GamesRadar - PC

The Top 7... toughest opening levels (Feature)

Oct 13, 2008

Why games fail at storytelling (Feature)

Oct 10, 2008

It's not just about bad acting and Jill sandwiches ...

The worst MMO jobs (Feature)

Oct 8, 2008

We play MMOs for the chance to escape. They help distract us from the drudgery of the real world - that dreadfully non-magical place where night elves don’t ride giant tigers into battle and rock trolls don’t puke acid on our heads. But sometimes MMOs take the whole idea of “work as play” too far, giving us virtual chores that take grinding to a whole new level. Meet the worst MMO jobs. ...

LucasArts’ and BioWare’s big announcement = PC Gamer’s next cover story (News)

Oct 6, 2008

If the history between these two companies, the internet rumor mill, and the leak from EA’s CEO himself left any doubt in your mind what LucasArts and BioWare are working on, one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets will be revealed on October 21. On November 11, our Holiday issue will hit newsstands (lucky subscribers will start getting it earlier) with an exclusive in-depth look at the game, featuring interviews with BioWare ...

The Top 7... Game expos better than E3 (Feature)

Oct 6, 2008

Imagine the room you’re in spiraling inward as soothing celesta music transports you to another time and place. You’re in LA; it’s 2006 and you’ve just walked onto the E3 show floor. Everyone is buzzing about the Wii and the DS Lite. Jokes about the PS3’s $600 pricetag are circulating, but anticipation of Sony’s powerhouse is hardly damaged. Flashing lights and beautiful women accompany lavish displays of ...

Who fights a Bill of Rights? (Feature)

Oct 3, 2008

Stardock and Gas Powered Games’ recently suggested Gamer’s Bill of Rights seems to have motivated all sorts of people to action. Within days of its unveiling, I received e-mails alerting me to the Casual Gamer’s Bill of Rights, the Comcast Peer-to-Peer Bill of Rights, and some sort of U.S. Bill of Rights demanding, among other bizarre ideas, the freedoms of speech, assembly, and protection from the quartering of ...

Primetime to real-time (Feature)

Oct 3, 2008

While games based on movies and TV shows have a long and proud tradition of sucking really, really hard, there are a few out there I’d love to see make the jump to real-time strategy. Picking them out ended up being harder than I thought, since most movies and shows have small groups of central characters, which doesn’t really work well in a game where you need disposable units. After much deliberation, here are my top four ...

Games vs Movies: 20 cutscenes compared (Feature)

Oct 3, 2008

If you’ve played a movie-based game in your lifetime, we’re sorry. We’re sure you know that most games strive to stick as close to the film as possible. Even when taking “creative license” with the source material - in cases like Superman Returns, Hulk or any other boring action film - you’re bound to see some semblance of the movie’s story acted out in glorious 3D. ...

Epic game plots made simple (Feature)

Oct 3, 2008

Why WoW players should switch to WAR (Feature)

Oct 2, 2008

Playing an MMO isn't a hobby. It isn't a pastime. It's an obsession that grabs you by the nuts and doesn't let go until you become a sleep-deprived zombie with an insatiable lust for more loot. MMOs aren't just games. They're an all consuming way of life that replaces your family with guildmates, sacrifices sleep for more raiding, and leaves you hung over with blurry visions of gear upgrades. ...

Evolution of the tree (Feature)

Oct 2, 2008

You don’t know how good you’ve got it. With the latest generation, you’ve got one of the most sophisticated pieces of technology in the world sitting under your television (or sitting on your desk), obediently pumping out hundreds of thousands of polygons a second and making trillions of calculations, all so you can sit there grunting about how the draw distance isn’t that great, or how the characters’ faces aren't that well animated. ...

Holy crap! Golden Joysticks breezes past 600,000 votes (News)

Oct 2, 2008

You read that right number fans - this year's Golden Joystick Awards has now amassed 600,000 votes. Immense! ...

Gaming's Most Important Farty Butts - Greatest Farts (Video)

Oct 1, 2008

Gaming's Most Important Farty Butts - Boogerman commercial (Video)

Oct 1, 2008

What's your gaming pet hate? (Feature)

Oct 1, 2008

You remember your first set-piece. They’re exciting to begin with. You’re playing a level, you turn the corner, and – OH MY GOD! – a spaceship has just nuked that building! But... but... but Alpha Team was in there. Commander Jenkins! Michael. He saved my life in the Martian Wars. Good god. We’ve got to get in there, and now. ...

