I played a lot of Final Fantasies during my rock-bottom console gamer phase. Final Fantasy VIII was not one of them. Well, that’s not entirely true. I tried a demo disc from some old PlayStation magazine once, and it chugged, whimpered pitifully, and died on me about ten minutes into the opening cut-scene. Beyond that, I heard too many mixed things and decided to get my fantastical fix elsewhere. Did I make a boo-boo, though – perhaps even the biggest boo-boo of all, Boo-boo-aga? If so, just say the word and I’ll duct-tape a gun to a sword, don a poofy, pouty coat, and load up the newly released Steam version of FFVIII.

(more…)

Steam is big. Everyone knows it. If you’re a developer trying to sell digitally, and you’re not on there, you’re missing as much as 80% of the download market. And just to prove how big it is, this weekend Steam saw itself go over the 7 million concurrent users mark for the first time. 7,190,578, spotted VG247. That’s more than the population of Hong Kong.

(more…)

Papo & Yo is a personal game, using the tale of a monster and a boy to touch on creator Vander Caballero’s upbringing. It’s a story of affection, protection, alcoholism and abuse, set in a dreamlike favela. Nathan found the experience powerful:

“That relationship, then, lies at the heart of Papo & Yo, weaving an extremely personal thread through both story and gameplay mechanics. But does it bind them together or leave them straining at the seams?”

You can read his thoughts here to learn more but SPOILER ALERT he decides that the seams are strained, describing the actual puzzling and platforming as ‘exceedingly mediocre’. That said, it’s not often we see this sort of story in a game and even if it falters in places, the experience still sounds worthwhile. Especially when you can pay what you want (minimum of $1) for the next three and a half days over at IndieGameStand.

(more…)

The sorry saga of 505 Games’ Ashes Cricket 2013 continues apace. Beginning with one of the dumbest trailers in gaming history, it was supposed to appear in June this year. You know, in time for the Ashes. It didn’t make it, except they got lucky. For reasons my brain cannot work up the energy to care about, rather than the usual two year gap between the Australia Vs England bat-to-ball grudge series, they’ve started another one already, just a few months later. A fortuitous one-off anomaly allowing the game to slip five months and not suddenly be enormously out of date. So now, in time for the latest Ashes, it’s been released on PC alone. Except, it’s all going a bit wrong. Just a few days later it’s been mysteriously pulled from Steam, the Facebook page has vanished, and there are lots of rather cross customers. And an increasing number of excellent videos.

(more…)

Everyone’s a critic. No seriously, pretty much everyone is inherently critical of at least a few things. Now, very, very, very few people are actually good> critics, but that’s an entirely different discussion for another time. Point is, user review systems are now built into everything from Amazon to the walls of most public bathrooms (kinda), so Steam is following suit. Soon, you’ll be able to write your own game reviews, vote on other users’ all-caps bellowed missives, and follow along with folks whose tastes sync up with yours. The system is now in beta. More below, though after having written this post for only a couple minutes, I’m already prepared to declare it the worst of all time NEGATIVE THIRTY SEVEN BANANA APPLESAUCE OUT OF TEN.

(more…)

Age of Decadence belongs to the diminishing group of games currently in development that I first took am interest in because of a post on this ‘ere website long before my ugly mug was ever on the ‘About Us’ page. I spent some time with the demo at the end of last year and my interest levels rose so high that my Wonga alert sounded at full blast. I was expecting something similar to Baldur’s Gate but the reality is something else entirely. The game is now available on Steam Early Access, with 60% of the content included and the complete set of features from the finished product.

(more…)

John Carmack has officially packed his bags and taken a rocket car over to Oculus Rift, now his sole employer until he decides he wants to become the world’s foremost expert on Hyperloops or something. So what better way to celebrate/commiserate than by playing maybe the last game he’ll ever see to completion? Answer: there is no better way. If you are doing anything else, John Carmack will probably never be your friend or spend upwards of five hours giving you breathless life advice. Fortunately, RAGE is free on Steam this weekend. Details below.

(more…)

Owning a gaming machine with horsepower for days can come with some pretty severe drawbacks – for instance, that it’s comparable to an actual horse in weight and portability. (And I can’t even ride it! What did I make this damn thing for, anyway?) The prospect of following Valve’s rhythmically clomping war party into the living room, then, isn’t the most attractive. Not when I have to pit my spine against weight that would bow a flagpole for multiple> action-packed flights of stairs. But soon, all will be well. Valve’s officially announced its in-home streaming program for Steam, and it sounds like just what my doctor would’ve ordered after diagnosing me with folded-up-like-a-human-accordion syndrome.

(more…)

Halfy birthday, Hap-Life! Well, I guess it’s technically the day after your birthday now, but an upgraded version of Source-powered Half-Life tribute Black Mesa still counts as a gift, I think. You might remember that the free labor of time, love, and more time was greenlit a while back, but now it’s finally taking the Lab Facility Train Ride of Ultimate Auspiciousness over to Steam. Better still, Gabe and the knights of the Valve table have given it their blessing, allowing the Black Mesa team to earn some especially pretty pennies for their hard work. The Steam version will include new features too, but not Xen. That’s apparently still “a ways off,” sadly.

(more…)

[Earth-shaking slapping sounds can be heard in the distance, like fresh lard being cannon-fired at an ancient war drum]

Do you hear that?

[A glass of water ripples ominously; a largely decorative Jello mold does the same, but fails to be particularly frightening]

Something’s coming. Something big.

[Dogs whine, horses stomp frantically, one or two people glance up from Western-shootout-caliber staredowns with Facebook on their phones]

It’s… it’s… SEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL.

(more…)