More and more clues are emerging about next generation of video game consoles that should be released within two years. The latest clue comes from Gears of War developer Epic, a company which also makes the popular Unreal Engine. A recent job posting is looking for a “Technical Artist” to work on “multiple new and existing IP’s across multiple platforms”. The job ad goes on, hinting at next gen hardware:

“Your goal will be to attack the more complex issues that arise when we push the technology envelope, both in production on current hardware, and prototyping for next-generation hardware”

This could also be a possible indication of Unreal Engine 3. As for next-gen consoles, Nintendo will be releasing the Wii U this year, while Microsoft and Sony are reportedly already hard at work on the next gen systems, which should see release in 2013 or 2014.

By now, you should know that it’s possible to create virtually anything in Minecraft, no scratch that, it’s possible to create everything in Minecraft. Including re-creating Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

The project is called “Hyrulecraft”, and its goal is to recreate the entire world of Zelda: Ocarina of Time inside of Minecraft, complete with NPCs, dungeons, etc. Fore more details on Hyrulecraft and how to play it, check out this run down by GenGame.

If you’re going to get a lower back tattoo, also known as a tramp stamp, you might as well do it properly. Like the female in the picture above, sporting what is arguably the best Zelda tattoo ever. Also, those pants make no sense. Also also: If you’re interested in knowing who the girl is, she verified the picture on Reddit.

There are petitions these days trying to get developer From Software to port Dark Souls to the PC. The petitions have garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures, but it’s still unlikely we’ll ever see Dark Souls on PC. Why? Because PC is a platform with 90% piracy rate.

The majority of PC gamers will never pay for their games, no matter how many Steam sales Valve has, no matter how much the game are marked down, no matter how easy and convenient and DRM-free it is: it’ll never be better than free. Last year, a whopping 4 million PC gamers pirated Crysis 2. When time comes for Crysis 3, which platform do you think developer Crytek will focus on? PC or consoles? Even Portal 2, which is made by Valve, a company with a God-like status among gamers, was pirated more than 3 million times on the PC.

“If you didn’t pay for it, you stole it. Doesn’t matter if its a physical copy, or a digital copy — the developer won’t get paid for their work.”Developers like Valve can afford to put out great and expensive PC titles: they have an established fan base who are going to buy the game no matter what. But when it comes to small developers, and especially first time developers, it’s a very different story, as Bohemia Interactive showed last year with the release of ArmA 2: for every 3 people who bought the game, 100 pirated it. The head of Bohemia said the statistic was “really worrying for us as a mid-sized, independent, PC-oriented developer”.

Politically correct PC gamers insist that services like Steam and lower prices are the solution to game piracy, but Steam has been around for a few years now, as have other digital distribution systems. Has PC gaming piracy gone down? Not at all. Granted, publishers share some of the blame: restrictive DRM solutions have certainly driven away some legitimate gamers. But before you start praising “non-DRM” solutions, know that there are no true “non-DRM” services. Steam is a DRM service. If you don’t believe that, try and give one of you Steam games to a friend. Try and sell the game that you bought and rightfully own — oh, you can’t. That’s because you don’t own the games in your Steam library, technically you pay for a “subscription” to them.

With those kinds of numbers, why should From Software make Dark Souls for the PC platform? If 9 out of 10 gamers will pirate the game, that’s not a good business proposition. And when multiplatform titles do get a PC release, it’s usually in the form of a bad console port. That’s where the hypocrisy lies: elitist PC gamers complain about bad ports and developers not caring enough about the PC platform. But then they pirate the game anyway. At least 9 out 10 times. The tired old excuse that “online piracy isn’t theft, because it’s just a copy” is bullshit. If you didn’t pay for it, you stole it. Doesn’t matter if its a physical copy, or a digital copy — the developer won’t get paid for their work.

“If I was a developer, would I spend my resources developing for a platform with 10% piracy rate, or 90% piracy rate?”For the record, I don’t own a console. I’m a PC gamer. And all but one (Battlefield 3) of my 40+ games were bought on Steam. But unlike many other legitimate PC gamers, I don’t complain when a developer decides not to release a PC version. Or when they decide to spend most of their resources on the console versions. Nor I don’t complain about bad PC ports that are released years later. I understand their reasons. If I was a developer, would I spend my resources developing for a platform with 10% piracy rate, or 90% piracy rate?

Face it, we PC gamers don’t deserve any more exclusive titles. We don’t deserve proper PC versions or ports. We don’t deserve a truly non-DRM system. By pirating 9 out of 10 games, we have’t earned the right to any of those things.

Sincerely,
A PC gamer.

Just one look at this game, Dear Esther, and you can tell that it’s very atmospheric. The game started as a Half Life 2 mod in 2008, and has since been in development for a commercial release. It’s built on the Source engine version that powered Portal 2, and is scheduled for release this February. It’s one of those game we can’t wait to check out.

Flickr user “Nick Brick” knows a thing or two about LEGOs, judging by the looks of his creations. The man specializes in recreating Halo weapons in LEGO with astounding accuracy and visual detail. For instance, the Halo Reach SRS99 rifle, pictured above. Be sure to check out more photos of his full arsenal on Flickr.

The first of the next-gen consoles, Nintendo’s Wii U, will be released later this year and is poised to be just as revolutionary as the Wii. The Wii U features a touchscreen controller, which brings new possibilities to what can be done with the new console.

As for specs, the Wii U is said to be roughly 50% more powerful than the Xbox 360. We’ll have to wait until June and E3 to find out just how powerful the Wii U will be. And just how much we’ll have to fork over in order to buy one. Check out the video above for some gameplay on Nintendo’s new Wii U.

Rockstar has released a new Max Payne 3 trailer, this time, we get a good look at some Max Payne 3 gameplay and game mechanics as well. But somehow, it feels odd hearing the new Max, with the new voice actor. Not much “noir” to it if you ask us, but the gameplay sure looks exciting. Be sure to check out more Max Payne 3 news, including Max Payne 3 bursts and our Max Payne 3 multiplayer coverage. The game is scheduled for release this May.

The recently released first person puzzle game QUBE, which draws inspiration from the likes of Portal, has been somewhat successful, according to the developers. CUBE had a budget of $90,000, pennies compared to AAA titles, but it managed to recoup its costs after just 4 days of being available on Steam. The game retails for $15, and is somewhat of a short affair, with little story and somewhat repetitive gameplay (yes, we’ve played the game). The game has sold 12,000 copies as of a few days ago, but we imagine those numbers are quite higher now.

Either way, we’re glad to see indie titles succeed in an industry that’s increasingly getting hooked on sequels, remakes and adaptations. The developer is currently looking to port the game to iOS and consoles.

According to a new report coming from Chiphell, which has a decent track record when it comes to GPU leaks, Nvidia has decided to launch the next generation GPU, GTX 680, earlier than expected. The original launch was slated for March/April, but due to AMD’s slight lead, Nvidia decided to release the card in late-February.

The GTX 680 is said to offer the same performance as AMD’s 7970 card, and will ship with 2 GB of RAM and a clock speed of 780 MHz. The GTX 680 will reportedly be followed by the GTX 700-series later this year.