Mechwarrior stomping onto our screens summer 2012

Yesterday it was revealed through a tweet from developer Piranha Games that the next game in the MechWarrior series is heading to PC's next summer.

Mechs! Shooting rockets!

The next chapter of this bipedal vehicular warfare games has been a long time coming, and many feared that the game had been lost in development limbo.
But now it looks like we won't have to wait terribly much longer before we can get back into the cockpit of our Timberwolf and let loose with deadly hails of rockets against our similarly mechanized enemies.

Online and for free.

What?

Is it time to jack back into "The Matrix"?

The other day I was overcome by a sudden wave of nostalgia and urge to revisit the wonderful world of "The Matrix". So I blew the dust of my DVD case (physical media, how delightfully old school), and popped the disc into my PS3, diving into the 1999 science fiction classic.

It's hard to believe this is already a 12 year old movie

After watching the movie, I was once again reminded of just how cool a movie it is, and how sad I am that the Wachowski brothers managed to completely bury the universe with the confusing piece of over worked misshapen lump that was Matrix Reloaded and the complete abortion that was the steaming pile of cow manure AKA Matrix Revolutions.

I don't think I remember a popular science fiction franchise ever rising so fast, full of so much promise, only to explode in mid air and pepper the dazzled onlookers with its CGI entrails.
And this was done by the Matrix's own creators, no less. At least if the franchise had been taken over by a soulless company that had no idea what The Matrix was really about, then I could have understood.

Coming up next week on Light Speed Gaming

It's been a blast of week for me this week!

I finally got my dirty mittens on Battlefield 3, I got my ass handed to me by 17 year old X-COM, and I got down and serious with a post on the place of gaming in modern society.

But as always, there is even better stuff coming up for you all next week!

"Holy stacks of games, Batman!"

It's Q4 and the top quality games won't stop coming.
Already I've played two of my Top 5 games for Q4 2011, namely Forza 4 and Battlefield 3.
I've also already got Batman: Arkham City just lying on my desk, begging to be played (disturbing images of Christian Bale whispering in a husky Batman voice "play me. Play me now..").

Battlefield 3 Review - Stop Playing With Yourself

Battlefield 3 is the last in the long line of modern day military shooters, which was popularized by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
It's been hyped as the new king of the hill, and EA has very deliberately positioned it up against Call of Duty, with the marketing tagline being "Go beyond the call" (Subtle, guys. Real subtle).

It's here!

Now the game is here, ready to impress us with gorgeous graphics, a compelling campaign and orgasmic multiplayer madness.
Or that is what the hype would have you believe at least. Read on to find out if Battlefield 3 is going to leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling of delight, or the unpleasant buzz of frustration.

Dancing Darth Weekend Fun Time!

What?

Well... This!

And now you're ready for the weekend!

 Subscribe in a reader

Steam holds Halloween "scary games" sales blowout - Get your 5 euro Bioshock now!

Never ones to miss any excuse for a crazy games sales bonanza, Steam is holding a Halloween themed sales fest, where a bunch of "scary" themed games are discounted to low low levels.

These happy pumpkins know the goodness that is the Steam Halloween sale!

I've had a looksie at what is available in this gut filled bucket of pumpkin festival related game titles, and here are a few fantastic games that you can pick up for cheap, if they have not already made their way into your gaming collection:

Nintendo reports $589 million loss for the last quarter - 3DS sales improving

Nintendo today announced that it came out of the last quarter with a net loss of $589 million, and lowered it's full year projections from a $260 million profit to a $260 million loss.

Nintendo says that the poor results are due to several different factors, among them are sales declines on software and hardware, as well as a hit on profit margins due to price cuts.

The color of the logo matches the color of the numbers on Nintendo's quarterly results

It is of course no secret that the 3DS handheld console has not done at all as well sales wise as Nintendo was hoping, but at least Nintendo are seeing increasing sales now that they have implemented a significant price reduction on the system.