The Top 7... Stupidest Puzzles (Feature)

Sep 29, 2008

Puzzles aren’t meant to be simple - they’re meant to sell hint books and strategy guides. Obstacles aren’t meant to be obvious - they’re meant to artificially lengthen the adventure! Here are the seven most bizarre, irrational and frustratingly convoluted examples we’ve ever encountered. They don’t just spit in the face of logic... they kick logic right in the balls. ...

The coming digital tidal wave (Feature)

Sep 29, 2008

A huge change underway in how videogames are made and sold is poised to transform the entire industry. Digital distribution will not only affect how you get games, but also the types of games you experience. Buying boxes from brick-and-mortar stores will wane significantly over the coming years, while downloading titles over the Internet will continue to grow.Consider how much things have changed in the way music is sold. ...

Reminder: Vote in the Golden Joystick Awards NOW! (News)

Sep 26, 2008

The 26th Annual Golden Joysticks are almost upon us. And, if you’ve still not voted for your favourite games, publisher and developer yet, now is the time. Like, right now ...

GamerBlips highlights best of video game blogs (News)

Sep 25, 2008

Take your eye off the Web for a split second and you may not recognize it. Gaming information blasts out in a 24/7 cycle from Websites, blogs, and a barrage of social networking apps that dominate how people converse, socialize, and gather information. ...

See GTA IV with 8-bit graphics... (Feature)

Sep 25, 2008

We’ve seen some great remakes this year. The success of Bionic Commando Rearmed on Xbox LIVE and Final Fantasy IV on the DS shows that playing old games on new hardware is still fun. But the good folks at The Independent Gaming Source have turned the idea of remaking classic titles on its head with their recent Bootleg Demake competition. ...

Can you really rocket jump? (Feature)

Sep 24, 2008

We take a lot of things for granted in games. Such as guns that leave nothing but skeletons when they hit the enemy, or that you can hack a computer by playing a simple puzzle game. But no more. PC Gamer wanted to find out how far science was being abused for the sake of our entertainment. ...

Game moments you don't want a loved one walking in on (Feature)

Sep 24, 2008

There’s ‘do you think anyone smelt me dropping that beef biscuit?’ embarrassment. And then there’s ‘accidentally relieving your bowels in public after one too many beers and a chicken vindaloo’ embarrassment. Guess which category the following gaming shames fall into? ...

Reminder: Vote in PC Gamer's Top 100 NOW! (News)

Sep 24, 2008

The PC Gamer Top 100 is going to be amazing and if you heart your PC games to death you absolutely have to take part. But you need to do it quick-sharpish because voting closes at 12.01am GMT, on Monday 29th September ...

Intelligent AI design (Feature)

Sep 23, 2008

As game makers can probably attest, one of the biggest challenges of creating a good first-person shooter is the artificial intelligence development. Programming an AI-controlled bot to perform with enough skill and unpredictability to convince you it’s a real opponent is a tremendous feat. In fact, I don’t believe any modern shooter has produced artificial intelligence that would pass the Turing Test (a thought experiment where a ...

The Top 7... Worst Uwe Boll Scenes - Postal: Uwe Boll shot in balls (Video)

Sep 22, 2008

The 2008 PC Builder's Bible (Feature)

Sep 22, 2008

Getting your hands dirty and building your own system is what separates PC gamers from their console brethren, and it just so happens to be one of the most exciting parts of our hobby. Unfortunately, it’s also a pretty daunting process for anyone who hasn’t assembled his own rig from scratch. Thankfully, this guide not only gives you all you need to know about every component that goes in your gaming PC ...

The Guide to our favorite Guides (Feature)

Sep 19, 2008

Congratulations on finding your way to our Guide to Guides! If you’re on the wrong console page, use our helpful links to figure out what game you would like to become excellent at first. ...

Badass MMO aggregate site launches today (News)

Sep 18, 2008

If you’re a PC gamer, you’ve often felt the itch for unique weapons and the wonderful feeling once it has been scratched with an Archaic Defender. Now there is a site filled with news about that very thing: MassiveBlips.com. ...

PC Gamer November issue on sale! (News)

Sep 17, 2008

The latest issue of PC Gamer Magazine is now available on the newstands! You’ll get exclusive screenshots of Dragon Age and the skinny on why your next PC should be a laptop. And, on the disc, don’t miss our exclusive interview with Will Wright, Spore creature building tips straight from the game developers, a pack of 50 Spore creatures and much more! ...

