Former BioWare head Greg Zeschuk left the studio he established with co-founder Ray Muzyka back in September. In his farewell message, he stated the passion he felt for making games and "the challenge of creation" simply fizzled out after 17 years. (His new trade: beer. Lots of it.) Speaking to Polygon, Zeschuk expanded on how burnout and other factors affected his decision to move on from the industry.

Previously, former BioWare Project Director Trent Oster suggested Zeschuk's dwindling enthusiasm stemmed from fan negativity over Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, two projects the beer-loving doctor had a heavy hand in supervising and managing. In Polygon's interview, Zeschuk revealed that only made up a fraction of what caused his departure.

"Everything's a factor," Zeschuk said. "There's nothing that's not a factor, but there's no single one thing. I think the best way I can describe is: Do the same thing for twenty years and it's very, very intense. It's very high pressure. It's very high stress. It's challenging. It's sometimes rewarding and sometimes it's not. And you just get tired of it after awhile. That is probably the easiest way to for me to describe it. Sometimes you just need to change things."

"One of the few things I find kind of funny is the responses of the fans, because they sort of respond that they are kind of mad at us for leaving because they think we owe them more games," he continued. "You know, it's sad: I wish I could deliver on that, but I don't think I would be as good as I was in that space historically. Like I said, the fire wasn't there."

When asked if he'd ever entertain a return to gaming, Zeschuk stuck with his original hard goodbye from September, saying, "Yeah, probably not. I'm having fun doing what I'm doing, so probably not. We'll see, but I'm not planning on it at this point for sure."

DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall has shared his reaction with Eurogamer over the DayZ Origins mod for Arma 2 and its "inspiration" from Rocket's original zombie-survival creation. Though calling the naming similarities between the two mods "a bit problematic," he commended the GamersPlatoon community for "some awesome ideas."

"It would seem a shame to destroy that kind of creativity by me getting upset about the name," Rocket said. "So my thoughts for the moment are really, 'Wow, that's cool,' and then, 'Aww shucks, there go my DayZ: Origins plans!'"

Rocket's current focus surrounds the shaping of the standalone version of DayZ, but he admitted Origins threw a rusted wrench into plans to use the name for a possible spin-off project. "And now, if I were to do what I was planning, then it would forever get confused with ," he added. "But you can't encourage creativity on one hand and beat it with a stick with another."

We've got more info and even a download link for DayZ Origins if you're seeking an immediate survivalist fix (no, not that one). As for Rocket's standalone, the most recent development update went over interesting topics such as weather effects and diseased clothing.

The first Quake helped to turn the FPS genre into the behemoth it is today, but it also represented one of the earliest collaborations between a videogame developer and a bona fide rock star. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor engineered the majority of the familiar roars, blams, and brooding score of the old-school shooter, though what's heard doesn't hold up well with today's audio standards. That's a problem modder beckett007 hopes to fix with his EpiQuake mod which replaces nearly the entirety of Quake's sound library with original high-fidelity effects and musical tracks.

The mod's description goes over what you'll get on download:

" are all still in the same vein as Reznor's original sounds but in some cases darker, more cinematic, and most importantly full HD quality at 44.1 16 bit! In fact, many of the sounds stem from the original ideas and then expand on them while keeping them consistent with the Quake world. Make no mistake, this is not one of the many humorous Quake sound mods out there. This is deadly serious and will take your Quake experience to the next level."

And as any Quake vet knows, getting to the next level is all that matters. Beckett007—who cannot confirm or deny his secondary role as a secret agent—claims all audio in the mod is "100 percent original and in some cases stem from newly recorded foley and/or vocal work." It must've been quite a sight seeing someone growl like a wounded bobcat while recording noises for the lovable, chainsaw-swinging Ogre.

Grab EpiQuake over at Mod DB.

Requiring an Internet connection to play seems to be becoming the DRM du jour for high-profile, non-Steam games like SimCity and Diablo III. Why do developers consider a constant hand-hold with your ISP to be an acceptable requirement for playing an offline game? Even if it deters pirates, doesn't it simply inconvenience legitimate customers?

In this Face Off debate, Logan and Evan debate whether this form of DRM represents a fundamental attack on gamers' rights, or whether its effects are actually an overstated inconvenience that (gasp) might actually have benefits?

