|  |  |  | | | | | PC Gamer» PC Gamer – The global authority on PC games | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  While Logan, Chris and the interns are trapped in the salt mines, Evan, Dan and Josh lead PC Gamer’s faithful through the week that was. Topics include Portal 2 and Valve’s ARG, Mass Effect 3 details, Bulletstorm music, the newest Humble Indie Bundle, a WoW player achieving a ridiculous feat, your listener questions and more!
PC Gamer US Podcast 268: Yo Mamaly Have a question, comment, complaint or observation? Leave a voicemail: 1-877-404-1337 ext 724 or email the mp3 to pcgamerpodcast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter:
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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Battlefield developer DICE have said that they believe consoles are holding back the development of PC games. In an interview on GeForce.com, executive producer on Battlefield 3 Patrick Bach said: “Most games are actually still based on the same core idea that the consoles are your focus, the superior platform or something. I don’t know why. That was the truth 5 years ago, but the world has moved on.” Read on for more details. Bach explained that: “Most games are actually still based on the same core idea that the consoles are your focus, the superior platform or something. I don’t know why. That was the truth 5 years ago, but the world has moved on.” He says that PCs are much more powerful, hardware wise, than consoles, and few PC games truly take advantage of all that hardware. He goes on to say: “So for our target of what we want to hit, we are now using the more powerful platform to try and prove what we see gaming being in the future rather than using the lowest common denominator, instead of developing it for the consoles and then just adding higher resolution textures and anti-aliasing for the PC version. We’re do it the other way around, we start with the highest-end technology that we can come up with and then scale it back to the consoles.” [via Big Download] 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As reported on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, The third Humble Indie Bundle set – featuring only titles developed by Frozenbyte – has been a huge success, selling over 100,000 units in 48 hours. The sale has generated $500,000, with purchasers paying as little/much as they’d like for the bundle, which consists of Trine, Shadowgrounds, Shadowgrounds Survivor, Jack Claw, and Splot. Frozenbyte say: “This is all thanks to the very supportive communities around the world and also all the media outlets. So on behalf of Frozenbyte, Humble Bundle, Child's Play and EFF I would like to express our sincerest gratitude” You can still grab the Frozenbyte Bundle and name your own price here. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A member of Gamigo – the developers behind free-to-play space-faring MMO Black Prophecy – has written to the game’s community, telling of current progress and the company’s hopes for its future. Read on for the full details. Board-member Patrick Streppel commented on the success of the game’s launch in UK and European territories, and that North American gamers were currently taking part in closed beta. In regards to expanding Black Prophecy’s universe, Gamigo currently plan to add to the game in small, monthly patches that address bugs and slight improvements, but the developers do have much larger plans for the MMO. "About every three months a big update (add-on) is planned that will raise the current level cap and also provide all new game content in the form of new story missions to advance the main plot, new hubs and open world sectors to explore, new missions to master and, of course, more items to equip" explains Streppel. The larger-scale plans also include the ability to ’station walk’, which sounds very familiar, but would be a welcome addition to this already solid free MMO. You can see the letter in full on the game’s forums, and register for the free-to-play space MMO here. [via Joystiq] 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Battlestar Galactica Online developers Bigpoint have announced that in just six weeks of being live, the browser-based MMO has gathered one million registered players. The announcement comes as Bigpoint release their latest patch, which allows you to command Battlestars and Basestars, as well as other new ships. If you’d like to sign up for the Colonial fleet, or cause mass human genocide as a flying toaster, join BSG Online at the game’s official site. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Our Friday has been dominated by conspiracy theories as we tried to figure out what would happen when Valve’s countdown reached zero. Our interest gradually turned into potato obsession as the day progressed, initiating a form of spud mania that culminated in me running through the streets of Bath with a bag of potatoes in hand. But what else has been happening in the world of PC gaming? There’s only one way to find out. You know what to do.