Nintendo states that the decrease of game sales are due to lack of "hit titles", with the only exception being the 3DS version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

So what to make of this?

I am not surprised that Nintendo is experiencing severe setbacks in their earnings.
The Wii seems to really be a "done" console by now. There are very few games of significance coming out for the system, and the general public seems to have tired of the novelty of motion controls, which the Wii really pioneered.

Furthermore, both Microsoft and Sony have by now tried to steal the motion controlling thunder from Nintendo, by bringing out their own versions of motion controls in the form of the Move and the Kinect (With Kinect itself adding a new novelty of controller free motion control gaming).

Will games ever be considered a "legitimate" pastime?

The other day I was skimming through one of my game forum watering holes, and I was struck by a post that was titled something along the lines of "Do you think you will still be gaming in 10 years?"

Wondering if this was a post about the death of all games or the coming of the end of the world in 2012, Mayan style, I clicked on it to find out.

It turned out to be a post about gaming when you "grow up".
The poster was a college kid and he was writing how he could not see himself still playing games in 10 years.
It just didn't seem "appropriate" to him that a 30 year old, probably with a family and job, would be playing video games.

This is still the kind of image that pops into many peoples head when they hear the words "video game"

This got me thinking about video games and their place in the culture of our modern day society (Because my brain likes to over think things like that).

X-COM Journal Day 1: This could all go very bad...

As I proclaimed yesterday, I have bought a copy of X-COM: UFO Defense and immediately jumped into the world of small grey aliens and flying saucers (brings back nostalgic memories of X-Files it does).

Yesterday I was bombastically bragging how my many years of gaming experience would easily enable me to subdue this old sci-fi gaming antiquity, and I launched the game with high hopes of easy battles against inferior computer enemies.

Approximately 45 minutes later I found myself alt+F4'ing out of the game with a sense of deep despair that would make an emo goth seem cheerful.

A fresh game of X-COM ready to be conquered!

There is no doubt that the last 17 years since X-COM's release has seen great leaps and bounds in terms of easing players into a game and helping them get a feeling for what the hell is going on.

I think the death of the big paper manual has probably helped with this, as back in 1994 you would still find a nice little book for you to read through, whenever you bought any game more complicated than Space Invaders.

However, without a manual (or the patience to read one, even if I could find a PDF document online somwhere) I threw myself headfirst into the game and hoped to figure it out as I went along.

Mistake number one came after around 20 seconds of having selected difficulty level and started the game.

Rockstar announces GTA V

In perhaps one of the least shocking pieces of gaming news to hit the web in a while, Rockstar has just announced the existance of GTA V.

Of more interest is the fact that we are going to be treated to a trailer of GTA V on the 2nd of November.
The GTA V website is up here, but is so far just a title screen and the promise of said trailer.

This is what you see at the official GTA V site at the moment

When we get our first peak into GTA V next week, it will be very interested in seeing if Rockstar will continue the rather sombre and serious story tone that they tried to set in GTA IV, or if we're going to to see a more crazy GTA that is more along the lines of the previous entries in the series.

 Subscribe in a reader

Sci-fi blast from the past: X-COM: UFO Defense

Following my own, rather fantastic, advice on cheap sci-fi games on Steam I just picked up a copy of X-COM: UFO Defense

Something strange in the neighborhood?
Who you gonna call?
X-COM!

I intend to deep dive into a pool of DOS powered gaming nostalgia and relive the magic of the strategy game that helped spark my love affair with sci-fi computer gaming.

Either that or I will run away screaming, horrified by the outdated graphics and cumbersome gameplay mechanics.
Either way, it should provide you with top quality entertainment!

X-COM was one of those games that I had a bit of a complicated relationship with, just like I do with Eve Online.
It continually kicked my ass every time I played it and I only managed to finally complete it by cheating (trainer programs and hex-editors for the win! "FFFFFF" for lots of money).

