Get it while you can, even if you don’t currently have the computer to run it.  It will be ‘bought’ into your Steam account and you can play it in the future if nothing else.  If you’re not familiar with Portal, conk yourself on the head, then be aware that it’s made by Valve, the makers of the Half-Life universe.  If you’re not familiar with Steam, it’s a digital game delivery service, replacing physical media, and most all games are available via it nowadays. It also recently was released for Macs, and I’ve heard rumor of a pending Linux version as well.

Portal is a short little FPS game, maybe 4 hours.  But there are no enemies really; you are given a 2way portal gun and tasked with figuring your way out of various rooms and puzzles.  It’s WELL worth the price, so go get it [if you don't already have it]!

http://store.steampowered.com/freeportal/

Update: long gone it’s back up to $20

The classics.  “These games, each available free of charge and optimized for play on modern PCs, offer a nostalgic trip back in time to the early days of the Rockstar legacy.”

Rockstar Classics – Free Downloads

This is Contra re-imagined in 3D via Half-Life 2 mod.  I need to play this, first I gotta find a download link though. There also exists a GoldenEye mod.  And there’s a good-looking “Update Mod” probably worth getting for replaying the original HL2; see its video comparison here (watch in 720).  And Black Mesa is a much-anticipated not-yet-released mega-mod which reinvents HL1 using the max of HL2 engine’s capabilities.  It looks sick.  And when the heck is EP3 coming out?  HL HL HL

MaximumPC posted a guide to making a MAME box.  It’s a sweet guide with many styles, ideas, and pics.  The comments section is probably worth a look too for ideas.

How to build a kick-ass MAME arcade cabinet

Just kidding, it was made using multiple takes and save states.  There is some fancy play going on here though.  I dusted off the Gameboy Micro and have been playing through Super Mario World again.  Good stuff.

I love this.  I haven’t bought it, but its existence did lead me to dust off my copy of Myst Masterpiece Edition and get it working in Vista.  The iPhone app takes a whopping 727mb of space, and requires 1.5gb to install.  The price is $5.99.  I love this trend of classics being resurrected to the iPhone for low prices.  First Wolfenstein, now this.  Next up, Doom and Riven please.

More info

Myst in iTunes link

Thanks amog.com!

Nice little collection of flash games I recently found.  There is some quality here.  Easy way to waste some time.  Brought to you by Gamefly.com I guess.  May I recommend Armor Picross 2, Arrival in Hell, and Baseball.  See anything you like there?  Why not Post a Comment..

Link to ponged.com

If you don’t own this, now’s the time to buy.

If you already own it, make sure you’ve registered it, and try downloading the files here.  You’ll need to download the (1.4) patch, and the English language pack.  Good luck with those servers though, I had much better luck with fileshack.

Let’s assume that you are trying to play BioShock, arguably the best PC game of 2007, on your Windows Vista (or 7?) PC, and are having the annoying problem of the game freezing on you as it tries to load the game. You can run in windowed mode, but that’s not going to cut it. Let us also assume you have a tablet pen, because, let’s face it, you’re awesome. And it’s actually probably related to your annoying freeze.

Here’s how to fix it:

1. Go to Windows Control panel -> Programs and Features
2. Click “Turn Windows features on or off” on the left.
3. Look for “Tablet PC Optional Components” (or perhaps “Mobile Tablet PC”)
4. Uncheck it and press OK.

Your tablet will still work. The only side effect should be that some of the annoying tablet features that came with your Wacom driver will be disabled. It’s a win/win in my opinion. Or if you must have them, you can just re-enable them when you’re done with the game.

(via)

Update1: This page still gets a fair number of hits; welcome visitors. I thought I’d throw in another bone, since I’m playing through this game again myself in prep for Bioshock 2. Let’s fix another annoyance while we’re at it.

Here’s how to get rid of the intro screens which take like 30 seconds before you can start the game each time. To do this, edit your Bioshock shortcut to look like the below screenshot. (In the target line, you’re adding -nointro.) (There should be a space between that last quotation mark and the dash.) (If you’re accessing your shortcut from your Games menu, you right click it, Customize, then click Edit.)

Update2: another tip. If you have issue understanding some of the voices in the game like I did, rather than turn on subtitles you can simply turn down the sound effect and music volumes, then turn up the system volume to compensate. Recordings and radio messages can be replayed and read in the tape section of the map screen.

GTA3 San Andreas was such a great game, and I didn’t get into it until a year after it came out. Damnit I wish I had a PS3.

Pick up a copy of GTAIV @ Amazon.

A classic depiction of Rubik’s cube solution which he wrote in 1986. That’s about the same time I was saying screw this and ripping off the stickers and rearranging them. Behind the back would probably get me laid though, I should learn this.

Link

This guy is hilarious. Longish video, but there is a bombastic crescendo. Fret not, I believe his misogyny to be feigned.

However Sean Connery’s, and this guy’s, are probably not.

Assassin’s Creed is released to PC today. Looks like a winner. If only GT5 and GTA4 were released on PC.

Link