Jump over to the next page for more opinions from the PC Gamer community, and make your own arguments in the comments. Debate team captains, BEGIN.

Logan: Single. Player.

Evan: You win! Just kidding. Listen, as Satan’s advocate in this matter, I get that people are philosophically uncomfortable with the idea of having to rely on some distant verification server in order to access what’s on their hard drive. In concept, I guess you could say it’s like calling Ford before you start your car. But in practical, actual terms, the outcry against this as an issue seems totally disproportionate to the modest inconvenience it occasionally poses. Have you really been wronged by this form of DRM?

Logan: Oh hell yes. I’ve been thrown out of the middle of a level when my wireless network went down for a few minutes. I’ve been unable to launch a game on a plane because the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. And while it hasn’t happened to me personally, I’ve heard the frustration of gamers who pre-order games only to end up competing at launch with thousands of other players for a green light from the authentication server. I’m OK with DRM. I’m OK with developers discouraging piracy. But locking me out of my single-player game because the dog chewed on my router cable is not cool.

Evan: If you have a router or connectivity issue, you fix it—wouldn’t you want to do that anyway? And if you’re okay with DRM, wouldn’t the alternative to online connection-checking be horrific junk like SecurROM, which has a brilliant history of locking users out of games like Fallout 3 because they dared to have something like disc-burning software installed.

We should be amenable to the idea that asking players to be online while playing might be the least-obtrusive solution in some scenarios. Compared to other DRM, it strikes a compromise between developers’ interests, the near-ubiquity of internet, and protecting the integrity of features like auction houses or a global commodity exchange, which rely on external verification.

Logan: I see what you did there with the SecuROM boogeyman. Yeah, I’d rather have the online requirement than that menace on my PC, but that’s like saying I’d rather have packing peanuts than broken glass for dinner. And I’m not sure that access to a stable connection is as ubiquitous as we might think. What about rural communities? Laptop gamers in the park on their lunch break who want to fight some bears? Or soldiers abroad? And what happens to our games when the developer decides to shut off the server? Compromise on DRM is necessary, but “be online all the time and enjoy the game until we stop supporting it” goes too far.

Evan: What precedent is there for people losing access to single-player games because a verification server was shut off? Again, I think you’re overstating the real-world effect of a rare scenario.

In terms of your offline, lunch break bear-fighter—I don’t like the idea of telling anyone that they won’t be able to enjoy what they love on their own terms. But the cases you raise are outliers, and they’ll become even rarer as online infrastructure catches up with this form of DRM. This notion that it’s gamers’ fundamental right to play every non-multiplayer game in all corners of the Earth, at all moments, is unrealistic. Compromises are a natural part of being a consumer. Paying doesn’t entitle us to everything we want. Take the most egregious recent example of online DRM: Diablo III. PC gamers lambasted its launch week issues, but it was the fastest-selling PC game ever. Do we expect to get the best seat in the house on opening night of The Avengers?

Logan: If I buy a ticket for those seats, yes. Consumers can’t take anything for granted anymore. Even Microsoft sold “PlaysForSure” digital music to consumers and then shut down the authorization servers when the service tanked. You’re right to point out that my horror scenarios are uncommon and possibly overstated, but if I don’t have a guarantee that I’ll be able to play a game when I want to and that I’ll be able to play that game 20 years from now on my holo-emulator, it’s of lower value to me--and that should be reflected in the price.

Evan: What you’re raising really gets at the heart of this issue—the established notion of game ownership grinding up against the trend of modern games operating as services more than static products. Listen, I admit that it’s ridiculous for publishers to arbitrarily ask you to be online. But there are things we get from that seemingly raw deal. We get cloud storing for key bindings and game saves (I hate navigating the directory maze to figure out which random folder they’re stored in). We get social and economic features like auction houses—not everyone loves them, but they're something.

But most valuably, I think, always-online facilitates automated gameplay data reporting. Don’t you think that SimCity will be a better game because Maxis will have access to vast information on the game’s entire population? I suspect it’ll allow them to balance the game better, and kill bugs faster. Honestly, I like the idea of being a part of that give-and-take relationship. Consider the campaign data Valve collected for Half-Life 2: Episode 2 via Steam, and the value it surely had in informing their approach to Portal, and Portal 2, and Left 4 Dead.

