Next week, we'll be coming to you direct from Los Angeles, where the 2006 E3 trade show will be held. There, every single publisher will be blasting the latest and greatest in games. From Nintendo's brand new Wii to the PlayStation 3, the hottest systems will be drawing crowds. Xbox 360, PC, PS2 and the rest will be fighting back with amazing new games. Either way, it's you who's going to win. And we bring it all to you.
But before that, we're going to show you the games we know about now. The
It's an adventure that never ends. Final Fantasy has always been a finite experience, bounded by a story that reaches a definite conclusion. Not Final Fantasy XI, though. It's been going strong for more than two years in the US, and with the release of the Xbox 360 version this week, it's available to more gamers than ever before. Whether you've just grabbed the new 360 version or got interested because of the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion pack that hit the PS2 and PC this week, we've got
We can't wait
Crysis
EA dropped the Crysis bomb two months back at the Game Developer's Conference: a three-minute proof-of-concept trailer that allowed us to peer into the future of first-person shooters. We swallowed our gum hard and became cemented in place as we watched (...and watched) as the jungle was torn apart by automatic weapons fire. Tree limbs cracked off, explosions ripped across the landscape and mercenaries stomped through deformable foliage.
Emerging from the dense
The world of digital distribution is making "going down to the store" as old-hat as, well, an old hat. The most convincing example of online shopping goodness is Steam, a powerful system from the creators of the mighty Half-Life.
Steam is to games what iTunes is to music. Valve's creation may work on a smaller scale than Apple's huge store, but it solves more problems.
While music and video stores simply upload files and take payments, Steam integrates the initial game delivery with patching,
Back to day 3
Day 4: Going it alone
Today we'll walk you through the first 10 levels of your adventuring career and give you tips to maximize profit while doing it.
Conquest
Once you create a character and find your way out into the wilderness, the first thing on your mind is going to be slicing up monsters. But before you begin your bloody career, you should become acquainted with the "Conquest" system. Why? Because Conquest will be where most of your money comes from for the
Wednesday 19 April 2006
The world of digital distribution is making 'going down the shops' as old-hat as, well, an old hat. And that's a leather one with a feather in it. The most convincing example of online shoppery is Steam, a powerful system from the creators of the mighty Half-Life games.
Steam is to games what iTunes is to music. Valve's creation may work on a smaller scale than Apple's huge store, but it solves more problems.
While music and video stores simply upload files and take
Back to Day 4
The Final Push
While gil, items and experience points can take you pretty far in Final Fantasy XI, they're not always the answer. Today we'll help you through some of your first major milestones before pushing you out of the proverbial
Back to Day 2
Day 3: MMO Boot camp
If you've never played an online RPG before, be prepared to change the way you think. Sometimes it seems like the game bashes you over the head with rules - written and unwritten. So why do people bother? Because it turns out these rules actually help more than they hurt, most of the time - and the games are so addictive, anyway. In Final Fantasy XI, many of the rules are designed to force players to play with one another, and others simply aim to get them
Back to Day 1
Day 2: Get a job
If you've played other Final Fantasy games, chances are you've run into the "job system." It's a classic - it lets you totally change your character's class and abilities. Even better, once you hit level 18 you can equip a "Support Job" to make your character kick even more ass, with a sackful of new abilites. In total, Final Fantasy XI sports 18 jobs, each more classic than the last.
Support Jobs operate at half the level of the main job, but can alter your
Wednesday 12 April 2006
When Stainless Steel Studios was pulled as developer for action-slash-strategy game Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War, the game was almost cast into the black hole of development limbo. But, with Midway's in-house development team now at the helm and a confident summer release on the horizon, things are looking good for this promising genre-bending RTS.
With an exclusive playable demo of Rise & Fall appearing on this month's PC Gamer cover disc - on sale tomorrow - we
