• 2010 Previews: We conclude our look ahead at the next year in PC games with a RPG-MMO preview and an RTS-other games preview. Plus we pick our top 10 most anticipated PC games of 2010, give our predictions for the next year, pick some 2010 console games that should be PC games and offer up some 2010 wishes for the PC game industry.
• Top 10 PC Gaming Related Failures Of The Decade (2000-2009): Sometimes things just don't go off as planned. We examine some of the biggest failures of the past decade in the PC game industry.
• Team Fortress 2 Demoman-Soldier Achievements. We conclude our look at the new additions to Team Fortress 2 with part six and part seven of the Demoman achievements and part six and part seven of the Soldier achievements.
• All You Need To Know: Our 411 column checks out the upcoming BioWare RPG Mass Effect 2.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: December 28-January 3

The Best of Big Download: December 28-January 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• 2009 In Review: We give our picks for the best PC games of 2009 in our annual Big Download Awards. We also pick our 10 favorite PC game demos of 2009 and point out some PC games and related products that turned into vaporware this year. And finally, we give our picks for the best indie games and which indie games would be great holiday gifts.
• The Top 10 Most Disappointing Games of the Decade (2000-2009): As a follow up to last week's feature of the best PC games of the decade, we give our picks for those PC itles that didn't live up to their hype.
• 2010 PC Game Preview: We begin our look at the next 12 months in gaming with part one and part two of what action and first-person shooter games are expected in 2010.
• Team Fortress 2 Soldier-Demoman Achievement Guides: Want to learn more about the two newly updated Team Fortress 2 classes? Then check out part one, part two, part three, part four and part five of our guide review and part one, part two, part three, part four and part five of our Demoman guide.
• Gratuitous Space Battles Review: We give our final verdict for the recent space strategy games by Positech.
• Kung Foo! Interview: We chat with comic book author Devin Grayson on her work adapting the upcoming satirical MMO game.
• Mac Monday: Our regular Mac games column returns with looks at two games: Osmos and Guns of Icarus.
• All You Need To Know: Our 411 column returns with a info dump on Star Trek Online.
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at free PC games checks out the title Varia.

Continue reading The Best Of Big Download: December 21-27

The Best Of Big Download: December 21-27 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• The Best PC Games of the Decade (2000-2009): We celebrate the last 10 years by looking back on the PC titles we think were the tops in the 2000s.
• The Top 10 PC Game News Stories in 2009: What events shaped the PC game industry in the past 12 months? We have our picks for the news stories that changed the industry last year.
• Dirt 2 PC review: We give our final verdict to Codemasters' rally racing game.
• Interviews: We chat with the folks behind the upcoming Stargate Resistance and get a post-release update on Torchlight.
• The State of Mac Gaming: Part 4: We conclude our look at the current and future state on gaming on the Mac.
• Boot Disk: This week our retro game column checks out id Software's original Quake.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes examines whether PC games have had a "golden age" of development.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: December 14-20

The Best of Big Download: December 14-20 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Big Versus: In our latest Big Versus, we pit Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare against Modern Warfare 2.
• Interviews: We chat with the people behind the upcoming shooter The Scourge Project and also with the head of Smoking Gun Interactive.
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed PC review: We give our final verdict to the PC port of LucasArts's action game.
• The State of Mac Gaming: Part 3: It's the third part of our four part series that examines Mac gaming.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature checks out X-Com Apocalypse.
• Freeware Friday: Our free PC game column checks out the unusually titled Magic Planet Snack.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: December 7 - 13

