You'll have to wait for new dragon goodness.

Bioware have revealed 'Return to Ostagar' the recently announced downloadable content for Dragon Age: Origins has been delayed.

The new DLC was supposed to be released today, but Bioware Community Leader Chris Priestly has used their forums to say:

"We’re sorry but the planned Return to Ostagar downloadable content scheduled to launch on January 5th has been delayed for all platforms. 
 
We will update you as new information becomes available"

Brief ay? There is currently no word as to when the DLC will eventually be released but it'll cost 400 Bioware Points. Unfortunately you'll have to wait a bit longer if you want to take on new enemies in the Battlefields of Ostagar, reclaim the lost arms and armour of a king and get a second chance to add dog to your party.

You can discuss Dragon Age: Origins here, or in the new Game-Debate Forum.

Beta launched

Star Wars Call of Duty Mod is available for DL Here

Play as either a trooper of the Imperial Forces or as a soldier from the Rebel Alliance you will fight on Tatooine in the streets of the legendary space harbour Mos Eisley. The Beta contains one map but others in different locations as well as further weapons and player models are of course in the works.

This modification for COD4 is a result of the co-operative collaboration of many ambitioned modders who create this spare time project together as a team. Everyone involved contributes the own skills in the areas in which their expertise is at its best.

It has been put together by a collection of modders known as BlackMonkeys

Looks like some of those glowing runic subroutines could do with tightening up.

Dragon Age: Origins was just too much game for me to review in one sitting. Here's the third part of my series of observations on the newest fantasy RPG from Bioware.

Try to imagine, for a moment, if you will, that I am a complete idiot. A hopeless, drooling punk who inexplicably loves RPGs on the PC. I’ve picked up Dragon Age: Origins, and somehow managed to survive the DRM and the installation process. And I’ve decided to buy some of the DLC additions to make my Dragon Age experience even more… draconic.

So far, not all that stupid, I’m sure you’re thinking. But nevertheless, I am a complete idiot (in our example). But I am more than just a slack-brained smacktard – I am a human being, and I’ve as much right to play a computerised wizard as anyone else. So the question would have to be:- can an idiot get the DLC to work?

Computers are funny, you know. Most things in life – even console videogames – are designed to be as straightforward as possible, so that the target audience can get at the functionality with a minimum of fuss, and consequently get their money into the pockets of the makers of whatever the thing happens to be. Not so with the PC. We’re expected to be pretty techie, particularly when we’re the type of PC owners who choose to spend our free time pretending to be sorcerers.

So when I came to try out the DLC, it wasn’t the in-game salesmen that concerned me, it was the threat of more serial codes, more DRM and more time talking to EA’s customer service team. And I have to say that I was mostly pleased.

Pleased in the sense that actually paying for what I wanted, installing it and then running it was not too challenging, even for the hypothetical moron that I am. Sure, Dragon Age insisted that I was not logged in with pop-up messages, behind which could be seen my status as ‘logged in’, and sometimes if I tried to resume a game from the menu it’d think I didn’t have access to the DLC, but after giving it a moment it was fine. Certainly not perfect, but it’s comparatively early days for this kind of thing.

I really was expecting there to be problems with the installation and the payment process. So rather than expecting plain sailing once it was installed, I was waiting to see what they HAD got wrong. Because I may be stupid, but I’m not THAT stupid.

There are a couple of things that they’ve got wrong, and there are a couple they’ve got right. All of the actual new maps and plots are piddlingly small. Beautifully drawn and evocative, but small. I know you’re paying under a fiver for each download, but it’s still not much in terms of how long it’ll keep you occupied. The biggest problem I had with it, though, was the items that are just dropped into your inventory.

See, there are two ways to look at it. One is that you’re buying an incomplete game, and Bioware are then squeezing you ‘between the legs’ until you haemorrhage more money into their waiting mouths, and that they are pure evil mercenaries with their in-game shills bulldozing your fourth wall with their demands for real money (disguised as ‘Bioware Points’). And that, dear friends, is a valid opinion. “But they’re not shills!”, I’m sure Mr. Ware would reply. “They’re purposely created to PRESERVE your suspension of disbelief as best as possible. They’re offering premium game content at an affordable price. The game won’t suffer in any way if you DON’T buy it. It’s all optional.” That too is a valid point of view. However, if you’re still on the fence, there’s a suit of fancy plate mail armour which will simply appear in your inventory once you’ve paid for the DLC.

