Meet Ukyo, The Final Bachelor, In These ‘Amnesia: Memories’ Screenshots

by Josh JacksonAugust 20, 2015

Would you cross dimensions for the perfect husbando? Amnesia: Memories is counting on it. This upcoming Otome title, (or story driven game targeted towards girls, which didn’t stop me from enjoying it at E3,) puts you in the role of a protagonist who has lost all of her memories. In order to regain what she lost, she must get close to the people in her life and learn more about herself while hiding the fact that she forgot in the first place. And what’s the best way to do that? Date all of the guys!

The latest batch of screenshots present Ukyo, one of the bachelors featured in Amnesia. Like the rest of the cast, this green haired beau will take different roles depending on which reality you want to pursue. So while he might be a love interest in one play through, he can also be a friend or co worker in another! Only by experiencing every reality will you find the truth behind your existence.

In addition to the previously announced PS Vita and Steam releases, there’s some good news for mobile fans out there! Amnesia will also arrive on Android and iOS at the end of August courtesy of Gloczus. Now you can have all your boyfriends on your phone without any of them finding out!

How boy crazy are you? Check out the screenshots below and get your heart racing. Keep an eye out for our final review as the August 25th release date approaches.

Gamescom 2015: Elite Dangerous Gameplay Trailer

by jake108August 4, 2015

Have you ever wanted to explore our galaxy with a 1:1 ratio in customizable ships with friends? Elite: Dangerous might be the game for you. Elite: Dangerous is a space epic MMO where you and your friends can travel the galaxy, collect minerals, buy ships, and start dogfights in the middle of an astroid field. Players make their own stories and are free to explore when and how they want.

The latest gameplay footage of Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One, the definitive massively multiplayer space epic. Starting with only a small starship and a few credits, players do whatever it takes to earn the skill, knowledge, wealth and power to survive in a futuristic cutthroat galaxy and to stand among the ranks of the iconic Elite.

The game is available now on Steam and the Xbox One.

E3 2015: ‘One Piece Pirate Warriors 3’ Continues To Prove That ‘Dynasty Warriors’ Makes Everything Awesome.

by Josh JacksonJune 30, 2015

Look, if you’ve played any of the One Piece Pirate Warriors games, you don’t need me to tell you what to expect. Even if you haven’t, but played anything from Hyrule Warriors to Dynasty Warriors, this upcoming game based on the insanely popular manga series is going to be more of the same. With that said, this is far from a bad thing, since it’s been proven time and time again that the wackiness of Luffy, his crew, and his enemies lends itself quite well to destroying hundreds of enemies at a time. Promising to be a bigger, more realized version of the entire One Piece experience, our hands-on time showed that it’s on a path to do just that.

As you would expect from any type of Warriors game, this 3D beat em up will have you choosing from one of the many characters introduced across the hundreds of episodes One Piece has aired. Covering everything from when Luffy first set sail from Fushia Village to the latest story arc in Dressrosa, and told through a 3D comic book/cell shaded hybrid visual style, it’s safe to say that you’re going to be playing this for a VERY long time.

Naturally, all of this story content is amplified by the huge amount of people, (and reindeer,) you’ll be able to take down entire armies with. From the main crew consisting of Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, Nami and the like, all the way through Shanks and Ace, and new characters like Sabo, Donquixote, Doflamingo and Fujitora, you’ll never have a time where you feel like the game is too short on characters. If one isn’t enough, you can even take a partner with you into battle, triggering screen clearing special and double team attacks when the right conditions have been met. Did you expect anything different from an anime title?

As you progress, the main goal is to travel across the map and capture bases, which usually involved beating down waves of enemies until a boss shows up. Objectives change as the game progresses, with the hopes of keeping the repetitiveness to a minimum. Even then, if you’re a One Piece fan, (and seriously, what are the chances you’d be reading this if you weren’t,) then it’ll be its own reward to see your favorite characters on screen, using their insane abilities to do what they do best. And based on the episode count, it’s definitely fighting, not actually finding treasure.

If you’re not a fan of these kinds of games, it’s not likely that Pirate Warriors 3 will change your mind. However, if you love the anime, love beat em ups, or love games with a ton of content, then this latest One Piece title is shaping up to be worth setting sail for. Make sure to stay tuned as more details emerge, and be sure to check back for all your gaming coverage!

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is set for a Summer release on the PS3, PS4 and Steam.

E3 2015: ‘Saint Seiya Soldiers’ Soul’

by Josh JacksonJune 28, 2015

Action anime are a dime a dozen these days, especially with the international rise of popular series’ like Dragon Ball Z. Even then, outside of your DBZ’s and Sailor Moon‘s, there were so many popular anime to come out of the late 80’s and early 90’s that still remain firmly in niche status, despite their huge following in Japan. One of the biggest examples of this is Saint Seiya, dubbed Knights of the Zodiac in the West. With such insane levels of action, a huge cast of characters to explore and loads of power ups, it’s following here is smaller, but passionate all the same. With a new anime series debuting, it sounds like the perfect set up for a game, right? We sat down with a hands on build of the upcoming fighting game to see if Seiya’s big return is one to get excited for.

Developed by anime fighting game veteran, Dimps, Soldiers’ Soul looks to cover a ton of ground, so even those unfamiliar with the source material should be able to get caught up quick. Following the Twelve Zodiac Temples arc through the battle with Hades, the game promises to deliver these, and other storylines across the series’ many chapters, its biggest moments will be retold through some fancy 3D cutscenes. Brought to life even further by the original Japanese voice overs, as well as English, Spanish, Brazilian and Portuguese subtitles, now the whole planet can enjoy the narrative! Or at least most of it…

While playing, it’s clear that the cutscenes aren’t the only part of the game getting gorgeous visuals. Watching the game in action looks close to what you would expect from 3D CGI scenes in an anime film. Taking a 3/4ths diagonal perspective that swings to a traditional side view as the fighters draw closer, this fully 3D fighter feels reminiscent to the perspective of the DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi series combined with the special move mechanics of the recently released Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure brawler, and the core mechanics of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series.

Fast paced combos are performed using three of the face buttons, each with varying strength. A tap of the shoulder button will teleport you behind an enemy when you’re stuck in a combo, but this can only be triggered a certain amount of times before you’re stuck with playing defensively. If the course of the fight launches you into the air, new aerial combos and range variation attacks keep the battles flowing smoothly, mirroring the absurd levels of awesome the anime can reach. By building your Cosmo through either fighting or charging up, Seiya or one of the many other fighters will be able to unleash powerful special attacks, which are perfect for finishing off opponents who are on the ropes. Basically, everything you could want from a solid anime fighting game is found in Soldiers’ Soul.

