Why 2016 Will Be A Great Year For PC Gaming Hardware

2016 is going to be great for PC gaming hardware. Of that I am virtually certain. Last time around, I explained why the next 12 months in graphics chips will be cause for much rejoicing. That alone is big news when you consider graphics is arguably the single most important hardware item when it comes to progressing PC gaming. This week, I’ll tell you why the festivities will also apply to almost every other part of the PC, including CPUs, solid-state drives, screens and more. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a SATA cable in my eye, 2016 is looking up.
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Lost Worlds: The Saved Games I’ve Abandoned

These are my personal Edwin Droods. Stories that I’ve failed to finish, for one reason or another, and that are left suspended. In the manner of somebody reversing out of a relationship like a heavy goods vehicle, trundling slowly and beeping nonchalantly, I’d like to say to the games included: “It’s not you, it’s me.”

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Have You Played… Peggle?

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.

Sponk. Spoink spoink spink sponk sponik. Brrrlalalalaallling! Have you played Peggle?

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The Ninth RPS Christmas Cracker

***** The RPS team are currently in their winter hibernation state and will return on 4th January. In the meantime we didn’t want you to think we’d forgotten about you or the supporter program so we have hand-crafted a selection of the Bestest Best RPS Cracker Jokes. It’s also our way of giving you the “reveal” moment that we had to take out of this year’s advent calendar. We’ve made these posts open to all. Whether you celebrate or not we hope they raise a smile. Love, RPS xxx *****

Q: Why does Rico Rodriguez give gifts when it isn’t Christmas?

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How Players Revived Star Wars Galaxies And EverQuest

I am standing in a place that shouldn’t exist. It shouldn’t exist because back in 2011 it was decided that this place and the countless others connected to it were no longer financially viable enough to warrant their own existence. Four years ago, almost to this date, thousands of players gathered where I am standing right now to witness the final moments of Star Wars Galaxies.

“When I was very little, I used to create trial accounts of the game for hours and hours just to continue exploring,” John tells me. “Even though I never made it off of Tatooine or past level 12, I fell in love.” That love is what inspired John, better known by his peers as Aconite, to get involved with the community dedicated to preserving and restoring Galaxies to what it used to be. He’s part of a growing trend of MMOs that find a second life through the reverse engineering, emulation, and sometimes theft of their biggest fans.

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Have You Played… Mall Quest?

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.

Mall Quest [official site] is a special hell, a sprawling vaporwave mall filled with poorly-labelled products, garish decor, and pink fog. In your hands, a shopping list of items you must find and buy so you can leave. This is hell. This is my hell.

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The Eighth RPS Christmas Cracker

***** The RPS team are currently in their winter hibernation state and will return on 4th January. In the meantime we didn’t want you to think we’d forgotten about you or the supporter program so we have hand-crafted a selection of the Bestest Best RPS Cracker Jokes. It’s also our way of giving you the “reveal” moment that we had to take out of this year’s advent calendar. We’ve made these posts open to all. Whether you celebrate or not we hope they raise a smile. Love, RPS xxx *****

Q: Which games industry figure makes the best Christmas cake?

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The Joy Of Expansions And Enhanced Editions

As the year draws toward its final frosty furlong, I’m slightly surprised that one of the games I’m most looking forward to playing is also one of my favourite games from 2014. It’s Divinity: Original Sin, a game that I adored when I played it last year and that I expect to lose myself in again when the Enhanced Edition comes out next week. It’s not the only RPG that I’ll have revisited this year – both Pillars of Eternity and The Witcher 3 sucked me in at release and then lost me for a while when I realised they were going to require weeks of attention, but I used their expansions as an excuse to pick up where I’d left off. Here are five reasons to love digital expansions.

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Audio Diary: My Ridealong With An Arma 3 Bandit

Altis Life is a mod for Arma 3 [official site] where players take on the role of paramedics, police officers, taxi drivers, salt miners and many other ordinary occupations. You start with a wad of cash and try to make your own way in the world. Maybe you start running minerals and metal between mines and refineries. Maybe you become a humble fruit picker and spend all your money on a sweet new scarf. Or maybe one day you’ll have an interview to become a medical helicopter pilot, conducted by other players. It’s all possible.

Recently I was dispatched to a UK server to make contact with the citizens. I discovered tales of banditry, traffic regulations, police corruption, salt barons and much more. Most of my information came from a criminal known as Hank. Here we offer you the chance to hear my ridealong with Hank firsthand (edited for time, of course).

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Have You Played… Cryostasis?

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.

Cryostasis belongs to the same class as the S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Metro series, namely weird-as-heck Eastern bloc shooters. As an FPS it isn’t as good as anything either of those series’ offer, but the story it tells between the gun bits is satisfyingly mysterious and surprisingly touching.
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The Seventh RPS Christmas Cracker

***** The RPS team are currently in their winter hibernation state and will return on 4th January. In the meantime we didn’t want you to think we’d forgotten about you or the supporter program so we have hand-crafted a selection of the Bestest Best RPS Cracker Jokes. It’s also our way of giving you the “reveal” moment that we had to take out of this year’s advent calendar. We’ve made these posts open to all. Whether you celebrate or not we hope they raise a smile. Love, RPS xxx *****

Q: What do you call a dog who helps you with your Christmas presents?

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Wot *I* Think: Fallout 4

I’ve spent a lot of work time playing Fallout 4, what with its being the biggest release of the year. It gave me the chance to write a couple of super-helpful guides, and a three-part diary about trying to approach the game different from that of most reviewers. So I’m left with a whole bunch of opinions about it, which it makes sense to collate into my own little WIT. It’s worth noting I’ve nowhere near completed the game, approached it strangely, and not put in nearly as much work and effort as Alec did for his official RPS review. These are just my thoughts based on what I’ve experienced so far, as spoiler free as I can get it.

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How A Mod Team Helped Age Of Empires 2 Thrive

Scant few games stand the test of time and retain a large active player base sixteen years after release. But not only has Age of Empires II endured, it has thrived. It’s gained new steam thanks in part to an official high-definition re-release but mostly due to the ragtag group of modders-turned-developers who made that release possible. Forgotten Empires filled the game with new stuff and rebalanced the multiplayer in one enormous mod and then two HD expansions: The Forgotten and the recently-released African Kingdoms. I spoke to the team to find out about the challenges of transitioning from mod team to professional development studio, and of continuing to expand a game within its ancient limits.

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