MMOGaming News

MMOGaming News

For Better Game or for More Money?

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Blizzard puts a great deal of energy into promoting Diablo 3 in a seemingly reasonable and considerate manner, but the point is just what we said above. Continue reading For Better Game or for More Money?.

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C9 Chinese Version Closed Beta Registration Guide

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n China, C9 is operated by Tencent, if we want to play this game, we need to have a Tecnent account, that is QQ account. Continue reading C9 Chinese Version Closed Beta Registration Guide.

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Dragon Nest KR Aug 4th Update: Academic Released!

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Dragon Nest KR has finished its 'new generation' update on Aug 4th. Our volunteer chaose5 from Freedom did a translation to introduce this update. Continue reading Dragon Nest KR Aug 4th Update: Academic Released!.

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Red5 Studio Details the Multiple Ways to Join Firefall Public Beta

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Today, Red5 revealed something that Firefall fans really want to know - how to participate into the beta. Continue reading Red5 Studio Details the Multiple Ways to Join Firefall Public Beta.

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GRAVITY INTERACTIVE's 1st Facebook Game Eternal Destiny Debut

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Gravity Interactive, Inc. is very proud to announce the launch of their newest web-based MMORPG title, Eternal Destiny. There is no need to bother with downloading a huge client from a website and installing it onto your PC! The game will be available and free to play on Facebook starting August 11, 2011. Continue reading GRAVITY INTERACTIVE's 1st Facebook Game Eternal Destiny Debut.

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[Blog] La Tale - August 4th Update Notes

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The long awaited old character name wipe is here this patch. Don't worry though, the name wipe is only in regards to a character who has not been logged into for over a year. Continue reading [Blog] La Tale - August 4th Update Notes.

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Chinese Valentine's Day in Eudemons Online

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This year, the romantic day falls on Aug. 6th. What are the differences between Chinese Valentine's Day and the Valentine's Day on Feb. 14th? Continue reading Chinese Valentine's Day in Eudemons Online.

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Priston Tale 2: New Level Cap, 4 New Zones, 3 Systems in Latest Update

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Game Bridger Entertainment, a global publisher of interactive online entertainment media and the proprietor of GamerKraft Turkey, Turkey's newest free-to-play gaming portal, announced today a major update to its fantasy MMORPG, Priston Tale 2. Continue reading Priston Tale 2: New Level Cap, 4 New Zones, 3 Systems in Latest Update.

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Scarlet Legacy Starts Closed Beta Test

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GamesCampus announced the start of closed beta testing for the highly-anticipated fantasy martial arts MMORPG,Scarlet Legacy. Players who got beta key have early access to a massively dynamic fantasy world that takes players through a journey of thousands of quests to save Princess Scarlet. Continue reading Scarlet Legacy Starts Closed Beta Test.

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Blizzard: WOW's Subscriber Number Decrease is Seasonal and Normal

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In the past 8 months, WoW lost about 1 million subscribers as the subscriber number worldwide dropped from 12 million to 11.1 million. Continue reading Blizzard: WOW's Subscriber Number Decrease is Seasonal and Normal.

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Spiral Knights: New Explosive PvP Mode Added

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SEGA today announced that a brand-new Player vs. Player mode has been added to Spiral Knights, the retro-inspired multiplayer action-RPG created by renowned developer Three Rings. Continue reading Spiral Knights: New Explosive PvP Mode Added.

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Exit Games Photon Powers King's Bounty: Legions

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Exit Games today announced that its leading network engine Photon has been selected by KranX Productions to power the network features of Nival's Kings Bounty: Legions, a social massive multiplayer online game (MMOG). Continue reading Exit Games Photon Powers King's Bounty: Legions.

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Brawl Busters to Launch Closed Beta on August 11th

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Rock Hippo Productions and partner Weezor have announced today that the closed beta test for Brawl Busters, a fast-paced, free-to-play third-person action game, will begin next week on Thursday, August 11th. Along with the closed beta announcement, Rock Hippo also released a brand new actual gameplay trailer and some new screenshots to show off the game. Continue reading Brawl Busters to Launch...

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League of Legends Introduces a New Game Mode - League of Legends: Dominion

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Riot Games unveiled a upcoming brand-new capture-and-hold game mode League of Legends: Dominion for its multiplayer online battle arena title League of Legends. Continue reading League of Legends Introduces a New Game Mode - League of Legends: Dominion.

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ALT1 Games to Start Open Beta Test of TROY Online

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In the open beta test, ALT1 Games intends to roll out the vast majority of features of the game including all quests and quest arcs, the maximum level cap, and all designed areas and zones. Continue reading ALT1 Games to Start Open Beta Test of TROY Online.

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RIFT Patch Notes 1.4 Final Version

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A new type of Rift - PvP Rifts - can now be opened at Raid Tear locations with a special Ascended Power. Continue reading RIFT Patch Notes 1.4 Final Version.

