The Roundup: The Circle & Beyond

By Lucy Ungaro

This week, the Circle brings good tidings for current/aspiring PC gamers with two new laptops, and a game that you might want for your PC, maybe. As a PC gamer, I feel like we’re finally getting some much deserved attention our way. We’ve also got our usual reviews and upcoming game news, don’t worry. 

Arkham Knight‘s sales on PC were suspended because it had several technical problems, which is sadly not surprising at this point. More and more, when I play games on the PC, I feel like they’re halfhearted console ports that don’t take advantage of a PC’s many different keys (anyone play a “Spacebar Simulator” recently?). Luckily, however, Arkham Knight is coming back to PC. Read this article on it by Evan Narcisse. 

Ben Gilbert brings us more PC gaming news: Microsoft is developing a laptop that, despite its thin, MacBook-like appearance, is a complete “powerhouse.” I am pleased with this development. I have a gaming laptop because I travel a lot, but it is so huge that it causes me a lot of back pain, and I know a lot of my friends have the same problem. It would be a godsend to have a light gaming laptop with the same functional capabilities, although what worries me is that, without a large fan, having the laptop on your, well, lap, makes it prone to overheating. I still think it’s wonderful news, but I am wary after having witnessed the death of two laptops by heat. Check out the article here.

I’ve got one more laptop story, from Dan Ackerman, and this one applies to everyone because a) it involves Star Wars and b) it’s not a gaming laptop. HP is releasing a Star Wars Dark Side themed laptop with Star Wars images stored on the hard-drive and Star Wars themed icons. It looks great. Like I said, however, it is surprisingly not a gaming laptop, though you can upgrade the graphics card.

Ok, that’s it for the PC news. Nowlet’s read about how Mad Max could be a better game, according to commenters on a Gameological discussion thread, and brought to us by Matt Gerardi. You can also read players’ reviews of other games in the article. Since games are of course made for players, I think these kinds of articles are very important. When everyday players aren’t being inflammatory Internet trolls, they may actually have something useful to say.

According to Ebenezer SamuelUncharted was destined to be remastered, which is good news for people who haven’t played it yet. Now you can get an even prettier version! Check out the full glowing review here.

I sometimes wonder what happened to the prehistoric era that we used to see in games like Chrono Trigger and Secret of Evermore. It seems like it fell out of fashion, and the the medieval, sci-fi, and, eventually, modern gun-toting eras completely took over. Well, Far Cry is bringing prehistory back in its next game, which ironically seems like it will feel new and refreshing. Read Chelsea Stark’s article on the upcoming game, complete with pictures and a trailer!

If prehistory went out of style, space adventures definitely came into style. What with Interstellar last year, and the Martian this year, it seems like astronauts are really in these days, and for good reason. They’re our modern day, real life explorers. Jason Cipriano brings us the details on a new space game called Laserlife, in which you’ll be able to piece together an astronaut’s memories to figure out how he died.

There’s a new addition to ARK: Survival Evolved, and it might be the best thing ever, to all people who share my love of Quezalcoatl. But I can’t put it into words like Jorge Jimenez, because his words describe it perfectly. Here‘s the article.

To end the Circle news, here’s an article by Samit Sarkar on the new raid from Destiny: Taken King. A group of players managed to defeat it without dying even once. From what I’ve been told about Destiny, this is a huge achievement.

And now for news outside of the Circle…

There’s another NYU Game Center event on Thursday, October 15th. This time, come hear a talk by the designer of Famicom, NES, and SNES, Masayuki Uemura. It’s free and open to the public. Find out about it here.

Read about a USC professor’s goal to get video gamers moving again with virtual reality.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!

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