Just like that! No quest, no argumentative shopkeepers, not even any in-game money changing hands! It’s a bribe, plain and simple. And it’s the biggest problem with this new method of gaming. Buy a bunch of new stuff for your game! No effort involved so long as you have a valid Paypal account! Frankly, I wonder if I couldn’t just pay them another twenty quid and get them to play the whole game through for me.

Oh, and Shale – the new NPC – has poorly-coded abilities that cleared themselves on my copy of the game leaving him incapable of anything beyond regular melee attacks in combat. And while he is one of the better-written characters in terms of his dialogue, he’s pretty useless if he’s no use in a fight.

This is the time, my friends. If we want games developers to know our opinions on this new and insidious billing method, we have to tell them now or forever hold our peace.

GD Forums are now Live. Come and have your say

We have launched our NEW FORUM and need you to come and help fill it with gaming thoughts. We will be working to establish the forum as a global hub for all to discuss the latest pc game system requirements.

To kick start we have set up a Best game of 2009 poll.

Head over and help us find the best game from 2009. Its easy to login and put your vote into the mix.

Or if you have questions for publishers or developers about a games system requirements then post them on the forum and we will do our best to bring your queries to their attention.

2010 Monsters

And so 2009 draws to a close, amidst a grumbling of mince pies, cheap booze and family fisticuffs. At least the usual dearth of decent festive titles has been compensated in some part by the late release of Modern Warfare 2, the stealthy release of King Arthur and mighty release of Dragon Age, which should keep most gamers distracted over Christmas. No need to amuse yourself with 'Friends' repeats and Aunt Bertha’s bottom burps - not when you can shoot innocent civilians in the eye socket and laugh as they flap about in pools of their own sticky stuff.

PC gamers have had a peculiar mix these past twelve months. Most weeks seemed to be blighted with news of yet more delays - Diablo III, we’re looking at you here, although at least the endless supply of clones have capitalised on your tardiness, Torchlight. Some titles such as Alan Wake were not only pushed back, their very existence on PC was thrown into question. Controversy over rip-off DLC and poor post-release support are other topics that appeared in Game Debate discussions. The aforementioned Modern Warfare 2 caused a stir when Infinity Ward announced that there wouldn’t be dedicated online servers for multiplayer, and Valve were confronted with a petition from concerned fans when they started work on L4D2 so soon after the original’s release. If nothing else, it proved that we’re no longer happy to sit back and tolerate being treated as second-class gamers.

On the flip side, PC gamers have had a healthy supply of top titles to bring on a fresh bout of RSI. Action fans blasted their way through Bound In Blood, Borderlands, Prototype and Red Faction: Guerrilla. There may have been no Splinter Cell Conviction, but Batman’s romp through Arkham Asylum provided a near-perfect blend of stealthy takedowns and brutal melee combat AND we have just heard the first mutterings of the Dark Knight part 2. The adventure genre continued its comeback with the likes of Sam and Max Season Two and Machinarium scoring high, and the puzzle genre was boosted by the brilliantly addictive Plants V Zombies from Popcap Games and the brain-bustingly difficult Braid.

The usual EA Sports efforts may have lacked inspiration, but at least there were plenty of football management titles to keep sports fans sedated for now. On the other hand, strategy fans have had no time for sleep - just browse through the list of games here on Game Debate and you’ll find loads of tactical titles such as Dawn of War II and Hearts of Iron III (sequels were definitely as popular as ever this year). 2009 was also a great one for RPGs, even if a certain Blizzard title was absent. Fallout 3 brought a satisfying amount of stomach-churning gore and a memorable post-apocalyptic setting to the genre, while a more traditional fantasy feel was retained in Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins. And what yearly recap would be complete without a mention of the mighty World of Zoo? So cuddly it disturbed our reviewer. Then there is the massive title The Sims 3 which turned up this year and was well received although we were less than convinced by its first expansion World Adventures

2010 should finally see the release of some big names, including Splinter Cell Conviction, Max Payne 3, Rage, Ruse, Final Fantasy XIV and Starcraft II (although sadly there’s probably more chance of seeing a naked leprechaun doing the moonwalk than spotting Diablo III on a shelf in Game next year).

