Netflix has come to the UK – read on to see what Sudogamer think about it. . .

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Dashing through Portal 2
An achievement on the way
Through the chambers we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on my new hat ring
Making my wallet light
What fun it is buy that thing
That I’ll never play tonight Read the rest of this entry »

It’s 1998, a friend of the family buys a new computer.  It’s a Time PC (remember them?).  I get a call to go round and help ‘set it up’ for them.  In the box with all the cables there’s the usual ‘Nero Burning Rom’ trial CD’s but with the graphics card came a free game.
It was Half Life.  I’d never heard of it – but as thanks (and because it was a PC for office use) I was given the CD to take home with me.

Fast forward 13 years.  I still think it has the best and most effective introduction to any video game to date.  Allow me to take you on my 16 minute journey as we plunge headfirst into the work of Black Mesa, Gordon Freeman and crowbars. Read the rest of this entry »

Alan Wake for PC confirmed.

Eurogamer are reporting that the former multi-platform then Xbox exclusive game will once again become a multiplatform title. Remedy have announced that PC gamers will be able to enjoy Alan Wake on Steam from Q1 2012 apparently. Will you be buying it? Our thoughts after the break:

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The new humble indie bundle has been released. .  For whatever you want to pay(!) you get Super Meat Boy, Shank, Jamestown, Bit.Trip Runner, and NightSky.   If you pay more than the average price (currently about $6)  you’ll also get Cave Story+ and Gratuitous Space Battles.

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If this recent wave of Lulzsec hacks has been the kick up the ass you’ve needed to change your passwords, we recommend Lastpass.

The recent hit on Battlefield Heroes took 50k user names and md5 hash passwords (which can be easily reversed).

In theory, we should all use ‘strong’, difficult-to-remember passwords, and different passwords for every site. Easy to say, difficult to do in practice, sometimes.

First watch the video from Lastpass makers demonstrating how it works:

The short version of LastPass’ safety and privacy setup, and its technology is that the only thing stored on LastPass’ servers is a heavily encrypted bundle of your passwords and the sites they belong to—a form of host-proof hosting. They don’t have the encryption key to your passwords (only you do), and the encryption and decrypting all takes place on your own computer, where a backup copy of LastPass’ records is always kept.

Perhaps it isn’t necessary for all sites / forums, but we recommend considering using a system like Lastpass to generate strong (and different) passwords for sites such as:

• ebay
• amazon
• steam
• paypal
• gmail (or other webmail service)
• facebook
• ebuyer

Basically, any site that might have your card details / personal info cached.

There’s even an app for use on most smartphone platform, too!  What are you waiting for – get Lasspass!

How to play Section 8: Prejudice

The goal of this game, in regards to Conquest, is to beat the other team to 1000 points. In order to do this, you need to capture and hold Control Points (CPs) and complete Dynamic Combat Missions (DCMs).

** Please note, this content for this guide was gathered from two sources; a Steam Forum poster Shrinkshooter, and also the official Section 8 prejudice forums.  As I add to it I will continue to credit the original sources of information as I add to it.

Control points

Control points are located in four spots throughout the map. In order to capture them, you need to get to the point and hack it (default “use” key) and wait for it to come under your control. More teammates hacking the CP with you does NOT equate to a faster hack, as most control games do; instead it offers only a layer of redundancy. If you are killed while hacking, but your teammate remains alive and is also hacking, the hacking continues uninterrupted.

Dynamic Combat Missions (DCMs)

DCMs activate based on the team’s points from completing feats (for example, finishing the machine gun killing feat, where you kill a certain amount of enemies without dying using the machine gun, will get you and your team +10 points). When enough of these points have accrued, a DCM, chosen based on the individual preferences of your teammates, will activate. It is then up to your team to complete the mission, which if successfully done will substantially increase your team score. The amount of score points given to your team depends on the DCM. The enemy team can also gain these points by stopping you from completing the missions. The points awarded for completing a mission and the points awarded from stopping the enemy from completing the same exact mission are different. Hit F4 to see how many points you will gain by finishing the mission (active DCMs shown in green) and how much the enemy team will gain by stopping you.

Control point defenses

Every control point has base defenses: usually one anti-personnel minigun, one anti-armor rocket turret, and one AA gun. If the base is neutral (start of the game), the AA gun will fire at anything in the sky within its reach: friendly and enemy players, called-in deployables, and any vehicle drops. The turrets will not shoot at anyone. If under enemy control, the base defenses will fire at anything friendly within range, and vice versa. Each base also has a supply depot where you can heal your armor and switch to a different loadout while on the ground. To circumvent these base defenses, you can use one of any variety of weapons to destroy them from a distance. AA firing range is shown as a red circle on your map before launch from orbit and on your minimap during launch. It is best to launch outside of these circles, and then move in to either hack the point or destroy the AA gun.
NOTE: A jamming beacon will block your presence entirely. If you fire a jamming beacon near you, turrets cannot detect you, allowing you to hack a control point even if completely surrounded by enemy deployable turrets. They will ignore you, and you will also not show up on the enemy’s tacnet (tactical network, sometimes referred to as the radar) even if an enemy spots you hacking.

–> Page 2: Burning in, points & money & your weapons

New gameplay video from ID’s RAGE looks nice, real nice, actually.  Particularly the driving at the start of the video, some nice lighting and physics on display.

