Steam |

Final Fantasy VII Now Available For Android

July 7, 2016 By Daniel Giordano Leave a Comment

Aerith, as seen in the Final Fantasy VII animation.

Final Fantasy VII is one of the games who has stood the tests of time. With its initial release in 1997, the seventh installment in the always popular Final Fantasy series is nearing a decade of popularity.

The decade marker has been hit by several games in the past but those games have received balance patches over the years. The gameplay style of other cult classic decade-old games additionally had more replayability offering either several multiple choices or mechanics such as New Game Plus.

Final Fantasy VII inspired sequels and prequels, novels, comic books, and a movie to name a few. In 2015 it was announced that the game was finally receiving an overly demanded remake, but there is talk that it may end up a different game altogether.

Android users are now able to buy, download, and play Final Fantasy VII on their smart devices. Considering there is almost no chance for even the Remake version ever to make it to Xbox Consoles, Android is the last platform on which the game finally arrived.

VALVe re-brought the game to attention in 2013, when it became available for purchase on the Steam Store. The iOS Store received its version of Final Fantasy VII in August 2015. Sony also made the game replayable to the PlayStation 4 in December 2015, almost nine years after its original release on the first PlayStation in January 1997.

Final Fantasy VII for Android is priced at $16 and requires 2GB of storage space to play but a bit over 4GB to initially install, making the classic a steep investment not compatible with older devices.

Much like the iOS version, the Android release of Final Fantasy allows players to skip random fights, and to max out all their values entirely minimizing the duration of the otherwise lengthy combat scenes. Realistically, the game is only affected by a strategic system alone as some fights can still be lost with poor choices even when having capped out stats.

The original code of the game also comes with its caveats for smart devices. Android users are advised to safe as often as they remember and to also backup their saves. A glitch which will probably never be fixable unless the engine for Final Fantasy VII is made open source affects how data is stored in the game.

The glitch causes sudden crashes with no data saved on forced exit leading players to lose all their unsaved data or sometimes all their game data, hence the backups. Even so, Final Fantasy is a cult classic for a reason and is worth the time of any lover of the genre.

Is The Final Fantasy VII Remake Coming Out On The 10th Anniversary In January 2017?

Image and Videos Courtesy of YouTube.

Rocket League Soon In Stores Thanks to Fans

March 1, 2016 By Micheal Baptiste Leave a Comment

Enter the little indie game that nobody believed was going to be a total hit: Rocket League. The game that allows you to play some form of minimalist soccer with monster trucks. Well, they don’t feel particularly monster-y, but still. The game that was modestly released as a digital purchase only last year in July on Steam and PlayStation 4 seems to be cooking up something else. After its release on the remaining platforms – the Xbox One release was just 2 weeks ago, while the OS X and Linux release is still to be announced – Rocket League wants to make it out in physical form.

As a result, Rocket League will be released again, but this time around via physical copies. Naturally, it will have a Collector’s Edition that will hit the shelves in Q3 of this year in stores all over the world. The DLCs that have been released so far will also be included on the hard copy version, along with a retail-only surprise for those who choose to purchase it that way. The hard copies will be covering all the platforms that the game has been released for so far – so unless you’re currently either a Mac or a Linux user, you will find a version for you.

Naturally, because the public can’t handle the idea of secrets, inquiries have been made regarding the nature of the retail-only content. The developing company however, didn’t crack, and only hinted that the fans of the game will be very delighted by the new features. There’s no telling if these retail-only content features will be eventually made available on the online version as well, though chance are they will, at one point.

Now, if you’re already a Rocket League player, you will probably not find much of a reason to purchase it once more, just for the extra content. Not to mention that some PlayStation users also got the game for free when they subscribed to a PlayStation Plus account. While some of the users will surely find this to be the best opportunity to show and pay their respects to the game and its developers, others may not and may instead prefer to wait for the retail-only content to make it to their already owned version of the game.

On the other hand, it’s inevitable that the game will gather an even larger playerbase once it gets released in stores.

Image Source: 1

Rise of The Tomb Raider Is Set to Launch in Early January

December 27, 2015 By Lori David Leave a Comment

Rise of the Tomb Raider will get its PC version in January 2016.