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Today in the PC Gamer UK office: Have a great weekend, everyone! Let us know what you’ll be playing in the comments below. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | We’ve played and reviewed Portal 2 and awarded it 94 and an Editor’s Choice award. The review appears in the latest issue of PC Gamer US, and the June issue of PC Gamer UK, on-sale May 11. Why did it get that score and the prestigious award? We described it as "hilariously well-written and acted", "full of thrilling showcase moments" and "some of the most social gaming you'll have." We basically think it's outstanding. Check the site when Portal 2 is released for our full review, catch up on the Potato Sack ARG, or read our most recent preview for more. You can subscribe to PC Gamer US here and PC Gamer UK here. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In the interest of helping Portal 2 release early, we’re advising all our readers–Dan, are you sure this is how it works? This seems weird. Well, okay–we’re advising you all to add a potato to your Steam profile through this process. Doing so adds to the “challenge status” potato count, which probably-definitely has something to do with unlocking Portal 2. - Go to the NELIPOT Steam community.
- Join it.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | I can’t help it—I love me some League of Legends, and it seems that I am not alone. Part of what makes Riot Games’ MOBA so great is the variety of its characters, and how iconic they are—so iconic, in fact, that they’ve inspired heaps of fan art, most of which is (surprisingly) grade-A quality. Usually quickly lost on the LoL message boards among pages of complaints about Magma Chamber and other trolololing, I recently found two websites dedicated to collecting great LoL fan art. It was kind of like exploring a Pharaoh’s tomb, albeit one filled with Teemo comics instead of preserved organs. I’ve put together some samples of the best artists and cartoonists out there, with links to archives of their LoL-inspired work. Now, you may recognize some of these from past LoL Summoner Showcase episodes—but only if you were paying super close attention. The rest of you are in for a treat of grandiose proportions. The sampler below is put together mostly from The League of Legends Fan Site, but Demacian Comics is another great alternative. There’s much more than what’s shown here, so I encourage you to browse around the gallery and see what else you can find.
Chopstyx
 This is what sparked my LoL art-quest: after reading Chopstyx’s 19-page comic depicting an intense 5v5, two incredible things happened. One, I got a craving for more great LoL artwork, and two, I viewed Fiddlesticks in a whole new light: what once was nub has now been made awesome. If epic mini-storylines aren’t your bag, you should at least be able to appreciate Chopstyx’s excellent one-panel comics instead. Read the rest of the comic
Check out more artwork by Chopstyx Katertot
 Wow. If I ever get rich and commission fan art to frame on my wall for hundreds of dollars, it’ll definitely be drawn by Katertot. Once you fully comprehend her artistic mastery, you realize that there’s another layer to Katertot’s genius: Gentleman Cho’Gath and Sona are exactly the kind of guests one would want at a tea-party. Check out more artwork by Katertot TOIIIHOTA
 Warning: gazing at TOIIIHOTA’s concept art may send you spiraling into a deep depression, caused by knowing that his skin designs don’t actually exist in the game (at least, not yet). Riot Games needs to hire him (or her) immediately, based solely on the champion designs and skin ideas on display here. I also highly recommend TOIIIHOTA’s comic strips, especially the Red Riding Hood vs Warwick one. Check out more champion designs by TOIIIHOTA
Check out more comics by TOIIIHOTA Wangwang
 I never thought Nunu was intimidating—until I saw him as depicted by Wangwang. The yeti-rider’s decked out his pal with some sweet bling, including a Banshee’s Veil, Regrowth Pendant, and a Sapphire Crystal. And mourn for the champs that Nunu’s (literally) got under his belt; Blitzcrank, Pantheon, Mundo, and Singed have definitely seen better days. Check out more artwork by Wangwang Duetlols
With the exception of Teemo, champions never looked this cute before Duetlols hit the scene. Who doesn’t love chibi representations of their favorite champs (and still has a soul)? If you’re not into super-deformed Japanese-style cuteness, perhaps you’ll appreciate LeBlanc instead. Check out more artwork by Duetlols Omnibus 
Lastly, I leave you all with the work of a forum legend: Omnibus. Ever wanted to see what the Troll or Card Crusher faces look like when they’re expressed by your favorite champions? Omnibus can make your sick dreams a reality.