Sim racing grows up (Feature)

Sep 16, 2008

While waiting for my maiden online iRacing.com event at South Boston Speedway to commence, I took a cursory glance at the drivers I’d be competing against. There, at the top of the qualifying list, was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Yes…that Dale Earnhardt Jr.It was one of those defining moments where you realize you aren’t playing games anymore.For those who haven’t heard, David Kaemmer (of NASCAR Racing, IndyCar Racing, and GPL ...

Top 10 TalkRadar moments of all time (Feature)

Sep 16, 2008

O HAI! I didn’t see you click in. I’m one of the co-hosts of GamesRadar’s super-ific, fantastical podcast, TalkRadar. What started out as an excuse for us to bite back at the internet and industry that feeds us quickly gained a following we weren’t quite expecting. That other podcast you like? This one’s funnier, better even. ...

Management is not the enemy (Feature)

Sep 15, 2008

I have never been a strategy gamer. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate the genre as its own art form, but I am by nature such a manager, organizer, and taker of care that to me, the idea of building sufficient resources and ordering units from place to place isn’t fun—it’s like work. Or grocery shopping. Or a family reunion. I like games with logic puzzles and games with explosions. Which are also a little like a ...

The Least Faithful Movie Games (Feature)

Sep 12, 2008

There’s probably no genre more reviled than movie-based titles. We think it’s agreed upon that most of these games generally suck. And we get it. With the development team having to hit a specific release date, there is no way programmers have the necessary time to make a stellar title. That’s why we get crap like Enter the Matrix. More often than not, we get titles that take great liberty with the material. ...

Best Parts of Crap Games (Feature)

Sep 12, 2008

We look at the ace bits of atrocious games ...

Worst Rock-Star cameos of all time (Feature)

Sep 11, 2008

Question: Does anyone really care about the real musicians signed to appear in Guitar Hero: World Tour? Don’t respond out loud - use our handy comment feature below. Shouldn’t the focus of games like Rock Band and GH be on you pretending to play an instrument? Case and Point: In Guitar Hero III, any moment given to taking in the mannerisms of Tom Morello, or the expressionless rock face of Slash is time spent not playing. ...

Game characters that time forgot (Feature)

Sep 11, 2008

This article is dedicated to the game characters that time forgot. You may want to light a candle of remembrance as you read ...

Piracy vs. Theft: The argument beyond the words (Feature)

Sep 10, 2008

Spore’s cumbersome DRM (three installs per copy) has enraged much of the gaming lot, and some cite the restriction as a reason they might download a pirated copy of the game. Unrelated developer Positech recently asked gamers why they pirate games, and sure enough, restrictive DRM was among the biggest complaints. The others were fairly obvious: price, quality, convenience, and so on. The information is useful (and Positech ...

Monster mash modding (Feature)

Sep 9, 2008

Even before its release, Spore was already a phenomenon—the game’s Creature Creator application became a Net craze three months earlier. More than two million homemade creepy-crawlies found their way onto the web within weeks of the editor arriving online and in stores on June 18, making it the first time an unreleased game became the biggest thing in PC modding.All of which sure caught me by surprise. I didn’t think so ...

The Top 7... New franchises that already feel old (Feature)

Sep 8, 2008

Mario is a cultural phenomenon. Final Fantasy is epic. Resident Evil, Fallout, Diablo... all of these classic franchises will eventually be tossed away, but they won't be stamped with expiration dates anytime in the foreseeable future.

Other franchises started growing mold before they even left the grocery store shelves.

The somehow-less-inspired franchises may sell millions, contain lovable ...

What to do with your Lancer (Feature)

Sep 8, 2008

Gears of War’s Lancer is perhaps one of the finest “default” weapons in any videogame ever. Awesome firepower aside, the Lancer’s gratuitous chainsaw bayonet is capable of chewing enemies into puddles of gore. When we heard that a special bundle was shipping with a battery-operated replica Lancer, we knew we had to have it. Oh yes, it must be ours… ...

Rebalance of power (Feature)

Sep 5, 2008

Real-time strategy balance is a constant struggle. You can test a game in beta all you like, but when you go live and the public gets its hands on it, like a 3-year-old with a supposedly child-proof toy, they will find a way to break it that no sane mind could have conceived. Almost inevitably, someone will figure out an unstoppable attack plan involving mass-produced scouts and building nothing but defense turrets, and suddenly everyone is ...