Blizzard releases new Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm trailer

Blizzcon 2011 happened over the weekend and brought with it a flood of new content.

Probably the most interesting to me was actually this new trailer for the next Starcraft 2 outing, which will be the Zerg centered "Heart of the Swarm".

Check out the trailer below:

 Subscribe in a reader

5 Video game phenomenons that we'd like in real life

The world of video games is a little microcosm of its own.

There are so many gameplay mechanisms that we as players have become so used to that we don't even think about them at all.

I have 3 lives?
Makes perfect sense to me!

Things such as a checkpointing system is an example of a mechanic that you would probably only really notice if it was absent.

These things all make playing games a more enjoyable and relaxing experience, but imagine if we could transfer them into the real world.

If you could pick 5 video game mechanics to transfer into reality, which would be the ones to pick?

Coming up next week on Light Speed Gaming

The week is almost over and that means it's time to look ahead on the navigational charts and see where our plotted course will be taking Light Speed Gaming this coming week!

It's almost here!

Next week will see the release of Battlefield 3, which is on my Top 5 games for Q4 2011 and which I have previously shared my impressions about the multiplayer beta on.
As soon as the game is released proper (Thursday for us Euros), I will be giving it a good kicking and bring you  my impressions from the front ASAP.

In our more contemplative corner, I'll be bringing you another "Point of view" post, where we'll take a look at the status of video gaming as a socially acceptable past time for grown ups and discuss whether video games are cursed to always be equal to Super Mario in the eyes of the general public.

I'll also be bringing you a book review on a Warhammer 40k novel that I just recently finished. And I'll share with you if it is pleasing to the Golden Throne or if it should be cast into the Eye of Terror for all eternity.

Of course no week on Light Speed Gaming would be complete without a "Silly" post or two, so I'll be throwing in some light humor in an attempt to make all our dreary lives just a little more tolerable.

All this and of course, as usual, other stuff that crosses my path and inspires me enough to create a few lines of incoherent ramblings for you all to consume.



 Subscribe in a reader

My ambivalent relationship with Eve Online

The other day I was reading through one of the gaming forums that I usually visit.

In the forum was a post about Eve Online, asking about peoples experiences with this game.

This prompted me to think about my complicated relationship that I have with Eve Online.

As a giant science fiction nut and lover of space ships with frigging lasers on them, I should be the obvious candidate for being a hardcore Eve Online player.

This makes my inner sci-fi geek scream "Yes! So cool. I must play this!"

Eve Online lets you explore a whole galaxy of possibilities, giving the player the possibilities to grow into a legendary space hero.

But it is also a complex experience that has no qualms about punishing your mistakes and will only hold your hand long enough for you to think "oh, this doesn't seem too bad", which is inevitably followed by horrible flaming vacuum infused death.

Blizzard follows up on their thoughts of the indirect gold selling by dragon cub proxy

Following up on their earlier announcement of the "Guardian Cub" pet for World of Warcraft and its potential opening of the Pandora's box of a Blizzard sanctioned cash-for-gold program (Which was discussed in this previous post), Blizzard now further elaborates on its views about the Guardian Cub.

The Guardian Cub controversy continues!

In this post on the official WoW blog Blizzard states that 3rd party gold sales are a problem for WoW, because the money that is being sold is, for the most part, made up of gold that has been taken from hacked accounts.
Therefore you are helping to fuel the industry of hacking other peoples accounts whenever you buy gold from 3rd party sites, you naughty naughty boy.

Impressions from the fast track on Forza 4

Being something of a racing game fan, Forza 4 made my list of my Top 5 games for Q4 2011, so it's no surprise that when it launched last Friday, I immediately picked up a copy and started burning rubber (and also playing Forza 4).

My thoughts pretty much echo all the reviews of Forza 4 that you may or may not have been reading.