What we have planned for 2010 here at GD
The main highlight is that we are working on adding a forum in the near future. This will provide a great meeting point for all our visitors to discuss hot system requirements and those monster titles exciting us on the horizon. We intend on adding plenty of other tools to the site next year that will give you the chance to share your gaming knowledge with all of us. Remember you can always login to email me if you have any ideas for the site. I always want to hear about them.
So, 2009 has been a blast and with the fog of recession starting to lift, next year promises even greater things. With constant improvements to the site you will have just one place you ever need to visit for the latest news, reviews and system requirements.

Merry Christmas gang - here’s to a pixilated, violent and blood-spattered New Year.

GD Reviewer Spotlight
Chris Barraclough - better known ‘round these parts as Seebaruk - is a freelance journalist specialising in videogames and films, who writes for a number of sites and magazines. He joined Game Debate in January 2009 and in the past year, he has reviewed over 30 games for the site. His highest score was a perfect 10 for Plants v Zombies, while Painkiller Resurrection received a vicious slating and earned itself his lowest rating, 2.5 out of 10.

You can see more of his work at www.chrisbarraclough.co.uk

You gotta ask yourself: "Do I feel lucky?"

  Seems that "Call of Juarez" has started a rash of Western-themed shooters, just seen the trailer for "Lead and Gold" featured on this site, now Rockstar, the folks who brought us GTA are teasing us with an upcoming cowboy title "Red Dead Redemption".

  It looks truly awesome.....but who's going to put out a lousy trailer?

http://www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption/index.php

[Update] Just to mention that RDR may only be available on XBox 360 and PS3. However, if they code it for XBox 360 we can always cross our PC fingers in hope that they feel more money can be made by releasing the title on the glorious PC platform as well. After all they use the PC to code the game in the first place, right?
Console release - April 27 2010

Get ready for more co-op shooting guys (and girl)

Gearbox Software have now made the first Borderlands downloadable content pack available to PC gamers. Previously The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned was only available on the console versions of their RPG co-op shooter.

The additional content revolves around the afore mentioned Dr. Ned and trying to track down his undead creations in a new area the DLC adds to the game - Jacobs Cove. You can buy The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned directly from the Gearbox Software Store here for $9.99 - which works out as just over £6.

You can discuss Borderlands here or alternatively discuss The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned here.

You aint seen me, right?

DLC - The Midnight Show

Unlocks a V.I.P room in the ‘The Belle de Nuit’ including several sultry cinematics, unveils an all-new mini-game, and unlocks five seedy hiding spots in Paris.

Mature audience - The DLC also gives players the ability to unlock nudity in the game, allowing them to make their own choice regarding the game’s maturity.

All new console copies of The Saboteur contain a single use download code for The Midnight Show redeemable through the game on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PlayStation Store.

Owners of the PC version will have automatic access to The Midnight Show without an additional download.

Console players who wish to buy The Midnight Show DLC pack as a stand-alone download may do so on Xbox LIVE for 240 Microsoft Points or $2.99 in the PlayStation Store.

GTA IV: Made in Scotland

Video games developers won't be receiving government support. That's according to The Guardian who report that Chancellor Alistair Darling is set to reject tax breaks for developers in today's Pre-Budget Report.

The UK games industry has produced worldwide hits like the Grand Theft Auto games and the Tomb Raider series but is facing fierce competition from other countries  such as Canada and North Korea who are using their government subsidies to lure British developers overseas.

The games sector contributes more to the economy than UK film - which does get subsidised - but it unfortunately appears the government will be rejecting recommendations for a "cultural tax break" in the Digital Britain report.

The UK games industry had been ranked third largest in the world for decades - behind only the USA and Japan - but it's estimated the UK is now only ranked fifth behind Canada and South Korea.

No! Get those eyes closer together! Add more warts!

Dragon Age: Origins was just too much game for me to review in one sitting. Here's the second part of my series of observations on the newest fantasy RPG from Bioware.


