Evergeek Gift Guide '08: Windows PC
Windows PC
Some of the best-looking, best-playing games are found on PC, sometimes exclusively so or also in console format where they don't look/play as well. It's important to remember that the home PC was a networking social/casual/game community hub long before the consoles got on board with that whole inter-webby thing and hey, it also does your email and Facebook. The economies of scale have made the Windows PC a totally viable game console that doesn't happen to be a console -- it'll even jack into the HDTV there in family room. Still, a real gamer-grade PC will set you back a small fortune. Oh well.
Evergeek Gift Guide '08: Essential Gamer Gear
PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Windows PC, Xbox 360
For every game system there is a gamut of gear to go with -- sold separately, of course. But assuming the hardware is already in hand, here's a batch of wicked cool peripherals hoping to jack-in and enhance the experience.
Fallout 3
Windows PC
Fallout 3 follows in the auspicious footsteps of role-playing/shooter hybrids before it, Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and BioShock, widely accepted as Game of the Year in 2006 and 2007 respectively. '08 just might be the year of the Fallout. But maybe not...
Surprise, most gamers aren't geeks
Macintosh, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Software, TV Plug-n-Play, Wii, Windows PC, Xbox 360
For some, it's hard to take the videogame industry seriously when all it conjures is images of boys playing virtual soldier shooting aliens on the spare TV in the basement. Thing is, that image hasn't been accurate for a decade or two. And now, a new Ipsos study shows it to be completely false. Go figure.
D.I.P.R.I.P. Warm Up
Windows PC
Though "die in pain, rest in peace" seems a weak slogan for a car-combat game, D.I.P.R.I.P. is nonetheless a solid smash-bang vehicular shooter, mainly because it's based on Valve Software's superlative Source code. Think Half-Life 2 goes destruction derby.
Bond game promo, play free, win stuff
PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows PC, Xbox 360
If you like 007, freebie games, chances to win cool free stuff like a PlayStation3, have a PC and an internet connection, well, has Activision got a deal for you.
UberSoldier II
Windows PC
Apparently, what the world needs now is another World War II themed first-person-shooter (FPS) in which you kill many, many Nazis. Well, the world also needs cheaper games, and UberSoldier II certainly fits that bill.