Check out more artwork by Omnibus 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The winners for our Worlds of Tanks giveaway have been picked. The developers surprised us by giving us 79 bonus codes, on top of the 21 we already had. So we’re giving away 100 universal codes that work on both US and EU servers to 100 people selected from the original contest post. Look inside for the full list of winners.  Don't fret, Mr. Tankman, we've got a code for a new tank right here for ya! All winners will receive 2500 gold and a free tank! All winners should receive their code by the end of today. To redeem your code:
1. Register or log in to the European community website or North America community website
2. Click on the Use promo code Link
3. Submit the promo code
4. Launch World of Tanks
5. Use your advantage to crush your foes and hear the lamentations of their women. - FraktuRe
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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Great Eagle of Free spreads its wings for one final, triumphant flight today as PC Gamer sees off its 100 Game Giveaway with 20 codes for the League of Legends Collector's Pack! What we're looking at here is a massive asteroid of loot followed by a long gaseous tail of awesome for what remains our favorite free-to-play game. You'll get: - 20 additional playable Champions
- 4 powerful Summoner Runes
- A sinister and adorable Goth Annie skin, exclusive to the Digital Collector’s Edition
- Plus, $10 of Riot Points for use in the store for whatever your legendary heart desires
Click Read More to find out how to enter in today’s giveaway. For more info on League of Legends, be sure to visit the League of Legends homepage and, if you’re having a good time with the game, show your support by liking the game on Facebook.
It’s all yours, absolutely free, courtesy of Riot Games and your friends at PC Gamer. All you have to do is to simply "like" PC Gamer on our Facebook page (if you haven't already), then comment on this Facebook post, and you're automatically entered in our random drawing!
Remember, winners will have to accept a Facebook friend request from our prize delivery account to collect your goodies (you can safely de-friend it afterward). Also, you may only enter once per day. But don't think that this is going to be our last giveaway. Oh no. No way. In fact, we wouldn't be too surprised to find, at the end of today, a surprise twist ending. You shouldn't be either. Yesterday's winners:
Melissa Thanyakarn
Joey Martinez
Dana Jensen
Chun Lau
David Stumme
Dan Sayson
Justin Newton
Nathan Forney
Daniel Gardner
Brian Kopleck
Zachary Christopher
T.J. Cummings
Benjamin O’Brien
Simon Mai
Neil Mason Hedgepeth
Spencer Keashly-Warters
Donald Easton III
Nathaniel Edmiston
Eli Fihn
Duck Huggins 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The First Strike map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops adds four new multiplayer maps, and a new zombie mode arena. The new maps include one set in an ice rink, another on the rooftops of Kowloon, and the zombie map adds new enemies, like gibbering gaggles of zombie Russian cosmonaut monkeys. Never killed a zombie Russian cosmonaut monkey before? You’re missing out. Luckily, we’ve got ten Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike keys to give away. If you live in Europe, you can enter the competition by answering the question on the PC Gamer Facebook page. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The mysterious Valve countdown is killing us. Rich is “getting wiggly” and shaking like a frightened rabbit. Tom Senior is writing a mere 400 words per minute instead of his usual 500. Tim has left the office. But what’s this? As pointed out by Zolo (my favourite commentator of the day so far) Tripwire Interactive have posted a mysterious message on their Facebook page: “Her escape draws near… The central chamber is unlocking…. HELP US!” What does this mean for the countdown? No-one knows. Apart from Valve, obviously. Not long to go though eh? 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Creative Assembly have posted on the Total War forums with an update on the progress of a new patch that will bring DirectX 11 support to Shogun 2. After the patch, those with DirectX 11 capable graphics cards can take advantage of hardware tessellation and enhanced shadowing. The patch will also add anti-aliasing support. Patch 2 won’t just include graphical updates. The Creative Assembly say “we've been completely blown away by the success of multiplayer. That's a really big priority as well. You can expect a raft of multiplayer fixes and modifications in Patch 2, and beyond.” The next patch is due to hit in the first week of May. In other news, the Total War: Shogun 2 soundtrack was released earlier this week, and is available now on iTunes. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Most of the new Battlefield 3 trailer is a mash-up of the best bits of the Fault Line series of videos that DICE have been releasing over the last few weeks. The final moments do show some new footage, though, including images of a city being bombed at night, a tank battle in a desert and a shot of a squad base jumping off a precipice. The campaign to unlock the full 12 minute trailer with developer commentary is still going. The new video will unlock once the Battlefield 3 Facebook page gets a million Facebook “likes.” 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ready for another tour around the glorious world of Aperture Science? With good cause! But no game is ever built in a vacuum. Here’s a look at some of the games that directly and indirectly gave us one of the greatest sleeper hits in gaming history, and the most exciting sequel of 2011.