The Best of Big Download: December 7 - 13 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• PC Game Multiplayer Holiday Gift Guide: Check out some gift ideas from Big Download from the current year and also some budget titles from past years that are still available.
• Left 4 Dead 2 Game Guide: Check out the last two campaign guides for Valve's zombie shooter (Flood of Hard Rain and Flee The Parish). Plus go back and check earlier entries in the series.
• R.U.S.E muliplayer hands-on: We check out the multiplayer beta test for the upcoming and different WWII RTS game from Eugen and Ubisoft.
• Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena: 10 Years Later: We look back at the release of two of the most influential multiplayer shooters of all time.
• The Wake of Guybrush Threepwood: Is the hero of the Monkey Island series really dead? We try to find out in this preview of the fifth and final chapter of Telltale's downloadable adventure series.
• Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter Review: We give our final verdict to Croteam's FPS graphical remake.
• The Top 10 PC Game News Stories For November 2009: We give our picks for the biggest PC game news stories for last month.
• The State of Mac Gaming - Part 2: We continue our look at the current stats of games on the Mac platform in this second part of a four part series.
• Big Ideas: Our regular look at game thmese continues with an examination of death in games and possible alternatives.
• All You Need To Know: We give you the 411 on Ubisoft's upcoming stealth action game Splinter Cell Conviction.
• Freeware Friday: Our look at free PC games checks out the indie game title Probability O.
• Contests: You still have time to enter our Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter giveaway and check with Big Download next week for even more giveaway contests.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: November 30 - December 6

The Best of Big Download: November 30 - December 6 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Left 4 Dead 2 Game Guide: If you want to be fully briefed on Valve's zombie co-op shooter sequel, then you've come to the right place. We started our Left 4 Dead 2 Game Guide with the first chapters on Identifying New Threats, Knowing Your Arsenal and our first campaign guides Hit 'Em Dead Center, Hosting a Dark Carnival and Catching Swamp Fever. Look for the other entries next week!
• Holiday Gift Guides: Black Friday may be over but the holiday shopping season has begun. Take a look at our PC gamer gift guide for non-game present ideas as well as our picks for some single player title gift suggestions. And if you want to do some download shopping for your gamer we have evaluated the major PC game download services.
• Interviews: We chat with the creators of the just released indie strategy game Solium Infernum and the upcoming action game Zombie Driver.
• Gyromancer review: We give our final verdict to this Square Enix-Popcap puzzle-RPG collaboration.
• The State of Mac Gaming: In this first part of a multi-part series, we look at the current state of gaming on the Macintosh platform.
• Big Ideas: In our latest entry in our look at gaming themes we look at if single player gaming is truly becoming extinct.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: November 23-29

The Best of Big Download: November 23-29 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Left 4 Dead 2: Check out our review of the PC version of Valve's shooter. Plus you still have time to win one of five Steam download codes for the full game.
• Interviews: This week we chatted with the creator of the upcoming 8-bit version of Left 4 Dead along with the COO of Reality Gap about the new free-to-play title Battleswarm.
• Mac Monday: This week we focus on two Mac games: Drawn: The Painted Tower and New Star Soccer 2010.
• Boot Disk: This week our retro games feature looks at Interplay's Fallout 2.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes examines what, if anything, could be considered taboo in games.
• All You Need To Know: Our weekly 411 on a game titles gives you the info you need on Assassin's Creed 2.
• Freeware Friday: Our popular look at free PC games checks out the browser-based Captain Forever.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: November 16-22

The Best of Big Download: November 16-22 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Reviews: We give our final verdicts on Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins and League of Legends.
• Star Trek Online preview: We go hands-on with Cryptic's upcoming sci-fi MMO.
• Interviews: We have lots of interviews this week including chatting with the developers of Prometheus, the Archon remake and Dino D-Day.
• Minuteman feature: We find out about an upcoming sci-fi movie that will use a specially created game as part of the plot.
• Jace Hall feature: The former Monolith head talks about his new projects as a Hollywood producer including the new V TV show remake.
• Mac Monday: This week our look at Mac games checks out two titles: Spooky Runes and Boonka.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature checks out the original Diablo.
• All You Need To Know: We have the 411 on Blizzard's upcoming RTS sequel StarCraft II.
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly free PC game feature checks out the new Flash-based RPG Dragon Age: Journeys.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: November 9-15

