The GOG team have sent an email around to their users pointing out they have now signed a deal with Epic Games to distribute DRM-free copies of the older and frankly, the better (Unreal 2 not withstanding) entries in the Unreal Series.

Starting with Unreal Gold & Unreal Tournament (see: UT '99) GOTY Edition (available now for $9.99 each) and with Unreal II and UT 2K4 Editor's Choice Edition (must have missed that one at retail) coming soon for the same amount, nows the best chance to pick up on the best multiplayer shooters around and find out what all the fuss was about before CliffyB started loving consoles and hating those scurvy PC gamers pirates.

Adam Oldakowski, MD of GOG.com had this bit of marketing spiele to say:

Epic Games redefined the first-person shooter with the Unreal series, and we’re very happy to welcome them to the growing list of companies that share our vision of digital distribution

I laughed... 

If you haven't signed up to GOG.com website-o-loveliness yet, what are you waiting for?  Find details of Epic's releases on the site here.

Telltale Games have announced that Episode 4 of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, titled Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective, has shipped for PC & WiiWare.  People who have purchased the season pass can download the game now via their account on Telltales website.

"Move over, James Bond! Strong Bad's here to show you how it's done in his hand-crafted cinematic masterpiece. You play Dangeresque, a dirty cop in pursuit of action and big sacks of cash. Can our hero defeat his arch-nemesis and save the world? Looks like he's gonna have to jump... "

As usual, the demo is also available now which will unlock to the full game once purchased.

CNS intend to review the complete season as a whole next month, so watch this space!

Thousands of customers who pre-ordered the Guitar Hero: World Tour band pack turned up to GAME stores all around the country today to find that the free bass guitar controller they were meant to receive was not available.

GAME staff were frustrated to find that the deliveries of stock could barely cover the pre-orders let alone demand for the game's full instrument pack. Furthermore there was no sign of the free bass guitar controllers that were to be added to the pre-order pack.

It is currently unclear whether or not the chain will be able to supply the extra contoller to all the customers who pre-ordered them.

Valve have announced that Left 4 Dead, their co-op zombie-themed multiplayer shooter, has gone gold and will hit Steam clients on the 18th November and retail on [insert country here]'s general game release date (Tuesday in the US - so same day as Steam, Friday in the UK)

The Infection Begins Next Week

November 13, 2008 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (Steam and Source), today announced its upcoming zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead, has gone gold and is now pre-loading to those who pre-purchased the game via Steam.

Left 4 Dead is the new survival action game from Valve for the PC and Xbox 360 that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games.

Those who pre-order the game via Steam save 10% off the regular price and may pre-load the game so they are able to play at 12:01 am EST on November 18, 2008 when the game is made available.

The pre-order discount is also available for both the PC and 360 versions at participating retail outlets.

Playable in single player, co-operative, and multiplayer modes, Left 4 Dead is one of the most anticipated releases of 2008 and winner of numerous pre-launch awards, including Best of E3 from multiple outlets. The official demo for the game is available now through November 17 for the PC and Xbox 360.

There's a few technical hitches with the PC demo at the moment, but Valve are working flat out to fix them in time for release - check out the PC demo if you haven't already by pointing your Steam client here.

CNS will be posting an official review once the game has gone live and one of us has had the chance to play it.

As the Xbox 360 NXE release approaches and following the stark back-pedal on the GfW : Live Gold Subscription fee back in July, Microsoft has entered phase 2 in it's revision of Games for Windows : Live by rejigging the interface, which should be available now for LIVE-enabled games.

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RockPaperShotgun have nicely pointed out that 2D Boy's magnum opus, World of Goo, is heading for final approach on european shores, with both Retail and Steam releases imminent for PC & Wii/WiiWare.

If you haven't already bought it direct from their online store (you know who you are, heathens), then expect to find it boxed in-store by the end of the year.  Good Times!

On a related note, the above article includes a quote from 2D Boys Ron Carmel that of the ~150,000 people who have played the game, over 90% are pirated copies.

Sad news indeed, which only gives weight to the faceless corporate types who brand PC gamers as pirates unwilling to pay for stuff unless they have too. Bad Times!

BradyGames announces the official guide for World of Warcraft : Wrath of the Lich King.

As the official guide to Northrend, lets hope it would help you avoid his wrath...!

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PCGH has conducted a short performance benchmark of the Left 4 Dead demo.  Their 'average' system (Core 2 Duo, 9800GTX, 2GB RAM, Vista SP1 X64) gives an average of 45-50 FPS on absolute maximum detail, which bodes well for those systems which were happier with Far Cry 2 than Crysis.

They also offer up several comparison shots outlining the detail differences of High & Low detail, along with some Shader fiddles.

Link - pcgameshardware.com

Andrew Bryant finds some loose change down the back of the settee and spends it in the only way he knows how...  On Steam!

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Andrew Bryant packs his LEGO Bat Shark Repellent and joins the (plastic) dynamic duo in their fight against crime.

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