Always-online DRM’s inconveniences may outweigh their benefits in some cases, but I don’t think we should universally reject it as a security option.

Logan: I don’t reject it as a security option, and just like there are problems with DRM that developers don’t anticipate, there could be benefits that I don’t expect. The reason I feel like I have to hold the line is that Steam’s offline mode seems like a reasonable compromise; it gives me some limited freedom to be offline and doesn’t make me feel like I’m being punished for somebody else’s piracy. But I don’t want to give up any more ground.

Evan: I agree with you, I just don’t agree about the level of impact that always-online DRM has. Yes, Steam offline mode is a nice compromise, but I’ve probably used it once in my life, during the lull between setting up a new ISP after moving. Ultimately, I don’t mind being asked to give up a modest amount of convenience for the greater good—discouraging pirates and giving developers access to useful player data that will probably improve the game. In the rare instance that my Internet dies, or a login server breaks, the world doesn’t end—I just go do something else.

For more, always-correct opinions on PC gaming, follow Logan, Evan, and PC Gamer on Twitter. On the next page: more opinions from the community.



Here’s what some of our Twitter pals had to say on the matter. Follow @pcgamer to chime in on our weekly arguments.
@pcgamer Yes, sadly it's easy to forget many people do not have access to high speed internet. Internet required to play alone is silly.

— Ken Decker (@GoForNerski) January 29, 2013
@pcgamer Strictly single-player games are just that: a single player's experience. Let them have it how/when/where they want.

— Crucial Blue (@CrucialBlue) January 28, 2013
@pcgamer yes; I wouldn't classify new SimCity a classic single player. It has multiplayer integration & from reading is stored/run elsewhere

— Adam (@atkoehler) January 28, 2013
@pcgamer As much as publishers think it is, the world is not yet fully online and everything is more portable than ever. So we need offline

— AEON|Dante (@nzaeon) January 28, 2013
@pcgamer Unless large calculations which cannot be done client-side are completely necessary, SP games have no reason for online requirement

— Hugo van Rijswijk (@Hugo_ijslijk) January 28, 2013
@pcgamer As a paying user with reliable internet access, online-only is a winning proposition mostly (though I hate losing mod support).

— Jason (@TeslasButler) January 28, 2013
@pcgamer it's a no brainer. If I pay money to own something I should bloody well be allowed to play it without an Internet connection grrrrr

— Max Dickinson (@mxmlln1) January 28, 2013

OK, who gave Vaas a plane ticket? The demented pirate lord from Far Cry 3 definitely fits right into the lawless streets of Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City with rocket launcher in hand and that unhinged smirk on his face, but who would ever think it was a good idea to unleash that psycho on the mainland? Well, modder wapeddell did, actually. And it looks like fun.

Like other custom models of a more critter-like nature, this Vaas mod completely reskins Niko Bellic with a high-quality, bump-mapped texture. This means a heavier hardware load if you're also using graphics overhaul mods or custom cars, but this also means you'll see the most detail you can get out of the game's engine.

Want to see more? The video above shows a particularly shiny Vaas doing what he does best after nonchalantly checking his phone. Grab the mod here, and if you miss the interactions between the mohawked madman and his favorite punching bag, there's also a Jason Brody model by the same author.

Thanks, PCGamesN.

Each year, thousands of people from across the world gather to quickly make games and consume tragic amounts of caffeine. Welcome to the Global Game Jam, ladies and gentlemen. In case you've never heard of this extraordinary annual event, GGJ is a two-day sprint held in hundreds of locations around the world that calls upon its participants to make a game, any game, within that mind-bogglingly limited time frame.

This year, there were more than 16,000 registered "jammers" in 320 jam sites, GGJ co-director Zuraida Buter tells me over IM, shooting me a link to the GGJ live status page. "We still need to do a proper count as there were a couple of hiccups with the server and also weed out duplicate games, streamline the participants listing and so forth," she clarifies. "There are roughly 3,000 games right now."

It's impossible to do a comprehensive recap of the world's interactive output over this weekend, but relying on the recommendations of others alongside my own testing, I've assembled a handful of recommendations. It's humbling to see the sheer amount of work that has been poured into these titles and to consider the hard work of the event's organizers.

