Recently at Rock Paper Shotgun
PC gaming is not domed. It is a thrusting obelisk of passion. Rock Paper Shotgun, as the New Balls of PC coverage, knows this. And now, so will you!
The Essential E3
Check out the gents' coverage of the E3 game expo, as it pertains to serious players. Herein it is discovered that Capcom likes a bit of PC and that no-one likes E3 much at all.
Fallout 3
The temptation to write "if you've been living in a cave" is almost overwhelming. It turns out that the V.A.T.S targeting system takes what is indeed Oblivion with Guns and makes it something much, much better: "It is incredible. I refuse to believe anyone is going to play the game using real time combat when V.A.T.S is available. You see, V.A.T.S. turns every battle into an amazing cinematic event, and not in a lame way like a Final Fantasy game," writes Mathew Kumar.
Hellgate: Korea
Flagship, the devs of Hellgate: London and Mythos, apparently used its IP as collateral against an investment/loan/something from Korean megapublisher Hanbitsoft. Flagship met its doom. An incredible fight ensued, in which everyone gets laid off, the two companies disagreed about what on Earth was going on, and Hanbitsoft started issuing increasingly entertaining press releases insisting that it owns all that IP; might own that IP; and, finally, will do everything it damn well can to get its hands on that IP. Kieron Gillen with the latest missive.
The skies are clear
Want to see the first half hour of so of sandboxy Stalker sequel Clear Sky? See it here. Fans of the original will be delighted by how the new look dances like an irradiated mutant fairy atop the flickering gaslights of the first game's bleak, mystical gloom. "OH GOD THE TERRIBLE ACTION MUSIC," notes Jim Rossignol.
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For me, PC gaming is all but dead. I am a mega-huge Fallout fan, and have played Fallout 1 & 2 three times each. I love those games, and I have been waiting for years for Fallout 3 to come out. However, I may never play it.
The biggest killer is likely to be DRM. I like to replay my favorite games every few years. If Fallout 3 has a Bioshock-like DRM system, I will not even waste my money on it. I will not pay to have a headache handed to me on a platter.
The other reason is simply money. My current high-end machine is an AMD socket 754 with AGP graphics. This machine is not capable of playing modern games, but is just fine for household use. In order to play Fallout 3, I will need to build a new computer just for that. That will be around $700 to $1200. Or, I could just buy a Playstation 3 or X-box 360 for around $400. Guess which one is more tempting. There are no DRM problems with console games (that I know of). You can even loan the game to a friend, or sell it to a used-game store. Try doing that with modern PC games.
As much as I want to play Fallout 3, I do not when, if, or how I will play it. I do not currently have a modern console game system, but I have been tempted to get a Wii (my kids would love it too). However, the Wii will not play Fallout 3, and I don't have the money for two game systems.