With a varied cast, (complete with their Gold Saint and God Cloth forms,) fast paced fighting, beautiful graphics and a smooth, 60 FPS frame rate on PS4, and it’s looking like we’ll need to be ready to add a potentially great fighting game to our radars.

Any Saint Seiya fans out there? Tell us about your favorite moments in the comments, and look for Soldiers’ Soul when it launches on PS3, PS4 and Steam this Fall.

Steam Hardware Pre-Order On Now

by BigyanksJune 4, 2015

Valve has been teasing the gaming community for quite a while now with their proposed invasion into the living room. With their Big Picture mode. Steam OS and their Steam Machines, it appeared that Valve was ready to take on the Big Three!

Now the dream becomes a reality as preorders for their first and third party hardware start TODAY! You can get your hands on a preorder by hitting up your local GameStop or through Valve directly. If you preorder you will get the hardware on October 16th! That is almost a month early, when the entire catalog goes public November 10th!

About the Steam Hardware devices:

remote

Steam Controller — An innovative input device that allows you to play games from all genres, including traditional gamepad style games as well as games usually reserved for play with a mouse and keyboard. The Controllers are wireless, completely configurable, and available for pre- order in the U.S. and Europe for an estimated $49/?54.

steam link

Steam Link — The Steam Link allows Steam gamers to easily expand the range of their current gaming set up via their home network. Connecting any TV to your Steam host PC, Mac, or Steam Machine, the Link allows you to stream your games at 1080p 60 fps, and is available for pre-order in the U.S. and Europe for an estimated $49/?54.

SyberSteam_bk_400 alienware-steam-machine

Steam Machines — Available from Alienware and other manufacturers, Steam Machines can serve as a stand-alone device for enjoying the Steam gaming experience in one box, with more than 1,000 titles available for native play. In addition, Steam Machines have the ability to broadcast and receive In Home Streaming, allowing you to stream your games to a Steam Link, or receive a stream from another Steam Machine or PC. Steam Machines will vary in price, offering a range of hard drive sizes, graphics performance, and more. Available for pre-order in the US, starting at an estimated $449.

Personally, if I were you, I’d just invest time and money on a full sized PC. With the ever increasing quality of hardware, and the cost of said hardware DECREASING in parity, you’d be better off building your own machine.

That being said, the Steam Machines are a great investment for someone wanting to explore the HUGE Steam library, without getting wrist deep in computer parts.

‘Chip’s Challenge’ And ‘Chip’s Challenge 2’ Hit Steam This Thursday!

by Derek KraneveldtMay 26, 2015

Briefly: I have never been so excited to replay an old game, but I’m even more excited to play its 20-year-old-but-never-released-until-now sequel.

Yep, just as we mentioned extensively on Geekscape Games last month (you are listening to Geekscape’s all gaming sister podcast, aren’t you?), Chip’s Challenge and Chip’s Challenge 2 are about to hit Steam.

Both titles will launch this Thursday, and Chip’s Challenge 2 will even feature a level editor as DLC.

I haven’t touched Chip’s Challenge since I was a child, but I’m really excited to give the game another go and see if I’m any better at hard-as-hell puzzle titles now that I’m an adult. Seriously, from what I remember, the game quickly becomes an infuriatingly tough experience, and as I’ve played more than a few puzzle games since my Chip‘s days, I think I may be able to do it (but I’m probably terribly, terribly wrong).

In any case, take a look at a Chip’s Challenge 2 trailer below, and let us know what you’ll be playing on Thursday.

‘Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2’ Delayed On Steam

by Megan HaleyMay 18, 2015

The release date of the newest Hyperdimension Neptunia game has been pushed back for Steam users. On July 2nd, the Playstation Vita port will be available for 50% off the retail purchase price for the first few days, according to a press release from Idea Factory. This will be our first chance to see Nepgear and company in all their 1080p glory

Our own Josh Jackson fell in love with the game when it was released for Vita (read his review of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2). For more info on the Steam release, check out the press release below, and let us know if you’re planning to add this to your Steam collection!

About Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation 20XX – Gamindustrifaces a dire crisis. Shops are boarded up, creators are overworked and starving, and death looms over all Gamindustrimen. But the CPUs refuse to let this be game over for their world!Gamindustri had severed its ties to the chaotic Lawless Realm long ago, and yet… Ever since the advent of ASIC – the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime – morality has all but vanished. As much as 80 percent of all students are rumored to worship a being known as Arfoire. Parents, despite knowing it to be a poor deity to worship, have gone ahead and allowed their children to do so. Even the governing bodies of the world have turned a blind eye to it, rather than crush the crisis in its infancy. Well, basically, Gamindustri was pretty messed up, you guys. Ahem.

Thus did Gamindustri fall into complete and utter disarray. Those who tire of living in this corrupt world are sent to wander the Gamindustri Graveyard, forever lost.

Key Features

-Gamindustri in 1080! Experience all the humor, turn-based battle, and crazy HDD transformations of Re;Birth2with the sheen of 1080p excellence!

-Four or More for War! Have up to 4 characters on the battlefield, and 4 more on the sidelines, ready to jump in and give their support!

-Stella goes Rogue! Send Stella out to brave Gamindustri’s dungeons in this realtime mini-game and she’ll collect all kinds of treasure for you – you just sit back and eat pudding! Be careful though, because if she dies in the dungeon, she’ll lose all her special gear!

-The World’s your Oyster! Customize the Gamindustri experience with Plans, which allow you to do things like increase/decrease enemy difficulty, change the items you’ll receive from a dungeon, and more!

-Build-a-Sword! Use Idea Chips and Blank Discs to create custom equipment that can open up new worlds of skills for you!

Valve Announces ‘Source 2’ And First Party Hardware At GDC

by Shane O'HareMarch 3, 2015

This year’s GDC was going to be an exciting one. With Valve making a very large up front announcement that they were going to be having a press conference full of content (It was today, 3/3/2015. I guess they CAN count to three.). Well we have an official press release from the company that outlines some VERY exciting products from Valve. The most exciting (for me anyway) is the announcement of the Source 2 engine!

“We continue to see very strong growth in PC Gaming, with Steam growing 50% in the last 12 months,” said Gabe Newell, Valve’s president. “With these announcements we hope that we are helping build on that momentum.”

Steam Machines, Windows PCs, Macs, and Linux PCs will be able to take advantage of a new product announced at GDC called Steam Link. Designed to extend your Steam experience to any room in the house, Steam Link allows you to stream all your Steam content from any PC or Steam Machine on the same home network. Supporting 1080p at 60Hz with low latency, Steam Link will be available this November for $49.99, and available with a Steam Controller for an additional $49.99 in the US (worldwide pricing to be released closer to launch).

