PC gaming news and reviews

The latest PC gaming news and reviews of gaming PC hardware, software and accessories.

Latest

The company behind the Eve V laptop is back with crowd-developed monitors
Finnish company Eve focuses on crowd-developed products, taking input from gamers and power users to shape hardware designs. In 2017 the Eve V, a convertible tablet similar to the Microsoft Surface, was a strong effort -- it packed more RAM than similarly-priced Surface tablets and had a sharper screen than most competitors. This year, the company hopes to bring three gaming monitors to market. The Spectrum series is meant to deliver the high-end performance that gamers, designers and engineers look for in a monitor by gathering and implementing feedback directly from the Eve community. While they aren't scheduled to ship until much later later in the year, all three models are now up for pre-order.
This is the end of 'Kentucky Route Zero'
Kentucky Route Zero ends with a funeral. It's a beautiful sight. The ceremony is in front of a towering dilapidated barn that serves as the anchor for a pastoral artists' community buried deep in the Kentucky woods. The setting sun bathes the town in gold as residents gather around a mound of dirt and an open hole, sharing haunting poetry and a song about the two bodies inside. Everyone calls them The Neighbors.
Steam's Lunar New Year sale begins with deals on GTA, Witcher and more
Steam is having a massive sale in celebration of the Lunar New Year and it all kicks off today. Right now, catch deals on Grand Theft Auto V (50 percent off), Dark Souls III (75 percent off), Resident Evil 2 (67 percent off), Disco Elysium (20 percent off), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (60 percent off), The Witcher III (70 percent off), and a ton of other titles. A handful of games are available for less than $10 -- the first episode of Life is Strange 2 is just $2, Rainbow Six Siege is $8, and Payday 2 is $5, to name a few.
Half-Life games are free on Steam until March
With the first Half-Life game in more than a decade set to come out in March, series creator Valve has made every game in the franchise free to play for the next two months. As long you have Steam installed on your Windows, Mac or Linux computer, you can play all of Gordon Freeman's adventures, including Half-Life and its excellent Opposing Force expansion, as well as Half-Life 2 and its two subsequent DLC episodes.
Telltale's complete Walking Dead series is finally available on Switch
Fans of Telltale's The Walking Dead who've been hoping to play through all of Clementine's story on Nintendo Switch can finally do so. Skybound Games has released Season Two and A New Frontier on the eShop for $15 each. Season One and The Final Season were already available on Switch.
Valve is definitely not working on 'Left 4 Dead 3'
An HTC executive is learning first-hand about the dangers of making unsupported statements in your presentations. Valve has rejected speculation that it's working on a third Left 4 Dead game after Alvin Wang Graylin, HTC's president for Vive in China, posted a slide claiming that "LFD3" (along with Half-Life: Alyx) would spur demand for VR in 2020. The developer's staff are "absolutely not working on anything L4D related now, and haven't for years," according to a statement to IGN. While Valve did "briefly" look at a next-gen version of the co-op shooter a few years prior, there's nothing in the works now.
Help Australian wildlife with Humble’s latest 29-game bundle
With the ongoing bushfires in Australia, Humble has launched a new Australia Fire Relief Bundle designed to help organizations working to save and rehabilitate animals affected by the disaster. Those who donate a minimum of $25 will get access to almost 30 Steam games.
‘Iron Man VR’ is delayed until May 15th
It seems we're not quite done with the recent deluge of game delays -- you'll now have to wait a bit longer before you can scoot around the skies in Tony Stark's suit in Iron Man VR. Camouflaj is shunting the PS VR game's release date from February 28th to May 15th.
Steam might be coming to Chromebooks
Google is reportedly working to bring Steam to Chromebooks. Kan Liu, director of product management for Google's Chrome OS, shared the news with Android Police. Unfortunately, Liu didn't reveal a timeline or share which games might be available.
'Horizon: Zero Dawn' is reportedly coming to PC this year
Sony will release its 2017 PlayStation 4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn on PC later this year, according to Kotaku's Jason Schreier. Citing three sources "familiar with Sony's plans," he says the company will likely sell the game on both Steam and the Epic Games Store.
'World of Horror' brings MS Paint terror to Steam on February 20th
World of Horror, the "unsettling cosmic horror retro RPG" created by a dentist using MS Paint arrives on Steam Early Access February 20th. A full launch date for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Steam for PC and Mac OS X will be announced in late 2020, says publisher Ysbryd Games.