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Chinese Hero Online Coming to Europe under the Name Gunblade Saga

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Mail.Ru Games is preparing to launch the popular Asian fantasy MMORPG Chinese Hero Online in Europe under the title Gunblade Saga Continue reading Chinese Hero Online Coming to Europe under the Name Gunblade Saga.

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[Topic] Difference between General MMORPG Classes?

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How come in mmorpgs such as dungeon fighters online, Rift, and Dragon Nest, the cleric class seems a lot like the warrior class? Continue reading [Topic] Difference between General MMORPG Classes? .

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RIFT 1.4 Legacy of the Fallen Now Live with a New PvP Trailer

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The fourth major content update, Legacy of the Fallen, to RIFT is now live on NA servers. The 1.4 patch update contains new PvP rifts, the Drowned Halls 10-player raid, a new epic quest line and cross shard grouping to name a few. To celebrate the launch of Legacy of the Fallen, Trion has released a new PvP trailer that showcases the new PvP rifts and the Whitefall Stepps alternate mode. ...

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Kingdom Under Fire 2 New Content - Human Alliance Debut

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Kingdom Under Fire 2, a creative real-time strategy & action MMO developed by Korea-based Blueside and published by NHN, has recently unveiled the newest screenshots of the Human Alliance. Continue reading Kingdom Under Fire 2 New Content - Human Alliance Debut.

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MMORPG Reviews

MMORPG Reviews

League of Legends has announced a new game mode: Dominion

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 11:01 AM PDT

Riot Games has announced League of legends: Dominion, a brand new game mode (and the map that comes with it) in which the two teams must capture and hold five strategic points in order to win the game. This new game mode will be available for free to all League of Legends players, who will [...]

Mini Fighter presents Power Helga a new playable character

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 10:01 AM PDT

Mini Fighter has introduced Power Hellga, its 16th playable character. Faster and stronger than her predecessors and with rage coursing through her veins, she'll be a powerful new contender in this side-scrolling battle royale. To celebrate her awakening, Mini Fighter is hosting a pair of events that kick off today. The new Card Game is [...]

S4 League new maps are already available

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 09:05 AM PDT

The new S4 League maps are already available, Sky Line, which allows the use of platform jumping, and Iron Heart, inspired by Steampunk. Both scenarios can be played on the way Seize Mode. Seize mode is new S4 League is to conquer the enemy’s bases to earn points and a lot of extra skills. As [...]

Gala Networks Europe has announced that Allods Online : Renaissance has now gone live

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 06:08 AM PDT

Gala Networks Europe is delighted to announce that Allods Online: Renaissance has gone live. As the first content update since the game's official launch in May 2011, the update include a huge amount of new content and challenges for its player population, which has recently surpassed 3.5 million registered players globally. The biggest addition in [...]

Innogames has released further information of Lagoonia

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 04:59 AM PDT

InnoGames has released further details of its new browser game Lagoonia. The focus of the browser game is on the relationships between characters and players. Moreover, players plan and create many things that make the island livable. The game sets the scene by stranding the initial character on a remote South Sea island as the [...]

Joymax reveals 2 new trailers from Karma Online: Prisoners of the Dead

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 03:55 AM PDT

KARMA Online: Prisoners of the Dead is the newest installment in the KARMA Online series, the top online first-person shooter series in Korea. Players go back in time to World War II, where they must choose to side with the Axis or Allied powers and join the fight for global victory, with a zombie twist. [...]

En Masse Entertainment has announced the launch of TERA on Spring 2012

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 02:57 AM PDT

En Masse Entertainment has announced that the launch of TERA, is scheduled for spring 2012. Development and production continues to both add new features as well as refine confirmed elements to deliver an innovative, action packed experience set in a visually stunning world that can only be discovered in TERA. TERA, the recipient of several [...]
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General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Why Hackers Write Computer Viruses

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 03:01 PM PDT

Why do hackers hack? Why create a worm that sends out an email to everyone in your contact list, or a Trojan that deletes your term papers? Is it mischief, malice, money, or something else entirely?

This is the question that was on my mind when I met with Mikko Hypponen, a legendary computer security heavyweight who has been hunting viruses for 25 years—since Brain.a, the first PC computer virus.

From the plaza, I walked out to a seat by the water facing the San Francisco Bay. Hypponen was there, waiting for me. I sat down next to him. I felt like we needed code phrases.

"What makes this a New Orleans iced coffee," he asked, as he accepted his drink.

"It's the chicory," I replied.

"Did you know the Finns drink more coffee per capita than any other nation?"

"I did know that," I replied. "I know a lot about coffee."

Okay! I guess we had our code phrases after all.

Hypponen is the lead security researcher for F-Secure in Finland. His takedowns and diagnosis include some of the nastiest, biggest computer viruses out there: Sobig.F, Sasser, Storm Worm. PC World called him one of the 50 most important people on the Web. Hypponen was on his way to a black hat conference in Las Vegas.

We met at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco, sitting by the pier as commuter boats came and went. I wanted to ask him about the long history of personal computer viruses, now in their 25th year, from the simple to Stuxnet, and the shifting motivations that inspire virus writers to act. We had an hour.