Worlds beyond counting (Feature)

Sep 5, 2008

It was a slow and long lunch hour. I was headed into a few days of relative calm at work, and so my daily ritual of browsing the shelves of Babbages software store offered the anticipation of purchase.It was a strange-looking box, jammed into the new releases and adorned with a couple of weird spaceships, a muddy color palette, and an unwieldy name. I had seen no marketing for this game—it seemed to have fallen onto the shelf ...

10 LEGO games we’d love to see (Feature)

Sep 3, 2008

Nobody really expected Lego Star Wars to be as good as it was, or to sell as well as it did, when the game dropped in 2005 - but developer Traveller's Tales surprised us all by turning what should have been the ultimate crappy licensed game into a fun, well-designed runaway hit. Since then, the Lego-game dynasty has grown to include Indiana Jones and Batman, both based on existing Lego toy lines, and both fun despite being essentially ...

Destroying controllers in slow-motion (Feature)

Sep 2, 2008

No one really breaks their controllers in a fit of unchecked aggression for failing in difficult games like Ninja Gaiden II. That doesn’t mean we don’t secretly glance at our systems periodically and crave to bash the ever-loving crap out of what we hold dear as some sort of cathartic release. Well, you can’t. After all, gaming is an expensive hobby/lifestyle/deviance. ...

The Top 7… Canine companions (Feature)

Sep 1, 2008

Dogs may be known to some as simple leg-humping bastards that like to lick your face after chomping on their own feces. But even the most ardent members from the anti-canine camp can’t deny the powerful comfort provided by a dog’s unwavering loyalty and the charm of its waggling tail. ...

Extended mysteries (Feature)

Aug 29, 2008

It seems like many moons ago that I wrote a column about Mysteries of Westgate, an adventure pack for Neverwinter Nights 2 that was crafted by Ossian Studios. I had great expectations for it, since Ossian’s founder, Alan Miranda, was producer of the outstanding Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, and Ossian’s NWN modules were popular. The version I played wasn’t quite polished for release—there were a few ...

Political terms re-defined by videogames (Feature)

Aug 29, 2008

Oh my divided stars and garters, there’s an election going on! And a damn important one at that. Kinda makes you want to know the issues, what’s at stake, which candidate addresses your interests, stuff like that. But golly, all that political jargon bores the shit out of us. ...

Ultimate Developer Battle (Feature)

Aug 28, 2008

It's the turn of real-life developers to duke it out, dust it up and do each other over like blood-hungry gladiatorial champions. We've taken 16 of the industry's best-known, best-respected and most beautiful developers and smashed them head-to-head in an entirely make-believe orgy of violence. Let the fighting begin! ...

How you can "save" PC gaming (Feature)

Aug 27, 2008

If the press is to be believed, we’re a dying breed, friends: the PC gamer is slowly slipping loose the surly bonds of expensive upgrades and Byzantine hardware requirements, and gently rising to grab onto the tray-and-play hem of console gaming. If the press is to be believed, we are an inscrutable genus of fickle software pirates killing ourselves from the inside as we steal the labors of developers, rendering inoperable the very ...

How to draw videogame fanart (Feature)

Aug 26, 2008

I was graced with hands which lust to create. I did not choose to live within the both splendorous and torturous tower of artistic wizardry; the tower chose me. I am an instrument of aesthetics, a humble child of Aphrodite.

The world may never fully understand the deep pit of hot coals which glows and sparks with creativity within me, but I must attempt to impart some of my insight to the world. Raise your pencils and feel the passion build within you. Someday you too may be able to draw Mario as well as I. ...

Take me higher (Feature)

Aug 25, 2008

One problem with the first-person gaming perspective is that some people find it too disorienting to be playable. Fast-paced action moving across a screen can send vertigo-prone gamers’ heads spinning from motion sickness. The six degrees of freedom in the original Descent helped fill many barf bags—and is, no doubt, one of the reasons we don’t see many fully open 3D shooters developed. Instead, developers make concessions, ...

Gaming to go (Feature)

Aug 25, 2008

“Laptops can’t play games.” This is a truism up there with “bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly,” “dogs can’t look up” and “robots do not understand this human thing you call love.” It’s baloney.

Even the cheapest laptop on sale today can play hundreds, if not thousands of games. ...

