Bummer.

Another bummer.

This is not a bummer. Reinstated backwards compatibility coupled with its new $299 price would prompt me to buy a Playstation 3. I’m not just saying that; I missed most of the PS2′s golden age, and although I’ve gone back and played Final Fantasy XII, some Ratchet and Clank games, and the odd RPG, I still have a lot of games that I would love to play anti-aliased and upscaled.

Choices breed indecision, therefore preventing indecision requires identifying and eliminating our choices. This is our boon, our burden, and our charge as PC gamers. We mull over choices such as which video card, which mouse, how many cores, and how many watts. Digital distribution’s increasing popularity has, despite its merits, introduced the choice of where do I buy? The default choice, for most of us, is Steam. We would be justified, but competition is important for an industry to thrive. We must not surrender our opportunity to choose, and we must not surrender to complacency. To consumers and businesses, complacency is a common enemy. As consumers we should act out of self-interest, but we should be mindful of when supporting competition is in our interest. We must do more than merely acknowledge competition — when it’s deserving, and when it’s to our advantage, we must also support it.
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Earlier this week I rewrote my Painkiller article to be consistent with the Cheap Gaming posts we write today. Have a look.

The first Cheap Gaming post that I wrote about an MMO will also be our first Cheap Gaming post to expire. This news is disheartening as Dungeon Runners is not a bad MMO, and worse games have succeeded. Dungeon Runners game servers will be on until the new year, so treat yourself to playing before it’s too late.

The skill-based progression Cryptic is describing sounds similar to how I remember Star Wars: Galaxies’ progression to be (pre-revamp). I didn’t play SW:G for long, but I admired its skill system for the freedom it gave players to gradually shape their character’s class.

It’s old footage that wasn’t meant for public view, but I am glad to know that a sequel to The Witcher is coming, however unceremonious the reveal was.

I didn’t buy Trine for $30 because I felt it was expensive and I wasn’t sure I would have fun playing it by myself. Now, a few days before its price dropped to $20 on Steam, there’s news that it will be a part of my GameTap subscription — and just in time for my transition to Windows 7 64-bit. Score!

Just as its predecessor in 2007, Skate 2 is on track to being my favorite game of 2009. It’s definitely the game I’ve played the most, so I’m predictably glad to hear of another sequel. Some are saying it’s too soon, but the release cycle is consistent so far — about 15 months between each game (Sept. 2007, Jan. 2009, May 2010). Unless you weren’t satisfied with Skate 2′s improvements on Skate, there’s no precedent for concern yet.

Dokapi is a German Jazz-Rock music duo composed of guitarist Titus Köstler-Philipp and pianist Tilman Sommer. Their music is available for free under Creative Commons at their page on Opsound. The song featured below is Yucca; the skysphere is made from an image called Schiermonnikoog: Infrared dunes by Flickr user Aldo.

I’ll be glad when the word “save,” as a verb, is no longer used when speaking of PC gaming. While not without its problems, the platform is no longer in danger. Regardless, Brad Wardell is making some valuable observations here.

Speaking of Stardock and digital distribution, Impulse Phase IV has just launched. The new website design is much easier to navigate, and I appreciate being able to filter by price. Ready To Play appears to be Stardock’s answer to Steam Community; I’m interested to see if Impulse will capitalize on what I think is a unique opportunity to one-up Steam on community features.

On a related note, EA has just partnered with, and added several games to, Impulse. Among them is Dragon Age: Origins (pre-order), The Sims 3, and Red Alert 3 along with its expansion, Uprising, which was previously exclusive to EA’s own digital distribution service.

Although Peter Moore’s view is probably limited to consoles, technically, the PC platform should be credited with having “laid the ground” for online multiplayer, communication, and content distribution.

News of this acquisition came as a relief to me because, due to 3D Realms’ tenuous existence, I’ve had concerns about Prey 2′s status. There is no telling if Human Head is still developing it, but the Prey IP should be in good hands now, at any rate.

This is nearly 30 minues of Jeff Gerstmann and Tim Schafer walking around at PAX while talking and letting their humor play off each other. Also, nerds.

Although I purchased Fallout 3 when it first released in October of 2008, I made up my mind that I would wait until two conditions had been met before playing. First, I wanted to wait for the first three official add-ons to be released. Second, I wanted to play using a mature version of the DarNified UI, a Fallout 3 PC mod (of which there is also a version for Oblivion) that overhauls the game’s interface (HUD, Pip-Boy, etc.) to look and feel as if they were designed for PC controls and displays. I finally began playing in May of 2009, when both conditions had been met. I’ve since logged just over 56 hours of play; the main quest and a slew of side quests are now completed, and I have impressions and experiences to share.
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