason, this list runs the gamut from genre classics to those released in the last year. There’s bound to be something for you inside.

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For a series built around the deconstruction of Aryan bodies, it s taken a long time for players to take the hint that Wolfenstein s ubermensch William Blazkowicz is Jewish.

That hesitation betrays our definitions of Jewish identity as old-fashioned, and also reflects that the few prominent Jewish characters in games play into and reinforce stereotypes. While Blazkowicz is the most high profile character to break the mold, what does it say about games that the most diverse representation of a Jew we ve seen is simply whiter than most? (more…)

US President Donald Trump yesterday held a private meeting to discuss the issue of violence in video games, having suggested after February’s murders at a school in Parkland, Florida that it “is really shaping young people’s thoughts.” This would clearly amount to nothing productive, given mostly industry representatives and conservative pressure groups were attending, but it is a surprise that Trump showed attendees a short video montage of video game deaths. The White House have released this publicly, so we can all see a sloppy montage of deaths from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fallout 4, and more. Somehow it isn’t a surprise that some clips are clearly ripped from YouTubers – watermarks and all. (more…)

The early stages of Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus [official site] show the same blood, guts and heart that were key to the first game’s success. Described by Bethesda’s Pete Hines as fucking bananas , it’s a game of extremes, but it’s the care that it shows for its characters and setting that stand out as unique in the field of alt-history Nazi war-shooters. Alongside the silliness, the gore and the pulp fiction roots, there’s a core concern for humanity and its loss.

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Bethesda’s E3 2016 showcase brought with it news of Quake Champions, new Prey, Dishonored 2 and a few other things. What wasn’t there was any word on what Wolfenstein developers Machine Games were doing – or at least, no explicit> news. There was one hint at what might be next for BJ Blazkowicz: “The New Colossus.”

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Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

We’re all doing Macauley Culkin faces about how good DOOM turned out to be despite high suspicion to the contrary, but let’s not forget that, under Bethesda’s stewardship, olden id games had already been treated surprisingly well. Wolfenstein: The New Order [official site] was a sprawling, spectacular singleplayer shooter of the kind we so rarely see in these MP-focused times, and it somehow managed the impossible too: making BJ Blazkowicz a real human. A real human in an entirely absurd world. … [visit site to read more]

Hey, good to see ya, how ya doin’? Take a seat anyplace you like – we got window seats, we got booths, we got stools over here at the counter. I’d keep shy of the table just at the back there – it’s reserved, on a strictly unofficial basis, and the guy who plants hisself there most days ain’t exactly particular about whose keister he puts his boot into, if you catch my drift.

Now, what’ll it be?>

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The Advertising Standards Agency publishes rulings every Wednesday on everything from psychic hotlines to videogames. I’m incredibly fond of their rulings. I think it’s mostly because of the language the companies use to defend themselves, breaking videogame concepts down and presenting them in what’s intended to be a neutral manner.

The upheld complaints are generally less entertaining for obvious reasons the concerns have been, in some sense, valid. But the *not upheld* complaints often have an air of the ridiculous about them. Through the formal structure of the rulings you get a sense of raised eyebrows or rolled eyes, of overblown sincerity. I’ve also learned some unexpected things, like how many sugar puffs are in a portion…

Here are some of my favourites from the last few years:

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