Forza 4 is pretty much pure car porn

Basically I think that Forza 4 is a better game than Forza 3 in pretty much every single way.
It is further polishing the winning formula that Turn 10 has been developing over the course of the Forza Motorsport series.

However, it also feels like a much smaller step up than 3 did from 2.
Racing around a lot of the same tracks as you did in Forza 3, you will often be extremely hard pressed to see any difference at all in terms of visual quality.

Perhaps the one area that does feel like it has gotten a significant visual upgrade is the cockpit view, which now looks even better and has actually become my preferred racing view, after pretty much having been a "behind the car" racing guy for all of my life.

New DLC out for Dawn of War 2: Retribution

To all my fellow Dawn of War 2: Retribution fans, Relic has just released a few juicy pieces of DLC to sate our 41st millennium cravings.

The Tau Commander in all his tabletop glory

First up is the Tau Commander DLC pack, which adds aforementioned character to the "Last Stand" multiplayer mode.

This Japanese anime mechwarrior looking little fella comes complete with all newly designed and unique wargear, which will allow you to customize your bipedal robot friend to your specific liking.

And here in all his digital glory!

The other two pieces of DLC are custom packs for Chaos Space Marines and Imperial Guard.

The PS Vita coming to the rest of the world on February 22 - Should we care?

It was just announced today that Sony's new handheld system, the PS Vita is being released outside of Japan on February 22nd.

There can be no doubt that this is one serious piece of handheld gaming hardware

This is a couple of months after the launch in Japan and almost exactly a year after the release of the Nintendo 3DS, which is the other big player in this space.

The 3DS has really struggled out of the gate for Nintendo. It has not at all managed to live up to the massive expectations that were naturally created for the successor to the DS.
How seriously Nintendo is taking this was evident, when the 3DS recently received a very significant price drop to entice buyers away from their Pokemon toting systems of yesteryear.

Obviously Sony should be rubbing their hands at the apparent lack of success for the 3DS.
Surely this means that the PS Vita has a very good chance at usurping the Nintendo handhelds as the mobile gaming platform of choice, and start raking in money hand over fist.

However, there are deep rumblings in the handheld gaming market.
Since the birth of Snake on old Nokia phones, there has been a competing handheld product to these "pure bred" systems like the DS and Vita.

Why the "Geth" from Mass Effect are awesome

*Warning, contains Mass Effect 1 and 2 spoilers*

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Geth from Mass Effect.

In fact I'm such a big fan that learning more about them and their development is high on my list of things I'm excited about in Mass Effect 3.

But what is it that fascinates so much about the Geth?
Surely, they're just another two-dimensional machine race that cliche-like turned on their makers and now want nothing more than destruction of life, galaxy supremacy and voting right for toasters? (remember to vote "no" on proposition #1253B!)

"Is that a flashlight on your head or are you just happy to see me?"

Or, as I have seen one ME fan describing them; "baby Reapers".

Ah, but that is exactly what the Geth are not!

10 signs that you have been playing too much "Dawn of War 2"

Okay, so this post may just be for the nerdy niche of a nerdy niche, but hey, isn't that what Light Speed Gaming is all about?! ("Yes", in case you were confused and thought this was a big mainstream site)

Dawn of War 2 gives you a chance to wage real time strategy battles in the wonderful world of Warhammer 40k, giving you a choice between several of the different iconic Warhammer 40k factions such as Space Marines, Orks, Tyranids and more.

Is there really such a thing as too much Dawn of War 2??

Most hardcore gamers probably know the feeling of spending so much time with a game that your brain just keeps on being in "game mode" even after you've turned off the computer (or perhaps that's just me and the early signs of a disturbing mental disease).

If you experience any of the following symptoms, then it may be time to consider laying off the DoW for a little while..

Orcs Must Die! Review

Following up from our previous coverage of "Orcs Must Die!", which has been a video look of the demo and a Q&A with developer Robot Entertainment, it's now time for a review of the game.