However why do the AI of the enemies behave like they have done in all FPS’s from the past decade or so? – Its the same mannerisms and movement routines.  They hide behind and piece of scenary, and periodically bob their heads up or around giving you the chance to get your headshot.

Its boring!

I don’t pretend to understand the in’s and out’s of enemy AI in video game design, but it would be nice if they acted more unpredictably.  e.g. human players CAN play like that (cautious, slow, poking heads around corners etc) but a lot also like to ‘charge in’, often leading to death.
Mix it up a bit!

Anyway, here’s the video! :

Do you like shooters with sprinting? Are you partial to Jetpacks when you jump? Well the most sprinterly, jumpery and jetpacking shooter returns next month with the release of the sequel to two thousand and nine’s Section 8.

Section 8 Predjudice returns you to the action on May 4th at the unusally low price point of 15 American dollars. For this price you won’t just get Timegate Studios take on a multiplayer shooter but also a 5 hour single player game and a 4 player co-op swarm mode that promises elements of tower defence.

At this price hopefully more people will give it a shot as the first games unique take on the multiplayer shooter was up against it when it released as it was shortly before Modern Warfare 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U2gm0U5EUQ&feature=player_embedded

Edit: Looks like Glados are “booting” Portal 2 early if it gets enough “CPUs” playing each of the games in the Potato Sack bundle. .  Check it out!  http://www.aperturescience.com/glados@home/

Remember our tongue in cheek ‘make your own Valve rumour!‘ article last year?  Valve have made sure we don’t need to any rumours up, with Valve launching their Potato Sack bundle on April Fool’s Day, offering 13 indie games for 75% off.

Before long, ARG-enthusiasts and feverish Steam-Forums members began to notice potato-themed easter eggs hidden the games from the bundle. .   Read on more about that (in fact read EVERYTHING you could possibly want to read about that on the Valve ARG (Alternate Reality Game) Wiki.

That will bring you up to date with this myserious count-down timer, which surfaced over the past 24 hours:

What are they up to?

Here at Sudogamer, we’ve come up with our popular theories:

1. No reveal at all? -  Not likely, as the uproar backlash would be terrible.  Terribly amusing.
   
2. Black Mesa (community mod / reworking of the original) – Not likely, again.  As this isn’t made by Valve, however we haven’t heard any news for them in a year. . .
   
3. Episode 3? – Slim chance but, they did put a short portal game in with Half Life: Episode 2 so Portal 2 with “Episode 3″ thrown in would justify a full price. Only problem here is that it would somewhat ‘devalue’ the Half-Life “brand”.   At best it could possibly be a HL:EP 3 announcement.. . ?
4. Half life 3? – No chance. . .just.. not gonna happen.
5. L4d2 meets portals? – A merging of left 4 dead with the Portal universe, messing with the zombies heads with portal-based fun.  This would be awful, I’d hate to see this.
   
6. A “Lost Coast” style demo of something NEW – This is my favourite theory.  A release another of their tech-demo levels, showcasing a new Source engine, which will end with a release date for Half Life 2: Episode 3.

Only 5 and half hours to go before we find out, until then – any other theories or comments? Let us know, below.

Valve, in partnership with Aperture Science dba Aperture Laboratories, announced today the release of “Boots”, the fourth and final installment of the “Product” series of Aperture investment videos. Potential investors can learn more about the latest in momentum-resistant footwear, the Long Fall Boot.

Aperture’s documentary video game, Portal 2, will be available 7AM EST this coming Tuesday, April 19th, though savvy consumers still have a week to invest in game futures by pre-ordering Portal 2 at http://www.thinkwithportals.com/preorders.php.

Humble Indie Bundle “The Third” is due out today.

It contains the following games from Fronzenbyte:

• Shadowgrounds
• Shadowgrounds Survivor
• Trine
• Jack Claw
• Splot

Trine is simply excellent, and features some of the greatest graphics / art in a PC title to day.  Seriously, it’s that good. .

Jack Claw and Spot – aren’t even out yet!  Jack Claw is a prototype, and Windows only.

Trine arrives on Linux for the first time in this collection, while the Shadowgrounds are both on Mac and Linux as well as PC. And they have their soundtracks included.

So, for this great ‘pay what you want’ deal – what will you pay??

Today Codemasters released a new co-op gameplay video for Operation Flashpoint: Red River.

The ‘Co-op Search and Rescue’ video showcases gameplay footage from the CSAR Fireteam Engagement mode, as Fireteam Bravo inserts behind enemy lines to rescue downed pilots in enemy territory.

The video is now showing at www.facebook.com/flashpointredriver.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River will launch on 21^stApril

New Portal 2 advertorialised video – watch it here now.

It’s about Portal 2 and it’s fun. Watch it here first or again if you have seen it already.

Portal 2 is out in this month about the 21st depending where you live and can be prepurchased on Steam here.

Also keep up with Valve’s official blog here.

This Friday heralds the release of the Adam Venture’s newest adventure, Adam’s Venture 2: Solomon’s Secret. This is the 2nd episode for Adam Venture and is a direct follow up to Adam’s Venture: The Search for the Lost Garden which was release back in 2009 which was also about the titular Adam on an adventure. These action adventure games are published by Iceberg Intreractive and developed by Vertigo games and actually looks quite interesting. Having played neither though we will reserve judgement on the game until we venture further into its cavey caves. Have any of our intrepid readers ventured this far with Mr. Venture already?

After the break a few nice screenshots and possibly a link to the official teaser video.Venture Forth…

Some lovely screenshots, as promised:

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