The Hobbyists

2011 is the 25th anniversary of the first PC virus. In September, 1986, two brothers from Lahore, Pakistan, Amjad Farooq Alvi and Basit Farooq Alvi, released Brain.a into the wild. Brain.a infected the boot section of computers running PC-DOS. Its authors claimed they were simply trying to target people who were infringing on their own software. But the virus spread wide across the world, and marked the beginning of the malware era in computing.

Late last year, Hypponen was going through his records at F-Secure. He found a box with the 100 first computer viruses, all on floppy disks. "These are probably from five years or more," says Hypponen, "now more than that are written in one hour."

He realized that the first of these, Brain, was approaching its birthday. He had a long history with it, having studied it when it was first unleashed. To mark the anniversary, he travelled to Lahore, Pakistan, in an attempt to track the Alvi brothers down. Amazingly, they still had a business at the same address they had listed in the original Brain.a virus code. So he knocked on the door. They answered.

"They wanted to demonstrate that the PC system was not as secure as Microsoft and IBM said it was," he explains. "They thought it was weak, and [wrote Brain] to demonstrate that."

The Alvi brothers were Unix guys. DOS seemed like a weaker system, and they thought they might be able to exploit it. They wanted to see if they could move code from one system to another, on its own. They wanted to see if it could be transmitted, like a virus.

It worked! Before long the brothers (who had helpfully included their phone number in the code) were getting calls from universities and businesses all over the world, wanting to know what it was.

Others began tinkering with Brain.a, releasing variants. And as time passed, more and more people began writing distinct viruses. These were for the most part, however, more of annoyances than real problems. They might mess up your system but they would not (for most people at least) ruin your life.

And then came email. And that was bad.

"It has changed completely now," says Hypponen. "It changed from hobbyists and old school hackers around 2002 or 2003 when the hobbyists realized they could make money."

The Criminals

By the turn of the century, spam was big business. But in order to send out a lot of spam, you needed a lot of computers. And to keep from getting caught, they shouldn't be your own. Enter botnets.

Viruses allowed spammers to capture and control users computers remotely. They could use infected machines to ensnare other computers, sending out not just offers for herbal viagra, but phishing attacks and keystroke loggers that give them access to bank and financial data and personal information. By 2005, the point of malware writing had largely changed. Fuck proof of concept. Now it's for money.

There's also another reason that malware writers have surged: Microsoft Windows XP. That ancient system is, unbelievably, still the most widely used operating system on the planet. It's installed on more than 50 percent of all machines connected to the Internet, and it's very insecure.

"XP is the weakest of all systems," says Hypponen, " and it is installed on the most computers. Of course you will target that."

"The source of malware today is 99 percent criminal gangs, and that's a pretty nasty development," says Hypponen. "We didn't used to have to worry in the real world. But now there are organized criminal gangs, making millions from their attacks. When we shut down their operations, they know who we are."

It's not just a hypothetical fear. Ivan Eugene Kaspersky, who owns one of the world's leading anti-virus security labs, had his son Ivan snatched off the streets of Moscow earlier this year. Whether there was a revenge motivation, in addition to the ransom, is still unclear. But the fact remains that anti-virus guys are now effectively standing between the mob and big piles of money. Which is never a very safe place to be.

And if that wasn't bad enough, now there's a new, potentially deadlier, source of viruses: governments.

The Spies

"I have Stuxnet right here with me in my bag! Do you want it?"

He leans over and slaps his computer bag on the side. I decline. I know it's not, say, smallpox, but sitting next to the most sophisticated computer virus ever created is oddly worrisome.

Stuxnet upped the ante. It targeted only a certain programming environment, with a certain PLC, with a certain configuration, in a certain location—which turned out to be a nuclear plant in Iran. When it went active, it recorded the normal plant operations for a few days, and then began playing them back to monitors, like a closed circuit tv camera in a bank heist film, while in actuality it was modifying the speed centrifuges spun at, causing them to break apart, most likely in violent fashion. Stuxnet, for now at least, ended Iran's nuclear ambitions.

But where did it come from?

"It was done by your government!" The Finn doesn't have any proof of this, but like most security researchers, he takes it as accepted wisdom.

"I do believe that when in 2008, George W. Bush signed the [Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative] that the end result of that was Stuxnet."

Unlike most viruses, Stuxnet didn't spread over the Internet. Instead, it spreads from one machine to another on infected USB sticks. Which means that somehow, someone had to get an infected stick into physical contact with Iran's nuclear facility in Bushier.

"We don't know how it was originally planted, says Hypponen. "My guess is that they pick-pocketed workers, or broke into their homes and planted them."

Stuxnet has heralded a new era. Today's sophisticated malware attacks might now just target one machine in the entire world. And employee at a certain company could get a virus targets just to that specific person. Governments, corporations, and extremist groups are already engaged in this. As Hypponen points out, Stuxnet had been in the wild for more than a year before anyone discovered it.

What's out there now is an open question.