Steam Machines from partners Alienware and Falcon Northwest are being shown, with Machines from a dozen other partners slated to release this November. Steam Machines will start at the same price point as game consoles, with higher performance. Customers interested in the best possible gaming experience can choose whichever components meet their needs. Epic will give a demonstration of the newly announced Unreal Tournament running on a 4K monitor driven by the Falcon Northwest Steam Machine. “We love this platform,” said Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games. “Whether you’re running incredibly detailed scenes at 4K or running 1080p at 120 FPS for an intense shooter experience, this brings world-class gaming and graphics to televisions with an open platform true to Valve’s PC gaming roots.”

Valve will show a virtual reality (VR) headset. Developer versions of the headset will be available this spring, and partner HTC will ship their Vive headset to consumers by the end of the year.

Two new technologies are part of the VR release – a room scale tracking system codenamed Lighthouse, and a VR input system. “In order to have a high quality VR experience, you need high resolution, high speed tracking,” said Valve’s Alan Yates. “Lighthouse gives us the ability to do this for an arbitrary number of targets at a low enough BOM cost that it can be incorporated into TVs, monitors, headsets, input devices, or mobile devices.” Valve intends to make Lighthouse freely available to any hardware manufacturers interested in the technology.

“Now that we have Lighthouse, we have an important piece of the puzzle for tackling VR input devices,” said Valve’s Joe Ludwig. “The work on the Steam Controller gave us the base to build upon, so now we have touch and motion as integrated parts of the PC gaming experience.”

“We’ve been working in VR for years and it was only until we used SteamVR’s controllers and experienced the magic of absolute tracking that we were able to make the VR game we always wanted to make,” said Alex Schwartz of Owlchemylabs.

VR demos being shown at GDC include work from Bossa Studios, Cloudhead Games, Dovetail Games, Fireproof Studios, Google, Owlchemylabs, Skillman & Hackett, Steel Wool Games, Vertigo Games, and Wevr.

Valve announced the Source 2 engine, the successor to the Source engine used in Valve’s games since the launch of Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2. “The value of a platform like the PC is how much it increases the productivity of those who use the platform. With Source 2, our focus is increasing creator productivity. Given how important user generated content is becoming, Source 2 is designed not for just the professional developer, but enabling gamers themselves to participate in the creation and development of their favorite games,” said Valve’s Jay Stelly. “We will be making Source 2 available for free to content developers. This combined with recent announcements by Epic and Unity will help continue the PCs dominance as the premiere content authoring platform.”

Also as part of supporting PC gaming, Valve announced that it will be releasing a Vulkan-compatible version of the Source 2 engine. Vulkan is a cross-platform, cross-vendor 3D graphics API that allows game developers to get the most out of the latest graphics hardware, and ensures hardware developers that there is a consistent, low overhead method of taking advantage of products. Vulkan, previously called Next Generation OpenGL, is administered by the Khronos Group, along with other standards such as OpenCL, OpenGL, and WebGL.

GDC 2015 will mark the 13th anniversary of Valve’s first public announcement of Steam, which has since become the leading platform for PC, Mac, and Linux games and software. In the last year, Steam realized the addition of many new services and features – including In-Home Streaming, Broadcasting, Music, and user-created stores – as it grew to over 125 million active accounts worldwide.

Source 2 is going to be HUGE for games going forward. The source engine is in desperate need of an update. It had a “partial” update with the release of Counterstrike: Global Offensive (think of it like source 1.5), but a complete version upgrade is needed to keep the platform competitive. With products like Unreal Engine 4 recently being released for FREE, Valve couldn’t compete with it’s physics engine alone.

The Source 2 release comes on the heels of HTC announcing their partnership with Valve on the Vive VR project, which looks like it is going to give the folks over at Oculus and Sony a run for their fucking money.

Valve also touched on their first party hardware releases. Announcing more Steam Machine units and availability, as well as giving a launch date for their controller (November 2015).

The most interesting of the hardware products has to be the Steam Link product. A small small streaming device ready to broadcast your Steam library from your beefy gaming PC, to your TV in the living room.

This is probably the most compelling product they’ve announced. The concept of the Steam Machines being a living room replacement for your gaming PC is great, but the individual units haven’t really been competitively priced for a comparable gaming PC. This takes that concept, and puts it into a small form factor and lets you stream from your existing hardware WITHOUT limiting you with the Steam OS.

All and all I am very happy with Valve’s announcements. The future of Valve Software looks bright with Source 2…and hopefully we’ll see the rise of Half-Life 3!

‘Valkyria Chronicles’ Beats All Expectations To Become Number 1 On Steam!

by Josh JacksonNovember 12, 2014

If you were around for the early, painful years of the PS3, you’ll probably remember how surprisingly great Valkyria Chronicles was. Almost seven years after the 3rd person strategy RPG hit consoles, the game was released on Steam this past week, and based on early sales, our love for the title is still as strong as ever.

Sega is reporting that within the first 24 hours, VC has risen to the top of the Steam sales charts, proving that new and old fans alike are enthusiastic about revisiting the trails of war. From John Clark, Senior Vice President of Commercial Publishing for SEGA Europe,

“We’re also delighted at the response from the Steam community which indicates that newcomers to the series are finding it as enchanting and engaging as those who have played it before.”

Hopefully this sends a loud, clear response to the higher ups that we love this series and would like to see it continue. Sales of the two games in the States were tepid to say the least, leading us to never get a chance to play the third game, but you also have to keep in mind that the PS3 had a low user base at the time of release, while the second one was a drastic change for the original, (while avoiding the PS3 altogether and releasing on the PSP). Is there a chance that we can finally get what many consider to be the best game out of the three? At least on the Vita? Sega is one of the few publishers that remembers the handheld exists, so never say never. Pretty please, Sega?

http://youtu.be/_lZxQDc5quM

Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 3 – The Evil Within Smash Bros.

by GeekscapeStaffOctober 24, 2014

We’re a day late and a Derek short, but Josh, Juan and Shane are here to bring you up to speed on everything we’re hype for this week in games!

This Week

Nintendo Direct for Smash Bros.

Capcom Investor Report: Games need to sell 2 million copies to warrant a sequel.

Hatred’s controversial announce trailer.

Rob Riggle as Frank West in the Dead Rising Movie.

Developer for Paranautical Activity threatening Gabe Newell on Twitter.

Shane’s PSN account gets HACKED!

The Evil Within.

Smash Bros.

Hyrule Warriors and it’s skimpy character clothing.

Dust: An Elysian Tail.

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

This Week’s Listener Mission Objective

What is your proudest gaming achievement?

Leave a comment below, tweet us OR email us: shane (at) geekscape (dot) net

Subscribe to us in iTunes!

