For newbies to the platform, Steam can seem a touch overwhelming at first. While it’s not too hard to get the general stuff down- purchasing games, installing files, accessing steam apps, adding friends – there are a few tips and tricks that not everyone seems to be entirely aware of. We’ll start simple for now- more complex functions and...

If you’ve ever participated in a LAN party, they’re pretty awesome. A bunch of people get together with computers and one box acts as the gaming server. Lag is basically nonexistent, and that’s just plain cool. You may have the idea that you want to run your own public, as in "public to the internet", gaming server. I recommend...

Some PC games are best played with game controllers rather than the keyboard and mouse. For example, racing games are much better experienced with the game controller over the keyboard – no question there. Another instance are games that were designed for game consoles first, then PCs second. The best OS for gaming on the PC is Windows – and...

A cooperative video game is one where the game either offers or requires cooperative (as in a team of players) gameplay in order to play. Usually this also means the game offers Team vs. Team play as well. Sometimes it’s just two teams, sometimes multiple. Everyone likes free games, and if you’re into the cooperative style of gameplay, here are 7...

There was a time not-so long ago when every single game controller made for PC use was absolute junk. Quality was abysmal, buttons didn’t work right and felt cheap, directional pads were either too stiff or too loose, and as for ergonomics – hmph – what ergonomics? You might as well have been holding a brick and it would have felt...

The last fantastic game that I was able to get for completely free was Valve’s Portal. They offered it free for anyone who wanted it for a short while, so of course I jumped on that. I spotted this Reddit thread where it said Microsoft was offering Age of Empires III, a $40 game, for 10 cents:Naturally I was skeptical about this. I thought maybe it was...

An example of paid subscriber-based online gaming is World of Warcraft. An example of ad-based gaming is any game that’s free where during gameplay you see ads. Certain Counter-Strike servers have them, Facebook obviously has them, and so on. Subscriber model There are gaming companies who believe that a subscriber model is the only way to go because it...

SkiFree is a positively ancient (as in 1991 ancient) game for Windows. It has no sound, the graphics are no better than, say, an 8-bit gaming console, but it’s addicting as hell and is one of the most-known Microsoft games in history. The most memorable part of the game is the Yeti (or Abominable Snow Monster), seen in the animated GIF to the right. When...

When it comes to game recommendations these days, my favorites are the type that require little to no installation of any software, and can be played in-browser with minimal fuss. 1. Bejeweled Blitz on FacebookI’d dare to say that for some of you, this may be the only reason to have a Facebook account. Bejeweled is not a new game, but Bejeweled Blitz is...

One of the longest running and successful RPG games is the Ultima series which spanned both consoles and computer platforms. If you are a fan of these very difficult games, then you might be interested in the The Ultima 6 Project: The Ultima 6 Project [is] a remake of Origin Systems’ classic game Ultima VI: The False Prophet  with newer graphics and a...

If you are wrapped up in the World Cup and are currently motivated to play some soccer (digitally at least), then give the open source game Slam Soccer 2006 a whirl. Slam Soccer take a comedic approach to to the game with it’s “weebles” with feet style graphics. Regardless, the screenshots are impressive and the game play allows you to play...

For a while now Steam has been re-releasing classic MS-DOS games ported to work in modern versions of Windows. An example of this is the game Dark Forces, a game bundled in a 5-pack called the Star Wars Jedi Knight Collection, which by the way is only 20 bucks. Good deal. The way Steam launches MS-DOS games like Dark Forces is to use DOSBox, but unfortunately...

The only reason anybody would actually want to use Windows 95 these days is for one thing: Games. There are tons of old MS-DOS games out there (many of which are found at www.dosgames.com), and the way to run those games best are in their native environment. While it’s true you could run DOSbox, it’s just not the same. Furthermore in DOSbox you...

In recent years it’s become increasingly common that gamers aren’t taking a liking to the newer 3D titles as much as they used to. They’re all more or less saying the same thing: "If you’ve seen one FPS, you’ve seen them all." Unfortunately, I can’t disagree with this. The 3D gaming arena, which is dominated by...

In the context of this article, vintage refers to pre-Windows XP era. Why build a vintage gaming PC? Because some of the best games ever made were for DOS, and the vast majority of them run smooth as silk. In addition, DOS games are cheap or free and readily available. And for those that question why you should even bother with this, it’s because the best...

Games are fun to play, but more fun to create when you have the right tools. However when one is faced with things like proprietary 3-D game engines, programming language and so on, the spark to make your own game dissolves quickly. However there is a way to make a game that requires absolutely no programming or graphic skills whatsoever. It’s called a...

While I was personally never into Mechwarrior, I knew several people who were very into it. So for those you who enjoy the mechanized combat, you will be happy to know that Mechwarrior 4 is available as a free download. Studio MekTek, in association with Smith and Tinker, INC., Virtual World Entertainment, LLC, Catalyst Game Labs, and Microsoft Games, is happy...

The Steam platform has been introducing some really good games that have been re-ported so that they can play in modern versions of Windows. Some are put into collections that offer some seriously good bang for the buck, one of which is the Star Wars Jedi Knight Collection. It includes 5 games for $19.99 – all of which are awesome. It includes: Dark...

Back when I was in college, Quake (the first one) was the game that everyone played over the network. In fact I don’t think I ever played it in single player mode. While playing games we would sometimes organize ourselves into teams and play against each other. However, we really didn’t have any way to communicate other than by typing messages to the...

If you’re a gamer, you probably are pretty much hating EA right now. In less than a month from now, EA will be discontinuing internet multi-play ability for several titles in February 2010. Where the real kick in the face happens is on the games that have "09" in the title of them. This means that for any of the EA titles on the list you bought...