Not what you expect to hear at the start of a new consoles lifespan, usually midway or at the end when PC graphics are performing a fair bit better with some stand out titles. Then again Microsoft have always struggled with PC gaming and pushing the limits of game developers in fear of cut out large chunks of their market who wouldn't be able to run the games at full spec (and thus feel disadvantaged).

Also they don't have any massive PC only games like others such as Blizzard, Value, etc 

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-says-it-has-renewed-focus-on-pc-gaming-details-coming-this-summer

Mixed messages coming from Irrational Games. (BioShock dev)

http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/18/irrational-games-closing/

Been on a bit of a gaming binge today so have been neglecting ukgamesdeals.co.uk and this blog a little. CS:GO, Rome 2: Total War and Bioshock: Infinite if your curious.

I can across a rather unusual bug in Bioshock: Infinite though. All keys in game would work apart from the WASD & arrow keys. As you can imagine this makes the game pretty much impossible to play.

The answer was found on the link below:

½pint:

I have solved this problem. It was being caused by the 'synergy' service that was running on my computer. Synergy itself wasn't running, but the service was (it starts automatically if you install synergy as a service). You can actually reproduce the bug live while the game is running - stop the synergy service and the keys start working immediately, start the service and the keys stop working immediately. Bizarre.
http://forums.2k.com/showthread.php?222941-Keyboard-Bug-some-keys-work-some-keys-don-t

I think I've've blogged about Synergy before, its a great tool but it can be buggy as well. Still, can't complain for a free application! 

I have a new blog: ukgamesdeals.co.uk

I'm running a new blog in parallel to this one. Its simply a games deals feed for the UK. Check it out if you want to save money on buying games covering all platforms!

Check it out over at www.ukgamesdeals.co.uk and please spread the word. Facebook, G+ and Twitter pages are also live for it.

I'll be at Eurogamer Expo today!

I'll try and take some pics...



http://www.eurogamerexpo.com/

Update with some pics:

The new Nintendo 2DS.

The Sims 4

Upcoming Sims 4 features.

Microsoft lists 23 launch-day titles for Xbox One

Here's the current list of games you can expect to see on store shelves (and Xbox Marketplace online displays) when the Xbox One releases sometime in November.

• Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft)
• Battlefield 4 (EA DICE, Electronic Arts)
• Call of Duty: Ghosts (Infinity Ward, Activision)
• Crimson Dragon (Grounding/Land Ho!, Microsoft Studios)
• Dead Rising 3 (Capcom Vancouver, Microsoft Studios)
• FIFA 14 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts)
• Fighter Within (AMA Ltd., Ubisoft)
• Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios, Microsoft Studios)
• Just Dance 2014 (Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft)
• Killer Instinct (Double Helix, Microsoft Studios)
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes (TT Games, Warner Bros. Interactive)
• Lococycle (Twisted Pixel, Microsoft Studios)
• Madden NFL 25 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts)
• NBA 2K14 (Visual Concepts, 2K Sports)
• NBA Live 14 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts)
• Need for Speed Rivals (Ghost Games, Electronic Arts)
• Peggle 2 (PopCap Games, Electronic Arts)
• Powerstar Golf (Zoe Mode, Microsoft Studios)
• Ryse: Son of Rome (Crytek, Microsoft Studios)
• Skylanders: Swap Force (Vicarious Visions, Activision)
• Watch Dogs (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft)
• Zoo Tycoon (Frontier Developments, Microsoft Studios)
• Zumba Fitness: World Party (Zoë Mode, Majesco)

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/08/microsoft-lists-23-launch-day-titles-for-xbox-one/

The Humble 'Origin' Bundle - Has steam keys too.

Actually a very good deal. Supports charities which you can customize to support the ones you prefer.  Above average was $4.76 at the time of my purchase.Some great games in there so go and have a look!