A lot of hype has been hyped about the Dragon Age: Origins character creation system, and given the game’s post-colon-subtitle, you’d expect a certain degree of speacialness. The character creation widget was released before the game as a kind of taster, so that beardy nerds could either design their perfect character for their first playthrough, or just create millions of slightly different elves.

Considering all of this, then, I was a little surprised to see that there was very little to really set it apart from Fallout. Or Oblivion. Or Tony Hawk, for that matter.

Y’all know the steelo by now. Pick a race – this defines how tall you are and how pointy your ears are, within a given range. It’s then up to you to tweak your character’s eye colour, hairstyle, ear pointyness and a trillion other miniscule details that assure that your dwarf will look like no other (dwarf). Bioware have made a couple of weird choices here, though – you can spend hours making sure your eyes are just precisely the right distance apart to the angstrom, but there’s only about eight hairstyles to choose from for each race and gender. Since all of the game’s NPCs are, as far as I could tell, built from this same palette, you’ll end up seeing the same beards and weird braidy hairstyles quite a few times in-game as well. In fact, it’s alarming how many people in the land of Ferelden have girly braids in their hair. Sometimes you will literally encounter two characters with exactly the same beards arguing with one another. You’ll notice it as well – I’m sure the designers would argue “but their cheekbones have an entirely different structure”, however it’s the hairiness that draws the eyes.

RPGs love to tell you that you’ll never create the same character as anyone else, and yours will be unique. OK, so chances of anyone coming up with exactly, precisely the same look as your carefully-crafted avatar are admittedly fairly small, but the amount of real customisation you can apply to your starting character’s stats are a little less ‘unique’. There are a whole ton of possible choices but are you really planning on having a dwarven warrior who starts the game as a great herbalist but hopeless with a sword? Please. My first character, a dwarf warrior as it happens, spent his initial 4 points on strength, his skill options on combat prowess and his perks on weapon and shield stuff. It’s an obvious path, and I’m sure that I’m not unique in these choices. There’s not a lot of encouragement to experiment with characterful frills beyond the ‘obvious’ choices for your chosen career.

So that’s the first half of the character creation process. Now, remember in Fallout when you had to crawl across the room to your daddy, as a little baby? If you think back even further, do you remember the page of background you got based on your character class in Baldur’s Gate? This fluffy backstory has always been a pleasant aside in RPGs. Now, however, based on your choice from seven possibilities, you are treated to a good couple of hours’ playable backstory before the game proper begins.

We like this. More of this kind of thing please.

That’s right. The first couple of hours of play are entirely different if you’re an elf warrior than if you’re a human rogue. These short plot-builders will come back to haunt you throughout the main storyline (as you’d jolly well hope, these days), and they set the scene with the same deep plot and excellent quality voice-acting that sets the rest of the game ahead of the pack.

So that’s it. Character creation – it’s not special because of allowing you to choose the length of your wizard’s nose, or how good you are at hitting stuff. It’s special because of the lovely playable backgrounds.

Whats your ZPM? (Zombies Per Minute)

Minimum:
o OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP (Only) Administrator rights required
o Processor: 1.6 GHz Intel Pentium processor or equivalent AMD Athlon processor
o Memory: 1GB
o Graphics: 128 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible or better video card with pixelshader 3.0
o DirectX®: 9.0c
o Hard Drive: 800MB of free space
o Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Recommended:
o OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP (Only) Administrator rights required
o Processor: 2.0 GHz dual core processor
o Memory: 2GB
o Graphics: 512 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible or better video card with pixelshader 3.0
o DirectX®: 9.0c
o Hard Drive: 800MB of free space
o Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Frostbite Engine is being used

Minimum PC Specifications for BF1943
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
Main memory: 2GB
Graphics card: GeForce 7800 GT  / ATI X1900
Graphics memory: 256MB
OS: Windows XP
Free HDD space: 10GB for Disc Version (BFBC2)

 
Recommended PC Specifications for BF1943
Processor: Quadcore
Main memory: 2GB
Graphics card: GeForce GTX 260
Graphics memory: 512MB
OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Free HDD space: 10GB for Disc Version (BF1943)

DONT PANIC!