The Best of Big Download: November 9-15 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• The launch of Windows 7: On the occasion of Microsoft's launch of its latest OS, we examined if PC gamers should upgrade to Windows 7, gave some advice to Microsoft on how they can help PC gaming with their new OS, and chatted with a number of game developers on their opinons of Windows 7.
• Lucidity Review: We give our final verdict to LucasArts' recent downloadable puzzle-platformer.
• Mac Monday: This week's Mac gaming column checks out two games: Bullet Candy Perfect and Avenue Flo.
• Boot Disk: Our regular look at retro games checks out the classic Dungeon Keeper.
• Big Ideas: Our look at game themes this week examines why game developers should set more games in modern times.
• All You Need To Know: Just in time for the game's demo release, we examine all we know at the moment about Left 4 Dead 2.
• Freeware Friday: Our popular column this week looks at this mix of retro and rogue game in DoomRL
• Contest: You still have some time to enter our Order of War giveaway contest.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: October 19 - 25

The Best of Big Download: October 19 - 25 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• A Brief History of Windows Gaming: We look back at the various versions of Windows as they related to PC gaming history.
• Black Ops Games Redux Part 1: In the first installment of this multi-part series, we look back at some former games that were unannounced last year that finally were officially announced.
• Hands-On with Torchlight: We got to play the upcoming downloadable fantasy action-RPG from Runic Games before its release on October 27 and wrote up our impressions!
  
• Big Versus: City of Heroes Vs Champions Online: Our Versus feature returns as we compare the new super hero MMO with the first one.
• All You Need To Know: This week our game info feature looks at Bioware's upcoming RPG Dragon Age: Origins.
• Mac Monday: Our weekly Mac column takes a look at two titles this time out: Machinarium and QuantZ.
• Boot Disk: Our weekly retro game feature looks at the classic Shiny Entertainment-developed title, Earthworm Jim.
• Playing For Free: Our weekly look at free-to-play online games checks out the space-based title DarkSpace.
• Freeware Friday: Our always popular free PC games column checks out a game with the unusual title RRRRRPG.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: October 12-18

The Best of Big Download: October 12-18 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Reviews: We give our final verdict for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and also our first impressions of Aion.
• What PC Gamers Need To Know About Windows 7: Some tips and info on Microsoft's Windows 7 and how it will affect PC gaming.
• Left 4 Dead Guide: Crashing and Burning: It's our guide to the recent free mini-campaign for Valve's zombie shooter.
• Mac Monday: Our weekly look at Mac games checks out Miriel's Enchanted Mystery.
• Boot Disk: Our look at retro games checks out LucasArts' classic Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight.
• All You Need To Know: We take a look at all the info currently known about the upcoming RPG Alpha Protocol.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes examines how realism really works in games.
• Playing For Free: Our weekly examination at free-to-play online games checks out Nexon's latest Dungeon Fighter Online.
• Freeware Friday: Our regular look at free PC games checks out the platformer RunMan: Race Around the World.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: October 5-11

The Best of Big Download: October 5-11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Five PC games console players would love to play: There are still some big PC-exclusive games that console players have never played. We take a look at five of them.
• The Top 10 PC Game News Stories for September 2009: We look back and give our picks for the news that was the most important for PC gaming in September.
• Left 4 Dead Crash Course Quick Impressions: We give our first impressions on the new (and free for PC owners) mini-campaign for Valve's zombie shooter.
• Second Skin Review: We review the recent MMO-themed documentary.
• Mac Monday: We check out two more games for the Mac: Zuma's Revenge and Creeper World.
• Boot Disk: Our weekly look at retro games checks out the original Majesty.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly thoughts on game ideas examines if having-game specific features actually takes you out of the game.
• All You Need To Know: Our regular look at upcoming games gives you all the info we know about Modern Warfare 2.
• Playing For Free: Our weekly look at online free-to-play games checks out the browser based MMO Ikariam.
• Freeware Friday: Our always popular look at free PC games checks out the newly free indie title Strange Adventures in Infinite Space.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: September 28-October 4