Leipzig's best trailers (Feature)

Aug 22, 2008

In case you weren’t able to jet over to Leipzig and booze with surly eurotrash at the spiritual successor to E3, we’ve collected the show’s hottest videos in one easy place. Because of the show’s positioning in the product release calendar, it’s more about building hype for imminent fall releases and less about shock announcements. ...

Confessions of a professional gamer (Feature)

Aug 22, 2008

As a professional gamer, you get to travel, compete against the best gamers in the world, and make a living doing it. But is getting paid to play as sweet as it sounds? Meet the Championship Gaming Series' San Francisco team, OPTX. They just walked away from their last tournament with a fat purse of $150,000 after kicking ass in Counter-Strike: Source, Forza Motorsport 2, Dead or Alive 4, and FIFA 08. ...

GamesRadar is getting even more better (News)

Aug 21, 2008

GamesRadar is pleased to announce that in the next few weeks users will be able to get properly involved with their favourite gaming site and become an important part of the dysfunctional-but-happy GR family thanks to the introduction of a host of dazzling new community features ...

A picture history of videogame spaceships (Feature)

Aug 20, 2008

In terms of awesome, spaceships are right up there with pirates and ninjas and robots. To celebrate gaming's ongoing romance with booster-powered, warp-fast , proton-firing, wormhole-dodging vehicular imaginings, we thought we'd take a look back at almost 50 years of spaceships in games using the attractive medium of in-game and box-art imagery ...

PC Gamer October issue on sale now! (News)

Aug 19, 2008

he latest issue of PC Gamer Magazine has just hit the stands! Be sure to check out the exclusive Diablo III screenshots and find out what we know – and what we think – about Blizzard’s next (best?) thing. You’ll also get an exclusive hands-on look at Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, insight on Steam’s evolution from ...

The Top 7... Girl gamer stereotypes (Feature)

Aug 18, 2008

For Norris’ sake, we all know that girls play games. They play “hardcore” games, "casual" games, strategy games, adventure games, fighting games, mind games, games games games all the time every day. Can we stop with the “girl gamer” nonsense? ...

Walk this way (Feature)

Aug 18, 2008

The human eye is a merciless critic of videogame animation. Stiff, unnatural, or repetitive motions are easily detected and remind us that we’re stuck inside a clockwork world of predetermined paths and movements. NaturalMotion wants to wipe animations like these off the map, and it’s going in the opposite direction as just about everyone else to do so.Most developers aiming for realistic human animation use data from motion-capture ...

Team Fortress 2 Heavy achievements revealed? (Feature)

Aug 15, 2008

Word spread quickly when Valve began posting early details about their next big update for Team Fortress 2. Our eyes went straight to the list of new achievements for the Heavy, which you can find here. But Valve’s titillating tease didn’t stop there. It seems they’ve left a trail of clues for fans to follow in the filenames of all the Heavy’s new achievement icons. Right-click on any of these new icons and ...

Control issues (Feature)

Aug 14, 2008

Dear SimColumnist: What kind of steering wheel (or joystick) should I use? I hear it all the time, especially from racing- or flight-sim newcomers intimidated by some perceived necessity for an expensive top-of-the-line controller. Well, I’ve managed to muddle through the past couple of decades with a variety of sticks, wheels, and other bits of simming hardware, and this month I’ll impart my accumulated wisdom (such as it is) on the

...

The Future According to Videogames (Feature)

Aug 14, 2008

Videogames often enjoy high-speeding along the temporal tightrope, conjuring its own make-believe predictions of how the next few thousand years or so in Earth history could pan out. So, laid out right here in the present is the future of the world according to videogames. Hold on tight, because we're doing the time warp from 2009 to 7268 ...

WMD-related program activities (Feature)

Aug 13, 2008

It has long been my belief that building a superweapon should make you feel like a power-crazed madman (kind of like Kim Jong-Il, except better looking) and grant you an awesome destructive capability more than potent enough to compensate for any shortcomings you may have been teased about in the high school locker room. ...

Do the right thing (Feature)

Aug 13, 2008

It may not flash its naughty bits every time it exits an automobile, but the PC still generates at least one good scandal a month. The latest brouhaha: EA’s initial plan to employ draconian digital rights management measures on Mass Effect and SPORE. The original plan called for online authentication during installation, and then again every 10 days for the duration of the games’ life on your PC. Following fan outcry, ...