Over the course of the weekend I've been murdering why way through the game and am now ready to render a verdict on the qualities of the game.

In this game the orcs must die. And so they do.

Orcs Must Die! is another entry in the growing niche of "tower-defense-meets-3rd-person-action" games, which have most recently been successfully visited in "Trenched" and "Toy Soldiers: Cold War".

Dumping you into a colorful fantasy world of poorly planned fortresses and inept orcs with extreme suicidal tendencies, Orcs Must Die! gives us a fairly fresh setting to play tower defender in.

As the inept, wisecracking wizard apprentice, you find yourself as the last hope of the world against the orc hordes, after your master is killed in an unfortunate intestinal slip incident.
Not easily deterred, you immediately set about defending the magical "rifts" (no affiliation to "Rift" the MMO, as far as I can tell. At least no weird tentacles coming out of these ones), which are located in 24 different fortresses that comprise the main campaign of the game.

1:30 mins of Warhammer 40k lore basics

I stumbled on this short funny video giving you the basics of the Warhammer 40k setting that I think you should check out:

For a more lengthy explanation of the greatness of Warhammer 40k, check out my post proclaiming my love for all things Warhammer 40k-y.




 Subscribe in a reader

Sneak peak of what is coming up on Light Speed Gaming next week

Hello guys

Another busy week is coming to a close and I thought I'd take a few minutes to whet your appetite for what we will be serving on the digital plate that is Light Speed Gaming in the next weeks time.

I've been spending some time with Forza 4, a game that made my Top 5 Q4 2011 games and that has gotten some pretty great reviews.
I'll be reporting in with my own impressions of the game and how it fares against its predecessor.

"Orcs Must Die!", the 3rd person action / tower defense hybrid has been featured a couple of times on the site.
First we took a look at the demo and then we brought you a short Q&A with developer Robot Entertainment.
Now I've picked up the full game and will be bringing you a full review of the game.

We're also going to be taking a closer look at the Geth from "Mass Effect" and I'll try to give you my opinion of, why they are just such a frigging cool race and why I'm so excited to see more of them in Mass Effect 3.

Finally you'll also find one or two more "silly" posts that will add absolutely no value to anyone, but will hopefully make you smile and give you a couple of minutes of respite from your ceaseless worries about the financial crisis and the impending ecological apocalypse.

And of course, I'll manage to stuff in some delicious nuggets of random info that I will no doubt pick up in my weekly travels on the interwebs.



 Subscribe in a reader

Spending a few hours with Kinect and finding your inner child

I got my Kinect set up and I'm just coming out of my first play session, having danced myself into a mild sweat on the virtual dance floor that is Dance Central (the original, because I'm cheap like that).

I will say a few things about Kinect that I have noted:

You can't really compare playing Dance Central on the Kinect
to any other console experience

1) It really is very cool and very different to be playing a game and controlling a console without any physical controls

It's a very peculiar experience for a lifelong gamer to suddenly have no object between me and the game.

Even if the technical performance is not perfect it's just a really interesting thing to try.
I'm glad I bought it, at least for just getting to have this experience and play games in a completely different kind of way.

If you are interested in the "evolution" of games as a thing in itself, then I think you should get a Kinect, simply to try it out for yourself and see it in action.

Will "The Old Republic" make Lightsabers seem mundane?

As most Star Wars fans, I have always been really fascinated with the lightsaber.

I think I first really fell in love with them when Luke and Vader fought in the Sky City on Bespin.

There is something indefinable cool about a lightsaber that is hard to describe.

The glowing blade that gives it a distinct visual presence and the eerie low level buzz that promises ozone scented mutilation and/or dismemberment.

This picture can still give me goosebumps

And of course, the awesome sight and sound of two lightsabers striking each other, sending sparks flying every which way, with a sound that leaves no doubt about the deadly potential of these weapons.

