Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

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Friday news, part two:

 

Total War: Arena rolls out open beta
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-arenas-open-beta-kicks-off-today/
With Warhammer 2, Rome 2, Saga: Thrones of Britannia and Three Kingdoms all in active development, it's all go for Creative Assembly's turn-based grand strategy series at the moment. In fact, the fog of multiple wars made me almost forget about Total War: Arena—the online-only 10v10 competitive battler that Wargaming is overseeing. Its open beta kicks off today.

 

Rhode Island Rep. calls for special tax on violent videogames
https://www.pcgamer.com/rhode-island-rep-calls-for-special-tax-on-violent-videogames/
Rhode Island Representative Robert Nardolillo has announced plans to introduce legislation that will add a ten percent tax to all M-rated (or higher) videogames sold in the state. Under his proposal, revenues raised by the taxes would go into a special fund for school districts to support counseling, mental health programs, and "other conflict resolution activities."

>>Because that will solve the violence problem in the US schools.

 

Astroneer's biggest update yet is all about building bases
https://www.pcgamer.com/astroneers-biggest-update-yet-is-all-about-building-bases/
Astroneer got a big, free update today—its "biggest update to date," developer System Era Softworks reckons—that makes significant additions to its base building and power systems.

 

Trailblazers is a co-op racer about painting ever-changing tracks
https://www.pcgamer.com/trailblazers-is-a-co-op-racer-about-painting-ever-changing-tracks/
It's not often that a developer takes the words right out of my mouth, but developer Supergonk did just that when they, too, called Trailblazers "F-Zero meets Splatoon." It's a co-op racer where each team competes to paint the track with their color in order to gain a speed advantage—you move faster while driving in your color—and it's got delightfully over-the-top rocket cars.

 

Star Control creators file lawsuit against Stardock
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-control-creators-file-lawsuit-against-stardock/
The legal rift between Star Control: Origins developer Stardock and original Star Control creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche deepened today as Ford and Reiche filed a lawsuit against the publisher alleging that it has infringed on their copyright, and seeking to have Stardock's Star Control trademark canceled. The suit comes in response to a December 2017 lawsuit filed by Stardock claiming that Ford and Reiche are infringing on its trademark with its Ghosts of the Precursors game, and more interestingly, that they're not actually the "creators" of Star Control.

 

Metal Gear Survive charges money for extra save slots
https://www.pcgamer.com/metal-gear-survive-charges-money-for-extra-save-slots/
In an unusual move, Metal Gear Survive charges its players for extra save slots. First noticed on reddit and verified by us, if you want to create a new save slot beyond the first, you'll need to fork out "1000 SV Coins". SV Coins are an in-game currency which can only be purchased with real money.

>>Looks like Konami doesn't want us to forget the kind of shitty company they are now.

 

Foundation is a freeform medieval city builder with no grids to follow
https://www.pcgamer.com/foundation-is-a-freeform-medieval-city-builder-with-no-grids-to-follow/
In my experience, London's streets are terrified of straight lines, and Amsterdam is a melting city drunk on itself. My point is, the Western architects of old clearly weren't concerned with symmetry. Developer Polymorph Games wants to channel that freeform design in gridless city builder Foundation. It's now on Kickstarter: its campaign has raised $45,000 of its $59,000 and will run for another 20 days.

>>That would drive me nuts.

 

For a brief moment, Blitz was the most powerful character in Rainbow Six Siege
https://www.pcgamer.com/rainbow-six-siege-blitz-buff/
Like many multiplayer games, Ubisoft operates a test server for Rainbow Six Siege, where patches undergo some public trials before being rolled out officially. (...)
Part of the fun of being a tester, though, is sifting through the smaller changes that lurk underneath the surface—recoil tweaks, gadget changes, and stuff that hasn't yet been outlined in patch notes. As testers hopped in, they found a massive one: Blitz, the attacker who wields a ballistic shield with an embedded flashbulb, was now moving like The Flash.

 

New Overwatch hero (probably) teased by Blizzard
https://www.pcgamer.com/new-overwatch-hero-probably-teased-by-blizzard/
A cryptic tweet from the official Overwatch Twitter account is teasing... something—most likely a new hero. Details are scarce, but here's what we know:
The "declassified after-action report" discusses Operation White Dome, a combat engagement involving Overwatch operatives Captain Ana Amari, Lieutenant Reinhardt Wilhelm, Chief Engineer Torbjörn Lindholm, and Private First Class Emre Sarioglu.

 

League of Legends reveals loot box drop rates
https://www.pcgamer.com/league-of-legends-reveals-loot-box-drop-rates/
Against the overarching political discourse, loot box rates continue to cause concern for players. With transparency in mind, Riot has now published the official drop rates for League of Legends' Hextech chests.

 

Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia shows off 8 minutes of Gaelic King slaughter
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-saga-thrones-of-britannia-shows-off-8-minutes-of-gaelic-king-slaughter/
"I will unite us… with fear!" cries Flann Sinna, the King of the Gaelic Kingdom (latterly the High King of Ireland) in the trailer below. He's the latest historical icon to be unveiled by Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia.

 

Call of Duty: WWII multiplayer is free now and all through this weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-wwii-multiplayer-is-free-now-and-all-through-this-weekend/
Call of Duty: WWII multiplayer action is free for everyone this weekend—in fact, the free weekend is live as we speak. To take part, just pop over to Steam, find the "multiplayer free weekend" link (it's a little hard to see, but you can find it sitting just above the topmost "Buy Call of Duty: WWII" link), and give it a little click.

 

Save big on the Sniper Elite series this weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/save-big-on-the-sniper-elite-series-this-weekend/
What're your plans this weekend? The park? The big game? Family time? Shooting virtual guns at virtual people from really far away? If the latter's your bag, you could stand to save some cash—Rebellion's 'Publisher Weekender' on Steam offers big discounts on its Sniper Elite series over the next few days.

>>Of course, Sniper Elite isn't the only game on sale. Check here the full Rebellion weekend publisher sale.

 

 

Those two aren't the only deals for us this weekend. Let's check the rest of GOG and Steam deals:

+GOG

There are three deals to talk about:

• First we have the weekly sale: https://www.gog.com/promo/20180219_weekly_sale
• We also have the Warhammer 40k promo sale: https://www.gog.com/promo/20180220_launch_promo_warhammer_40k_slitherine
• And lastly, there's the strategy sale: https://www.gog.com/promo/20180222_ultimate_general_tiein

+Steam

Besides the two deals already mentioned, there are other opportunities for us:

• Stellaris is 60% off: http://store.steampowered.com/app/281990/Stellaris/
• Sudden Strike 4 is 66% off: http://store.steampowered.com/app/373930/Sudden_Strike_4/
• And of course, there's the 299 weeklong deals.

 

 

And that's all, folks. Have a happy and gaming weekend.