Global Game Jam Simulator

Short of stepping up to the plate as a volunteer or joining the committee, the Global Game Jam Simulator is probably the next best way to experience the hectic, behind-the-scenes action for yourself. A deliriously awesome, text-based simulator with excellent music from Alec Holowka, Global Game Jam Simulator will have you attempting to organize a successful game jam in 10 months' time. Spoiler: It isn't easy. There are volunteers, coffee, advertisements, swag, social acumen and more to balance and work on in a short time time span. Now, go play it and then send a cookie to the organizers.

Surgeon Simulator 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pXBbZV_48I0
Phil Savage may not be a terribly good surgeon, but he's got a great eye for games. A hysterical hybrid of QWOP and Operation, Bossa Studios' Surgeon Simulator 2013 puts you in the shoes of an unassuming gent named Nigel Burke. His mission in life? To perform a heart transplant without any medical knowledge. What can possibly go wrong? Surgeon Simulator 2013 is as bloody, cringe-inducing, and inherently funny hilarious as you could imagine.

Legitimate Business Simulator 2013

Another surgery sim? Thank you, Game Jame Gods. If the idea of playing an inept, actual doctor does not appeal to you, here's something of a similar, darker vein. Legitimate Business Simulator 2013 has been described by its creators as a "100% MEDICALLY ACCURATE surgical simulation" which is, really, a rather nice way of explaining that you'll be a ruthless organ harvester. Here, you'll learn about things like the intricacies of the human anatomy, the value of super glue and why it's more cost-effective to remove all the necessary organs before your unwitting donor wakes up. Amusement and black humor abound. You can thank Aaron Dron, Daan Nijs, Andy Durdin and Hazel McKendrick for this one.

The Vermin Throne

Twine is rapidly becoming one of the more popular tools for indie game development, so it's no surprise to see a Twine game be one of the stand-outs this year. Damian Sommer's The Vermin Throne is an intriguing novelty. Multiplayer experimental interactive fiction? Wow. The premise is entirely familiar: your father is dead and you must either shame or slaughter your siblings in a bid to become the sovereign ruler. To do so, you will have to, inevitably, improve your vital statistics and engage in battles of wit and wickedness.

The Polygraph

What better way to spend a few minutes than being strapped to a pixelated polygraph? Set against a noir backdrop, The Polygraph is a game about accuracy and maintaining composure, which asks you to manage the fluctuations of your tremulous heart as faceless figures probe you for the truth. The Polygraph is a simple yet elegant interpretation of the theme, one further enhanced by the moody musical accompaniment, the detective vibe and surprisingly good writing. Chloi Rad, James Farmer and Peter Hunter are responsible for this fine piece of work.

Last but not least, an honorable mention goes to Shaolin Heart Puncher's wonderful trailer.

Speaking to Edge, Firaxis Lead Designer Jake Solomon said the developer's early efforts of crafting an XCOM reboot back in 2003 turned out "awful." Sounds harsh, but considering the polish and personality of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, we're glad for the do-over.

"It’s a good thing it never went ahead, because I was way too young, I had very little experience, and I just wasn’t in the right place to make that game," he said. "It really took a long time until it made sense for the team and for the company."

After a few years spent waiting for Firaxis to construct additional wings in its underground complex, Solomon and his team took another second stab in 2008, the prototype for which eventually evolved into XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the well-received blend of tactical alien slaying and squad management which earned our 2012 Strategy Game of the Year award.

Good denizens of PC gaming, heed our call! We've been working on a spiffy new website feature and we need you - yes YOU! - to test it.

It's called Gamer Rank and it links together your PC Gamer profile with your Steam account, allowing you to keep track of your games, your friends' games, achievements, stats, leaderboards and, most importantly, loads of pretty graphs.

Look! Graphs!



You can also see where you place on a leaderboard of every other community member, as calculated by our own very special algorithm. Look at these heroes:



You can see the most popular games among members of the community, compare your achievements side-by-side and even see which achievements are the most rare overall:



Did I mention the graphs? GRAPHS.



It's all in closed beta at the moment and there are kinks to hammer out, usability conundrums to confront and future features to foment. But we need more data first! And data means users. And users means you. If this sounds like a jolly old wheeze, let us know by sending an email containing your Steam name and forum name to pcgamer@futurenet.com with the subject "PC Gamer beta awesome" and we'll try and get you in.