10 games that need the Mega Man 9 treatment (Feature)

Aug 12, 2008

Pardon our geekboners, but holy f**k Mega Man 9! Instead of dragging our boyhood hero through any more tired Star Forces or Battle Networks, those understanding folks at Capcom are giving us the Mega Man game we’ve always wanted.

What took ya so long? And more importantly, why haven’t other games turned to their pixilated roots when MM9 is making it look so damned easy? Tecmo Bowl is about to rise ...

A FREE alternative to Guitar Hero! (Feature)

Aug 11, 2008

Rock games may have originated on consoles, but they’re making a smooth transition to the PC—and I’m not just talking about the Windows version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock that debuted last fall. PC gamers now have freebie alternatives to Slash’s favorite recreational pursuit (next to heroin), thanks to a pair of indie guitar games called Frets on Fire and Guitar Zero. Both can essentially ...

10 industry-shattering stolen exclusives (Feature)

Aug 8, 2008

The biggest announcement at this year's E3 - that Final Fantasy XIII is going multiplatform - is about more than just a game being available to a wider audience. It's also a clear sign that the topography of the videogame industry has changed a little. ...

The Devil Returns (Feature)

Aug 8, 2008

Praise be to Blizzard for not abandoning us. For a while, it seemed Blizzard was so giddy over the truly monstrous success of World of Warcraft that it might shelve its non-MMO Diablo and StarCraft franchises. That decision wouldn’t have been unprecedented, as EA and Origin Systems stopped Origin’s development of non-MMO games and let the legendary single-player Ultima and Wing Commander series lie fallow after Ultima Online ...

25 Annoying Things About Non-Gamers (Feature)

Aug 7, 2008

For years, we've endured their criticism. Gamers are immature. Gamers are immoral. Gamers are wasting time and money on silly, stupid toys. Nag nag nag. Blah blah blah. Now, with those same people snatching up Wiis, fumbling through Guitar Hero and pretending to finally "get" our hobby, it's time to turn the tables. What annoys you about non-gamers? ...

Hater Boy (Feature)

Aug 7, 2008

Remember in Star Wars, when Obi Wan felt a disturbance in the Force as the planet Alderaan was destroyed? That’s the same tingling sensation I felt when I awoke on the morning of June 28. I thought it could be a hangover, but regardless, something didn’t feel right. Something was…different. It wasn’t until I opened my web browser that I realized what it was: Diablo III had been announced. And that disturbance I felt? ...

The Unfulfilled Promises of Virtual Reality (Feature)

Aug 6, 2008

“Virtual reality holds the key to the evolution of the human mind” - Dr. Lawrence Angelo, a terrible film (1992)

I was born in 1985, and thus grew up believing that by the mystical and far off Year 2000 I’d be testing my wits alongside Sherlock Holmes in a holodeck, plugging all sorts of electronic nonsense into my brain, and seeing the world through kickass bionic eyeballs. ...

The Top 7... games that affect real life (Feature)

Aug 4, 2008

You know that phrase people use when something "stays with you long after it's over?" Nothing fits that statement better than video games, and here we've collected the seven best examples of games that leap out of the screen and infect, impede or enhance your daily existence. In other words, you're still playing these reality-altering games even when the power's off.

...

PC Gamer Top 100 is ready for your votes (News)

Aug 4, 2008

The hardcore brethren at PC Gamer magazine have embarked on an epic quest to properly sort out once and forever the 100 favourite PC games of all time. And they're doing it the only way they can - by getting the games buying public to vote. Yes, that means you. ...

A Modest Proposal (Feature)

Jul 31, 2008

We love videogames. Well, I know I love videogames. I imagine you love videogames, too, because you’re reading this site, after all.But we get it—we know that games are fun and safe, no matter how edgy the content is. And yet there are people—a lot of them—who are terrified that videogames will turn us all into violent, demented serial killers. ...

Games vs Girls: Which is Best? (Feature)

Jul 30, 2008

We love games. We love girls. Would it be wrong to question which we love the most? Probably. So let’s do just that.

If you’re on this website it’s probably safe to say you love games. It’s also highly probable you love girls too. (By far most GR readers are guys, of which, according to accepted academic thinking, approximately only one in ten is gay.) So the vast majority of you love games and girls. ...

The most unlikely gaming lookalikes you'll ever see (Feature)

Jul 30, 2008

Want to see Nelson Mandela's digitized doppelganger in Wind Waker or to stare aghast at the unnerving mug shot similarities between his holiness the Pope and a short-assed nut job from Resident Evil 4? Of course you do. We've rounded up a dozen of the most uncanny face doubles that you're ever going to point your disbeliefing eyes at ...

