Weekend Reading - September 8th

Here's your weekly grab bag of stuff to read when you're bored.

Games

• PC Gamer: Battlefield 3 night time mod is a tense stab in the dark
  This looks pretty cool - so much for BF3 being "too complex" for community mod tools. Thanks again DICE.


• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 PC Specifications & Technology Enhancements
  I felt this was pretty big when I first saw it - Black Ops 2 won't support Windows XP and will be a DX11 title. I'm sure it'll still run like shit and look like it's from 2008 (with the same gameplay), but hopefully we'll start seeing more mainstream DX11 support going forward.


• RockPaperShotgun: Interview: Ubisoft On DRM, Piracy And PC Games
  Some more big news: Ubisoft pledges to drop always-on DRM from future games. Gotta love being punished with draconian DRM for actually buying a game - this should be good for everyone.


• OnlySP: Assassin's Creed For Free Too Good to be True, Ubisoft Offering Compensation
  From good to not so good with Ubisoft. Looks like the free AC link I posted last weekend was a pricing error. It's kinda shitty of them to yank a game from 2008/2009 and offer coupons instead; if anything a free copy of AC might entice people to buy other games in the series.


• Joystiq: Loadout lets you create the weapon you want
  Details of an upcoming F2P shooter that looks similar to TF2 with tons of customization options. I'm still skeptical about F2P, but it's worth keeping an eye on.


• Verge/Polygon: 'The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot' is Ubisoft's free-to-play PC game
  More Ubisoft, more F2P. It kinda reminds me of Orcs Must Die at first glance, though I guess it has a loot aspect.


• Verge/Polygon: 'Guild Wars 2' review: second coming
  Polygon's GW2 review takes an overall look at the game and how it fits into the MMO scene of today. I'm still on the fence about this one and might wait for a sale; I like games with more of a WoW-style endgame.


• Joystiq: Batman: Arkham City GOTYE now on Steam, 20% off until Tuesday
  This is only here for the bad pun (Game of the Year Edition vs. musician Gotye) and the accompanying post content. I probably won't be able to see GOTY without thinking of "Somebody That I Used to Know" ever again.


• Ars Technica: How one game developer is making The Pirate Bay work for him
  Interesting post about TPB and an indie developer's efforts to turn pirates into paying customers.

More links after the jump.

Hardware and Peripherals

• CVG: Valve 'frustrated by lack of innovation' in PC hardware, 'jumping in'
  A job posting has people thinking that Valve is planning to enter the hardware market. Between this, Steam's Big Picture mode, and Gabe Newell's public disdain for Windows 8/recent support for Linux it looks like a "Steam Box" console or PC might become reality.


• Forbes: New iMacs On The Horizon, But Apple Needs More Than Sex Appeal To Win Over Gamers
  I'm not sure why anyone would even think about gaming on an iMac (or any Apple product for that matter).

Everything Else

• Forbes: Do Gaming Journalists Need To Grow Up?
  This post references this article from Edge and discusses whether or not the gaming press is a little to cozy with developers, giving them an easy time when they should be held accountable.


• Various: Opinions on Steam Greenlight's $100 Submission Fee
  
  
  • Ars Technica: A $100 lottery ticket: Indies discuss Steam Greenlight's new fee
  • Joystiq: You light up my life: What Steam Greenlight is for indies, from indies
  • PA Report: The $100 fee for Steam Greenlight submissions is exclusionary, and wrong


• Forbes: Sean 'Day[9]' Plott Believes Fans Could Take An Active Role In ESports Competitions
  Gotta love Day[9]. The title is a little misleading - this talks about fan participation in eSports more than fans influencing competition.

Have an interesting link? Share it in the comments.