Last month, more specifically on the 13^th of November, Rise of the Tomb Raider made its grand debut on the X-Box One stage. All console owners were thrilled to engage in one more tomb raiding adventure alongside the gun-totting character, who is part Indiana Jones and part Max Payne. Rise of the Tomb Raider is set to launch in early January, but this time, it will be only for PC owners.

And the answer to your question is: no, Square Enix did not make any statements regarding an official release date. But we do know a couple of guys, who are in the business and know how things go.

That “guy” is none other than Steam, the great game selling and trading platform. As no one wanted to blow the whistle on Square Enix’s shush-shush movement, Steam went ahead and posted that the game will get its PC version on the 16^th of January.

Steam’s announcement does come as a surprise because other gaming sites speculated that the PC version of the game will not be made available earlier than the 29^th of January. Whatever the case may be, it would seem that the last installment in the Tomb Raider franchise will come sooner than expected to our PC.

And might we add that the game looks stunning indeed. Rise of the Tomb Raider picks up the story from the last Tomb Raider game. After the incidents from the last game, Lara Croft obsessed with the unusual events that have transgressed in Yamatai, sets out to find the lost city of Kitezh, located somewhere in the west part of Russia.

Concerning gameplay, the game has basically the same grab-blast and solve twist to it, like its predecessor. But Square Enix wanted something a little more sophisticated than a simple sequel to the story.

Taking a closer look at the game’s mechanics, we can clearly see that Square Enix added a few goodies in terms of combat and survival. Apart from the fact that you can rip your enemies apart in half a dozen ways, you can even use several objects in your environment in order to bash their skulls in and solve puzzles.

Moreover, it would seem that Square Enix had a lot to learn from FarCry 3. Based on the same principle, Lara can now enhance her gear by collecting certain items from the environment such as plants or furs from different animals.

We look forward to seeing how things turn out in the case of the game. Meanwhile, if you are interested in getting the game for your PC, make sure you check out the specs first.

Photo credits:www.flickr.com

Valve Announces Winter Discounts on Steam

December 25, 2015 By David Crozier Leave a Comment

Steam has lots of cool game offers and they even refresh the store every 24 to 48 hours.

Hear those bells jingling? Well, then I’m disappointed to tell you that’s not Santa’s sleigh, but Valve coming over with its bag of gaming goodies. Valve announces winter discounts on Steam, and might we add that they’re really something.

As we know, winter is not only about Christmas and snowball fights. It’s also that time of the year, when we throw aside all work-related issues, grab a mug of hot chocolate or tea or coffee, put our feet up and dwell in the atmosphere of a great PC game.

And this year Valve’s is no going to let us down on winter discounts. So, say farewell to community choices, editor’s choice or daily bargains, because Valve promised to stack up its shelves at the beginning of each day.

Starting today, Valve is going on a discount spree, slapping its fans with great bargains and terrific games. According to the bit cat itself, the discount season will start today and will probably end on the 4^th of January.

What can we say? It would seem that Valve is living up to its names, I don’t mean it literally. But there’s another thing we should be considering. Actually two things: we won’t have time to play all of them and what about our systems?

Yes, it is true that the most recent titles are very demanding in terms of computer specs. I mean, most of them won’t even look at you if you have less than 8 Gb of RAM. But what can we do? A bargain is still a bargain and Valve has gotten pretty good at striking good and solid bargains.

Speaking of those, according to Valve, by buying several titles from Steam during this season you will also receive several trading cards, which you can put use whenever you feel like it. Moreover, it will be much easy to make up your mind on what you wish to buy because Steam is capable of providing you with suggestions based on previous purchases.

And who could refuse this offer when Steam chose to showcase great titles like Fallout 4, Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Grand Theft Auto V? Also, according to Valve other titles will hold the front page such as Metal Gear Solid V, Pillars of Eternity, Dirt Rally, and even Cities: Skylines.

Valve announces winter discounts on Steam, Christmas is coming and everything falls into place for a great winter vacation. Happy hunting, guys and do try to enjoy yourselves this Christmas.

Photo credits:www.deviant.net

Valve’s Steam Controller Receives Firmware Update

December 13, 2015 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Valve announces that the newly-updated controller can be used even outside of Steam.