Why Japanese box art is better... (Feature)

Jul 29, 2008

Some countries just do things better than other countries. America exports films and fast food; France is famous for its wine and snooty red berets; Cuba has cigars and dudes named Castro. And Japan, in addition to many other feats of geek-related awesomeness, can claim the coolest and most creative videogame box art in the world. ...

The Top 7… Irritating female characters (Feature)

Jul 28, 2008

It's no secret to us that GamesRadar is frequently seen as taking an objectifying stance toward women in videogames. However, the truth of the matter is that we greatly love and admire our digital heroines, no matter how sensibly dressed they might be. Tough, capable women in strong roles are something games definitely need more of, and we applaud when those characters are done right. ...

Mediocre Game Babes (Feature)

Jul 25, 2008

It’s important to recognize the festivities surrounding our 7 out of 10 week are bold and warm natured salutes to mediocrity in all its forms. The contributions of gaming alone have made fantastic strides to rarely raise the bar and present us with passable drudgery time after time. ...

Hardcore Gaming Crimes (Feature)

Jul 24, 2008

If you asked me if I was a hardcore gamer, I’d say yes. I wouldn’t even pause to think about it. Not only did I find a way to take my passion for videogaming and turn it into a damned good career, but I still find time almost every day to play a videogame, even when I’m in crunch (like I am as I write this—what made me think I could pony up 600 words to the PC Gamer slavedrivers editors two weeks before the Spore ...

PC Gamer September issue on sale now (Preview)

Jul 23, 2008

The latest issue of PC Gamer Magazine has just hit the stands!Make sure to check out the exclusive Fallout 3 screenshots and details on the skills and perks systems that you won’t find online. ...

E3 Close Standing (Feature)

Jul 23, 2008

E3 is hard. The grip of monotonous press conferences, overlapping appointments, games to play, people to talk to, and drinks to drink quickly transformed us from skeptical but eager journos into bags of dehydrated flesh and tangled wires.

After considerably little thought, our response to the whole thing was, "To hell with it, why should we try to think of interesting things to say about avatars, REM, and make-believe saxophones when ...

CRAP games that scraped a seven out of ten (Feature)

Jul 23, 2008

Let’s be honest. You don’t need a certified games “journalist” to explain why Grand Theft Auto IV is awesome or that the Dirty Dancing videogame is shit. You’re intelligent. You know what kinds of games you love and which ones you despise. ...

The 100 lamest game-industry clichés (Feature)

Jul 22, 2008

1. All in all - A code phrase signifying the start of the final paragraph of a review, wherein the writer will sum up the meat of his opinion in a few brief sentences. If you see this at the end of a review, it's a clear sign that the last paragraph is the only one you actually needed to read.

2. Immersive - So fascinating and realistic, it almost makes you forget that you're actually sitting on a couch, twitching your thumbs ...

30 Reasons Leipzig Might Kill Off E3 This Year (Feature)

Jul 22, 2008

E3 2008 was on the whole a rather lame affair. But there is a great big hope on the horizon, and that hope is the Leipzig Games Convention, which happens next month in Germany ...

The Top 7... Lazy Character Clichés (Feature)

Jul 21, 2008

Game design must be super, super hard. What else can explain the number of shortcuts being taken in almost every one? Genres are repeated, environments are recycled and storylines all begin to sound the same. Most copied, however, are the characters. Dreaming up an entirely new personality with entirely new traits is a daunting task, so the majority of folks you meet in games end up feeling identical to the folks you met in previous games. ...

What is Seven out of 10 Week? (Feature)

Jul 21, 2008

Now that the dust has settled from the most aggressively mediocre E3 yet, we've entered that yearly lull in which the game industry kicks off its shoes and takes a pre-autumn nap. With crumminess behind and boredom ahead, we can't think of a better time to dedicate this week to a celebratory prodding of all that is banal, boring and mediocre in the game industry. In the coming days, we'll drag the laziest aspects of our industry - kicking ...

365 days of free games (Feature)

Jul 21, 2008

Summer is all about free time (at least when you haven’t joined the rat race just yet), and what better way to fill free time than with free games? ...

The dating game (Feature)

Jul 21, 2008

Find cow? Fund cave? Food core? We all sat round trying to work out what was written next to my name on the office whiteboard, my task for the week. Wait, I remember: ‘Find love’. That’s it. I have to find love in a videogame. This actually makes sense. ...