Game-Debate translate this as saying - the minimum requirements are pretty low but of course it would be great if all gamers had the best gaming rig that money can buy.

This of course, isnt possible and they know that over at DICE. So if you dont meet the recommended specs but get into the ballpark then it is pretty likely you will be ok to play the game on acceptable/reasonable settings.

If your system has a graphics card with at least 512MB of memory and any dual core with better than 2.8GHz processors you are probably going to be ok.

Obviously we are reading between the lines here and only time will tell. Fingers crossed and let us know your thoughts and experiences here.

FROSTBITE ENGINE

Developed with the Frostbite Engine, which is the same as the one they are using on Bad Company 2, which is why the two games share the same system requirements.

Battlefield 1943´s Frostbite game engine allows for practically total destruction of all environments. That means that you can level almost anything you encounter in the game - from airplanes to buildings, bunkers, vehicles and navy vessels. Take aim, fire and watch the fireworks as your enemies' cover and heavy weaponry explode to little pieces! Use the destruction to your tactical advantage as you blow a new "door" in a building to flank the Japanese bucked down inside, or clear a path through the trees for a better line of sight to the action.

DONT PANIC!

Minimum PC Specifications for BFBC2
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
Main memory: 2GB
Graphics card: GeForce 7800 GT  / ATI X1900
Graphics memory: 256MB
OS: Windows XP
Free HDD space: 15GB for Digital Version, 10GB for Disc Version (BFBC2)

 
Recommended PC Specifications for BFBC2
Processor: Quadcore
Main memory: 2GB
Graphics card: GeForce GTX 260
Graphics memory: 512MB
OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Free HDD space: 15GB for Digital Version, 10GB for Disc Version (BFBC2)

DONT PANIC!

Game-Debate translate this as saying - the minimum requirements are pretty low but of course it would be great if all gamers had the best gaming rig that money can buy.

This of course, isnt possible and they know that over at DICE. So if you dont meet the recommended specs but get into the ballpark then it is pretty likely you will be ok to play the game on acceptable/reasonable settings.

If your system has a graphics card with at least 512MB of memory and any dual core with better than 2.8GHz processors you are probably going to be ok.

Obviously we are reading between the lines here and only time will tell. Fingers crossed and let us know your thoughts and experiences here especially if you play the game/beta in the New Year.

PC MINIMUM System Requirements
OS = Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Processor = 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU
Memory = 1 GB RAM for Windows XP / 2 GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7
Hard Drive = 15 GB
DVD ROM = 1x Speed
Sound Card = DirectX 9.0c compatible
Direct X = DirectX 9.0c August 2008 (included)
Input = Keyboard / Mouse
Video Card = 256 MB (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support). Supported Chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or greater; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro or greater. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400, and 9300; ATI Radeon HD3200, and HD4350 are below minimum system requirements. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

PC RECOMMENDED System Requirements
Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
2.6+ GHz Cure 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better recommended
100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers
DirectX August 2008
NOTES: For the best results, make sure you have the latest drivers for your video and audio cards. Laptop or mobile versions of the above supported video cards have not had extensive testing and may have driver or other performance issues. As such, they are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) - The boxed/retail PC version of Mass Effect 2 will use only a basic disk check and it will not require online authentication. This is the same method as Dragon Age: Origins. Digital versions will use the retailers protection system.

After a good release the chaps at Neocore have got their first decent patch out. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

Release Notes
•    Improved movement during melee
•    Increased battle sound range
•    Added "beginner" difficulty level
•    Added sounds of unit selection in battles
•    Added marking own and enemy units (hotkey Tab)
•    Added invert mouse zoom checkbox in battle Options
•    Added rotate / strafe camera checkbox in battle Options
•    Added camera lock to the selected unit (hotkey Ctrl + Q)
•    Added "weakening archers" checkbox in Campaign map Options
•    Added divide army and recruiting icons in the army window as well
•    Added more detailed information about missing drivers, if any
•    Added disband option of units in a visible enemy army removed
•    Fixed font size bug on the loading screens
•    Fixed game crash bugs
•    Console for cheats
•    Creating screenshots (hotkey Ctrl + Space)
•    1440x900 resolution available

Here is a link to their new Forum