Pay more than the average and you'll also get Battlefield 3 and The Sims 3 plus some DLC while helping charity. Pay what you want for Mirror's Edge, Dead Space 3, Dead Space, Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box, Crysis 2 Maximum Edition and Medal of Honor plus some soundtracks. Origin is sending what would be their share to The Human Rights Campaign, The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, The American Red Cross, The American Cancer Society and Watsi. This promotion only last 2 weeks so check it out now at https://www.humblebundle.com/
 

Former Valve business head now at Microsoft to lead PC gaming division

 Lets hope he gets the support he needs. Microsoft have never really been good at pushing the PC as a serious gaming platform (apart from all their work on DirectX). Its weird as this is where some of the biggests RTS's and MMO's are and generally the platform pushes graphics forwards in the later years of the console markets life-cycles.

http://www.neowin.net/news/former-valve-business-head-now-at-microsoft-to-lead-pc-gaming-division

Google has hired industry legend Noah Falstein (Sinistar, Fate of Atlantis) to be its "Chief Game Designer".

http://kotaku.com/google-has-hired-industry-legend-noah-falstein-sinista-488262355

Bets SimCity News since launch

Check out the YouTube link in the article below:

Now my sims won't have spend 5 hours waiting on the highway to get into my cities...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-14-simcity-modded-so-it-can-be-played-offline-indefinitely

Steam sale!

Its that time again!

I've picked up some great cheap games as well as some Mac compatible games! I'm not going to list prices as they are constantly changing but be sure to keep an eye out. I don't even think i've spent over £30 yet!

http://store.steampowered.com

Games i've bought for Mac:
FTL: Faster than light
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
Civ 5 (Deluxe)
Avseq
Legend of Grimlock
RollerCoast Tycoon 3: Platinum edition
Limbo

Games for Windows:
Sniper: Ghost Warrior (It was like £1.75, don't judge me..)
Sim city 4 deluxe

If i didn't already own ARMA:CO I would have got that as well as it has an awesome mod call Day Z that i'm yet to try but have read some hilarious articles on.

Windows phone 8 Lumia owners get mirrors edge free!

As the title suggests. This game now appears to be free when you go to the product page although in the listings amongst other apps it still shows the price. Nokia Lumia owners only.

Source: http://www.wpcentral.com/mirrors-edge-gets-update-free-lumia-owners

iOS gets a pokedex from Nintendo!

Well thats a bit of a shocker. Nintendo release something for another platform! I guess it was becoming inevitable as iOS gained more and more ground in the mobile gaming market. Microsoft did it was Smartglass and a few games. I guess they decided It's better to profit from it that be stubbornly averse to it.

http://www.t3.com/news/nintendo-testing-the-water-with-first-official-ios-app

Can you guess the top 10 UK games brands from 1996 to 2012?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-30-can-you-guess-the-top-10-uk-games-brands-from-1996-to-2012

Valve brings steam to Ubuntu Linux

Well the rumours have been going around for months so now we have an official confirmation and blog:

http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/steamd-penguins/

There were also rumours about them going into hardware development so a linux derivative in a custom made console maybe coming our way in years to come. They sure as hell have the right platform for it in steam.

Would an Apple TV kill the console business?

Eurogamer: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-18-would-an-apple-tv-kill-the-console-business

Crytek agreed the second hand games market should be killed.

Saddening really. I could live with games publishers opting for a take in the second hand biz but to completely rid them selves of it would be annoying to say the least. I doubt they would be happy to bring the wholesale price down on the games in expectation of higher sales?

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/04/25/crytek_calls_anti_used_games_measures_awesome/

Bohemia Interact sale

I was a massive fan of Operation Flashpoint back in the day. This wasn't your Modern Warfare sort of game. This was serious! Serious as in one shot and your dead serious... I loved the planning, the intensity and the refrained approach to it! If your the sort to run in all guns blazing then your in for a shock with this.

Well Bohemia have a sale on and you can get all the games or just the more modern ones. Also you better have a very well specced PC as these are benchmark games and with test your system at the higher settings.