We are all accustomed to Valve’s approach on the gaming industry, and we are not talking only about games this time. Valve’s steam controller receives firmware update and all of us are excited to see how the newly-updated controller fares outside of Steam.

Yes, you heard it right. With the new firmware update, you’ll be able to use the controller outside of Steam and you can even use it for activities that do no imply gaming. According to the update’s description posted on Valve’s website, the improved controller will now incorporate a myriad of functions which can be used in order to navigate through your computer. Among the goodies packed in the new update are a couple of configurable functions for volume control and even play or pause buttons.

Moreover, it would seem that Valve wants to get the controller out of the yard, and even launched a beta client which enables the controller to work with non-Steam devices. Also, the new Steam Client beta features whole new set of functions that enable the controller’s save setting to be transferred between several Steam accounts.

In terms of gaming, the controller comes to surprise us with enhanced flexibility and versatility. We all know how hard it is for an inveterate computer gamer to switch from mouse and keyboard to a game controller. Most of us would rather smash the joystick into pieces after being machine-gunned by a low-level foe.

But Valve has the solution to that problem. In the new firmware update, Valve included a couple of modification concerning how easily the gaming stick can be handled. And so, the boring rudder will turn into an almost mouse-like controller which is sure to screw a smile on everyone’s face. Moreover, it would seem that the mouse-like joystick is even customizable, meaning that, for example, the players are capable of assigning a hotkey for certain game functions such as switching between the minimap and shooting mode.

As for FPS aficionados, the controller comes packed with other goodies such as gyroscopic aiming. Also, we are able to see that the newly-updated controller is combining the use of d-pads with the body’s movement.

As a part of their campaign for improving gaming controllers, Valve also had the courtesy of including a presentation of their fully automated manufacturing plant. According to their statement, it would seem that the manufacturing used to create the game controllers is considered to be the largest fully automated plant in the United States.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

PlayStation And Xbox Fans Beware

October 16, 2015 By Daniel Giordano Leave a Comment

PlayStation And Xbox Fans Beware

PlayStation and Xbox fans beware. There is a new player coming in town and it looks like it has the potential to compete with both consoles. Notice that we said the potential to compete, not overtake, because such a statement would be rather risky to mention. But this new console does have a couple of good names backing it up, which could boost it up among the world’s most favorites.

We are talking about the Alienware Steam Machine. While the console is still around half a month away from its release on November 10^th, some lucky “gentle gamers” have managed to get their hands on this beauty. It is the embodiment of almost everything gaming stands for PC wise: Steam and Alienware, two brands that every gamer would love to have under their roof.

As a side note, we have to mention that this product should not be mistaken for the Alpha Windows 8.1 gaming box. This thing is totally different since the Alienware Steam Machine comes fully equipped with a Valve Steam OS platform. Moreover, this baby is not trying to present itself as gaming gear, potential PC. No, this thing is made for games exclusively. If you want to do your homework, you cannot rely on it, unless you want to get distracted from doing homework, of course.

Valve want to make sure that gamers don’t leave their houses anymore, so they are pairing up Steam hardware alongside Alienware’s. Together they make an unstoppable team of gaming awesomeness, which is very likely to keep players glued for a few days in a row, especially after they bought this new gaming beast.

There are downsides, however. Do not think that Valve have made things a lot easier with this machine, or a lot cheaper. In fact, the Alienware Steam Machine is $50 more expensive than the world’s most favorite consoles: the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Valve even managed to make controls a lot more difficult, which deters player experience. Gamers like to keep controls simple and games hard. Not both at the same time.

So PlayStation and Xbox fans beware, but not too much. There are a few users who claim that they would not recommend the product to new gamers, or even players who have been in the industry for a long period of time. Practically, the device is somewhere in between “innovative” and “totally not what I am looking for.” The best course of action right now is to wait and see how it evolves. It can be a product that can surpass expectations

Photo Credits deviantart.net

Valve announces first version of Steam OS will be available this Friday

December 11, 2013 By David Leave a Comment

Valve is preparing to kickstart the Steam Machine project this Friday, as the company has announced the 300 lucky winners of the beta testing for the Steam Machines will receive their gaming console and controller this Friday, alongside the launch of Steam OS.