Hypponen was late for another appointment. And so as we finished our coffees, I stood to leave, and began walking away from the water, back into the plaza. Hypponen stopped me. He reached out his hand, and gave me my iPod, which I'd carelessly left in my seat.

He looked disappointed.

Gizmodo is the world's most fun technology website, focused on gadgets and how they make our lives better, worse, and more absurd.

Researchers Find Chrome OS Vulnerability

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 02:49 PM PDT

chromeWith the Black Hat security conference going on right now, it's the season for new hacks. Although, we didn't really expect Google's cloud-based Chrome OS to be a star this year. Google highlighted the increased security of Chrome OS when it was announced, but a team of security researchers has managed to use web tools to gain access to user data.

Matt Johanson and Kyle Osborn spent a few months looking at Chrome OS, eventually finding a flaw in the ScratchPad extension included on ever ChromeBook. ScratchPad is used to take notes and save them to the cloud. The exploit allows the hacker to access a user's cloud data like Gmail, contacts, Docs, and Google Voice messages. Google has been working on improving security in Chrome extensions, so hopefully this type of attack won't be repeated.

Johanson and Osborn demoed the hack live on stage. Despite the gasps of the assembled crowd, many researchers are not surprised. They worry that the use of techniques like XSS and clickjacking will result in more exploits in Chrome OS. Do you think the lack of a real on-disc operating system will make Chrome users more secure, or is this just the beginning?

Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 01:00 PM PDT

Is Valve's dominant digital platform the future? Or does it herald the end of PC gaming as we know it?

Steam. Publishers and rival digital distributors want to be it. Gamers and developers want to be with it. And animals lacking opposable thumbs want to learn how to use computers just to use it... or so Valve would have you believe. But all isn't as rosy in the land of PC gaming as all that, and as Valve's digital gaming platform has picked up more and more, well, steam, it's garnered its fair share of backlash as well. With Valve's recent tiffs with EA over their upstart Origin distribution platform, never before has the community been so polarized by Steam. Will Steam continue to dominate the PC gaming landscape? And if so, what does this mean for gamers?

First off, let's dispel the myth that Origin is a rival to Steam. Perhaps it will be in time, but as it stands now, EA's digital marketplace is just that - a digital store front for EA published titles. For the moment EA is content in simply bypassing Steam, in order to sell their products directly without losing revenue to a rival distributor.

So, no, Origin is NOT in direct competition with Steam, but neither are any of the other PC digital distributors. And I don't mean 'no competition' in the 'we're kicking your ass in marketshare' kind of way. No, I mean they're literally not selling competing products—they simply lack the depth and breadth of what Steam has to offer. Whereas Origin, Impulse, Direct2Drive, GoG, GamersGate and others are all perfectly valid online stores and distributors, they aren't what Steam is: a unified, managed gaming platform for the PC.  And therein lies the true heart of the Steam debate: is the establishment of this type of system beneficial to the PC market?

The Birth of Steam

steam birth

And on the 12th day of September, in the year of 2003, the Steam client was released. And it was good. And, lo, on that day Steam reached out its pipey appendage to the huddled masses of PC gamers and delivered them from suffering and into salvation. So goeth the gospel of Steam.

But Steam's origins are more humble than that. While Valve may or may not have had more grandiose plans in mind for Steam from the beginning, the original client (beta clients were available as early as mid-2002) was intended merely as a patch delivery system and anti-cheating measure for its popular online shooters like Counter-Strike. Valve quickly recognized the platform's value as a content delivery system and started pushing mods such as Day of Defeat down the Steam pipeline.

It wasn't until late 2004, and the release of Half-Life 2 that Steam started seeing widespread adoption. Half-Life 2 was the first game that required online authentication, and hence Steam, to play. While backlash was initially strong against a required client and online connection for authentication, the auto-patching and ability to download levels, mods, and mod tools quickly endeared the fans toward Steam.

Fastforward seven years and Steam now dominates the PC gaming landscape, with over 30 million users, over 3.5 million concurrent users online at peak times, and a whopping 50-70% (or more) of marketshare in the digital distribution realm. Valve is obviously doing something right.

Steam the Savior

steam savior

Doomsayers have been decrying the death of PC gaming for practically as long as PC gaming has been around. But it's really been the last decade where the PC has been fighting for its life in the gaming sphere. Despite the proliferance of personal computers of all shapes and sizes, rising piracy issues and increased developer focus on the consoles has pushed the PC from the dominant platform to an almost forgotten afterthought. In the malaise of the mid aughts, with the PS2 and X-Box dominating the scene and the 360 and PS3 looming large on the horizon, PC gaming looked to be headed toward extinction. Enter Steam.

While correlation should not be confused with causation, the rise of Steam and the coinciding resucitation of the PC gaming scene can't be overlooked. Since the beginning, the PC has been seen as an enthusiast's platform, with a high barrier to entry, in both time and money. But Steam has gone a long way to addressing many of the issues that have plagued PC gaming from time immemorial.