Finally, lightsabers are very rare weapons in Star Wars.
The are carried by elite samurai-like warriors that use them with expert skills that make them much more deadly than a solider with a common blaster.

All this has made lightsabers become possibly the single most recognizable science fiction weapon in movie history.
Endlessly parodied and copied in other movies, games and various other media.

Batman: Arkham City Review Round Up

The review embargo just ended for Batman: Arkham City, which is one of my 5 must get games for Q4 2011.

And it certainly looks like the caped avenger is not going to let me down.

Batman is looking to be serving us all another round of awesome

Reviews are looking, to say the least, pretty fantastic.
It seems like the game is an improvement over the, already pretty awesome, original in almost every single way.

Buy a piece of old "World of Warcraft" history

If you are in the market for some old video game memorabilia and want to support a charitable cause at the same time (and who isn’t?!), then you might be interested in Blizzards new auction for World of Warcraft “Server blades”(No, I don't know what a server blade is either, but it's probably not nearly as cool as it sounds).

Basically Blizzard has kept some of its old hardware infrastructure that was used to run World of Warcraft in the early years of the game, but has since been retired.

Be a geek *and* help sick kids at the same time! It's win win, people!

Blizzard is now auctioning this hardware off on E-bay and the proceeds will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (where they research children, presumably).

The server blades being sold comes with a commemorative plaque, which you can display it prominently above the fireplace and impress your visitors with you altruistic/geeky nature.

Sadly, there will be no actual WoW data on the hardware, so no chance of starting up a bootleg World of Warcraft server by frankensteining these obsolete silicon relics back into life.

 Subscribe in a reader

I just bought a Kinect - Or: How I learned nothing from owning a Wii

I just did something that I feel I am going to regret.

I just ordered a Kinect.

Oh Kinect. Please don't suck!

Let me elaborate.

When the Nintendo Wii came out, I was not immediately impressed and didn't rush out and buy one right from the get go.
But as word eventually got around of the motion based shenanigans of Wii Sports, I found my gadget bone (it's the one right next to the funny bone) starting to tingle.

Sure enough I ended up with a Wii console and found much fun golfing and playing bowling with my friends.

For about three months.

Relic talks about Space Marine - Could have been better

An article on Eurogamer presents an interview with Relic that talks about Warhammer 40k: Space Marine and it's reception by reviewers and gamers.

The interview touches on Relics thoughts of developing the game, their ambitions and how they felt it all panned out in the end.

"Can you kill Orks? I guess that's good enough. Let's ship it, guys!"

Basically the whole interview has a slightly depressing tone to it, as Relic pretty much states that they made a mediocre game and the were fully aware of it.

How "Game Dev Story" ate 20+ hours of my life

Mobile phone games.

That label alone is enough to make most veteran gamers roll their eyes and think of Angry Bird copycat games.

Indeed, I must admit that until recently, I did not think there was really much in the way of games for phones that could capture my attention for any serious amount of time, excluding the ubiquitous Scrabble clones.

Enter "Game Dev Story" by Kairosoft.

Yeah, doesn't look like much, does it?

This game had me spending more than one evening on the couch, trying to run a successful game development company and leaving my consoles and PC sitting untouched and unloved.

Blizzard let's you pay real cash for WoW gold (kinda)

Blizzard will soon introduce a new pet in World of Warcraft (WoW); the Guardian Cub.

Like many other pets, this is going to be something that you are going to need to lay down some real life dosh to get your hands on.

However, unlike these previous pets, you will be able to trade the Guardian Cub, as it will be a so called "Bind on use" item (meaning it will not be locked onto a character until you use it for the first time).

Therefore you will be able to throw this puppy (or cubby, more precisely) up on the auction house, where there will no doubt be a lot of buyers prepared to part with a significant amount of gold for the privilege of owning this purple bundle of cuteness.