The 300 lucky winners will be getting Steam Machines with Nvidia Titan GPUs and all the high-end specs, alongside the Steam Controller and Steam OS. They will also be getting a new special badge to show they have won, allowing everyone to message and spam the users.

On the subject of Steam OS, the OEM will be available to download on Friday for any user, although Valve explains it is probably worth holding off until 2014 for users running Windows or Linux.

This means Steam OS is more than likely a hard port to grab at the moment and the average gaming scrub will not be able to download the OS without running into problems. Valve has said the start version will be for beta testers and hardware partners looking to implement the OS.

Steam OS is still a big push in the gaming world and if Valve is able to grab a large majority of the Windows PC gamers, it may really downgrade Windows, to the point Microsoft will need to start seriously considering free deals or a new ethic entirely to bring gamers and users back onto their platforms.

We still do not know who the hardware partners will be and what Valve is planning to do when Steam OS becomes readily available for Windows, Mac and Linux users. Will Valve look to entice every PC gamer who runs Steam, the same way Google offers out Chrome when an IE users starts browsing.

It does seem like a big concept and with Valve’s 60 million users it may be the right time to make this platform more than just a simple application. The OS may not draw in as many users, but it will be a better way to experience all that Steam has to offer.

Steam Machine specs revealed by Valve

October 7, 2013 By David Crozier Leave a Comment

Valve has announced the technical specifications for the Steam Machine, the new Steam console being developed by Valve, which will be sent out to 300 lucky beta testers by the end of the year.

The announcement was posted on Steam’s forums by Community Manager Greg Coomers, who detailed the specifications for the three hundred testing units, meaning the Steam Machine is likely to change specs before final release.

Here are the official specs:

GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
CPU: some boxes with Intel i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB GDDR5 (GPU)
Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

This looks like a powerful console, with 16GB of RAM and 3GB GDDR5 for the graphics card, it will make for some impressive gaming. The CPU range is a little odd, but i3 can normally hold its own on medium graphics levels.

We are glad to see Valve isn’t going easy on the storage, with 1TB of internal storage and Steam cloud storage availabilities, there should be enough for more than a few HD games installed on the Steam Machine.

GPU specifications are sound, the Nvidia Titan series packs a serious punch and anything above the GTX660 can handle most games without problems, the GTX780 is one of the most impressive GPUs on the market today.

The Steam Machine will come alongside Steam OS, the new Linux-based operating system for games. Valve has said it is committed to the Linux platform and hopes more video game studios will start porting games onto Steam Linux.

There is the Steam Controller as well, which we believe Valve will bundle with the Steam Machine. Valve has worked hard to make sure the controller is compatible with keyboard and mouse games, with unusual trackpads where the analog sticks sit.

Valve’s three announcements: Steam OS, Machine and Controller

September 27, 2013 By David Leave a Comment

Valve has made three important announcements regarding the Steam ecosystem and they all seem to configure around the idea of making a PC console, similar to the Xi3 Piston released a few months ago.

This move has been rumored for a while now, with the Steam ecosystem becoming a large flowing mess of indies and AAA studios building games to run on really powerful PC hardware.

Some believed Valve’s third announcement would be three new games for Steam, these would be Half Life 3, Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3. This is a little fantasy many have had for a while and it may still be possible when Valve implements all the hardware and software to create the perfect Steam Box.

Essentially Valve will build everything, Steam OS is a Linux-based gaming operating system, similar to Android but for games, not mobile. Valve will work on Linux and develop a gaming user interface familiar and simple for users, we could see this bootloaded as a second OS.

They will then built a Steam Machine (or Box) with different component options, like a normal computer range the price will start at around $499 for the cheap model all the way up to the thousands for a premium build. Valve has said they will cut the price with video game optimisation.

The controller is the third announcement and allows users to play Steam games without using the keyboard and mouse. Keyboard and mouse are seen as the elite gaming controller simply because of the accuracy, precision and amount of buttons, but most casual console gamers prefer the gamepad.

The Steam controller is a new peripheral that tries to mimic the mouse for older games, with two buttons for the mouse clickers and two rounded haptic sensors for movement, instead of the traditional analogue sticks.

This is a big move by Valve to enter the living room, as the next generation consoles are preparing to launch. The question is will Valve have any exciting exclusives for Steam, ones that run much better on the Steam Machine – we will have to wait and see.