Gettysburg: Armored Warfare, the upcoming hybrid multiplayer game from Paradox Interactive and Radioactive Software, will feature something cooler than Civil War-era tanks. Steam Workshop, the service that lets players download mods directly through Valve’s digital platform, will integrate with the game. Blending third-person action, real-time strategy and a dose of tongue-in-cheek history-bending, Gettysburg certainly doesn’t skimp on the creative ideas. Paradox and Radioactive knows that they’re not the only crazy people out there, so they’re embracing the community and officially integrating their custom mods through the Steam Workshop. I expect to see an entire category related to Mecha-Lincoln populated within hours.

Cancel any memorial services you might be planning for PC gaming. Information has recently been revealed that shows our hobby’s most powerful platform still has some life left in it. According to a report from the non-profit PC Gaming Alliance, global revenue generated by PC gaming set a new record of $18.6 billion in 2011. China led the way with an amazing 27 percent increase over the previous year, followed by the US, Germany, the UK, Japan and Korea, whose numbers grew by 11 percent each. PCGA’s report also predicts up to 37 percent global growth by 2015, aided by digital-only software sales and the spread of broadband availability. So let your console-only friends know that we’re not going anywhere just yet.

Source: Shacknews.com

Rumors are flying that Valve might have it’s own hardware system in the works. According to sources cited at The Verge, the Steam Box would come equipped with a Core i7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GPU. Reportedly, the idea behind the Steam Box is to create a standardized baseline for PC hardware so developers can plan for clear product lifetimes, with upgrades scheduled every few years. In addition, the system would be completely open, allowing standard PC software (including games from competitors such as Origin) to run free of licensing fees. As outlandish as it sounds, such scuttlebutt fits with the USB controller patents Valve filed last year, and the announced Steam TV mode. Could this be the future of PC gaming?

Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Microsoft Studios
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Win 7, Dual Core 2.0 GHz CPU, 256 MB graphics card with Shader 3.0 support, 2.0 GB RAM, 10 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Simulator
ESRB rating: E
Release date: Available now

Once upon a time, flight simulators were popular. Their intricate details were great at showing off what your new home computer could do, and besides, who doesn’t want to fly? At some point, those with only a passing interest got tired of feeling like they needed actual flying lessons to buzz around, and flight simulators fell into the purview of those weird people who run virtual airlines. After canning the team that developed Flight Simulator, Microsoft is back with the new Flight, a free-to-play sim that’s aimed at those with an interest in planes but who don’t own a $200 joystick-and-pedal setup. Does Flight succeed at broadening its audience without alienating core sim fans?

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Developer Irrational Games have finally given a concrete date for the release of their very much-anticipated new game, Bioshock Infinite. The game will be available on October 16 in North America for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The international release will come three days later.

Ken Levine, president and creative director of Irrational, says Infinite was the culmination of “a vision that dwarfed the original in scope and ambition.” So, looks like this will be one to watch. Also, Sony are adding an incentive for buying the game on the PS3 by offering the original game on a Blu-Ray disc.

Source: Tweaktown.com

The popular action RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will be expanding soon with The Legend of Dead Kel. Taking place on the inviting tropical island of Gallows End, Dead Kel is more than just a few side quests. Besides having more things to stab and weapons to stab them with, this latest DLC will contain a new main quest line and 15 percent more land to explore. To make this new land a bit more like home, players will also be able to run their own estate. The Legend of Dead Kel launches on March 18th and will cost 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox 360) or $9.99 (PS3/PC).

Good Old Games, everyone’s favorite distributor of DRM-free classics, has recently added the games of iEntertainment Network to its growing catalog. iEntertainment is responsible for many classic simulators, including the classic Warbird series. The first to emerge is Apache Longbow, available now for $5.99, complete with the original manual and reference card. During the coming weeks, Good Old Games will lead us further back in the past, when the joystick ruled gaming. Better dust off that HOTAS and free up a USB port!

Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Interactive
System Requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.4 GHz Pentium IV/AMD 3500+ CPU, GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon X1900 graphics card, 2 GB RAM, 2 GB hard-drive space, Direct X-compatible sound card, DirectX 9, Internet connection for multiplayer, retail copy of Victoria II
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

It’s been almost 18 months since Victoria II was released, and Paradox Interactive has decided that an expansion is in order: Victoria II: A House Divided. The expansion doesn’t add any additional time to the original game, which is still set from 1836 to 1936. Instead, it focuses on additional game mechanics and a scenario that starts at the beginning of the American Civil War. Rather than giving more of the same, AHD aims to add even more nuanced gameplay to a franchise that’s already very complicated. It’s a more ambitious expansion than its simple name belies, and, even moreso than the base game, it rewards strategy players for patient and thoughtful gameplay.

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The next time you load up Minecraft you’ll be treated to new features, courtesy of the 1.2 patch. Highlights include a new jungle biome, craftable Iron Golems, ocelots, and twice the map height. Showcasing the new goodies is the 1.2 patch trailer (left) from the fine chaps at Hat Films, which is well worth your time. How many games can say they have trailer patches? No word yet if the ocelots use six-shooters and speak Russian. Complete patch notes can be found here.

Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. It’s all the space in space that allows for those large, kilometer-long capital ships to buzz about, turning each other into smaller-sized ship-chunks. That’s what the new F2P MMO Nexus Conflict is all about. Featuring real-time tactical gameplay and pretty spiffy looks, the game lets you murder human beings using pretty spaceships. Between all the PvP, PvE and co-op missions, you can join factions and craft loot into better loot, all from the comfort of your browser via Unity. Beta signups are open on their site.

Publisher: Wadget Eye Games
Developer: Icebox Studios
System Requirements: Windows ME or later, Intel Pentium or better CPU, 64 MB RAM, Direct X-compatible graphics cards and sound devices
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: February 29, 2012

Step into the wayback machine with me for a trip to the 1990s. This was the heyday of the point-and-click adventure. Puzzle solving. Pixel hunting. Punishing difficulty with no hints to be found anywhere. Nonsensical combinations of inventory items. We’d never have the patience for games like this today; we’d just find a walkthrough on our favorite cheats site and breeze through without a care in the world. But indie developer Icebox Studios is taking a chance that there might still be dedicated adventurers out there searching for a new challenge. Hence Da New Guys: Day of the Jackass, a classic point-and-clicker with a hearty helping of dry British wit.

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The Playstation 3-exclusive shooter Killzone 3 will soon be partially available free-to-play. The multiplayer portion of the game will be available as a free, stand-alone downloadable title on PSN on February 28th. The F2P version will feature all the weapons and maps of the original. New players will be limited by a level cap, which can be removed for $15, while current owners of Killzone 3 will have the entire game unlocked.

Source: Techie-Buzz.com

2011 was a good year in gaming. Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Assassins Creed: Revelations all trickled into our entertainment systems of choice and delighted our eyeballs. It didn’t top the bumper crop of 1998 in my mind, but that could be my nostalgia tumor again (those meds don’t help). Regardless, we as a people stand on the brink of the unknown, the mystery of the void whipping our hair about in wild, sexy ways. Yet we shall not go unprepared, for below is a scouting report on some of the big games of 2012, which many Bothan spies gave their lives to deliver. It tells all: the good, the bad, and the utterly improbable. It’s time to start budgeting for Gaming Season 2012. Remember to blow all your cash on Steam sales before the world ends, or forever wish you had.

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It’s understandable that Bungie would want to leave the Halo business. Once upon a time, they developed a host of different games. Around the new millennium, a bright-eyed stranger with deep pockets arrived and offered a deal they couldn’t refuse. By June of 2000, Bungie moved into the Microsoft harem, leaving behind all their children except their latest and most promising one, little baby Halo. Among those left behind were the Myth twins, two real-time tactics games known as The Fallen Lords and Soulblighter. Oppressively dark and punishingly difficult, Myth was an ancient burial ground of narrative. The bleached bones of fallen empires and the rusted armor of deadly warriors lay half-buried, whispering warnings to the players that they’ve never played something like this before. Nor have they ever since.

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ArenaNet has opened the doors for gamers to apply for the beta of Guild Wars 2, one of the most anticipated online games in years. ArenaNet’s latest MMO features a dynamic campaign and team-oriented PVP on a massive scale. Players have until 18:00 GMT on Friday, Feb. 24 to put their names in the hat for a chance to test Guild Wars 2 before it goes live sometime later this year.