E3 08: Lost at E3 (Feature)

Jul 18, 2008

E3 is not so different from being trapped on a supernatural island wondering what the hell is going on. Our video response should clarify things for you. Enjoy!Jul 18, ...

E3 08: Best (and worst) trailers (Feature)

Jul 18, 2008

While there’s plenty of griping around the internets about a piss-poor E3’s boring press conferences and lack of big announcements, we saw plenty of great trailers for great games that we can’t wait to play. ...

X-Plane Times Nine (Feature)

Jul 17, 2008

Austin Meyer’s X-Plane franchise has been airborne for almost a decade and a half and, despite ongoing predictions of its imminent demise, the indie flight sim continues to evolve and expand. Now up to version nine, this stubbornly autonomous product plies an ambitious new route with some imaginative aircraft and a whopping 60 gigabytes of global scenery.Yeah, you read that right. The latest version ships on six DVDs that can ...

E3 08: The Most Excruciating Moments (Feature)

Jul 17, 2008

E3 may be getting smaller and smaller, holding fewer and fewer surprises, but you can still count on the show for one thing - horrible, horrible press conferences. When a bunch of corporate suits and publicity flaks try to relate to gamers, while still hitting all their boardroom selling points, the results are never pretty.

2008 is certainly no different. After only two days, we've already suffered through an agonizing gauntlet of ...

E3 08: Top 10 Toilets of E3 (Feature)

Jul 17, 2008

With all the meetings taking place in the hustle-bustle of E3, we feel the manner with which our colleagues have overlooked a very crucial "appointment" is absolutely disgraceful. Year after year, these longstanding convention attendees greet the press with warmth and unbiased affection and it’s about damned time someone sung their praises. You’re welcome.

We’ve peppered the poopy jokes with clichéd gaming ...

E3 08: E3 in numbers! (Feature)

Jul 17, 2008

So there’s this book knocking around E3. It’s produced by the (yawn) Entertainment Software Association. It’s green. It’s full of, and I quote, “Essential facts about the computer and video game industry. It’s quite dull and probably only of use to marketing types who like pleated trousers, wear ear-piece phones (ACKKKK!) and talk in serious tones about “fiscal years.” Either way, we ...

Strategy you can't buy (Feature)

Jul 16, 2008

The hottest trend in PC gaming these days is high-quality free-to-play games that make their revenue from advertising or microtransactions (players buying low-priced in-game items or currency), instead of a retail price tag. Right now, you can download and play free MMORPGs like Sword of the New World and Requiem: Bloodymare, and EA is gearing up for a bold experiment in free-to-play shooters with Battlefield Heroes. (You can also play the ...

E3 08: 7 tips for picking up chicks at E3 (Feature)

Jul 16, 2008

Nick Savoy, inventor of Love Systems, is something of a real-life Frank Mackey (Tom Cruise in Magnolia, if you don’t get the reference.) This week, all Nick’s energy is focused on E3. He’ll be the guy going home with the hotties the rest of us barely have the courage to ogle from afar. Want to know how he does it? Nick was kind enough to share a few tips with us.

1. Appearance mattersDitch the ratty old game ...

E3 08: E3 Then and Now (Feature)

Jul 16, 2008

If you've been following the games industry for any length of time you're keenly aware of E3. It was once the biggest show we had, a time of year when the entire world focused on the LA Convention Center and put on the loudest, craziest, busiest trade show video games could muster. Some loved it, others couldn't stand the shoulder-to-shoulder, body-odor addled conditions. Doesn't matter now, as the once proud and mighty E3 has shrunk like a ...

Dead or alive (Feature)

Jul 15, 2008

Games for Windows LIVE, in case you didn’t know, is Microsoft’s online gaming service, a single multiplayer platform across which all of their games may eventually run. Israeli tech news website NGOHQ.com is one of the service’s most notable doubters, having set up a petition to boycott the thing outright. ...

The End of ALT+TAB (Feature)

Jul 15, 2008

It’s as if it weren’t bad enough being abandoned in World of Warcraft by a guild member tending to pedestrian concerns like using the bathroom or a baby. Now, thanks to a new game overlay called PlayXpert, you’ll be competing for attention with Facebook, AOL Instant Messenger, iTunes, and potentially any other PC application, all accessible without ever leaving the game.But it doesn’t stop with World of Warcraft. ...