When I play a video or computer game, I often find myself getting really attached to the characters, especially the main character. I feel guilty for leading him astray when I get him in trouble and extra excited when I help him succeed. The makers of Chimpact are offering game enthusiasts of all...

Being someone interested in aviation, I’m pretty excited about this: yesterday, we announced ( via Major Nelson ) that Microsoft Flight with be coming to PCs for free this spring! Microsoft Flight is a new game from Microsoft Game Studios that will allow people to fly over different regions around the...

Saturday afternoon had a shoot that I was really looking forward to all week – ORIGIN .  If you haven’t heard of them, ORIGIN makes some of the world’s most powerful gaming PCs, all custom designed & hand-built.  My first experience with ORIGIN came when I picked up the massive, blow-you...

This evening, Xbox Live's Major Nelson revealed some tidbits on an upcoming update to Games for Windows - LIVE for the PC. As you know, several games have launched under Games for Windows - LIVE that allow PC Games to tap into Xbox Live. Last May, I talked about my experience with Halo 2 for Windows...

Yes, I stole the headline from Conan the Barbarian .  But after using the Origin EON 18 gaming rig for the last few days, it’s the only way I could accurately depict just how mercilessly powerful this PC is. Not familiar with Origin ?  Don’t worry – up until a few months ago I hadn’t heard...

I consider myself a casual gamer. I play a few PC games, mostly Games for Windows – LIVE titles, and of course Xbox. But this week I’ve been exposed to an interesting area of online gaming. Some of the more advanced gamers out there might find it sad that prior to this week, I had no idea there is such...

Major Nelson has posted that an update to Games for Windows – LIVE will be available next time you login to a LIVE enabled game (of course) - offering you the brand new LIVE Guide. He’s also posted a bunch of shots of the new LIVE Guide here on Flickr . Unfortunately I’ve packed my Games for Windows...

UPDATE 5/21: Find out more about this offer here at www.windows.com/freexbox . The school year is wrapping up for many but for those who are graduating high school - thoughts are already on the upcoming school year this fall and starting college. Starting college can be a big adjustment and we’d...

Microsoft recently released the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows a few weeks ago. I decided to pick one up last weekend as I had too many cables running in all different directions all over my desk. The Wireless Gaming Receiver allows you to use your wireless Xbox 360 Controller to play...

In Windows Vista, we introduced the Games Explorer . This is the place where you can launch and manage your games, including built-in Windows games such as Solitaire and Chess Titans, and also PC games such as Games for Windows (and Games for Windows – LIVE ) titles. In Windows 7, we are introducing...

Gamers on the go have always had to trade portability for power, and vice versa. If you wanted a killer system, you had to be ok with lugging around a “lapmonster”, and if you wanted small and light, you had to cosign yourself to a less-than-ideal set of specs. The guys and girls at Alienware...

Audio junkies and gamers listen up – imagine a device that could easily “upgrade” any stereo headset to 7.1 Channel Dolby Surround Sound. Turtle Beach is lifting the covers on a device that does just that. Today, Turtle Beach is announcing their Ear Force DSS product – a surround sound processor that...

Many of you may be on the market for a new Windows 7 PC. Our partners are delivering new PCs we think you will love and just in time for the holidays! Below are hot and slick looking Windows 7 PCs in categories we think will be big for holiday 2009. Please note that many of the PCs with features mentioned...

Over the last week Toshiba rolled out several new laptops and all-in-ones. There’s a lot to cover in the new lineup, so stick with me! First up is Toshiba’s brand new Satellite P700 Series , replacing Toshiba’s Satellite A660 and Satellite M640 Series. These are power PCs, packed with second-generation...

Last Friday I posted about the first of a series of hot deals that will happen at the end of every week this month. Last week it was a hot deal for Batman: Arkham Asylum . This week it’s Street Fighter IV . Starting today and running through to Monday March 8th 5:00pm Redmond time, Street Fighter IV...

It was noticed last week that Games for Windows – LIVE now has a new desktop client. The Games for Windows – LIVE desktop client is designed to deliver free content in the Marketplace such as game demos and videos like trailers to PC gamers. The Games for Windows – LIVE client will...

This morning ASUS gave me the heads up on the launch of the new G74SX power gaming laptop . Part of the venerable and well-respected Republic of Gamers lineup, the PC features the latest and greatest in gaming technology, like an HD 3D display, new SandyBridge i7 CPU and NVIDIA’s new GTX 560M GPU that...

NVIDIA today announced they are bringing the first 2 GPUs of their GeForce GTX 400 Series product line which support DirectX 11 to market: the GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce GTX 470 . The GTX 480 will be available at retail for an estimated price of $499 USD and the GTX 470 will be available at retail for...

You know what Sony does well? Make a premium PC. They proved that again with today’s refresh of the VAIO S ultraportable line and the high-end entertainment powerhouse F series . The new S is an upgrade to what is already a great PC. I have current generation VAIO SB (that you can read about in this...

This morning Acer dropped a big ol’ bomb on the gaming world – two new models in its Aspire AS8943G gaming rig lineup that feature ATI’s smoking hot ATI Mobility Radeon 5850 GPU with 2GB (that’s right 2GB!) of video memory. The new GPU is capable of powering even DirectX11 games...

Those of you who read the blog regularly know that I am in love with Origin . They build really impressive custom gaming PCs, like the Origin EON 18 that I reviewed a few months back , and the crazy gaming PC/Xbox hybrid monster called the Big O which we had the chance to play with at our San Francisco...

It’s Black Friday and everyone is out kick-starting their holiday shopping. I thought I would take a break from my own shopping to highlight some pretty slick Black Friday deals from Microsoft. We’ve got some pretty awesome deals going on for Windows Phones, Xboxes, Windows PCs and more – just check...

Heading back to school and looking for a laptop that’ll help you get your schoolwork done, but also help you shred the competition in your favorite online shooters?  Then you need to check out the Toshiba Satellite A665 3D . A note on today’s video; from the time I shot this video a month or two...

If you’re running the Windows 7 Beta and hadn’t already noticed, we are introducing 3 new Windows Games for Windows 7. Internet Backgammon: Internet Checkers: Internet Spades: These games were well liked in Windows XP. Due to the amount of requests we received, we are bringing them back! The new versions...

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s Acer Aspire gaming notebook announcement, Acer is taking the cover off its holiday desktop lineup. Most people know Acer for their notebooks, especially the wildly popular Acer ApsireONE netbook, but they make some great desktops as well. Here’s what’s coming from the...