The problem with Steam

So we love Steam, and the Steam Communities that come built-in are an excellent way to fire up a quick game of TF2 with your buddies. Read more

Join PTD for the Fourth of July Firefight

Happy Birthday, America! In celebration of our fine country growing one year older, PTD will be playing a special ‘we’re not leaving the house for fireworks’ Friday Night Firefight tonight. We’ll be playing Team Fortress 2 on the new servers, and will be giving door prizes out to a random player that join us tonight.

Fill up on your barbeque now, wash it down with a beverage or two, and stay inside where it’s cool. The gaming starts tonight @ 8:00CST, and will run until our finger fall off. If you haven’t already, join our Steam community to keep you in the loop (it’s invitation only - you can get an invite in the forums), and jump into our forums and join all the cool kids.

We’ll see you online!

Join the PTD Staff for TF2 tonight!

It’s Friday night, dear reader, and that can only mean one thing. We’ve spun up a new Team Fortress 2 dedicated server and are ready to frag you to oblivion. If you’ve got a copy of Team Fortress 2, point your server browser to tf.ptdmagazine.com and join us starting at 9:00PM CST. We’ll play until our eyes bleed or the sun comes up, which ever comes first.

We’ll also be awarding random “door prizes” to players, so make sure you pop in and see what’s up.

Who says there are no new games on my PC?

There are a select few people that seem to think that PC gaming is on a decline. Don’t tell me that this rumor has sucked you in and that you have shucked all your games, because it’s immensely untrue. As with all things, PC gaming has simply become more in tune with what the modern gamer needs.

Do you remember the last time you had to actually step foot into a store to buy the game you had been itching to amuse yourself with? If you are anything like me you go to your favorite online site, like Steam, and browse the available downloads, pay and click. Voila, let gaming commence.

So where did this notion that PC gaming was disappearing come from? Maybe retail stores started the rumor because they were not receiving as many units on their shelves, while getting an influx of console games. Can you see it now? Picture your favorite local retail store executives pouting like little kids because they aren’t making their cut so they start the dirtiest rumor they can think of, “PC games are dead and gone, never to return.” There is nothing to worry about and we will all forgive who ever in fact begat the rumor, because we can take a look at our hard drives and know that PC gaming is in fact alive and well.

Many companies such as Turbine Inc. and Blizzard Entertainment tend to be so tightly lipped about their profits that it is impossible to get anything but an estimate on how much they actually make from their product. Causing speculation that the PC game sales are on a downward trend, might seem like a bad move for these companies, and yet, I cannot help but think this might be a wonderful strategy, designed to keep people guessing. They are producing games that people keep coming back for more each game. The consumer pays around 50 dollars a game, then pays an additional 15 dollars a month to continue to play, the console game industry just wishes they had that kind of market.

Other sites like Big Fish Games design their games to be so utterly addictive that you keep coming back for more. They hook you with their teaser, playing for an hour, free. Then after you get involved with the game you have to have more. Fortunately, they have a subscription based system to easy the sting of your wallet a little bit.

There are many features in PC RPG games you cannot get in console games, like the ability to manipulate with extra key functions that would otherwise be burdensome, graphics and sound that rock the house (if you have the latest and greatest cards), and most of all playability that provides an element of socialization that is otherwise lackluster, whether you are just IMing someone while playing or deeply involved with a MMORPG, it is all about social graces, or lack there of.

Whatever your addiction might be, the artists and production companies that make the PC games are not letting us down whatsoever, though the retail outlets might be a bit disappointed. All this talk of PC games, reminds me, I need to go explore Steam for a while. Or maybe Big Fish Games, I love their hidden puzzle games.