The Best of Big Download: September 28-October 4 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Reviews: As the fall season hits, we give our final verdicts to a ton of new PC games, including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Majesty 2, Resident Evil 5, Red Faction Guerrilla and Section 8.
• Alienware's new look and features: We go over the four new desktops and the new laptop from Alienware that was announced this week.
• Mac Monday: Our weekly Mac gaming column looks at two games this time, BOH and Cuba Letra
• Boot Disk: Our weekly retro game feature has two entries this week as we look at the Planet Moon Studios action game Giants: Citizen Kabuto and the original Red Faction.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes and ideas examines if playing games is actually good for you.
• All You Need To Know: Our regular look at upcoming games gives you an idea of what to expect from Borderlands.
• Playing For Free: Our weekly look at free-to-play online games checks out Nexon's first person shooter Combat Arms.
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at free PC games checks out the sandbox-themed game Clonk Endeavour

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: September 21-27

The Best of Big Download: September 21-27 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Nvidia 3D Vision Discover: Want a way to experience 3D gaming without spending a lot of money? Nvidia has a solution that works.
• AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity Review: We give our verdict on this indie action game with a super-long title.
• Mac Monday: Our weekly look at Mac games takes a look at two titles: Crystal Cave Classic by Rake In Grass, and Awem Studio's Romance of Rome.
• Boot Disk: Our regular look at classic games checks out the Shiny Entertainment RTS title Sacrifice.
• Big Ideas: Our regular column that looks at game themes examines how a good game sequel is made.
• All You Need To Know: Our new regular feature on one particular (and recent) game gives you the 411 on Section 8.
• Playing For Free: Our column on online free-to-play games examines the NCsoft mech action title Exteel.
• Freeware Friday: Our explosive column on free PC games looks at BaboViolent2, the free predecessor to the recent downloadable commercial game Madballs in Babo: Invasion.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: September 14-20

The Best of Big Download: September 14-20 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• PAX 2009: We still have some Penny Arcade Expo 2009 features, including impressions of Borderlands, Elemental, Supreme Commander 2, Global Agenda, All Points Bulletin, Mass Effect 2, and The Secret World.
• Champions Online review: We give our final verdict to Cryptic Studios' latest super hero MMO. Also we examine what you need to know about the game.
• Looking back: Prepare for the release of Red Faction Guerrilla with a retrospective of the first two Red Faction games. Also we look back at the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series on the eve of their digital download re-release.
• Mac Monday: Our Macintosh gaming column this weeks looks at two games: Mad Skills Motocross and Monopoly Build-a-lot Edition.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature looks at the historical strategy title Conquest of the New World.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly game theme column looks at making games for different age groups.
• Playing for Free: Our weekly look at free-to-play online games looks at the recently released MMO Runes of Magic.
• Freeware Friday: Our always popular column on free PC games looks at the action-puzzle game Solar Plexus.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: September 7-13

The Best of Big Download: September 7-13 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• PAX 2009: We've been all over this year's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle. Check out our primer for the show, a chat with show organizer Mike Fehlauer, pictures from the show floor and pictures of the cosplayers and booth models. Plus hands-on and eyes-on PAX 2009 impressions of games like Star Trek Online, Left 4 Dead 2, James Cameron's Avatar The Game, Serious Sam HD The First Encounter, InstantAction Tribes, Split/Second, Torchlight, Divinity 2 and Deathspank.
• F.E.A.R 2 Reborn Review: We give our final word on this week's new single player expansion to Monolith's first person shooter.
• Hearts of Iron 3 Review: We let you know what we think of Paradox's latest historical strategy game.
• The Top 10 PC Game News Stories for August 2009: We look back at the big PC game news events for last month.
• Steam's new hardware survey before Windows 7: What does Steam's hardware survey show we have in our rigs before next month's launch of Microsoft's next OS? We have the info.
• Other PC Games Due In Fall 2009: We look at a lot of upcoming downloadable PC game titles due out in fall 2009.
• Quick Hit Football: We chat with the head of a PC game developer planning to launch a web browser based pro foootball game with current and former NFL players and coaches.
• Mac Monday: Our weekly Mac game column looks at two more games: Heileen and Burgertime Deluxe
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes looks at villains in games.
• Boot Disk: Our weekly retro games column looks at the classic strategy Heroes of Might and Magic 3.
• All You Need To Know: A new feature at Big Download, we look at what you need to know about the upcoming PC port of Batman: Arkham Asylum.
• Playing For Free: Our new column on free-to-play online games continues with a look at Battlefield Heroes.
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at free PC games checks out the open-source shooter OpenLieroX.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 31-September 6

