New PC Games

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Weekend Impulse Deals

Looking for something new to play? Then good news! Stardock's Impulse digital distribution service is holding a weekend-long sale on several titles that may be of interest to you. Here's the skinny:

Age of Booty - $4.99 US (Reg. $9.99)On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Bundle Pack - $19.95 US (Reg. $29.95)Making History: Gold Edition - $9.99 US (Reg. $19.99)Hack and Slash Bundle Pack - $5.00 US (Reg. $19.99)

Some pretty sweet deals right there! Especially Age of Booty and the Penny Arcade bundle. If you'd like to 'try before you buy', give the demos a spin: AoB Demo / PA Demo. ;)

DiRT 2 Studio Tour Trailer

Also available for download today is a new trailer for Codemasters' upcoming off-road racing title, Colin McRae: DiRT 2. Clocking in at just over three minutes long, the video gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the game's particle system, audio, car handling and lighting model. Check it out:

Thanks to GameTrailers for the above stream. Hit-up any of the following websites for a mirror:

GamersHellFileFrontFileShackWorthPlayingActionTrip

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 is scheduled for release in September 2009.

Canadians fight back against US copyright law imposition

Last Friday we wrote on the imposed changes to Canadian copyright law coming from the United States Trade Representative (USTR). In short, they feel we (as well as China, Russia, India and Thailand, among 42 other countries on the list, for which Canada has the lowest piracy rate by far) are too lenient and as such, would like us to adopt much stricter regulations; evidently what's bad for Canada is bad for the U.S., but never the other way around.

As it turns out, the 301 watch list Canada is now on "lacks reliable and objective analysis" and is "driven entirely by U.S. industry," according to University of Ottawa law prof Michael Geist.

This has all happened before, and Canadians still aren't having it, this time going beyond our stereotyped letter-writing and making a protest film. Check out "C-61", named after the proposed bill:

Lauded Canadian journalist-activist Cory Doctorow provided some narration in the film, and commented further via boingboing:

Previous attempts to pass this bill have been a disgrace -- famously, former Industry Minister Jim Prentice refused to discuss the bill with Canadian record labels, artists, tech firms, or telcos, but did meet with American and multinational entertainment and software giants to allow them to give their input. In the bill's earlier incarnation as C-60, its sponsor, Sam Bulte, was caught taking campaign contributions from the same US and multinational entertainment companies...

It's always bigger than they tell you.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

StarCraft 2 Beta Sign-ups Begin!

Grabbing out attention this afternoon, Blizzard Entertainment has announced that they are now accepting applications to beta test their highly anticipated RTS, StarCraft 2. To sign-up, just log into your Battle.net account (create one here), visit your "Beta Profile Settings" page, run the system check utility to submit your hardware details and select opt-in for the SC2 beta. Then it's just a matter of waiting to see if you get in. Good luck! :D

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