Filed under: Downloads, Sandbox

Everybody is working for the weekend and at Valve they’re working to give gamers their weekly sale of one game from their Steam service. This week the game that’s selected for the treatment is the acclaimed indie historical title Mount and Blade.

This sanbox RPG from developer Tale Worlds has received lots of praise from critics since its release in 2008 and now Steam users can purchase and download the full version for just $7.50, which is 75 percent off the game’s regular price. If you feel the need to try out the game before you purchase you can download the demo right here at Huge Download.

And don’t forget that Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Soulstorm is still just $7.50 as well via Steam and with that buy you also get early access to the Dawn of War II multiplayer beta before the rest of the world gets access to it on Jan. 27.

Steam sale on Mount and Blade this weekend originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Betas, Downloads, Action, Arcade

The public beta for the robot smashing multiplayer 3D online arcade game, Plain Sight, recently entered public beta. The newest version (now with fewer bugs) is available for download. If you have a previous version of the game installed, you will need to uninstall it first. Check the official website for more information about the beta test, including instructions and system requirements. Plain Sight is expected to release for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade this spring.

Download Plain Sight v0.8.1.2 Public Beta Client (39 MB)

Download: Plain Sight v0.8.1.2 Public Beta Client originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: MMO, Screenshots

Is Star Wars: The Old Republic further along than we think? Maybe. How else do you explain the constant stream of new screenshots from the upcoming MMO on the game’s official web site. This day developer BioWare posted up five new shots of the game in action which we’ve reproduced and added to our gallery.

The new visuals all have at least some kind of character in the foreground doing something (earlier shots were static environmental visuals) including a shot of a Jedi going up against an Acklay. That’s the giant bug-like creature that was one of the three monsters in the Geonosis arena in Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. BioWare and publishers EA and LucasArts have yet to announce a release date for the game.

New Star Wars The Old Republic screenshots come forth originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Downloads, Trailers, Strategy

Historical strategy fans looking for something different from Rome: Total War might be interested in Grand Ages: Rome, a strategic city building and action strategy game. Continue reading for more trailers.

“After decades in exile, your family name has been all but forgotten in Rome. But the departure of the tyrant Sulla has changed everything, and Rome stands on the brink of a new era. Sides must be chosen as Caesar and Pompey battle for control of the Republic.”

Download HD Grand Age: Rome Trailer (96 MB)
Check out all Grand Age: Rome downloads

Continue reading Grand Ages: Rome trailer builds an empire

Grand Ages: Rome trailer builds an empire originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Downloads, Demos, FPS, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

This single player demo for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin lets you play a single level in this horror-themed action shooter. You’ll be able to try out a wide range of weapons, including the Elite Powered Armor (EPA) and face-off against a number of different foes. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is expected to release in February.

Download F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Demo (1.76 GB)
Check out all F.E.A.R. 2 downloads

Download: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Demo originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Hardware

Brought on by yet another product refresh by the Huge Green Eyeball Gang, BI wants to take a moment to crawl under the hood to discuss what this sort of evolution means in practical terms. Specifically, the architectural changes that occur at the manufacturing level for the chips themselves — using smaller and smaller integrated circuit etchings, and making minor tweaks to the layout of the circuitry itself. The former is typically called the “manufacturing process,” which refers to the photolithography that etches the actual circuitry onto the silicon wafers — the creation of the chip itself. The latter, where minor tweaks are made to the circuit layout from batch to batch, is referred to as the “chip stepping,” and is most commonly discussed when referring to CPUs within a single generation.

The easiest way to think about the signals traveling on the circuits inside of any chip is as though they’re commuters. They’ve to do the speed limit (okay, so they’re obviously not from New Jersey; unlike what the NHTSA dictates, 186,000 miles per second; it’s not just a good idea, it’s The Law); anything that improves how they get from point A to point B results in improved performance. Shortening the commute or offering a more efficient route to travel both serve this greater purpose.

Continue reading Large Iron: Of Nanometers and Stepping Stones

Huge Iron: Of Nanometers and Stepping Stones originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Action, Screenshots

This June we finally get the Ghostbusters games that (hopefully) we have been waiting for since the original motion picture came out. Developer Terminal Reality and publisher Atari sent out a number of new screenshots for the game that we’ve added to our ever growing gallery.

These are some of the first screenshots we’ve seen that show the main Ghostbusters team fairly clearly in the shots. Venkman is spraying some slime around in the above shot and other screenshots show off Spengler and his hair (which is nearly a full character in of itself). Hopefully the game will play as good as it looks at this stage.

New Ghostbusters screenshots are full of slime originally appeared on Huge Download Blog on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Biz

The poor economy is hitting every company, including one of the biggest involved in PC gaming Microsoft. This morning the company behind the Games for Windows brand and Games for Windows Live announced that 5,000 team members will lose their jobs. 1,400 of those folks will be laid off today while the rest will be stretched out over an 18 month period. The amount of job cuts announced were smaller than some of the first rumors that hit the Internet late in 2008.

It’s currently unknown if that number includes any members of Microsoft Games Studios and Games For Windows team. The company has been downsizing its games business for some time, shutting down Shadowrun‘s internal developer FASA Interactive in 2007 and allowing its star developer Bungie to become independent once again. Last fall, the company announced it was shutting down Dallas based Ensemble Studios after the completion of their Xbox 360 game Halo Wars.

Microsoft made the job cut announcements as part of its quarterly financial report where it said it received $16.63 billion for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, a 2 percent increase from the same period a year ago. However, the company had net earnings of $4.17 billion for the quarter, an 11 percent drop from the same period a year ago.

Microsoft announces 5,000 job cuts; 1,400 people cut today originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Culture, FPS

If you ever wanted to really create inter-dimential portals to do cool transportation tricks…well, keep dreaming. We live in the real world and not the world that Valve created for its 2007 short but memorable puzzle shooter Portal. However, at least one person gets to have a real (non-working) replica of the game’s Portal gun.

The image you see above comes from a Flickr account from “emilyskeith” who states that her boyfriend made the gun replica for her costume. It has working lights and looks cool but sadly does not do physics or portal effects. Ah, maybe one day we will be able to work around that whole science-thing.

[Via Joystiq]

Wanted: One Portal gun – cheap originally appeared on Massive Download Blog on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Features, RTS, Sandbox, Simulation, Strategy, Spore

By John Gaudiosi

Will Wright’s been at it again. After selling over 3 million duplicates of Spore across PC, Nintendo DS and mobile phones, EA Maxis has a pair of new PC games heading to stores this year. First up for gamers is the Spore Galactic Adventures expansion pack, which ships this spring. This summer will see the release of the first stand-alone game, Spore Creature Keeper, which is aimed at the younger demographic.

Since launching last September, over 65 million pieces of user-generated content have been created on Spore.com, thanks in part to the 6 million free Creature Creator downloads gamers have made on the web. That makes for one massive Sporepedia. But that’s just the beginning, according to Lucy Bradshaw, vice president in charge of production at EA Maxis.

“We built Spore to be a platform,” stated Bradshaw. “It has a lot of new tech and a lot of design direction we have the ability to have fun and really play with. Much like The Sims, where we were able to take the franchise onto new platforms and do expansions on the PC, we’re doing something similar with Spore.”

Continue reading Feature: More Spore on the horizon

Feature: More Spore on the horizon originally appeared on Large Download Blog on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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