Click Play to Play

Let's not forget the original purpose of Steam: to quickly and easily deliver and install content. In the past, searching for patches was the bane of many PC gamers. Patches were often missing from the developers' website, could have slow download times, or long download queues. Applying them could be equally arduous. They wouldn't properly detect installed games, they'd be incompatible with previous saves, they'd have driver conflicts, and many other equally irksome issues.

While Steam doesn't entirely mitigate all of these issues, it has vastly simplified and improved the patching process. Valve verifies the stability of patches, serves them up themselves, and delivers and installs the patch content automatically. Also, Steam's initial install process is typically way simpler than the myriad of bloated and annoying Windows installers - plus the lion's share of game data is stored within the Steam folder instead of separated in various folders across your hard drive. Sure the constant DirectX and C++ Redistributable Library installs for each new Steam install are annoying, but you'll get that installing games off Steam as well (blame Microsoft).

Cheapskate Paradise

luv steam

Perhaps the greatest draw of Steam is its huge library of ridiculously cheap games. Despite Valve being in a position to control and inflate prices, they've done the exact opposite; they've made gaming more affordable than ever.

Log on during one of Steam's much anticipated summer or Holiday sales and prepare to be amazed by the availabilty of games discounted as much as 75-90%. Steam also tends to be - at worst - on par with retail and online shops for new releases and pre-orders, and at best far cheaper—often featuring game specific sales and significant price drops well before the usual six month "clearance" model that drives retail pricing. Of course this is from my perspective as an American gamer. Unfortunately pricing isn't quite as competitive in Europe and other territories.

Steam also provides one of the first legitimate methods of buying older games. Due to the nigh non-existence of used PC game sales, snagging old games in the past meant either trusting in shady eBay auctions, or worse, turning to piracy. Since Steam is digital, it makes it possible to buy new old games, and as a bonus, the developers still get to see some of that money. Though still far from perfect, Steam's patching system and focus on compatibility also means there's a better chance  the game will run on a modern system than a copy ran "out of the box."

Manage my Management

elim drm

And now for the elephant in the room: DRM. While gamers are almost universally united in their hatred of DRM, it's more about the implementation than its mere existence. Handled poorly DRM is a pair of digital handcuffs, a set of rules imposed by the powers that be that tell you how, when, why, and where you can enjoy the content that you paid for and supposedly own. The more obnoxious DRMs on the market restrict the number of installs, require a constant internet connection, and may just destroy your computer.

In a perfect world DRM wouldn't exist at all, but let's face it, some amount of online security is inevitable, and given the current strategies of many publishers, DRM isn't going anywhere any time soon. Perhaps it's the lesser of many evils, but Steam DRM is DRM done right.

For games that use Steam as their DRM method, a one-time validation is required after purchase, keys are automatically applied to the game and its DLC, and the game can be installed and uninstalled as many times as you want, and on any computing device that runs your Steam account. After that validation, games are available to play in offline mode. It's all pretty painless, really, and is no more restrictive than the requirement of needing a physical disc to play a physical copy.

Of course many Steam games require Steam validation in addition to other forms of proprietary DRM used by the publisher, which may impose more limitations, but you can hardly blame Valve for that. In fact, the stark contrast between Steam's lightweight DRM and that of its competitors simply bolsters the case for Steam as the DRMM, or digital rights manager manager, of choice.

You Got Server'd

Of course, to play a game online, a connection to a server is required. Well, games that choose to use Steam as their prime distribution method connect and authenticate through Steam servers, which pose a significant advantage over many other hosts: stringent anti-cheating measures (in games that support it), a proven track record of stability, and an as-yet-unbroken promise from Valve that the servers will stay online and supported and never be shut down.

 

 

Steam: Not Just a State of Matter, but a State of Mind

steam im

Of course many, if not all, of the advantages listed so far aren't exclusive to Steam. Many other digitial distributors can claim similar boons to PC gaming. Steam, however, is the only platform to have it all, and, for the low, low price of zero dollars. "But wait, there's more!" Steam's most important, and possibly most divisive, feature is the client itself, which takes Steam out of the realm of distribution outlet and patch delivery system, and into the realm of unified gaming hub and bona fide social network.

What many enjoy about Steam is its one-stop-shop approach to PC gaming. A way to conglomerate and streamline their game collection, manage online cloud saves between multiple machines, stay connected to their friends and fellow players, and stay apprised of the latest news and updates. The Steam client allows for all that and more.

When first logging on to Steam you'll be greeted by the entry portal of your choice, be it the storefront, your games library, the community page, or your list of friends. The client comes equipped with a simple but effective buddy list, an IM interface with voice chat capability, and community features that offer achievements, stat tracking, screenshot libraries, and user created blogs, minisites, and fangroups. The client allows you to view what games your friends are playing, invite them to play the game you're playing, and use the Steam IM window to chat without having to fully taskswitch out of a fullscreen game. The game's built-in browser also lets you view the latest news or patch information on a game by game basis as well as the option to buy DLC.