Subscribe to our various feeds!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:34 — 41.6MB)

Dishonored Free For The Weekend on Steam

by S.J. BorgerAugust 22, 2014

Dishonored, the Steam-Punk, first person, stealth-and-cover shooter/RPG (yeah, genre mashing is a thing now) is free to play for the weekend (from, well, now to Sunday at 1 p.m.) as well as being 75% if the urge to purchase takes you.

Dishonored is available here, free to download and play until Sunday, and only $4.99 for the original and $10.19 for the Game of the Year Edition, which includes the game and four DLCs: Dunwall City Trails, Knife of Dunwall, Void Walker Arsenal and The Brigmore Witches.

Here’s the trailer, in case you need some more encouragement!

‘Broforce’ Gets More Brosome With ‘The Expendabros’

by MoreLikeAndyAugust 5, 2014

With The Expendables 3 releasing to theaters on August 15, it is only fitting to see the team of bros in a game custom made for them. The Expendabros is a expansion just released for Devolver Digital’s fantastic side-scrolling shooter, Broforce. Not only is this expansion free, it’s also a stand-alone game meaning that you don’t need Broforce to play it.

All of your favorite Expendables get ‘bro-ified’ to romp around doing what they do best, killing. In addition to the new bros, The Expendabros has ten missions that could very well be mistaken as actual scenes for The Expendables 3 plot. Check out the launch trailer with Dolph Lundgren dropping some knowledge at the end.

The Expendabros remain free and available until December 31, 2015. After that, the bros will head back to the bar to tell tales of their brotastic adventures. Although you have a few months to get The Expendabros, you might as well download it right away since you know you’ll forget to do so until it’s too late.

‘Nosgoth’ Open Beta To Launch This Winter

by MoreLikeAndyAugust 5, 2014

Square Enix announced that their free-to-play, team-based human versus vampire competitive multiplayer game Nosgoth, will launch an open beta sometime this winter. Nosgoth is based off the Legacy of Kain universe.

If patience is not one of your stronger qualities, you can purchase one of the Founder’s Packs to gain immediate access to the closed beta right now. In addition to the open beta announcement, players will have a chance to experience Nosgoth with a upcoming free weekend on Steam starting August 7 and ending on August 11. Of course you will need a Steam account in order to participate in the free weekend but looking at the FAQ for Nosgoth, it seems a Square Enix Membership account will be required as well.

Anyone who plays in the free weekend of Nosgoth will receive double experience points as well as an in-game badge to show off to other players once the open beta starts.

Geekscape Giveaway: Win An ‘Assault Android Cactus’ Steam Key!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 7, 2014

We played a lot of games at this year’s E3, but there’s an insanely quirky twin-stick shooter that kept us coming back over and over (and over) again.

It’s called Assault Android Cactus. The game describes itself as a “twin stick shoot ’em up with an emphasis on high pressure and stylish action. Expect screens full of enemies, buckets of bullets and high scoring combo chains”, and you can check out the demo on Steam yourself to see just how frantic it is.

Assault Android Cactus is an Early Access title that should have its full Mac/Linux/PC release in the next few months. Once those versions are completed, its developer Witch Beam will be bringing the game over to PS4, Vita, and the once consumer ignored and now beloved Wii U.

Witch Beam was kind enough to offer us a giveaway Steam Key for the game, so take a look at the trailer below and read on to learn how you could win!

So entry is pretty simple, just:

– Like Geekscape on Facebook
– Share this photo on your Facebook wall, and be sure to comment, letting us know what E3 title has you most excited.

Easy, huh? We’ll pick a winner this Saturday!

Humble Bundle Going Daily For 2 Weeks

by MoreLikeAndyMay 14, 2014

Humble Bundle has always been a great collection of little games that might have gone unnoticed in the past. For what would cost you a large latte and a bagel at the local coffee shop, you could get a handful of games to enjoy. Not only that, but you can determine how much of the money you want to spend goes to the publishers, the Humble Bundle site or to charity. Usually there is a weekly refresh on what bundles are offered. Starting May 13 and ending May 27, every day will have a new bundle of joy full of delightful games to play.

Starting off the daily bundles, publisher Deep Silver has a remix of a bundle previously offered back in July 2013. Since that deal is up in about 2 hours, you might want to hurry if you already don’t own such titles as Saints Row The Third, Risen 2, Dead Island GOTY or Metro 2033.

Site: Humble Bundle

Geekscape Games First Impressions: ‘Grim Dawn’

by MoreLikeAndyMay 8, 2014

The folks over at Blizzard have become masters of time. When the Reaper of Souls expansion was released for Diablo 3 back in March, there was an abundance of time that just dissipated into thin air. Every waking moment was put into what felt like the Diablo 3 players wanted in the first place. Now that some of us have a stronger grip on our time that Blizzard usurped months ago, someone else is trying to control those precious ticks on the clock: Grim Dawn.

Being developed by Crate Entertainment and in early access on Steam, Grim Dawn has players doing the same clickity-clicks looking for that next great item drop, which is typical to most isometric action role-playing games. Though, in this world, everything seems more grimy and rundown with a lack of a broader color palette. The story is also not something I found too intriguing beyond the quests certain townsfolk were all to eager to encourage me to do. I was more than happy to oblige and take on the fools errands just to explore every crevice of the world. I was cackling with anticipated delight to uncover tasty loot cowering away in some dusty old crate or shelf.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I would be the one cowering, not the loot. Unlike some action role-playing games, combat is a bit more challenging. Enemies will swarm you in hopes of barricading all exits as precious health ticks away from your character. Simply trying to click-to-win won’t cut it with mobs. Crucial use of skills, items and gear as well as spacial awareness is required to survive. What could be somewhat of a deal breaker for most is the way health is handled in Grim Dawn. When out of combat for more than five seconds, health rapidly refills until the meter is full again. This makes for a lot of hit-and-run style of combat that could last more than a handful of minutes each encounter. The challenge is still there even with this health system in place, though not as challenging as it was made to seem at first.

Although there are different classes to suit multiple play styles, none of them seemed to feel diverse enough from one another in the beginning. Soldier is your standard sword and shield class, Demolitionist excels in range attacks and explosions, the Occultist wields magic and bringing up the rear is the Nightblade class as the sneaky rogue. That lack of diversity is offset when reaching level ten, which unlocks the dual class specialty. Being able to mix and match two different classes gives birth to a whole plethora of possibilities. With two classes and their skill sets available to cherry pick from, mixing and matching skills ended up being a lot of fun. Resetting skills at next-to-nothing prices greatly enhances experimentation when testing what works and what fails horribly.

Adding to the experimentation aspect of Grim Dawn is the loot, specifically the properties of said loot. Usually, stat boosts are attached to some items and gear found in the world. Having spells or skills alongside the stat boosts something new to me. From elemental spells to physical skills, having even more options besides what is set for each classes skill trees is almost overwhelming. There’s also crafting that was just added in the latest update that sadly doesn’t seem to be beneficial to players, yet.

