For all those looking forward to having their PC hardware pawned all over again or just looking for a game that will show how PC will always be the big daddy of gaming, Crysis: Warhead is looming just in the horizon. Crytek’s lastet game, Crysis: Warhead will be seeing a 17th September release in North America and a world-wide release the very next day.

Ofvcourse, for us poor souls here in India, release dates hardly matter. For all those prepared to relive the month long wait just like Crysis, there is some good news in form of Steam. Crysis: Warhead will be available on Steam at a price-point of INR 1601.50 (USD 34.99). If you have some more dough to spare, you can grab the combo pack of Crysis and Crysis: Warhead for INR 2745.30 (USD 59.98). Both the packs are available for pre-purchase here.

Everybody seems to be celebrating this time of the year. Except us, of course, who’re working harder than ever on the Game of the Year awards and getting those awesome prizes out to you guys. But it looks like the Valve team wants to wish us a very Orange-y Christmas this year, especially if you look at the nice little security camera footage that’s being aired from inside the secret Aperture Science Holiday Vault - complete with the Gnome, the Weighted Companion Cube (aww!), the cake, lots of supply crates and a cute little turret hiding near them all, just begging you to go for the cake.

You can watch the video online here, or download the Flash Video file (Flash Player required) straight off our site here.

Download Aperture Science Holiday Vault 07 Surveillance Video (FLV/20.5 MB)

And that’s not all, you can also buy the official Orange Box OST off the Valve Store now, with great music from Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, along with a special version of “Still Alive” by songwriter Johnathan Coulton and singer Ellen McLain, which isn’t available anywhere else. Or if you want to spend just on your games, they’ve even got the greatest holiday promotion going where you can pick up great games at 10% to 50% off their usual prices. Good tidings for everyone!

We love Achievements! No, we’re not outright whores, maybe just Achievement Nymphomaniacs. And we love it so much that we want to see the system implemented in games across all platforms, which at least Steam seems be doing for the PC. With the achievement system in place for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2, Valve has let it slip at the official forums that more achievements are on their way for other games in the Source catalog as well. So for all those PC owners raring to go at the One Free Bullet achievement, you may be able to do just that soon enough.

Valve’s Erik Johnson has said that Steam users should expect to see a whole lot of interestingly difficult achievements roll out across Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Counter-Strike: Source and Day of Defeat: Source soon enough, with some of the multiplayer achievements rolling out even before the end of the year.

And oh, in case you are wondering about that pic above, yes, I am still left with one annoying achievement in Episode Two - the goddamn grub squishing one. I somehow always manage to miss one grub, and yes, I got the one at the end near the mine exit. Damn grubs!

The episodic experiment began in mid-2006 with Half-Life 2: Episode One and SiN: Episodes - Emergence. Grand stories were told about how episodic gaming would mark a major shift in the way games are developed and delivered. All fine and dandy, but a year and a half since all the grand posing, where exactly do we stand?

WARNING (and Disclaimer): Personal opinions, long sentences and an abrupt ending to follow!

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WHEEEE! And the rockets start flying! After all those juicy videos that we saw of the developers and a select bunch of lucky bastards playing it, everyone who has pre-purchased the Orange Box can now get onto the awesomeness of Team Fortress 2, considering the beta has gone live as of today morning. After getting delayed by a couple of hours and two Steam updates later, I was up and running with the beta, but had to rush it and could only manage about 15 minutes on Dustbowl before running off to complete some pending stuff on my other “uncool” job. We have some screenshots for your viewing pleasure, and will bring you more details on the beta as well as the maps themselves and all that the beta has to offer a lil’ later in the day. For now, enjoy the fact that the beta is here, along with PC Achievements, stats tracking and endless rocket/grenade launcher spamming!

Hit the jump for the screenshots on my newest favorite in the Source multiplayer catalog.

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If you haven’t heard of it already, news is buzzing around about the yet-another-new-controversy with BioShock; this time pertaining to fact that it apparently carries SecuROM - a rootkit that installs itself onto your computer and is used as copy protection for the game. News articles pertaining to the full details can be read here, or any other of the major gaming sites - the entire Internet’s abuzz with it from the looks of it. Currently, SecuROM is confirmed to be in both Steam and retail versions of the game, as well as in the PC demo (both Steam and independent executables), so there’s really no escaping it for PC users.

To clarify: SecuROM itself is not entirely malware. From the company’s site one can gleam that it doesn’t snoop into your computer past the CD protection. However, considering that Sony’s the one really providing the technology, such claims are at best, ambiguous, considering they have already had their asses sued over this. However, due to its nature, SecuROM can be extremely difficult to remove - it’s nearly impossible to delete it from the registry using the Registry Editor, while anti-virus programs can’t remove it either. For a quick lesson in rootkits, one can go here. For those that may want to remove the rootkit, there’s a somewhat easy method here.

Although I have several negative opinions on this move, I’ll refrain from posting it in favor of putting up pertinent information. Regarding the install issues: it appears that each individual can have at most two installs of the game running simultaneously. To install BioShock on more than 2 PCs is apperantly not possible, since you’ll have to uninstall the game, and then reinstall on the new PC. However, there have been reports that uninstall ‘credits’ aren’t working properly, creating issues for many gamers. Even worse is the fact that many can’t even install, because the 2K servers that monitored the SecuROM installs (yes, you need to be ONLINE to install the game) went offline due to the heavy load and usage. Worse still, was 2K customer support directing those that would enquire on the issue to SecuROM, while SecuROM customer support is directing them back to 2K, which is just shitty, IMHO.

Thankfully, though, it looks like 2K is doing something about it. As mentioned in an interview here, they apparently intend to get rid of the online activation eventually (although when is another matter altogether) as well as up the number of installs from 2 to 5.

However, this still does not address the issue of the rootkits in use in the first place; to mention nothing of their lack of effectiveness and the number of people its driving away instead. When, or if they’ll issue at all is something that remains to be seen.

Capcom is on a roll these days with Lost Planet, with the PC versions tons of free content that Xbox 360 owners have had to pay through their noses for, and then some more. The new update and map pack, currently available through Gabe Newell’s personal mint, or Steam, includes four new multiplayer maps, a chat system and DirectX 10 enhancements and will be downloaded automatically the next time you launch the Steam client. Here’s the official word from Valve on the new content:

The update includes:

• Four new multiplayer maps. Map Pack #2 includes Battleground (an abandoned town scattered with rubble from ruined buildings), Lost Technology (a tribute to 8-bit games), Ruins, (ancient ruins set amidst a lush jungle), and Ice Drop (a glacier with plenty of peaks, nooks, and crannies)
• DirectX 10 enhancements. Specialized DirectX 10 Geometry Shaders improve overall visual quality through better depth of field effects and improved motion blurring and fur shading.
• Chat system. A new chat feature includes four default messages that can be sent to other players from the game lobby or while playing.

Have fun!

New Maps, Features for Lost Planet: Extreme Condition [SteamPowered News]