Steam's exuberant fanbase embraces all these features, and once getting used to such a robust feature set, many find themselves immersed in the Steam community, with little need to run a separate IM client, voice server, or even internet browser while gaming. Some might even say the more enthusiastic fan(boys) are more like full-blown initiates in the cult of Steam, who wish for all their friends to join the flock and for all games launched now and in perpetuity to include Steam support (cue the angry mob of Steam gamers lustily shouting for Battlefield 3 support and threatening boycott).

Steam the Slayer

steam slayer

And therein lies the dilemma, many of Steam's perceived features and benefits may be beloved by many, but they also represent a fundamental shift in PC gaming as we know it. See, I mentioned earlier that there is no direct competition to Steam in the digital marketplace, but that only pertained to the PC. Steam does have direct competition: X-Box Live and the PlayStation Network.
Does this mean that Steam is attempting to make the PC become, gasp, consolized? Are words like 'streamlining,' 'management' and 'community' code for' dumbing down,' 'controlling,' and 'data mining'? Steam detractors would say yes.

Freedom Ain't Free

For better or worse the main advantage of PC gaming has always been freedom. Freedom to run or not run any program or mod you want on whatever hardware you want (and can get working). Steam's controlled approach to game management could easily be construed as a constraint to freedom in how you run your games.

While modding has always been a do-at-your-own-risk proposition, for some, Steam's executable process has turned this into simply 'don't do.' Users run the risk of failing Steam authentication for games that are heavily modded, which could mean anything from just the game not running, to Valve suspending or even shutting down the offending Steam account.

Furthermore, the auto-patch process can lead to mods, or even entire games not working. And with no easy way to roll back patch revisions, some users find themselves with games that won't work due to save or driver incompatibilities, even with unmodified games. Gone is the art of tweaking every aspect of an .exe or .ini file. Sure, you won't run into problems a good majority of the time, but with auto-patching and authentication, free-for-all tweaking is a thing of the past.

Managed Evil is Still Evil

valve motiv

Again, one of the main issues with Steam is its included DRM. Proponents may say that Steam is the lesser of all evils, but detractors claim that all DRM is unjust and Steam is still a major part of the problem. The music industry went through its draconian DRM phase before the free usage wave caught on. While the games industry is still somewhere in the shifty planes of DRM limbo, free usage advocates are hoping game DRM will also go the way of the dodo.

This means no authentication, no validation, no required client to install and play a game that you rightfully bought. Sure, Steam is fairly liberal in their policies, but the fact that their client is required and that they hold the right to revoke access to content you (maybe, possibly, who-knows-according-to-the DMCA) own still brings up the nagging question of true digital content ownership. Accepting a non-invasive DRM "solution" may simply perpetuate a system where end users are merely licensees of content, and have no true rights or ownership of the content.

Where does this lead the consumer five, ten years down the road? If Steam no longer exists we may not have access to any of the content we bought (or perhaps more appropriately, "leased").

Wait, Aren't Monopolies Bad?

steam store

Another word you hear bandied about in regards to Steam is monopoly. Steam may or may not be a monopoly, but as their marketshare grows, so too does their control over not just the digital marketplace, but the PC platform at large. While Valve's practices thus far have been fairly honorable in terms of doing right by both the customers and developers, what would happen if The Republic decided to become The Empire?

The key term here is 'could,' we're talking in pure hypotheticals, but Steam could dominate to such a degree as to control pricing, availability, and distribution of all online games. Steam's power in the PC landscape is already felt, as games promoted on the Steam store or in Steam sales provide massive sales boosts. Steam could easily decide to twist this influence to promote only the games they want to promote, corner the market on genres where Valve-developed games have a strong presence, and essentially extort developers and publishers just to be distributed in the first place. Steam may be the darling of indy developers now, but if Valve demands more of a percentage and takes a harsher line on which games are "allowed," not to mention promoted, on Steam, the once free marketplace could quickly become a stifled, cutthroat environment with less titles and higher prices.

Which brings us back to Steam's ongoing feud with EA. All sources indicate that the yanking of many high profile EA games from Steam was Valve's decision, not EA's, as EA's DLC practices violate Steam's terms of service. Regardless of who's at fault, the reaction from the Steam community has largely been "f- EA, I'm boycotting that game." The fact is, whether by means of high-minded gamers boycotting on principle, or simply through lack of convenience, advertising and exposure, publishers that decide to forgo Steam WILL sell less copies, and this effect only increases the more dominant Steam is.

What will the publisher response be? Will it be for each major publisher to create their own storefront like EA has done with Origin, creating an even more fragmented PC market? And if high profile titles don't sell on the PC, will publishers capitulate to Steam, or just cut their losses and give up on PC gaming entirely? It's tough to say, but given the climate of AAA publishing on the PC, it's not inconceivable that publishers would cut their losses entirely and double-down on console markets with their own more publisher-friendly distrubution models.

