Fall is officially here. Already, we’re seeing the temperatures drop, the trees turn color and the new game releases becoming more numerous. Yep, the PC game shopping season has arrived:
Exclusive features

GoG.com interview: We have an extensive chat with the co-founder of the DRM-free PC game download service about its relaunch … and that whole “shut down” hoax.
Civilization retrospectives: With Civilization V now out in stores, we take a look at the previous versions of the series along with the various offshoots.
Boot Disk: Our retro games feature checks out the original …

Look, not everybody gets to be super smart. Some of us have to struggle along with our mediocre intellects and just bask in the glory of genius. Like this time: we ran into Adam Wolf at Maker Faire in New York, and while many burgeoning hackers were using their Arduino to flip LEDs on and off in vaguely interesting ways, Adam was showing off a 3D raycaster engine. It’s like witnessing some sort of alternate history where Wolfenstein 3D came out for Atari first. Just to give you an idea …

One of my personal favorite games from last year, Borderlands, have now joined the ranks of the elite (or, at least, most commercially successful) titles in branded value packaging. In other words, you can now pick up the game as an Xbox 360 Platinum Hit or a PlayStation 3 Greatest Hit.
Should you? That’s a tricky question to answer. A “Game of the Year” edition including the title’s four DLC packs is set for release on October 24th for $60, which would be a savings of ten smackers if you were …

Filed under: Podcasts

While the cat’s away, the mice will riff. In Chris’ absence, Ludwig and Justin carry on with a new iteration of the Joystiq Podcast sub-show, Just Riffin’. They’re riffin’ this week about life, love, Halo: Reach, Minecraft and oh so much more.
Thanks to Evan Hodgins for his crafty photoshop.
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Hosts: Justin McElroy (@justinmcelroy) and Ludwig Kietzmann …

This video has been dubbed “Most Wanted Racer.” Do you see what they did there? As with essentially every single prior piece of media for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, we’re once again shown a police chase that ends with the cops getting foiled.
I hope Criterion Games and/or EA start showing some of those community features that made Burnout Paradise such a delight to play and replay. I mean, I guess people like the chase sequences — there’s going to be a fifth Fast and the Furious movie, after all …

No, seriously, every Serious Sam HD game is seriously 75 percent off all this weekend on Steam — meaning Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter for $3.74, The Second Encounter for $4.99, and the recently released Gold Edition for $10 (which includes both remakes and the originals).
This deal is unfortunately exclusive to PC Steam gamers, as the titles have yet to receive the Mac treatment. And that’s seriously a shame, isn’t it?
All Serious Sam titles 75% off on Steam this weekend originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 …

Oh, sure — our international contemporaries have been toying with the Dell Streak for the better part of 2010, but Americans have just recently had their equal opportunity to indulge. It’s a mini tablet, or a huge phone. Or both. And sometimes neither. But whatever the case may be on any given Sunday, the 5-inch Streak has caused more of a stir for the folks in Round Rock than any product since the Adamo. For those who eagerly pre-ordered and then not-so-eagerly paid the credit bill upon receipt, we’re interested …

Like it does every week, a bunch of music is coming to the Rock Band store next week. Spot the tracks that don’t quite fit in. (Hint: They’re performed by a group that rhymes with The Boobie Mothers.)

Anthrax – “Among the Living”
Anthrax – “I’m the Man”
Anthrax – “Indians” +
Anthrax – “Madhouse (Live)” +
Anthrax – “Metal Thrashing Mad (Live)” +
My Chemical Romance – “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”
My Chemical Romance – “Welcome to the Black Parade”
30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge” +
Atreyu – “Coffin Nails”
Buckcherry – “Out of …