Thanks to everyone who wrote in about this. Arcen Games has released an update for A.I. War of such magnitude that I’m not sure our long-running A.I. War diary will ever be the same again.

Arcen Games describe the free 4.0 update as “unreservedly huge”, which sounds fair: 147 new ships, a new interface, total overhauling of most of the game’s rules and mechanics, updated tutorials, more advanced “teach-yourself-to-play-better” features AND a graphical overhaul. A.I. War now runs in Unity, meaning it’s not just prettier but Mac and Linux compatible. Oh, and the $4 Children of the Neinzul expansion’s been released, too. 3 new Neinzul factions, 6 new AI types, 36 new ship and 6 new AI special weapons. Christ. Trailers after the jump. (more…)

Ron Gilbert’s comedy Diablo-alike, Deathspank, is out now on Steam for £9.99! I mean, technically it was also out yesterday on Steam for £9.99, but it’s RPS’s firm belief that news gets better with age. You know, like fine wine, or the Bond films of Roger Moore.

I played DeathSpank when it first came out on Xbox Live and really enjoyed myself. The jokes are hit and miss, but come at you in such relentless volleys that you can end up doing a fair bit of giggling. Combat and progression were tighter than I was expecting, too. Ye olde trailere after the jump. (more…)

My personal jury’s still out on Facebook games (it’s still an incredibly young games platform, after all), but one thing I really don’t like about them is that they’ve been truncated from ‘social network games’ to ‘social games.’ That’s far too evocative a term to be applied to posting high scores and begging people for sheep. ‘Social games’ evokes playing games together, socially. For instance, chaining a bunch of PCs together and pretending they’re the bridge of the Enterprise. This> is a social game. This is also the final frontier of space simulation.

The below is the nerdiest thing you’ve ever seen, and also the greatest. (more…)

Loads of demon hunter footage. A little bit of PvP.

You know the classic “angel on one shoulder, devil on the other” thing? Well I like to think there’s a third, rational, truly neutral character sat atop my head (perhaps an emotionless robot) and he’s saying that I shouldn’t be quite so excited about Diablo III. Nevertheless it just looks… tight>. I have a pretty high tolerance for dungeon crawling as it is, but when it’s going to be as robust and punchy as this is almost certainly going to be. Oh, it’s unhealthy. (more…)

Halloween’s a-comin’. What a great opportunity for grand updates on the hundreds of millions of horror mods in production, huh? Which is presumably why I’ve only found one piece of spooky news all week. Mod community? I am disappoint. Nevertheless, here’s a round-up of the most interesting mod-related gumph from the past seven days, and a picture of a pumpkin lantern to make up for the lack of scares. (more…)

I’ve got a random question for you, readers. I’d like you to leave your answers in the comments section below, if you would be so kind.

What games did you spend money on in October? Please list anything you might have bought, PC or console, budget or full price, DLC, subscription, or microtransaction.

Go!

A browser-based Star Trek free-to-play MMO was just announced last night. Did you know that? I didn’t. But we all do now. It’s being developed by German team, Keen Games (who have previously made What’s Cooking? Jamie Oliver (if only that were a question and answer), and G-Force guinea pig-based movie tie-in), and published by GameForge. Neither of whom have gotten around to adding the game to their own websites. Which is always an odd choice. I’ve nothing to link to. There’s a trailer that I’m certain contains absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the game below.

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Hmm, this one somehow bypassed my radar entirely. And it’s out now on PC. I guess we’ll try and take a look at it later in the week. Maybe. Anyone so excited about light sabres and stuff that they already have it? Looks like the critical consensus is a bit non-plussed – another below average Star Wars game? It wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world. Hmm. The new trailer (below) might just be the closest I get to this one. We need a proper Jedi Knight game, I think. (more…)

How are we all feeling about Dragon Age 2? Quintin wasn’t too impressed when he played it at this year’s GamesCom, but me – with no experience of the game – I’m determinedly optimistic. I mean, it’s not like BioWare messes up very often. However, if picking my ideal Dragon Age sequel, I wouldn’t have it be more action orientated. Quite the opposite. They spent a decade developing that world’s lore, and exploring it, interacting with it, learning from it: that’s my motivation. Hitting it doesn’t quite grab me in the same way. Still, it’s not out for another six months, and I’ve not even seen it running, so I’m just wildly guessing. To become more informed on the matter there’s a new trailer below, that shows some glimpses of in-game footage.

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Some people have wondered why we’re yet to write about Microsoft’s recently-announced relaunch of Games For Windows. I wondered too, and eventually settled on it being something to do with just how tainted that name is now. After all these years of confusing marketing and frustrating attempts to regulate multiplayer, so many PC gaming brains either skip right over it or focus into some manner of cranial snarl at its mere mention. Well, let’s resist that impulse and strive for a little understanding.

Here’s the plan: Microsoft are rebooting Games For Window again>, but this time around it’s about trying to make that strange, cludgy brand be associated with something other than irksome sign-in screens. How are they doing it? By putting its Marketplace element head-to-head with Steam. (more…)