Savior or Slayer

steam friends

So, is Steam the savior or the slayer of PC gaming as we know it? Quite possibly both. One thing is for sure, Steam has forever changed the face of the digital marketplace, and PC gaming in general. The industry is on the verge of a massive shift, as digital distribution becomes the new dominant force, and the Steam experiment has proven two key points:

How do you fight piracy? Aggressive and reasonable pricing structures. As the music industry learned (eventually), piracy may be impossible to eradicate, but with a more sensible pricing model, with lower entry-level price points and more pricing variety, people will still gladly pay money for content. Steam's successes with their holiday sales, bundles, and many games starting in the low-to-mid ranges have reduced piracy and proven that the standard two-point pricing system of full price and budget price is a woefully antiquated model.

PC gamers want a simpler, more unified experience. The verdict is in: people like using Steam. Why? Cause it's easy, it's lightweight, and it can work on multiple platforms. PC is an incredibly broad term, with just about everyone owning and operating a personal computing device of some sort. If Steam can bring more first-time gamers to the table, it's to the benefit of everyone.

And those who bemoan the good old days when the barrier of entry involved being able to run multiple memory managers, making sure your IRQ ports didn't conflict, and having to know the port configuration of your soundcard, you're living in the past. It may not be the PC gaming you grew up with, but, for good or for ill, Steam just may be ushering in the new Golden Era of PC Gaming, the age of usability and portability.

Researchers Use Webcams To Rub Poor Posture In Slouching Office Workers' Faces

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 12:47 PM PDT

Whether you're chatting it up with a far-away friend or, um, hanging out in a Google+ Hangout, we all know that webcams can supply tons of digital video fun. But did you know webcams can improve your health, too? Neither did we, at least not until we heard of a nifty project involving webcams, 60 office workers, and a research team from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Sit up and pay attention!

The researchers first showed those 60 office workers an image of proper sitting posture, PC World reports. Some custom software used the webcam to snap periodic pictures of those workers in their chairs, then displayed the picture on screen side-by-side with the reference picture – you know, so the workers could see how they should be sitting. The researchers reported sustained posture improvement throughout the study, as opposed to the measured, yet brief improvement that occurs after a typical in-office posture training session.

Guys are the most hard-headed (or dedicated) slouchers; women and old folks proved most responsive to the project. The team hopes that offices can use webcam posture programs to help reduce the rate of musculoskeletal disorders over the long term – which should help lower insurance rates. Win-win!

Image credit: thebackuniversity.com

Browser Extension of the Week: Cooliris

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 11:54 AM PDT

Microsoft is everywhere. One form or another of Windows can be found on most computers in the world today. Redmond is rocking most people's work rigs and if you're a serious gamer, the odds very good that your last computer wasn't designed in Cupertino. For most folks, software conformity is a given. They accept that with the exception of their wallpaper, their graphical user interface most likely is identical to that of their neighbors. A few of us however, refuse to fall into line, preferring instead to tweak, preen and modify the looks of our Windows GUI until it can hardly be recognized as such. If you're interested in taking a first bold step into something a little snazzier than your computer's stock aesthetics have to offer, you could do a lot worse than downloading Cooliris.

Available to both Explorer, Chrome and Firefox users, Cooliris not only pretties up your browser with some sweet, modern 3D visuals, it also makes your browsing a more visual visceral experience. Instead of trawling yards of search returns comprised of text, CoolIris gives users something pretty to look at, and provides search results in a scrolling wall of images, video and headers, designed to make hunting down a topic a pleasure.

The extension even offers a number of channels, such as news, entrainment and games, ensuring that it's not just another pretty face, but also a respectable information aggregator to boot.

Be sure to check back next Thursday for another edition of Maximum PC's Browser Extension of the Week.

Researcher Unveils N00ter, A Program That Detects ISP Traffic Shaping

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 10:54 AM PDT

Sorry, optimists. If the net neutrality law working its way through Washington ends up getting approved, that doesn't necessarily mean that ISPs will stop traffic-shaping on their networks. Even the government realizes that; the FCC chairman created the "Open Internet Challenge" earlier this year with the sole purpose of creating apps that detect naughty neutrality-hating ISPs red-handed. That competition's been a bust, but researcher Dan Kaminsky's announced a free new app at the Black Hat conference in Vegas that promises to dothe same thing. He calls it N00ter, and that makes us smile.

The software can determine when an ISP artificially alters traffic speed to a website, Forbes reports. How's it work? We're glad you asked. Nooter acts like a proxy VPN. When you connect to a website, N00ter can spoof the incoming data to look like it's coming from another website entirely. You can then turn off N00ter, then connect to the same site and measure its download time. If there's a mismatch, the ISP is shaping traffic to one of the websites.

In other words, you connect to Google, but N00ter tells the ISP you're getting data from Bing, instead. The Google data that the ISP thinks is Bing data is downloaded and timed. You then connect to Google normally, with N00ter turned off, and time how long it takes to download the page. The exact same data is downloaded from the exact same server both times – only the first time around, your ISP thinks you're connecting to Bing. That's the key to N00ter, and to detecting traffic shaping.