What keeps me coming back for more in Grim Dawn is still a mystery to me after eight hours of playing. Could it be that the power of finding a brand new shiny item allures me to keep pressing on? Maybe it’s the experimentation of skills to find some sort of combination that brings the pain to all who oppose me. Whatever Grim Dawn has over me, I’m excited for its future. With new classes, more quests, more acts in the main story and bug fixes/tweaks, El Diablo will have to look upon the dawn coming with grim chances of surviving.

Geekscape Games Reviews: ‘Infested Planet’

by MoreLikeAndyApril 24, 2014

Real-time strategy games tend to have the focus on micromanaging the battlefield in order to succeed. Learning all the hot keys, build orders, manage squads while attacking different parts of the map are just some of the things you need to split your attention between to survive. For those of us who love real-time strategy games but don’t have the mental dexterity to play them well, Rocket Bear Games’ Infested Planet takes away some of the micromanaging and adds a little tower defense that makes for a surprisingly fun mix.

Infested Planet is a real-time strategy game that has players controlling a bad ass group of five marines that are tasked with cleaning out the alien bugs that are running rampant. There is a story buried in the depths here yet it ends up being a little shallow. All of this is inconsequential in the long run once you start the campaign. You will have far more pressing matters to worry about than story progression. If you want, you can do what I did. I treated each battle as a test to see who will move on to the final round to become the most bad ass, bug squashing magnificent killing machine of the human race.

Controlling these five elite marines may seem easy at first. Travel in a group, overpowering the resistance at each of the bases as you claim them for your own. The real challenge comes when you have to split your team up. I haven’t found an easy way to break my marines into smaller teams while having the ability to quickly swap between them. There are plenty of times where you have to hold the line at different sides of the map and not being able to hot swap to another group is more difficult than it should be. This gets even worse as you gain the ability to increase your soldier limit for battle points. Gaining these battle points come from either capturing bases or little crates you can drag back to a base you control. Some of the other frustrations come from the constant zooming in and out of the map to get a more precise click on something. There is a sweet spot with the zooming which lies in the middle of the slider. Even then, you will occasionally run into wrong clicks or commands.

A good mixture of soldier types help in Infested Planet. Once unlocked by complete missions, these upgrades to your basic soldiers will be critical in survival. Snipers are great for taking out enemy towers from afar that would otherwise tear through your whole squad before they even get in firing range. Flamethrowers are your best bet for holding down a base. It takes just one flamethrower to spit hot fire to hold back early swarms. Scouts are your scavengers being the fastest of the soldiers. They are very fragile but amazing against enemy hives. You’ll want to pair them up with flamethrower to clear a path to hives. Shotgun-totting soldiers are stronger against groups with very little range reduction from the rifle they start with. The officer class boosts everyone around him to shoot and move faster. My favorite class by far is the mini-gun soldier. Made for complete devastation, you’ll want to upgrade to this class as soon as possible. The mini-gun is whatever you want to be. Holding a base down? No sweat. Clearing a path for your soldiers by turning the bugs into shredded wheat? Too easy. The best use for the mini-gun is demolishing enemy hives. With being so versatile, the mini-gun will be your best friend in this war.

To balance things out, Infested Planet makes every mission procedural generated. Maps are never the same and neither are the alien bug mutations. The mutations can be anything from exploding bugs that spawn eggs near your bases, spore mines and armored bugs that take more damage to eliminate. With 33 mutations in all, Rocket Bear Games made sure to keep things fresh. With each enemy base you take over, the alien bugs will adapt with a certain mutation. Depending on what you’re doing, the alien bugs will mutate to combat your progression. This push and pull mechanic is great for keeping players on their toes as to not get comfortable with the same strategy over and over again.

Learning the hot keys for building defenses is not too difficult, though end up a little cumbersome in the heat of battle. Memorizing the hot keys to build such things as turrets, air strike bases, shield generators are essential for survival. You will need everything given to you in order to keep a foothold on all the bases you claim from the alien bugs. If you’re in need of more money to buy one-time soldiers for hire or more upgrades before missions, Infested Planet has bonus missions outside the main story path. Most of these missions have players try to survive for set period of time or to capture all the enemy bases. If you’re tired of banging your head on the later story missions that tend to spike in difficulty a little sharply, take out your frustrations in the skirmish mode. Change the settings to make everything in your favor and take the boot to those disgusting bugs. If you get tired of stomping on the AI, you could also try out multitudes of strategies to figure out ways past missions you’re stuck on.

Despite the late-game difficulty curve, Infested Planet takes you on a exciting tour of duty squashing alien bugs with your elite group of soldiers. Although this is a real-time strategy game at heart, I found myself comparing it to a intense game of chess. The constant change in strategy to adapt when mutations would happen at a rapid pace made my brain work overtime. If only I could use a shotgun to blast the opponents king piece and exclaim, “CHECKMATE!”

Score: 4/5

The Next ‘Borderlands’ Game Has Been Revealed… For PC, PS3, and Xbox 360?

by Derek KraneveldtApril 9, 2014

Briefly: Aside from a pretty awful title, this is some pretty sweet news.

The announcement of Telltale’s Tales From The Borderlands was a welcome reveal, but we’ve all been waiting desperately for 2K Games to reveal the next true Borderlands title.

Today, we got that reveal with Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

The game will launch this Fall on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC (no next-gen interestingly enough), and will take us (for the first time) to the moon of Pandora. According to 2K’s official blog post, the game is “Set between Borderlands and Borderlands 2, you’ll play as four new characters classes fighting alongside Handsome Jack, witnessing his transformation into the ruthless tyrant you loved to hate in Borderlands 2, and assisting with the rise of the Hyperion Corporation. The signature shoot ‘n’ loot gameplay of the Borderlands series expands with the addition of low-gravity and oxygen-powered jetpack combat, the icy ‘Cryo’ elemental damage type, the deadly laser weapon class, and new vehicles to help you explore the lunar landscape.”

Sounds like some worthy additions to the already awesome gameplay, don’t they?

The game’s new classes are as follows:

– Athena, the Gladiator: Uses her Kinetic Aspis, which is a shield that can absorb incoming damage, then convert it back into energy to use against enemies. Athena made her debut in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC for the first Borderlands game.

– Wilhelm, the Enforcer: Wilhelm was previously seen in Borderlands 2 as one of the first deadly bosses in the game.

– Nisha, the Lawbringer: The sheriff of Lynchwood from Borderlands 2, Nisha will be dealing out her own brand of justice, which we’ll discuss further in the coming months.

– Claptrap, the Fragtrap: Wait – Claptrap? The goofy robot companion from Borderlands 2, now playable for the first time? Fragtrap is his character class? Well, you can play him too!

