Posted 10/28/09 at 11:43:03 PM by Nathan Grayson

Love Diablo, but not sure if you can wait much longer for Diablo III? Well then, why not spend a night spelunking cavernous areas with Torchlight? The game’s practically Diablo’s twin sister, and it knows what you like. Don’t worry. We won’t let Diablo III know. This will be our little secret. We promise.
 
Still on the fence? Yeesh. Talk about brand loyalty. Here – at least try this demo of Torchlight. It’s on us. Now take a peek at those high-res, barely legal graphics. And if you’re still not sold, what other demonically themed hack ‘n’ slash comes with a free dog (or cat!) that lugs your loot back to town while you keep on questing?

Yeah. That’s right. You equip that breastplate with +3 to mana and +10 electrical resistance. Just like that.

Er, what? 

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Posted 10/27/09 at 11:51:31 PM by Nathan Grayson

It’s Tuesday! Woohoo! Oh, you’re wondering why we’re donning our party hats on this most mundane of days? Simple – the Left 4 Dead 2 demo’s available to Steam pre-orderers today! We’re just gonna queue up our download and… well, that’s odd. We’re sure the demo’s around here somewhere. Just, uh, hold on a sec. No, no – that’s Killing Floor. Hey, Valve, what’s the deal?

“The Left 4 Dead 2 Xbox 360 Demo is now available for those who pre-ordered and obtained early access to the demo," read a release from the company tonight. "The PC Demo is currently targeted for release on Wednesday, October 28."

Well, what are we going to do with all these party supplies now? Quick! Theme change! Now we’re celebrating, er, uh, Boss Tweed’s arrest on October 27, 1871. There’s something everyone can drink to. 

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Posted 08/26/09 at 03:27:43 AM by Nathan Grayson

Racing and shooting? Sometimes at the same time? Gee whiz, that sounds complicated. Surprisingly, though, id Software’s Todd Hollenshead thinks RAGE can pull off such a tricky balancing act in only one go and – as such – sees no need for an open beta. He said as much in an interview with VG247.

“I doubt there will be an open beta,” he stated, simply.

Well, what about a demo, then? RAGE may look, sound, and perhaps even taste great, but what if we’re still not sold on it? Is there hope for us yet?

“The demo question is hard to answer, because I don’t know what the development cycle will be like. We don’t have anything against demos or tests; we typically do that – probably – to a greater extent than almost anybody else in the industry, so my guess would be that we will have something, but that’s far from set in stone,” said Hollenshead.
 
So then, what will the demo be called? MILD IRRITATION?

Er, yeah... So, uh, what's the deal with airline food? 

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Posted 03/02/09 at 03:21:48 PM by Andy Salisbury

At today’s DEMO conference Always Innovating plans to debut their new netbook, which will offer 10 to 15 hours of battery life, weighs under two pounds and will feature a touchscreen, all for less than an Amazon Kindle.

Always Innovating will offer a base model of the netbook for $299 that will not feature a touchscreen, but will have an ARM Texas Insturments OMAP3 processor, a 1024x600 8.9-inch screen, 8GB of flash storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and 6 USB ports. For $100 more, you can upgrade to the touchscreen version.

It’s reported that the Touch Book will be available in the U.S. around May or June 2009.

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Posted 10/28/08 at 09:50:01 PM by Nathan Grayson

Are you absolutely, er, perishing to play Left 4 Dead? Well, Valve has your back. Simply plunk down $5 on the undead murder simulator and you'll unlock a free demo on November 6 -- five days before everyone else.

"This pre-order promotion applies to all Steam PC pre-orders and all Xbox 360 and PC pre-orders from participating retailers in North America," read the press release. GameStop is the only confirmed retailer at the moment.

The demo will serve up both single player and co-op modes for 1-4 players. Since the demo's spewing a bubbling concoction of content, there is, of course, a catch: the demo -- like a zombie Undead American with a live grenade jammed down its throat -- will only be active for a finite amount of time.

"The demo concludes on November 18, when Left 4 Dead will be made available at retail outlets across North America and worldwide via Steam," notes the press release.

All told, though, we're pretty excited about this. Oh sure, we could give Valve a stern talking to for falling into the retail trap of giving preferential treatment to pre-orderers, but it's Left 4 Dead, guys. No matter how sordid the method of delivery, if we snag some hands-on time, we'll be too disgustingly over-joyed to care.

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