Prey No, not the one that finally came out in 2006. We’re thinking of the original Prey, which was originally due to take the world by storm around 1998. The whole game was sold based on its ability to fold space, make buildings bigger on the inside than the outside, blow holes in reality, and more. In practice… it never came out. The Prey we finally got is almost entirely unrelated, bar the presence of portals. However, despite this, Prey was a very important game. Its portals directly inspired other developers to play around with the concept, and it wasn’t long before we started seeing them show up. Epic for instance put portals into the original Unreal, and while they were much more simplistic than Prey’s interpretation (most notably, they had to be static), any level designer could now play with TARDIS style buildings and space warping. In practice, it didn’t really happen, but at least the idea was out there, ready to take centre stage barely… well… a decade later, as seen by the fact that it was a whole other Prey that first really showed them off in a commercial game. It did reasonably well, but then Portal appeared in 2007, and made the whole concept its own. Here’s a glimpse of what could have been: And here’s Unreal doing the cut-down, static version, not long afterwards:
System Shock Let’s see. Sci-fi setting. Psychotic female AI. A main character trapped in a world run by a computer tormentor… it’s hard not to draw certain parallels between the two games. However, the most direct one isn’t necessarily SHODAN herself, cybernetic god-empress of Citadel Station though she is, but the way she exercised her power. System Shock pioneered a new kind of narrative, one where your enemy was a constant presence in the game through audio responses and very minor amounts of scripting. She constantly phoned up with cheery messages like “Welcome to my death machine, interloper!” or “If you go into that room, I will kill you…”, along with a healthy amount of monologuing and increasingly empty threats as you worked through every level, methodically foiling her five billion different plans for world domination. Even on the ropes, she manages to remain scary – especially in System Shock 2. As with portals themselves, Portal wasn’t the first game to use the same trick, but it was one of the most successful. The irony of an actual AI character having precisely no AI on her side shouldn’t be ignored, but nor should the effectiveness of just a handful of memorable voice clips played at exactly the right time. This applies both to when you’re doing things right – solving a test chamber for instance – and when you screw up. In Portal, one of the best examples is if you get trapped, and GLaDOS demonstrates her fake-perception and environmental control to let you out again. In System Shock… let’s just say that at one point there’s a lever that nukes the Earth. If you pull it, SHODAN is Quite Pleased. (As a related note, calling GLaDOS a rip-off of SHODAN would be a mistake. She may or may not have been a direct influence, though rogue AI is nothing new in science fiction, but she wasn’t the driving force. Initially, GLaDOS was a very small part of Portal, restricted to only a few short appearances. Even that is largely credited to writer Erik Wolpaw having discovered the comedy of lines delivered by text-to-speech while working on Portal. The question of which of the two AIs would win in a fight has yet to be answered, though there are are pictures and there is ’sexy’ fan-fiction. Be very, very afraid.) Here’s a Let’s Play of System Shock 1. Prepare for REALLY BIG PIXELS.
Narbacular Drop This isn’t simply a game that inspired Portal, but Portal’s direct predecessor. It was a student project, and to be honest, not much of a game. The concept is identical to Portal, with a main character (Princess No-Knees, since she can’t jump) running around a fantasy world and laying down demon-shaped doors on any natural surface. As with Portal, the puzzles primarily come from how much of the world you can’t slap them onto, with metal in particular quickly becoming your nemesis. The basic idea is strong, though the feel isn’t particularly good – especially after playing Portal proper, which refined the concept to be smoother than silk – and this version of the game is far, far too short to be particularly satisfying. That didn’t matter. Valve snapped the team up almost immediately and set it to work. Those concepts, in a new futuristic setting and brought to life by GLaDOS, struck a chord like no other. It’s difficult to remember now that Portal was originally just the ‘other’ game in the Orange Box – the throwaway little puzzler next to the mighty Half-Life: Episode 2 and Team Fortress 2. Download Narbacular Drop here. Alternatively, here’s the whole game:
