Rock, Paper, Shotgun

As anyone who picked up the last issue of PC Gamer UK might know – it’s the one with Starcraft 2 cover and the massively redesigned editorial – some friends and I have been playing a lot of Wurm Online. Since then I got in touch with developer Rolf Jansson, and you can read his answers to my questions below. But first I need to explain Wurm.

The best way to describe Wurm is as a high fantasy Eve Online, and it’s interesting for exactly the same reasons as Eve and a few more besides. While Eve starts you off in a space-faring milk float with a mining laser, in Wurm you begin as a hopeless peasant with… well, this:

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Game Politics reports that Germany’s sixteen Interior Ministers have asked the Bundestag to ban the production and distribution of violent video games. This would mean violent videogames could not be purchased at retail or online in Germany, and that companies like CryTek would have to leave the country to continue production of their games. (That, or come up with creative solutions. Perhaps replace all the guns with vomiting cats? Would flicked elastic bands work, or do they come under violence?) Some more thoughts on this beyond the jump.

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Sundays are just like a normal work day. Scripts to write, showers to have, Sleater-Kinney to be howled. A normal work day, with one exception: today is the day which a list of noted (primarily) game-related reading from across the week is compiled for the RPS readership’s attention, with me trying to resist to any pop music that caught my eye too. Go List! Go!

• Here’s an intelligent young writer who I’ve got a lot of time for. Jim Rossignol runs an obscure little blog where he writes about philosophy and architecture - but in his latest post, he’s shown himself something of a commentator on games too. Good for him, I say. He’s writing about videogames as a device to explore the inner-space of humanity, taking in the Fermi paradox, JG Ballard and how potentially rewarding unreality could be. Go read.

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The bloke that cut-me-up on the A303 yesterday is a STENCH WEASEL, the librarian that never returns my smile is a RAVEN STARVER, and the person that regularly fly-tips at the end of my road is a STINKING TURD. Thank you midden-mouthed web wargame 1066, a week in your company has enriched my abuse lexicon no end.

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Spend! Spend it all! Don’t worry about the recession! Games will save the world! Savygamer‘s LewieP has more pixel-based discounts for you good people. You can’t stop him, you know. He’ll keep on finding bargains until either he or the rest of humanity is dead and buried.
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Not sure how we missed this. The ever-controversial and much previously discussed The Path have finally released a demo of the game. In fact, it’s more than a demo – iit’s actually a prologue to the game proper, especially created to give a sample of the atmosphere. In other words, almost certainly worth downloading for fans of the the full game as well as those intrigued by all the net-chat.

My Granddad never played dominoes. He played Crib.
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You’ll have to imagine a catchy award logo, since I’m writing this in the closing minutes before my journey home begins. Here are the totally official RPS E3 Awards, unquestionably the most prestigious prize any developer or publisher can hope to receive at the conference.

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There isn’t much love for most of the MGS series in Castle Shotgun, but of course it has its fans and they’re totally entitled to that, regardless of the fact that we’ll eventually round them up and drown them all in the river. The news that the upcoming new’un, MGS: Rising – which apparently stars some half-robot ladyboy or something – is departing its traditional Sony-only shores for the PC (360 too) is a little surprising, though. I don’t believe we’ve had a Metal Gear since a port of number 2 yonks ago, so it’s odd for it to suddenly come back now.
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Go joyriding. And if a bout of twocking doesn’t appeal, you could be attracted to Gamersgate latest offer. Basically Volvo: The Game is available free to anyone with a Gamersgate account. As mentioned before, it’s been developed by SimBin, who you’ll know from serious sims like GTR and allows you to drive Volvo cars like Volvo car 1, Volvo car 2 and Volvo car 3. Er… probably. We don’t know much about Volvo cars. But – er – in this version you can play in an especially skinned Gamersgate volvo. It’s totally true. Press releases never, ever lie. Er… footage beneath the cut?
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Spoilers are a weird thing when it comes to sequels. Especially sequels which promote themselves by throwing out mysteries and sly hints about the deaths of major characters. BioWare told us some answers today regarding the very beginning of Mass Effect 2. The very beginning. I’m going to share them, okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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