Oculus Go gets a permanent price cut to $149
You won't have to wait for a short-lived sale to score an Oculus Go below its original $199 asking price. Facebook has confirmed to Engadget that it has permanently dropped the price of the 32GB stand-alone VR headset to $149 (64GB is now $199), with "comparable discounts" in every country where the Go is available. The new pricing is "rolling out to all channels," it said. You can already see the new price at Amazon, Best Buy and the Oculus Store, and it won't be surprising if other stores already reflect the price drop as well.
Valve's Index headset is sold out and VR 'Half-Life' isn't even here yet
Valve's Index VR headset is sold out in most regions where it's officially available, and just a few months before Half-Life: Alyx comes out. According to RoadtoVR, which checked its availability across 31 countries, you can only get a unit in Japan at the moment. Even then, you can only buy the headset or the headset with controllers bundle: the full kit with base stations is also sold out in the Asian country. On the headset's official page, the developer notes that it's "busy catching up with the demand" for the device.
Razer updates its DeathAdder gaming mouse for greater accuracy
Razer announced a major update to its DeathAdder mouse today, and while it looks pretty much the same on the outside, the inside has some noteworthy upgrades. This biggest change is that the DeathAdder V2 uses the Razer Focus+ Optical Sensor, which tracks 20,000 dots per inch, as opposed to V1's 16,000 DPI. The sensor also features Razer's Smart Tracking, Asymmetric Cut-off and Motion Sync features, all of which make for the highest sensor specs on the market, according to the company.
Epic Games Store will keep offering free games throughout 2020
The Epic Games Store has faced something of a challenge in capturing the hearts and minds of gamers since its launch in 2018. Its continued insistence on exclusives, plus its relative immaturity compared to the likes of Steam, has seen complaints from all sides. But its hard graft is paying off, and the platform is sharing its good fortune with its fans. Today, it announced it will be continuing its weekly free game program throughout 2020 -- claim a game for free, and it's yours to keep forever.
'GTA4' leaves Steam after an old Microsoft service breaks game sales
Rockstar is learning first hand about the pitfalls of trusting your game's functionality to a third-party service. The developer has confirmed to The Verge that it stopped selling Grand Theft Auto 4 on Steam after Microsoft stopped supporting the Games for Windows Live platform the title depends on. It's "no longer possible" to create the extra game keys needed to sell GTA4, a Rockstar spokesperson said. You can still play the Steam version if you already have a copy, but newcomers will have to go somewhere else to experience Niko Bellic's life of crime.
Panasonic's compact VR glasses see the future in HDR
2020 will be a key year for the future of virtual reality, and if things really take off then we should see a lot more stylish headsets like these goggles from Panasonic. The company says that these are the first VR glasses to support HDR video, and in some of the demo reels I saw the advantages were apparent. One video showed high-res video of a beach captured from a drone, and in HDR a lot of annoying gradation in the sky disappeared and overall quality improved.
Steam makes it easier to find and download game soundtracks
Steam's approach to game soundtracks has been broken, to put it mildly. It's been treated as downloadable content for its associated game, forcing you to buy the game in question -- and you could forget about having an easy way to manage your collection. Valve is thankfully fixing that experience. It's introducing a "soundtrack" app type that lets you buy soundtracks whether or not you own the core game, manage them in your Steam library and place them in a central music folder instead of scattering them across multiple game directories. Developers can even sell soundtracks when the game isn't available on Steam. In theory, a creator with an Epic Games Store exclusive could still peddle the soundtrack.
You can actually buy Origin's new 'Big O' console and PC monster
Remember Origin PC's ridiculous franken-gaming-machine that combined an Xbox One X, PlayStation 4 Pro, Nintendo Switch and Windows-powered PC? At the time, it was just a marketing gimmick designed to celebrate the company's 10th birthday and the half-PC, half-Xbox 360 it made back in 2010. The stunt was a huge success, though, so Origin PC has made a new version that people can actually buy. Something in the same vein, anyway.
Charmin thinks your bathroom needs robots and VR
Charmin, the popular toilet paper brand, has big plans for CES. Its Charmin GoLab will showcase "cheeky" conceptual prototypes all meant to improve the bathroom experience. They're a blend of robotics, sensors and virtual reality, and they're all equally ridiculous.

...