NPD released the January sales chart for PC games and it was completely dominated by two franchises. Can you guess which two, without referring back to the title of this article? In case you couldn’t, the two franchises are Warcraft and The Sims.

What’s really weird is the number of older titles in each series that have shown staying power. The Warcraft III Battlechest and Sim City 4 Deluxe both charted in the top 20. While Sim City Societies or the newest The Sims 2 expansion packs would seem sure bets, these classics are showing some true longevity. Perhaps it’s a side-effect of their sequels bringing in new fans who want to explore the games’ past? (more…)

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The battlefield series of games have not had the easiest transition from PC to console. While there has been mild acceptance for the console versions, it’s nowhere near the furor that surrounds the PC multiplayer. Electronic Arts hopes to change all of that with Battlefield: Bad Company for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The image is a real screenshot showing off the fantastic explosions and particle effects. Is it the Battlefield to finally bring the PC success over to consoles? Don’t hold your breath, but it should look pretty trying. Click on the image for a full sized version.

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With the announcement of Quake Live this week, a new free to play through your web browser version of the shooter classic, advertising supported games got a huge boost. Once the market of cheap knock-offs and severely outdated classics, advertising supported gaming is now getting big name supporters such as id Software with Quake Live and Electronic Arts with Battlefield Heroes. That’s both good and bad news for gamers.

Interested users can now sign up via the QuakeLive.com web site to be part of the eventual beta test. Once live, the game will allow players to play a new advertising supported version of Quake right through their web browser. Ads will supposedly be dynamically targeted to players as they play. In other words, expect lots of ads for Family Guy DVDs. This is very similar to the model announced by Electronic Arts for their Battlefield Heroes game, which will game a cartoon look to the open field war game. That model does add in microtransactions, which presumably would be focused around new weapons and ways of customizing your character. (more…)

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