If you like older PC games then here’s a site worth keeping an eye on. Down to earth in name, Good Old Games seem to be aiming to build an online catalogue of DRM-free, classic PC games which they claim they have tweaked to run on modern systems.

Sounds lovely. The only reason I haven’t snapped anything up yet is that I’ve already got most of the games that I’d be interested in. Our bank balance is no doubt breathing a sigh of relief, but I’ll be keeping a beady eye on their catalogue to see what else they add.

Over at the lovely Rock Paper Shotgun (well worth a read if you’re into PC games) there’s a brilliantly fantastic story (GamePlasma apparently made the discovery but their site seems to be down at the time of writing) about some clueless geezers who have ripped off a load of other games in order to make their own. Amazingly, to add even more stupidity to the mixture the games they chose are hugely popular titles in their own right.

This is like me ripping off Star Wars and trying to pass it off as my own work. Did they really think nobody would notice? It seems that the internet has turned detective and excellently it looks like this tale is actually true - although it might be a case of sitting back and seeing how it pans out.

Haven’t posted much about PC games for awhile, but blow me down if I haven’t stumbled upon a couple which should get you thinking if you’re into PC gaming at all.

Firstly, over at Dubious Quality there’s a thought provoking post about copy protection and how it pertains to the gaming industry - well content providers in general really but the main thrust is about games.

Secondly, the government has published its review on computer game ratings. The main concern with regard to computer games is that children are getting their filthy little hands on games which feature mature content. At a glance it seems the government’s solution is to actually make the situation with regard to rating games more complicated than it already is. Brilliant.

They also propose that anybody wanting to buy computer games will face trial by being burnt at the stake with a minister quoted as saying that the flames will be fuelled by all of the hot air and bile generated by the news media that’s usually directed towards the gaming industry. I may have made that last bit up.

Sad news if you have ever played Dungeons & Dragons or one of its many spin offs or variants, it seems that the creator Gary Gygax has rolled his last dice.

If you haven’t played D&D you might be surprised at how far its influence reaches. Certainly the PC gaming landscape would be drastically different without D&D to draw upon (directly and indirectly). Coincidentally, a point that has been made on various forums and blogs lately is that gaming (both pen and paper and computer gaming) is a young medium so its always quite surprising to hear when one of the big names in the field have passed on.

Do games publishers actually want people to buy their games, or do they really think consumers (that’s me and probably you) are stupid?
Off and on I’ve been following the progress of a new game called Hellgate: London, largely because it’s being made by a few of the folks who made the classic Diablo games. As the release date has been getting nearer more information has been released concerning the game’s ‘revenue streams’ and I can’t help but feel that the publishers must have a PR department that have mastered the arcane art of reverse marketing - how to completely put people off your game.

A blog post over at the excellent Dubious Quality pretty much sums the main issues up far better than I could. In a nutshell it is free to go online with the game but you have to pay a monthly subscription to get the most out of the game. Rather mean spirited but nothing too terrible there really, except the publishers have shoe horned real world advertising into the game oh, and to do this the game installs adware onto your PC. Plus they’ve included all this lovely stuff in the demo as well!

Well done chaps!