You can take a look at the first screenshots from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel below, and head over to the 2K Blog for a few more details. Are you ready to jump back into this universe? What are you looking forward to most?

Geekscape Games First Impressions: ‘Race To Mars’

by MoreLikeAndyApril 8, 2014

When some of us hear the words, “Space Race”, we expect to see some highly tuned mechanical beasts that cut through the darkness of space at blinding speeds. What Intermarum has in mind is the race to be the first to colonize humankind on other planets besides this big blue circular mass we call Earth with their new game, Race to Mars.

Race to Mars is more about the month to month operations in making a company that can bring human kind to finally build expensive condos near the craters. Micromanaging things like who to hire, what kinds of technology you want your research team to look into, even dealing with those pesky little journalists trying to poke holes in your well crafted public statements. Although the option to select the company name as well as its location in the world is great for customization, don’t think you can blame any wrong answers you give to the press on your translator.

There will be times where Race to Mars will have you sit and wait while the months simulate by. This can dissuade some continuing on with fostering a successful company and becoming the first to colonize foreign territory. Slow and steady wins the race, in this case, to Mars. Still early in development, we are still not certain if managing spreadsheets, accounting and employees will be the only thing for players to do. One can still be a simulation style game yet still provide a variety of things other than reading names and numbers.

There are some nice visuals to take in while waiting a month or two of in-game time. As day turns into night, the twinkle of office lights spring to life. Buildings that have been scheduled to be built start shaping into the structures shown in the purchasing menus. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the stressed out CEO sweating bullets when the monthly reports come in showing just how good or bad things are. The musical tracks are limited at the moment but what is currently in Race to Mars is pretty dramatic in scope. It seems to be set to use the visuals to create the scene for the player to become pioneers in the next step of the human race.

Only the brave and very curious should check in on Race to Mars this early in its life. For those willing to be with Intermarum every step of the way, $19.99 on Steam Early Access will be your entry fee to the show. If you are worried about Intermarum releasing updates, no need to worry. The first major update was released recently with a lot of fixes and new additions which you can read over here. I, for one, will be keeping an eye out for Race to Mars to cross the finish line.

Geekscape Games Previews ‘Age of Wonders III’

by MoreLikeAndyMarch 20, 2014

Age of Wonders III somehow takes a fantasy turn-based strategy game, mixes in some role-playing game elements and lets players engaged in battles that feels more like a challenging game of chess. All while making it easy for first-timers to the series and comfortable to the those more familiar with it all.

Being one of these first-timers, I was happy to see that in the different modes offered in Age of Wonders III, one of them was a tutorial disguised as one of the two campaigns available. Taking control of the High Elf princess Sundren, I began the tutorial campaign on a rampage to exact revenge on that dastardly orc, Gamblag. Even though this campaign is an introduction to those new to the series, going in with the notion that Age of Wonders III will take it easy on you will have you hitting restart, a lot. Pacing and planning carefully will be the difference from getting revenge or utter defeat.

If jumping straight into the action without any story is more your thing, you can go right ahead and test your luck with the random map mode. The amount of settings that you can set for the random map mode is staggering. Just clicking on the advanced tab brings up a plethora of choices. Difficulty, map size, map type, player count and whether or not everything takes place above ground or in the deepest of caverns is just the tip of the iceberg. Once you look over to the right and see that you can access settings for the actual game flow, you’ll finally realize just how much control you have. From what starting towns types everyone gets to treasure structures is modifiable in Age of Wonders III. If you thought getting lost in time when engaging the role-playing game elements of the campaign mode was daunting, the random map mode puts all that to shame.

Sometimes, you just want to play a quick skirmish without the story or spending endless hours trying to create the perfect map. Thankfully, Triumph Studios put in a pre-made scenario mode saving the tinkerers from themselves. A multitude of scenarios will be laid out for players to choose from. Yes, they have a little story for each scenario, but nothing too deep if you just want to show your prowess on the battlefield. If human players are what you desire to battle against, an online mode is present as well to suit those needs to show a stranger how well your strategic mind is at Age of Wonders III.

Age of Wonders III provides players with a ton of options to lead your army to victory. The role-playing game elements comes into play with your main character. Stats, skills and spells are just some of the things you will have to manage with your hero. I sat for what seemed an eternity just trying to figure our what abilities to research or what spells to master. Deciding on if I want to acquire the ability to summon crows to fight by my side or to start my domination on the rough seas by building a dock for my warships had me at odds with myself. Also trying to settle on if health points were more important than skills for Sundren to use in battle set me back some time just staring, trying to commit to one or the other.

Equipment is also something that you’ll have to deal with as you make your way throughout the world. These items can be found from battles or exploring a cave or building scattered across the map. Nothing like getting a new pair of boots for all the walking ahead or a shiny new ring of fire protection just in case. There are slots to equip pretty much everything to your hero so exploring and looting everything you can would be a be a huge benefit if you want to have all slots equipped with items. To say that Age of Wonders III is a deep game would be selling it short. With so many things to ponder over, one could spend hours and make only a handful of moves. The great thing about this is that you never feel like you’re wasting time since every action makes a difference in your success.

Speaking of success, you can’t have a successful army without a flourishing empire. Similar to games like Civilization, building cities to become powerhouses that scare any challenging army to run in the other direction is a big part of Age of Wonders III. You could just pump out warriors endlessly to overwhelm your advisories into submission but where’s the fun in that? Taking a small town and creating a vast city that envelopes everything in sight is much more frighting in my mind. Alternating between growing the town with new housing, shrines and store houses with constructing a war hall, shooting gallery and watch towers will help you maintain your illustrious city from anyone who dares walk up to the gates.

Once you’re ready to march your massive army towards the enemies main town, you might want to figure out how each unit fits best with each other. In Age of Wonders III, you can combine up to six units into one bad ass battalion comprised of whatever unit you want cobbled with one another. Having an all archer battalion is possible or having a mix of unicorns, pikemen, mages and battering rams if you want more diversity. Flanking is also a strategy you will learn to love as you play Age of Wonders III. Since the maps are essentially separated hexagons, placing other units in an adjacent hexagon behind the enemy army while you throw the majority of your army straight at the enemy will ensure that there is no place for the enemy to hide.

Once the battles take place, you can play out the battles automatically. In doing this, what could have been an epic battle is over in mere seconds with a confirmation unveiling if success or failure is the fate of your warriors. Taking control of how the battles play out is also an option with manual combat. Zooming into the battlefield, Age of Wonders III lets players command their armies in turn-based combat. Having my archers pelting the enemy’s front lines with arrows while my swordsmen provide cover all while my assassins sneak into a flanking position has a more satisfying emotion than letting the A.I. roll the dice. Having the option for auto combat or having complete control gratifying to see.