Tag Tag is the Narbacular Drop of Portal 2 – the game that gave it one of its most important mechanics. Even at a quick glance, it’s clear the two games were born for each other. Like Portal, Tag’s levels are all very simple, largely monochrome worlds built entirely around a single gun-based mechanic. Instead of throwing portals however, you spray paint from a Super Soaker type device. Each colour has a different effect: green makes you jump, red makes you go fast, and blue lets you stick to surfaces, up to and including walking on ceilings. The puzzles are built around the interplay of these elements, typically squirting a track of red paint with a glob of green at the end to propel you across great distances, or squirting green down two platforms to wall-jump to the top. One of the best things about the game is that while there isn’t much scope for inventive solutions and thinking outside the box in this version – it being little more than a short proof of concept – you never have to worry about running out of paint. As long as you’ve picked up the colour’s can, you get as much of it to play with as you want. Portal 2 copies almost all of these mechanics, with the exception that you use portals to spray the paint around instead of having a dedicated gun to do it, and there are more environmental hazards and intricacies to the world than the occasional moving train or nasty fall. As with Narbacular Drop, this isn’t idea-thievery – Valve hired the team to come work on Portal 2. To see the basic idea, download the original project here. As for what they’ve been doing since, we’ll be seeing that… ooh… real soon now. Tick. Tick. Tick… 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As reported by Gamespot, Blizzard are hiring staff for an “Unannounced Game Title”. Even more unannounced than the kind-of unannounced Project Titan. They’re looking for software engineers to work on the new project. The job application points out that the game is “a new and exciting project”, but you knew that already right? This is Blizzard we’re talking about. Are you reaching for the CV? You could end up on a future PC Gamer infographic, you lucky devil. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In a bold move, Valve have released a Team Fortress 2 update that doesn’t contain any hats. Not even a little one. It’s got loads of other cool stuff though, including coaching and training tools, an improved voting system, better performance, and a dedicated King of the Hill version of Badlands. Badass. Click more for the details.
The new coaching tools will matchmake you with a more experienced player who can give helpful hints while tethered to you. If you end up tethered to Craig, we recommend an immediate reboot. There are also improved tutorials for the Demo Man, Engineer, and Spy, dedicated class duels, and more intelligent bots, for all you bot-hunters out there. Better voting, voice chat, loading times, and the ability to link a server to a Steam ID will help optimise your sessions and generate a real sense of hubris. Read the complete patch notes here. Are you sad about the lack of hats? Or have you got enough already? 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A countdown has appeared on www.aperturescience.com, along with a message from the ever-enchanting GLaDOS. She seems pretty happy with humankind’s progress through the Valve Arg over the past few days, but what could the countdown actually be leading up to? Office speculation is rife: the early release of Portal 2? The early release of a bit of Portal 2? A mini Portal 2 mini-game thing? Companion Cube plushies for everyone? Some Half-Life 2: Episode 3 info? More potatoes? Initiate speculation and mild panic… NOW. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In late March, CCP held their annual EVE Fanfest where EVE Online fans could meet, drink and participate in all sorts of crazy activities with their favorite game’s devs in Iceland. For those of us that weren’t able to make the trip out, CCP has put up the full 30-minute video of the ridiculous, absurd and therefore awesome chessboxing match that went down between two CCP developers: Björn “Left Rook” Jónsson, who claims to be CCP's resident chess expert, and Daniel “Pretty Boy” Þórarinsson, who was Iceland's 2009 boxing champion.  The dichotomy between the two elements is almost surreal. What is chessboxing, you ask? Why, it’s only the most sophisticated of sports played between true gentlemen, you Philistine! In short, two gods-among-men alternate between boxing rounds and making moves in a chess game–the first to KO or checkmate his opponent is hailed the victor. For more info, read our preview of the match. CCP promoted the event ahead of time, and used the opportunity to raise over $8,000 for a local charity that provides assistance to special-needs children. You can watch the whole thirty-minute video on CCP’s YouTube page. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Praise Adama, our prayers have been answered: as of today’s patch, we can pilot a Battlestar ship in Battlestar Galactica Online! The patch brings other additions as well–such as a new fighter ships for both sides of the human/cylon war, and upgraded visuals in the Unity 3.3 engine–but let’s be honest, that all pales in comparison to the thought of taking command of the most powerful ships in the BSG universe. And best of all, Bigpoint’s system gives average joes like you and me a fair chance at controlling it–this isn’t for crazy addicts only. We sat down with Andy Butcher, the game’s lead designer, to get all the details. Read on to find out how you can grab command of your very own Battlestar (or Basestar if you’re a Cylon) as soon as this afternoon! 
PCG: Let’s get the most important question cleared up first: will you be piloting Galactica specifically, or is it a different Battlestar?
