Funcom Unlocks Age of Conan Forums

Without any fanfare, Funcom has removed the lockout that prevented non-subscribers from reading the official forums of Age of Conan. Those of you who enjoy good forum drama, or just want some information about the game before dipping in, the it's all now open for you to see.

http://forums.ageofconan.com for the US forums.
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com for the EU forums.

I could spend rest of the afternoon linking to threads on the official forums detailing hilarious, silly or outright sad bits and pieces that describe in great detail the shape that Age of Conan is in, but that would take away the fun of browsing. So go ahead... YouGamers analysis will follow in the next few days, but I can already say it won't be too pretty. The game is simply unfinished, and I'm not talking about small cosmetic bugs or lack of polish - I'm talking about basic fundamental aspects of gameplay. But more on that in our full review.

Age Of Conan Euro CE Keys Not Working

New Fallout 3 Screenshots

Kicking things off today, the guys over at Bethesda Softworks have released three new screenshots from their upcoming post-apocalyptic RPG, Fallout 3. These latest shots show off the game's environments, flying limbs, and some HUD lovin'. Let the drooling begin:

Fallout 3 is scheduled for release this Fall.

New Men of War Screenshots
Men of War Screenshots

Mass Effect (PC) resisting piracy efforts

Bucking the usual trends, the PC version of Mass Effect has thus far remained impervious to software pirates. In a world where practically all games are copied'n'cracked on the first day they go up for sale, a working pirated copy Mass Effect has surprisingly not shown up in the larger P2P networks at this time.

While the game's DVD can be downloaded illegally in its entirety, the programmers from the dark side of the Force have not succeeded in breaking the game's copy protection. From comments I've read, the only working pirated copy floating around runs for about an hour before coming to horrible, fiery crash when trying to access the galactic map. From other comments I've read, Bioware employees would probably be very happy to hear that their game's DRM -- even weakened by removing the required every-10 day activation -- has been successfully in at least convincing a few pirates to buy their game:

"I dont have time to mess around with this... im buying it..." said a one guy named raggar86, on the world's largest torrent site ('The Bay.')

"I just ordered the game, should be here tomorrow. What can I say, if it wasn't for the crack not working I would obviously not have bought the game." -- stated 'BasicReality'.

"goddamnit...I will buy this game if crack wont show up soon..." --'Santtuloi' whined.

"lol I just went out and bought it... Apparently they're using a gay-ass online SecuRom checker" reported 'zenzou.' 

While it is unlikely that game-stoning walls of Mass Effect's DRM will prove unbreakable, having lasted this long is an accomplishment. Up to now, the game's DRM has at the very least benefited Bioware's sales a small amount -- but of course, by exactly how much, is nearly impossible to judge.

Although many gamers have a great deal of hate for SecuROM, it does appear to be at least somewhat effective. And after seeing how many disappointed pirates are out there, sitting around, not being able to pirate this excellent TPS/RPG, it seems like Bioware made the right move by going with this tougher DRM. 

With a bit of luck, M.E's DRM will hold out a bit longer; and even more would-be pirates will give up, and then cough up, cash for this well-made game.

DRM for Bioware’s Mass Effect (PC) looks like it’ll be intense
Bioware cedes to community and weakens Mass Effect’s DRM

Battlefield 2142 Patch v1.50 Released

Keeping us on our toes today, the guys over at Digital Illusions have released a new patch (v1.05) for their hit multiplayer shooter, Battlefield 2142. Weighing in at 176MB, this massive update features a ton of bug fixes, gameplay tweaks, two new maps (Wake Island 2142 and Operation Shingle), widescreen resolution support, a no vehicles mode, and much, much more! You can check out the full patch notes right here or just hit any of the following mirrors to start downloading:

GamersHellFilePlanetFileFrontFileShackStrategy InformerWorthPlaying

Sounds like a must-have update. So don't miss it!

World in Conflict v1.008 Released

Street Fighter IV Epic Trailer

Getting our adrenaline pumping today, the guys over at Capcom have released a brand new teaser trailer for their upcoming fighting title, Street Fighter IV. Running just over a minute long, the video features a mix of in-game action, CG cutscenes and old school Street Fighter footage. Not sure I'd call it "epic", but at least the song fits. ;)

Thanks to GameTrailers for the above stream. A mirror is also available at GameVideos.com. Stay tuned for more links!

Roogoo Gameplay Trailer
Spore Cell Phase Trailer

Crytek: No More Crysis Patches

Ruffling a few feathers today, Crytek has announced that they won't be releasing anymore patches for their hit first person shooter, Crysis. They don't offer a reason for this decision, only stating that we'll find out why in the "very, very near future". Here's the scoop:

So, What About Patch 1.3?
At this time, there almost certainly will not be a patch 1.3 delivered for Crysis. We are aware that this news will disappoint many of you, and we would like to apologize profusely. There is a good reason for this and we hope you understand when you hear more about the reasons why in the very, very near future. Please realize this was an extremely difficult decision, but please do know that we are listening to your comments and are making more consistent community support a high priority.

We are confident that the things we are working on will be appreciated by the community, and we hope for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us.

The Crysis Monthly Update also reveals that the Crysis Linux Dedicated Server has been put on hold, due to unsatisfactory progress. Click here to learn more!

DRM for Bioware’s Mass Effect (PC) looks like it’ll be intense
Bioware cedes to community and weakens Mass Effect’s DRM

Alone In The Dark System Requirements

Atari's revival of the Alone in the Dark series is due in late June (June 20 for Europe, June 24 for the US) on the Xbox 360 and the PC. Set in the New York City with unexplained supernatural activity around the Central Park, Alone in the Dark tries to bring something new to the Survival Horror genre, with "episodic" gameplay - effectively the game is split into pieces that play out like episodes of a television series, complete with cliffhanger endings and teasers.

Built using the Twilight 2, the latest version of the engine used in Test Drive Unlimited, the system requirements are not that dramatic - what was "pretty steep" an year ago is not that high any more. Read on for the details, or use our Game-o-Meter to check if your system is good enough.

Alone in the Dark System Requirements

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Operating system: Windows XP SP2 / Windows VistaCPU: 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 2800+Video Card: NVidia GeForce 7600 or ATI Radeon X1650 or betterRAM: 1GBDisk space: 8.5GB

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS

Operating System: Windows XP SP2 / Windows VistaCPU: 3.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 3400+Video Card: NVidia GeForce 7800 GTX or ATI Radeon X1950 XTX or betterRAM: 2GBDisk Space: 8.5GB

So effectively any dual core CPU will do, as even fast single cores are good enough while on the GPU front, Shader Model 3.0 is required, but by today's standards that's pretty much a given. Based on this, a $150  GeForce 9600 GT will run the game just fine.

Minimum and recommended system requirements for Mass Effect
Race Driver: GRID released for PC, Xbox360, and PS3