Whatever way you decide to play Age of Wonders III when it releases on March 31, 2014, Triumph Studios has made sure that you have the options to fulfill those decisions and then some.

‘Gauntlet’ Reboot Hitting Steam This Summer, Watch The First Trailer!

by Derek KraneveldtMarch 17, 2014

Briefly: Yep, Gauntlet is coming back.

Warner Bros. Interactive announced a reboot of the series today, which will launch on Steam (with full Steam Box support) later this year.

The game is set to “Gauntlet will be the first title in the WB Games Vault portfolio, which will provide us with an opportunity to access emerging talent within the game development community and match unique skills and experience with our extensive library of properties.” Sounds good to me… Maybe we’ll see a new Rampart or Smash TV next.

In any case, you can watch the first trailer for Gauntlet below, and head further south for the press release in full. Excited? Sound out below!

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced Gauntlet, a completely modernized action RPG version of the celebrated dungeon crawler, will be available this summer via Steam for PC, offering full support for SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines shipping the second half of this year. The game will lead the launch of WB Games Vault, a direct-to-digital portfolio that will deliver paid games based on popular Warner Bros. and Midway brands, plus original IP, across multiple digital networks.

“With Gauntlet we combined the arcade style of the original game with an entirely new look and feature set that includes emergent, local and online four-player gameplay,” said David Haddad, Senior Vice President, Digital Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Gauntlet will be the first title in the WB Games Vault portfolio, which will provide us with an opportunity to access emerging talent within the game development community and match unique skills and experience with our extensive library of properties.”

Gauntlet, developed by Arrowhead Game Studios, innovates on past titles while staying true to the brand’s legendary format. Players select from four classic fantasy-based characters: Warrior, Wizard, Valkyrie, or Elf. Each character has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Warrior does the most damage in melee combat, the Wizard has the most powerful magic, the Valkyrie has the most armor and the Elf moves the fastest. Distinctive play styles, procedural dungeons and an impressive art style keep the gameplay fresh.

“To us at Arrowhead, Gauntlet is one of the most defining games from our childhoods, and it’s amazing to be able to work with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on a brand new version,” said Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios. “Gauntlet is one of the original and best known video game properties and we are looking forward to creating a fresh, yet true to the original, take on a multiplayer masterpiece.”

Upon selecting a playable character, the gameplay is set within dungeons where the object is to fight through the chambers slaying evil creatures and completing challenges. An assortment of special items can be located in each dungeon that can restore the player’s health, unlock doors, and shift the odds in the player’s favor with magical relics which can aid the player in surviving longer in the Gauntlet. The enemies are a vast assortment of fantasy-based monsters, including ghosts, grunts, demons, spiders, sorcerers and skeleton warriors.

Geekscape 319: Talking Star Wars Comics, CES And More With Zack Haddad

by JonathanJanuary 9, 2014

Longtime Geeskcapist Zack Haddad returns to the show to talk news, both personal and pop culture! We talk about his recent surprise marriage and whether or not Shane O’Hare is allowed to stay this summer for Comic Con Tuesday after almost falling on his cat. We also talk about Star Wars comics leaving Dark Horse for Marvel and what it means to the Star Wars Extended Universe! CES is going on and the big news is Michael Bay bombing and the Steam Machines impressing! Plus, Matt Reeves is directing the third Planet of the Apes movie and the Robocop reboot gets not so impressive video game trailer! Also, Agents of Shield steps up but Arrow is still the show to watch!

Subscribe to the Geekscape podcast on iTunes!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:41 — 29.0MB)

UPDATED: CES 2013: Valve Announces 13 Hardware Partners For Steam Machine

by Shane O'HareJanuary 6, 2014

Fresh outta CES 2013, we got a nice bit of news about the very much sought after Valve Steam Machine. Hot on the heels of beta hardware, Valve has just announced who they are partnering with to release the production hardware.

13 hardware companies will be joining forces with the video game giant from Seattle. They are:

Alienware, Alternate, Cyberpowerpc, Digital Storm, Falcom Northwest, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, Materiel.net, next, Origin ( the custom PC manufacturer, not the digital distribution service ), Scan Computers, Webhallen.com and Zotac.

Valve stated that these manufacturers will be releasing Steam Machines on their own release schedule and will also be shipping their own Steam Controllers.

No word on pricing or release dates just yet; details are still coming in.

UPDATE

We just got our hands on a handy dandy press release, a gallery AND pricing!

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced over one dozen Steam Machine designs now in production from leading manufacturers and targeted for release in 2014.

The lineup of Steam Machines announced today offers a wide variety of price and performance options made possible by the Steam Machine’s open design, with systems starting as low as $499 and top end systems rivaling today’s bleeding edge gaming PCs.

Every Steam Machine includes an innovative Steam Controller designed for use with a wide variety of game genres, and is powered by the SteamOS, a custom OS built atop Linux.

“The first generation Steam Machines offers something for every gamer, which is a critical part of extending Steam into the living room,” said Gabe Newell of Valve. “With over 3,000 games and more than 65 million gamers on Steam, it’s important to offer gamers a variety of Steam Machines that allow them to select what makes the most sense for them.”

Announced earlier this year, Steam Machines are new entertainment systems targeted for use in the living room and leveraging Steam, the popular online platform for gaming and software with over 65 million accounts worldwide.

Deal Alert: ‘Left 4 Dead 2’ Is Free On Steam! Today Only!

by Derek KraneveldtDecember 25, 2013

Briefly: Ready for ONE MORE awesome holiday gift?

Valve’s already incredible winter sale just got a little bit sweeter. Today only (December 25th), the company has made their revered, hit first-person shooter, Left 4 Dead 2 completely FREE.

Just head here, log in, and click the ‘Play Game’ button to attach it to your account. Here’s what Valve had to say about today’s special deal:

Free Zombies!

To celebrate the holidays in a special way this year, Left 4 Dead 2 will be free until 10AM PST on 12/26.

It will be free as in, grab it now, pay no money, and it is yours to keep forever …

Already own the game? Tell your friends about the deal, and maybe you’ll gain a few new gamers to campaign with.

Happy holidays!

Steam Sale Offer Great Games, Awesome Prices

by S.J. BorgerNovember 27, 2013

In case we didn’t have enough to be thankful for, good guy Steam has put a number of top-rated games on sale (a one-two whammy of awesome, because (a) they’re like 70% off and (b) we don’t need to actually leave the house or put on pants to get this kinda-grey-Wednesday deal).

What games, you ask? Well, we’ll tell you:

Skyrim: $7.49 (seriously, if you don’t have this already, get it–hell, if you do have it, get it. We mean, you could lose a copy and then where’d you be.)

Note: We’ve just been informed you can also purchase one as a gift. So, that’s an option too.

