Battle.net Platform Rivals Steam
Battle.net has launched an electronic games distribution system to rival competitor Valve’s Steam platform. If you head over to Battle.net and sign up for an account, you’ll find a gorgeous online registry for storing your games and serial numbers:
If you click on one of your games, you are presented with the CD key and download options to download the game for Windows or the Mac:
Currently, the Battle.net game management platform supports World of Warcraft accounts and StarCraft, StarCraft Battle Chest, StarCraft Anthology, Warcraft III, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Warcraft Battle Chest, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and the Diablo II Battle Chest.
I don’t see a way to purchase games directly from Blizzard, but it’s obvious next step. Once you can buy Blizzard games online at the Blizzard Store and have them automatically populated into your Battle.net account for download, I’ll be happy. For now, Battle.net provides a nice backup system in case you lose or damage the game discs. No more mailing for replacements!
Hitboxes, Lag Compensation in TF2 (Team Fortress 2)
Go check out this video about TF2 Hitboxes, which will tell you that when lag Compensation is off, the hitboxes move ahead of the actually moving character, and when it is on, you must shoot the character (and not his floating hitboxes).
Typically lag compensation is on, so you’ll want to aim at the running model itself, and not at where you expect it to be when your bullets arrive there.
Counterstrike CS:S GunGame (GG) Maps Download
We’ve put together a gigantic free download of maps for the popular HL2 Counterstrike Source mod Gun Game that we’re sure you’ll enjoy. At 194MB of raw maps, 676 killer files, get your mod game on! A tag in the .rar file identifies this as “SICFORUM CSS GunGame MapPack.”
Download now: CSS Gun Game GG Maps.rar!
Here is a listing of the files in this download; warning, it’s long, so I’m hiding it behind a cut. You’ll have to view the full post to see: (more…)
Steam Games 10-50% Off
According to this post on SteamPowered, they’re having a holiday sale with big savings! The Eidos holiday pack is 10% off, ET: Quake Wars is 25% off, COD4 10% off, the Orange Box 25% off, and Red Orchestra 50% off!
All games are on sale, according to the official announcement:
The first-ever Steam storewide sale is happening now! Save 10-50% on every game in every genre from every developer and publisher on Steam. Stock up on games you may’ve missed in 2007 or pick up a post-holiday gift for a friend or family member. The sale ends January 1st!
X2 and X3 hit Steam
Egosoft, producer of both the X2 and the X3 space simulators, will now be selling both products on Valve’s Steam for $29.95 a pop. From the Egosoft email newsletter:
In order to bring both X²: The Threat and X³: Reunion to the widest
possible audience, there is now a new way to buy them that means you
don’t even have to leave your seat. Just head over to Steam where you
can purchase both games for download directly to your PC. No more
disks and an excellent price.
Since the Steam version does not include a registration code, access
restrictions on forums and downloads relating to X³: Reunion have been
lifted.
This is great news for lovers of space sims. Available now.