Andy Butcher: No, in the storyline of the game the Galactica is partially crippled and currently unable to jump, and will always remain under the command of Admiral Adama. The same holds true for the ‘primary’ Basestar in the Cylon fleet. Colonial players can take command of the Pegasus, and Cylon players can take command of the ’secondary’ Basestar. PCG: How do you take control of the Battlestar/Basestar?
AB: In order to take control of the Battlestar/Basestar, a player speaks to the leader of their fleet (Admiral Adama for Colonial players or Number One for Cylon players). If the player has enough Merits and the ship is available, they can take temporary command. In this initial version of the system, the cost is 10,000 Merits. [Note: Merits are a new currency earned in-game by completing PvP assignments, looting enemy players and defeating enemy outposts, Battlestars or Basestars.] PCG: Will there be more than one Battlestar in-game at a time? And if so, doesn’t this conflict with the BSG timeline?
AB: No. There is only one of each of these ships in each fleet, and only one player may be in command of each of them at any given time.  The new Viper Mark VII looks great, but I only have eyes for the battlestar. PCG: I’m sure more than one person will be asking Adama for command of the battlestar. How does he choose which player gets it?
AB: In this initial version, it’s a ‘first come, first in command’ system. The first player (who has enough Merits) that asks for command when their big ship is available will take command. If the ship is currently being commanded by a player, other players will have to wait until it becomes available before being able to take control themselves. PCG: How long does the player controlling the Battlestar or Basestar get to fly it?
AB: Players get temporary command for one hour or until the ship is defeated and forced to withdraw from combat. A player can also give up their command early by docking or logging out. PCG: If the ship is destroyed, the player loses control, but is the ship gone for a period of time?
AB: Being defeated in combat will force the ship to automatically jump out and return to its fleet’s reclaimed base for repairs. This will end the current player’s command.  Cylon players get a whole new look with the Cylon War Raider, also added today. PCG: While you control the Battlestar/Basestar, can you travel? And if so, what happens to the civilian fleet?
AB: The Pegasus and secondary Basestar can jump, just like normal player ships. At all times, the civilian fleet will remain with the Galactica in the Alpha Ceti star system. PCG: What all can you do with the Battlestar while you control it? Can I upgrade it or command other units, like nearby Viper pilots?
AB: When a player is in command of a Battlestar or Basestar, they can use it just like a normal player ship. They are extremely tough and powerful, and ideally suited to spearheading attacks on enemy-held star systems or anchoring the defense of friendly star systems from enemy attack. The ships come with a fixed loadout of weapons and other systems, and can’t be upgraded by the player. However, we have several idea for unique options and abilities that we’d like to add to these massive ships in the future. PCG: Is this the beginning of possibly creating instanced PvP areas?
AB: Not in and of itself, but it certainly doesn’t rule out the possibility of instanced PvP areas being added in the future. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | There’s an occupational hazard that comes with working at PC Gamer, and that’s the chance that the first link you click on each day might just be an incredibly addictive web game that threatens to ruin your productivity for the rest of time. Today, that happened with World’s Biggest Pac-Man, with its simple but epic twist on a classic formula. We struggled past the urge to spend the rest of the day dodging ghosts and eating millions of blobs, and moved onto the news of the day, including a video of the next Minecraft update, news of incoming mod tools for Call of Duty: Black Ops, and the latest sinister twists and turns in Valve’s potato ARG. But what else has been going on in the world of PC gaming? Read on to find out, and to stand a chance of winning a copy of the original Portal.
Today in the PC Gamer office, I realised that I own too many copies of Portal. I have a sad, unplayed Steam copy just waiting to be gifted away. Write a good portal pun in the comments below. The best one will get the game. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It can't be stopped! The hits keep on coming with PC Gamer's epic 100 Game Giveaway! Today, we turn the giveaway ray on roleplaying games. First up: you asked for it, and we're delivering The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings! It’s not out yet, you say? Well, when it does come out on May 17, you can be among the first to play it if you're one of the 10 lucky winners to snag codes provided by our friends at GoG.com. (And yes, that's the DRM-free version!) But that’s not all! We’re also offering up 10 copies of the excellent Two Worlds 2 from TopWare. Click Read More to find out how to enter in today’s giveaway.
Entering to win is so easy, you're practically throwing games into the trash by not signing up! All you have to do is to simply "like" PC Gamer on our Facebook page (if you haven't already), then comment on this Facebook post, and you're automatically entered in our random drawing!