Sleeping Dogs: $4.99

Left4Dead 2: $7.49

The Walking Dead: $6.24

Rogue Legacy: $5.09

Terraria: $2.49 (come on, that’s the change in your couch cushions…)

You can purchase these games through the Steam client, which, if for some reason you don’t already have that downloaded, you can get here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

‘The Typing of the Dead: Overkill’ Now Available For PC!

by Mark LabbeOctober 29, 2013

Looking to improve your typing skills but too busy gaming? The Typing of the Dead: Overkill combines the best of both worlds in one gory game.

Sega has just released the typing instructor version of their House of the Dead: Overkill. With your keyboard as your gun, shoot down hoards of zombies in nine different stages with three levels of difficulty. The game will introduce a free co-op multiplayer mode soon, according to the description on Steam. It will also include a port of the original PS3 edition of House of the Dead.

The game available now half-off at only $10 until November 1st – after that it slides back up to $19.99. It is available on Steam and Sega’s Digital Store.

Having played a previous version of Typing of the Dead, I can tell you from experience that this is one of the best typing instructors around. Not only is it immensely fun, but nothing gets you to type faster than being attacked by a horde of zombies. So quit typing for school papers and start typing to survive!

Geekscape Games: Steam Family Sharing First Impressions

by Shane O'HareOctober 15, 2013

The month of Valve is over, and all of those features announced with the Steam OS are but a distant memory. All except one, that is. The Steam Library Family Sharing just hit its public Beta, and some of us here at Geekscape got our hands on it just a bit early. Here are our initial thoughts.

The Steam Family Sharing program was announced back in September to much acclaim and fanfare. It allows user to authorize another computer and let someone have access to their Steam Library. Simple as that. But how does it work in practice?

I was invited to the Press Beta Test a few weeks back, and I was very excited to give the service a try. I had just built a pretty powerful gaming PC for my Dad and he was itching for some new games. Signing up was simple enough, I just went into my Steam settings on my account and opted into the Beta, and restarted. Then I was stuck.

There was no new interface added to my Steam, so then started the long and arduous process of hunting through every single menu looking for Family Share. I crawled through the settings and found only an option to view authorized accounts and computers, but no way to ADD anyone. The original press release said that users could request access to the library of someone else, so I figured the borrower had to ask the lendee. So I walked over to my Dad’s PC and started the long and arduous process of finding the request for authorization option.

Is it found by right clicking on your friends list? Nope. Is it found on the lendee’s profile page? No. Is it found on the store page for a particular game you want to borrow? No. There IS no option to request authorization. There IS no option to GRANT authorization, and here lies my biggest gripe with the service. The vague stipulations attached to actually getting the program to work.

When the product was first announced, the general consensus was that any user could be authorized (up to 10) and then have access to your games. If you wanted to play a game and they were using it, they would be given “A few minutes to finish up or buy the game for themselves.”. That sounds like if your Dad in another room (or state/country/planet) is playing your Bioshock and you want a crack at it then he’d be kicked off. That’s not how it works.

Wanna know how it works? The lendee (owner of the games) has to log into their account on the borrowers machine, then log out. Then the borrower logs in and can see a separate list of games from the lendee’s library. There is NO option to remotely authorize an account or computer. If you want to lend your games to a family member or friend that you do not have physical access to you are out of luck. The only way around this would be desktop sharing.

So far the remote authorization is the only complaint I have with the service, and from just lurking the Family Sharing support forums it seems everyone else shares my opinion. The service works great and every game that my Dad tried fired up no issue.

We are going to continue testing Steam Family Sharing and see if we run into any glaring issues. Valve has said they are going to be adding more features when Steam OS and Steam Machines beta is launched. Hopefully they will add in remote authorization.

Valve Shows Off Their New Controller! Check It Out IN ACTION!

by Shane O'HareOctober 11, 2013

So last month was the month of Valve and Steam. They had a series of announcements showcasing their move into the living room (Check them out: Day 1 , Day 2 and Day 3). On the third day they announced their take on the console controller. We saw some pictures and some mock ups but today we can see the device in action!

After seeing this I feel a lot better about the product. The thought of two trackpads worried me, and anyone who’s tried to play a shooter on a laptop.

We will be sure to keep you updated as more info on the controller comes out, and hopefully we can get our hands on one of the beta models!

Valve Announces First Party Customizable Gamepad! Steam Controller Is Here!

by Shane O'HareSeptember 27, 2013

Today is the final day in the series of announcements from Valve and this one is a doozy. They are officially announcing their own gamepad! Looks like my prediction from Wednesday was right! Get eyes on this baby!

The Steam Controller really looks like it is the proper next step in video game input. No waggle controls, heart beat sensors or facial recognition. Valve has taken the greatest gaming controller, the Mouse and Keyboard and condensed them into a controller. The Steam Controller will work with all games on the Steam library, even the old ones!

The first thing you will notice about this gamepad is the dual trackpads. Each trackpad is super high resolution like that of a mouse, is clickable and opens up categories of games that were once unable to be played with a traditional gamepad. From the Press Release:

Whole genres of games that were previously only playable with a keyboard and mouse are now accessible from the sofa. RTS games. Casual, cursor-driven games. Strategy games. 4x space exploration games. A huge variety of indie games. Simulation titles. And of course, Euro Truck Simulator 2.

The Steam Controller will also feature brand new Haptic feedback. Featuring “dual linear resonant actuators”, they are saying that they will be able to deliver the kind of resistance that is missing from modern controllers and even might be able to improve on the Mouse and Keyboard!

Next we have the Touchscreen. High resolution, back lit touch screen is also one giant button that is clickable. It can be used to bring up menus, rotary options (Think weapon wheels) and even run entire in-game functions. One great feature of the touchscreen is the game integration. You won’t be forced to separate your attention between two screens. When you tap the touch screen it will overlay what it is displaying on the main screen!

Steam Controller Portal 2 Bindings — The Steam Controller will also appear as a standard Mouse and Keyboard so that you will be able to use it on OLDER games.

The best part? Is that this controller is totally open! Valve plans on releasing tools for consumers to edit the controller to their personal taste!

Personal thoughts? I didn’t really think I was going to be THIS excited for a controller, I was hoping for some #3 games (Hal-Life, Portal L4D). After reading over the entire release I honestly think Valve is making the proper next step in input. Being able to properly replicate the preciseness of a Mouse has been a goal of controller designers for YEARS. The best manufacturers were able to come up with were adapters that you plugged your mouse and keyboard in and up to your console, and even those were pretty sketchy. It’s hard to say how WELL they’ve done with this controller until we can get one in our hands, one which will be included in the hardware beta, but just from looking on their proof of concept I’d be surprised if this came out badly.

Feeling lost? Check out our Day 1 and Day 2 coverage of the year of Valve announcements!