Try 'Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes' For Free This Weekend

Capy Games' Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is free to try on Steam this weekend, and the full version is reduced by 50% to just $7.49 USD. This puzzle game combined with role playing adventure won my heart on Xbox 360 last year, after I randomly decided to try the free trial. It ended up being my favorite game of the entire year, serving as my #1 pick for the 2011 Hex19 Awards. For fans of games like Puzzle Quest and Runespell, Clash of Heroes was already a no brainer to pick up. Hidden under it's cartoonish facade is a surprisingly deep and strategic game with a multitude of factions and unlockable items. At a cost as cheap as free, there's no excuse not to try it out!

'Civilization V: Gods and Kings' Gets Release Date

The recently announced expansion for the fifth entry in the Civilization franchise now has an official release date - June 19. Civilization V: Gods and Kings is supposed to bring some more complexity to the perfectly designed Civilization V interface, with new systems for Religion and Espionage. Nine new Civilizations are also part of the expansion pack, including the Dutch and Celts. The Mayans (pictured above) are also joining the Civilization V party, just in time for the end of the world. New wonders, units and combat tweaks are also among the long list of changes. I'm happy to see Firaxis keeping with the model of large content expansions. Too many publishers parcel out their DLC into small packages, creating unnecessary hassle for consumers, and fragmentation of players online. No price has been announced for Gods and Kings at this time, but I would guess it would be between $30-40 at launch.

(via ShackNews)

Steam Offers Free Modern Warfare Weekend

As a continuation of their habit to provide gamers with cheap and free games, Steam is offering free Modern Warfare 3 online play this weekend. All you have to do is download the game free of charge, and until Sunday night you'll have free access to all of the game's multiplayer game modes. It's a great way to try out the game if you've been hesitant to buy until this point. Call of Duty has grown a reputation to be a tremendously over-hyped franchise, but that doesn't mean it still isn't a AAA quality online title. Last year Steam ran a similar promotion where you could try Black Ops for free. Although I never ended up buying the game, I still participated, and ended having a pretty good time. If you plan on playing this weekend, be sure to queue up your download right away, as the game files are quite large. Happy kill-streaking!

(via Steam)

Over 10 Million Dovahkiins Have Played Skyrim For Too Many Hours to Count

According to Bethesda's Todd Howard, game director for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the game has been played by over 10 million people, for an average time of 75 hours a piece. This is based on information that Bethesda received from players using the game online via the Steam service. When you take into account that drakonopobics probably quit the game permanently after the opening five minutes, you realize that there are some fanatics that have spent significantly more than 75 hours in the game. I'm not actually sure if Hex19's Glenn Meyer has stopped playing the game since its launch in November, besides some much needed Star Wars: The Old Republic breaks. I decided to do some number crunching on these statistics. It turns out that if humanity hadn't wasted all of those man hours crafting iron daggers, we could've cured cancer 18 times. Oh well.

(via Joysitq)

Expect to Meet TF2's Pyro in 2012

Most game developers produce trailers and videos to promote their game in the weeks leading up to release. Some even come out with a special launch trailer on the day of release, or to promote DLC or a "Game of the Year" edition. Valve takes promoting their games to completely new levels. Even though it's been almost five years since the release of the shooter Team Fortress 2, Valve plans to release a new short, "Meet the Pyro", in 2012. This is the final character in the game to get his own short animated film, and if the previous "Meet the Team" videos are any indication, this one is going to be good. Valve even confirmed that this one will feature "lots of blood, pretty much all the way through." I suspect that this video, along with the now free-to-play TF2 should distract gamers bitching about the lack of Half Life news for at least a little while.

(via Joystiq)

Steam Mobile iOS App Review

Steam has finally released their official mobile app to the iTunes App Store (as was rumored back in April). While it's still in Beta, I managed to get my account approved to test it out. So everyone can go to the App Store and download it, but most won't be able to actually log in and use it yet. This is just a quick review of the features they've implemented so far and maybe a look at what's to come. The app allows you to access almost every feature as the Steam window on your computer, except for actually being able to play or download games. You can access you and your friends' profiles, as well as chatting with online friends and seeing their recent activity. The friends list seems to be the default page of the app, showing your online and offline friends, as well as your recent chats. The interface with this page is where I found two issues with the app that I'm assuming will be fixed before the full release. So far, any friend that I've recently chatted with always has a lit icon indicating that I have an unread message from them, even when I don't.

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Alienware and Razer Lead the Way on New Gaming PC Form Factors

The personal computing industry is constantly fighting the fact that their products are turning into a commodity. Success at retail has more to do with securing the right quntities of components for the right prices. Consumers just wan't the most powerful package for the cheapest price. Two gaming oriented companies, Dell's Alienware brand and Razer, are trying to buck the trend with some new untraditional PC form factors.

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Bring Dark Souls to PC!

A thread recently popped up on the Namco Bandai forums asking if there was a possibility that games like Dark Souls and Demon Souls could be ported to PC with a bit of a mixed response from the company's employees. It was initally said that there will not be a PC port, but later posts suggest that if they see that there is enough demand, it MIGHT be considered. TotalBiscuit, creator of the popular youtube series 'WTF Is..', presents a clear, well thought out argument as to why this serious would flourish on PC, bringing up important points such as the power of modern PCs in comparison to the current generation consoles and the type of longevity of many older games that can't be found on any other system. I would absolutely love to see these games come to my gaming platform of choice and I know a massive number of other gamers would as well.

Dark Souls for PC petition

Original thread on the Namco Bandai forums

(via TotalHalibut)

Skyrim: Week One Complaints

It is exceedingly easy to find the highest praise for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim online. I don’t believe that Metacritic is the be all and end all of video game journalism, but it’s notable that Skyrim for Xbox 360 is sitting at a 96 right now, nonetheless. Frankly, it completely deserves the praise. I personally feel that it’s one of the best video game experiences that I’ve ever had, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own qualms with the game. This is an article expressing a few of the complaints that I’ve had during my first week with the game.

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7 Reasons to Attend a Skyrim Midnight Launch

As anticipation grows, it is getting to the point where it is easier to count down to the realease of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in hours rather than days. Hopefully, attending a midnight launch of Bethesda's newest title is in your plans this Thursday night. If not, here are 7 Reasons to Attend a Skyrim Midnight Launch. After reading these, you'll be sure to update your schedule.

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