This is about to be the most controversial pet in WoW history

So if you're light on Azerothian currency but your pockets are bulging with greens, then you will be able to change 10$ into gold with this dragon baby as your middle man.

Calm impressions of Rage

Having gotten the 360 version of Rage in the mail yesterday I have now had a chance to spend some time with it.

The game does look really really good (if you can disregard the rather pronounced texture pop-in that happens every time you do a quick 180 turn) and while the setting does make you instantly think of Fallout and Borderlands, it actually manages to have a distinct enough vibe to make it stand apart from these two post-apocalyptic romps.

You can't say Rage doesn't look great

I really did not care much for the driving bits.
The driving physics do not feel very good and this is definitely not something I'd play to enjoy some 4 wheeled wasteland madness.
As it turns, out the driving sections are pretty much only there to carry you from one linear shooting level to the next anyway, so if you don't like it then at least the game doesn't force you into it too much.

Orcs Must Die! Developer "Robot Entertainment" answers a few questions

We're very happy to bring you a short Q and A with Community Manager Justin Korthof from "Robot Entertainment", makers of the just released and very well received game "Orcs Must Die!".

We previously did a small video look of the demo, which pits your skills against the enemy greenskin hordes of the first three levels of the game.

This pretty much sets the tone for "Orcs Must Die!"

We contacted Robot Entertainment to learn a bit more about the game, which seems to have gotten off to a good start:

New Hitman: Absolution teaser and 15 min gameplay video up

I am a moderate fan of the Hitman series.

I think the games have always appealed to me more in theory than practice, because I have never actually played a Hitman game all the way through.

Nevertheless I am prepared to be suckered in again with Hitman: Absolution, and this new teaser trailer is doing a good job of pulling me in:

Somehow people in the Hitman world never seem to learn to look out for the bar code tattooed on the back of Agent 47's head, which is prominently displayed even when he is wearing a disguise.

Also just released is this video demo of the game, featuring 15 mins of actual gameplay, which was shown behind closed doors to the press at E3 this year:

Rad!

The current state of PC gaming and the "Sysifos problem"

Full disclosure before you start reading this article; I am a PC gamer at heart. But I am also a gamer that enjoys great games on whatever platform they are available.

I currently own an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii (hey, don’t laugh, it seemed like a good idea at the time) and a Nintendo DS.

So I bear no ill will towards consoles, even though the majority of my everyday gaming takes place on PC.

It seems that as of late the PC is having somewhat of a resurgence as a major platform for “Triple A” games.

Battlefield 3 is a good example of a major release that flexes its muscles on the PC platform in comparison to the console version.

Battlefield 3 looks the most impressive on a beefy gaming PC

The current generation of consoles are getting pretty long in the tooth by now.

With 5-6 years under their belt, it is no wonder that game developers are trying to squeeze out the last drops of gaming juice from these partially mummified fruits of gaming hardware.

Of course, this also means that the current console generation has a huge audience by now, so there is plenty of incentive to still keep pumping out your games on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 - an amazing piece of hardware. In 2005.

But it does look like new games are now first shown on the PC, where developers can give a truly stunning presentation, before a more toned down version that can run on consoles is demonstrated.

You really should watch Futurama

"Futurama" is something as rare as an animated science fiction sitcom.

Created by none other than Matt Groening, of "The Simpsons" fame, it is one of my favorite shows.

First aired back in 1999 Futurama never really reached the success that The Simpsons did (but then again, what has?), and the initial series was killed off in 2003.

The series follows the the adventures of the interplanetary delivery company "Planet Express" in the year 3000.

The drawing style is recognizably "Simpons like" 

The series has some fantastic characters such as Leela, the cyclopian pilot of the Planet Express spacehip, Bender, the bending series robot (for all your bending needs) that has a hankering for alcohol and a desire to kill all humans.

Oh, and of course the lobster-like medical expert of the team, Dr. Zoidberg, who is probably my favorite character of the series.