The Best of Big Download: August 31-September 6 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Fall 2009 For PC Games: We are on the edge of the biggest part of the year for new PC games. Check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our feature that looks at the entire list of games and also check out our top 10 most anticipated PC games on our list.
• Reviews: Check our our verdicts on the second chapter of Tales of Monkey Island along with the indie game Osmos.
• Team Fortress 2 Hats Checklist: Want to know what hats are available in Valve's multiplayer shooter? We got you covered (so to speak).
• Mac Monday: This week Mac gamers have two games to check out: Big Kahuna Words and Mega Brickbash 3000.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games column this week looks at a true PC game classic: Outcast.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes takes on the question on how old can you be to get into playing PC games.
• Playing For Free: It's the debut of a new column that looks at the growing genre of free-to-play online games. This week we look at Quake Live.
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at conventional free games takes a look at a classic title: Starsiege Tribes.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 24-30

The Best of Big Download: August 24-30 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• BlizzCon 2009: We were at Anaheim this weekend to get some hands-on time with Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2. We also got even more info on Diablo 3 and its newly revealed Monk character, learned about the voice cast for StarCraft 2 (with a special appearance by Number Six), learned more about its gameplay features (including some cool dev created mods) and got the first info about Battle.net 2.0 (selling your maps and mods for money . . cool). Oh and we have pictures from the registration line, Day 1 (Felicia Day is so cute) and Day 2 of the event. Oh, and did we mention the folks in costumes?
• Mac Monday: This week's entry is all about the hidden object title Coyote's Tale: Fire and Water
• Boot Disk: This week look at retro games is about the 1999 FPS Quake 3 Arena
• Big Ideas: This week's column on game themes tries to answer the question on if games are actually evolving
• Freeware Friday: Our look at free games this week checks out the music-rhythm game Stepmania

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 17-23

The Best of Big Download: August 17-23 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• QuakeCon 2009 coverage: We were all over id Software's free LAN event-game convention this week with features like our impressions of the first live Rage gameplay demo, a chat with the Rage team, coverage of John Carmack and Todd Howard's speeches , a chat with Splash Damage's Paul Wedgewood on Brink and more. Oh, did we mention our picture galleries from Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 and our always popular BYOC case mod gallery?
• Back and Forth: Time Travel in PC games: We examine how time travel and temporal powers have been featured in new, older and upcoming PC games.
• Mac Monday: This week we look at the Mac beta for Warhammer Online.
• Boot Disk: Our weekly retro game feature looks at the original Command and Conquer: Red Alert.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly feature of game themes examines the growing trend of acquiring games via digital download.
• Freeware Friday: Our look at free games for the PC this week examines the arcade action game GearToyGear.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 10-16

The Best of Big Download: August 10-16 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• 10 Upcoming Mac Games: The Macintosh gamer has a lot to look forward to in the next several months. We take a look at 10 PC games that are slated to be ported to the Mac.
• Delayed to 2010: The Upcoming PC Game Backlog: A ton of major games are slated to come out in the first half of 2010. We take a look at these delayed titles and speculate if they will be successful.
• Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta Review: We give our final verdict for the last official DLC for Bethesda Softworks's RPG
• Mac Monday: Our weekly look at Mac games looks at two titles: Star Defender 4 and Bionic Heart
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature looks at Blue Bytes' classic strategy game The Settlers 2.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes examines how real voices will affect players while playing MMOs.
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at free games checks out an older title, the RTS game Warzone 2100.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 3-9

The Best of Big Download: August 3-9 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.