(Just to reassure you: we only use the Steam name to identify you and enable your account. This in no way gives us access to your private information - only stuff that you've made publicly visible on your player page. If you've got everything set to private, you can still sign-in with Steam and have a poke at all the stats we pull in - but your own data will appear as nil.)

This was supposed to be terrible. One of Capcom Japan’s most revered third-person action game series handed off to Ninja Theory, the Cambridge studio behind PS3 stinker Heavenly Sword. Dante’s white-haired anime cool was ditched, the new model all surly and (gasp!) Western-looking. It was bound to be a stinker, this most hardcore of hack-and-slashers in this most Japanese of genres, passed to a UK studio with an average track record, focus-tested on idiots and dumbed down beyond recognition. An insult to a beloved series. DmC: Devil May Cry, however, is great.

Admittedly, if you’re one of the vocal few who took to the internet all foam-gobbed to make clear your displeasure at every new screenshot and trailer reveal, you’ll find plenty here to back up your argument. While the premise is the same as ever – Dante clears screen after screen of gnarly-looking demons with balletic, stylised combo attacks, before facing down super-sized ultra-monsters – this is, on default difficulty, an easier game than its predecessors. But there are seven difficulty levels in all, and from the fourth onwards things get insane.

DmC also properly, patiently explains its systems and mechanics, but not in an overly hand-holdy way. It just wants to make sure you know what you’re doing.



It even has a decent story, although it’s a little hamfisted at times. With this being a reboot it’s only fitting that it tells Dante’s origin story, as he battles with his long-lost brother Vergil to save humanity from Mundus, king of the demon world and antagonist in the first Devil May Cry. Here he’s doing his demonic thing from his desk at the head of the Silver Sacks investment bank, seeking to control the world through debt. Subtle stuff, eh? It’s told, of course, with tongue very much in cheek, in keeping with the series’ schlocky, B movie feel.

As with its forebears, DmC’s story is mere set dressing, the backdrop to the real star of the show: the combat. This isn’t a game of winning alone, but of doing so with panache, of mixing up your use of the numerous tools at your disposal to maximise your style rating in pursuit of a coveted SSS rank. That’s more straightforward here by simple virtue of there being more toys than before. In addition to his trusty sword and pistols, Dante now has angelic and demonic weapons. Angelic strikes are fast and good for managing multiple foes; demonic attacks are slower but tougher, and able to break through enemy shields. By the end of the game you’ll have two of each type of weapon, and can switch between them at the tap of a button.



These twin powers are also used to pull enemies and objects towards you (demonic pull) or you towards them (angelic lift), good for extending combos, escaping danger, and as Dante’s principal means of traversal. These platforming sections are the game at its worst, with little in the way of challenge, a simple matter of looking around for a blue (angelic) or red (demonic) glow and pressing a couple of buttons.

The real thrill is in the combat which, while lacking the obtuse complexity of Devil May Cry 3’s four switchable fighting styles, offers a smart combination of all of them at once. This Dante is more powerful than ever, with more tools than ever too: all those weapons plus pulls, lifts, dodges, counters and the all-conquering Devil Trigger mode.

Dumbed down? Not a bit of it. DmC is every bit as good as the games that preceded it and, in some ways, better than ever.



Expect to pay: £30
Release: Out now
Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Capcom
Multiplayer: None
Link: www.devilmaycry.com

EA have released a trailer for the Digital Deluxe edition of SimCity. The download-only version of the game will come bundled with three city sets, adding in British, French and German flavours of housing and transport. Er - that's flavours as in "styles". I haven't been tasting them.



The trailer's description runs through what's included in the packs:

"Place world renowned landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Brandenburg Gate or Big Ben to help your tourism business in your city. Receive challenging missions, complete unique achievements and earn big bucks as waves of Sims visit the landmarks. Watch as the businesses, homes and vehicles around your landmarks start to take on the flavor, style, and architecture of those countries."

Which all sounds rather nice. I'm all for a bit of cultural variation when it comes to city management. Problem is, the Deluxe edition comes with a significant price hike. It's £65/$80 compared to £45/$60 for Origin's regular edition (itself a fair bit higher than most retailers are selling the game for). That seems like a big increase for what's being offered.