"All the other sources of change disappear and we're left with the one cause, the ISP," Kaminsky said.

And in case nefarious ISPs try to get tricky and work around Nooter by filtering upstream traffic only, Kaminsky's throwing together a N00ter companion program – the awesomely named Roto-N00ter – which spoofs traffic headed upstream to websites, rather than the data coming in from them.

Kaminsky plans on releasing N00ter for free within a couple of weeks.

Windows Phone 7 App of the Week: My Home Server

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 10:38 AM PDT

There is a lot to be said for companies that innovate by integrating with their own products. Windows Home Server is one of the more functional tools that Microsoft has built for people with a home network. The additional power and flexibility you get with a Windows Home Server is enough to make it something worth considering for power users at home.

  

Now Microsoft is offering a free application that integrates your Windows Home Server (2011) with Windows Phone 7. My Home Server is available from the Windows Phone Marketplace and allows you to view the music, pictures, and videos you have stored on your server. In addition to remotely accessing your media library, My Home Server allows you to manage and configure your Windows Home Server. User configuration, device management, backups, and even alerts are accessible from your Windows Phone.

In addition to the Windows Phone application, the server-side Windows Server Solutions Phone Connector Add-in must be installed to allow access to the server. The Phone Connector Add-in is a standard .wssx add-in package and also works with Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.

Fancy Flash Drive Looks Like A Mini TR-808 Synthesizer

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 10:12 AM PDT

You're a Maximum PC reader: there's a decent chance that you have the biggest, most badass custom build in town, full of water-filled tubes and blazing-fast GPUs and spiffy low-profile RAM kits. After dropping all that dough and spending all that time on your PC, plugging a standard flash drive into its USB 3.0 port just won't cut it. If our DJ-tech feature got you in a musical mude, maybe Alkotabeats' flashy TR-808 flash drive will tweak your tune. It's modeled after the paradigm-breaking drum machine that's so awesome, Kanye named an album after it.

"Hip Hop heads, Electro Heads, Synth Freaks, and more will all appreciate the detail put into this novelty 8GB USB Flash Drive," Alkotabeats' website boasts, and that's a good thing, because you'll need a baller-sized wallet in order to afford this thing – buying the 8GB drive will set you back $40. All right, maybe that's not so bad, but since you can pick up a basic 8GB drive for under $10 online, we'd kind of expect the ability to play some tunes on this thing for $40. And you can't – the TR-808 is just a dumb, albeit flashy, flash drive. It does support USB 3.0, though.

That being said, it's still cool. If it's your type of cool, you can preorder it now on the Alkotabeats website and expect it in your mailbox sometime near the beginning of October. They've also got a few other soundboard-inspired USB drives on their site for similar prices.

Thanks to Engadget for pointing this out!

Wikipedia's Contributors Diminishing in Number

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 09:52 AM PDT

Here's a challenge if you're looking to kill some time. Look up a topic on Google -- any topic -- and see if Wikipedia doesn't make the front page. This isn't exactly an impossible mission, but by and large, Wikipedia makes its presence known nearly every time we search for something, which is partially the result of an army of volunteers adding and editing content on everything under the sun. But what would happen to Wikipedia if it was suddenly starved for writers?

The open online encyclopedia hopes to never find out, however Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales recently lamented to The Associated Press his site is losing contributors.

"We are not replenishing our ranks. It is not a crisis, but I consider it to be important," Wales told AP.

In an effort to retain members, Wales said he hopes to make the process of submitting and maintaining content easier than it is, which he admits is "convoluted" in its current state. The other problem, as Wales sees it, is that there are simply less new topics to write about than there were 10 years ago when the site went live. Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, says there's an effort to get universities more involved through a program that would have professors hand out Wikipedia writing assignments to students.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Barracuda Doubles Cloud Storage Space without Jacking Up the Price

Posted: 04 Aug 2011 09:27 AM PDT

Barracuda Networks obviously wasn't paying attention to the mobile phone industry when it announced the doubling of cloud storage space to its customers. You see, the wireless industry has trained us to expect when changes are made to service plans, it's often because they're taking something away, like unlimited data. Barracuda, however, just doubled up the amount of storage space its cloud customers have access to, and did so without raising prices.

"Data usage is increasing quickly while IT budgets are falling under considerable pressure," said Guy Suter, general manager of the Barracuda Backup Service. "Barracuda Networks is once again raising the bar on storage requirements and deliverables. We make the choice simple for customers transitioning from old tapes to modern backup technology by doubling the cloud storage available for the same low cost."

Barracuda's $50/month plan now includes 200GB of online storage, up from 100GB. That breaks down to $0.25/GB per month, plus unlimited backup and restore bandwidth. The new price applies to both new and existing service customers, so there's no need for businesses to wait for a contract renewal.

We say "businesses" because Barracuda's service isn't really targeted at home consumers. There's a one-time hardware purchase that will set customers back at least $1,000 -- ooph!

Image Credit: Barracuda Networks
Posted by Shri Krishna
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