Remember, winners will have to accept a Facebook friend request from our prize delivery account to collect your goodies (you can safely de-friend it afterward). The Witcher 2 winners will be notified tomorrow, but will receive codes closer to launch. Also, you may only enter once per day, but feel free to come back tomorrow, because we'll be handing out another 20 freebies. And tell your friends! Yesterday's winners:
Paul Gallery
Mark Zimmer
David Matos Jr
Julie Fraulin
Kevin Miller
Cody Bonham
Vlad Voziyanov
Matt Kiefer
Robert Rathburn
Michael Graden
Deston Grubbs
Benjamin Morris
Matthew Nelson
William Bly
Kelly Brennan
Derek Mergener
Alex Dudal
Charles Stewardson
Eric Lauritsen
Aaron Strong 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The potato fools day ARG has taken a sinister turn. Key solvers of some of the ARG’s puzzles have had their Steam accounts changed. ARG players have tried communicating with these players via Steam chat, and have been receiving deeply suspicious messages in return. To add to this, players created a spectrogram of the latest Steamcast, and found a message from Glados within. You’ll find the image below, along with a steam chat window showing an exchange with one of the hacked ARG players. You can keep up with the latest Valve ARG news on the Valve ARG wiki.
Here’s the spectrogram of the latest Steamcast. The message is clearly visible. 
Here’s an exchange with one of the infected players. 
At various intervals throughout the day, ARG participants talking to the infected players have found themselves in conversation with the mysterious Console. Players have been entering commands into Steam chat to rifle through the Console’s file structure, picking out new number strings and messages that will unlock the final part of the ARG. Things are moving fast, and it feels as though we’re in the endgame. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The first Risen 2 trailer is full of the moody atmosphere of the first game. Grim men have serious and ambiguous words about something, then step outside to do some dirty fighting in the streets. The atmosphere may be familiar, but there are a few new series additions on show. Firstly: eye patches. Secondly: guns. Thirdly: giant sea monsters! Fourthly: voodoo? Previous details and concept art of Risen 2 suggest that the game itself will be much brighter than this trailer suggests. The sequel will be set across an group of islands occupied by pirates and guarded by aquatic beasts. You’ll find more artwork on the official Risen 2 site. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The latest Rift trailer does a good job of showing how flexible its soul system is. Three souls can be combined to make up your class, and each soul can be levelled up individually, unlocking more skills on each tree. Here we get a good look at the Rogue classes, including the devastating “teleporting sniper.” It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for those enemies. Almost. For more on the game check out our Rift review, or head over to the official Rift site. 
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fable 3 will finally be getting a PC release soon. Lionhead have been talking about the changes they’ve been making to the game to get the PC port of Fable 3 just right. We can expect proper mouse support, increased difficulty, and less item gathering for collection quests. Many of the bugs that were found in the console versions of the game have also been squashed ahead of the game’s release next month. Speaking to RPS, Fable 3 lead designer Josh Atkins admits that the game was designed to be easy for a console audience. “On Fable from the beginning I can remember sitting in a room with Peter [Molyneux] and him being very explicit with me that… I believe the direct quote, if I remember correctly, was, ‘I want a blind child to be able to win this game with their feet.”
 Atkins says that their approach to the PC version is different. “When the difficulty came up we were talking about what would PC players want. What would be important to them? The additional challenge, or the choice for additional challenge was something that we thought was important. “Figuring out how to do that in a way that was both efficient and fair was challenging. We didn’t just move sliders around: we actually sat down and looked at the creature types and looked at them as individuals. Rather than just say, “This one now does 10 per cent more damage,” we made them a little faster, which gives them the perception of being a little bit smarter.” Other changes to the original game include mouse support that will let you click on objects in the environment and tweaks to collection quest designed to remove the grind from gathering quests. “Our hope is that people who pick up [Fable III] on PC think, ‘Okay, this plays how I would expect it to play, it doesn’t play like a half-done port,’ which is the danger for PC games,” says Atkins. “Not to knock anyone else, but people tend to just rush games out onto the PC; they do the very quickest port they can and they try to do it as a financial model rather than let’s try to make something that at least plays like it was designed for this platform, and respects what the platform does.” Fable 3 is out on May 17 in the US and May 20 in Europe. For more on the game check out the official Fable 3 site, and have a read of our Fable 3 preview. 
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