steam

Online game retailer Steam is running a big summer sale right now, which makes it a great time to build out your Mac OS X game library, thanks to heavy discounts on some recent and not-so-recent games.

As we've noted previously, the Steam sale "offers daily deals, multiple random flash sales, and a unique community choice vote where voters choose on the next heavily discounted game (which revolves every eight hours)." While most of the games on sale are Windows-only, there is a healthy selection of Mac games. But more importantly, those Mac games are significantly less expensive than they are on Apple's own Mac App Store. … Read more

The truest of believers spend months cutting, sewing, and taping together the perfect custom costume for Comic-Con in San Diego, and the opportunity to flex our geek cred is too tempting to resist, so The 404 hits the floor on the first day to talk with a handful of our favorite cosplayers.

Along the way, we'll poke around shops with costumes for sale and ask for recommendations on which duo would suit us best: Jay and Silent Bob? Wayne and Garth? Thor and Loki? OK, I just want to wear a blonde wig. Join us for a tour of … Read more

In the PC-gaming world, one sale each year electrifies the community to spend, spend, and spend some more: the Steam summer sale.

Aside from thousands of discounted games, some interesting bundles and featured offers appear right up a spendthrift's alley. The summer sale offers daily deals, multiple random flash sales, and a unique community choice vote where voters choose on the next heavily discounted game (which revolves every eight hours). … Read more

Like every year, PC gaming will likely get lost amid the retail and console-focused hullabaloo out of Los Angeles next week. Nintendo will tout its crazy new console/handheld hybrid; Microsoft has the Xbox-as-entertainment center and a new Halo and Gears of War to flog; and Sony will be talking about, you know, Sony stuff (and maybe the acquisition of a cloud gaming service).

Huge, PC-specific game announcements rarely happen at E3, but here are some of the current PC-specific topics bubbling under the surface.

Minecraft on the Xbox 360Mojang Software's Minecraft debuted on Xbox Live on May 9 … Read more

In today's show, we're putting filters on Facebook, paying with our phones and watching the networks get hoppin' mad:

A battle is brewing in court between the major television networks and Dish Network's commercial-skipping Hopper DVR. The fight centers around a feature in the Hopper DVR called Auto Hop, which lets users instantly skip commercials for a show recorded the day prior from a major network during prime time. (No need for a fast-forward button!) Fox, NBC and CBS are suing Dish, arguing that commercial skipping violates copyright. And Fox added another layer to it, saying that … Read more

Confession time: I try to stay away from games like Civilization because I can't afford to get sucked into them. I have friends who've lost entire weekends to Sid Meier's legendary series. If I'm going to carve out time to game, I need to run, gun, and be done.

You, on the other hand, have time to burn, right? So check this out: From now until 1 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 27, you can play Civilization V online for free. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the offer.)

That's … Read more

Apple fans joined gaming fanatics in frenetic speculation when Apple CEO Tim Cook was reportedly recently seen at the headquarters of Valve, the maker of ginormously successful games like Half Life and Portal.

The supposed visit was hot on the heels of Valve's job posting for someone with hardware skills. "For years, Valve has been all about writing software that provides great gameplay experiences," the post said. "Now we're developing hardware to enhance those experiences, and you can be a key part of making that happen...We're not talking about me-too mice and gamepads here -- help us invent whole new gaming experiences."… Read more

We start out today's show with a very important message to all you copycats out there: give credit where credit is due! And that's all we have to say about that.

Whew! Tomorrow's iPad event means we can finally stop talking about the elusive iPad...3? Or maybe it's the iPad HD? Or maybe it's the iPad YouKnowYouWantOne? We'll find out tomorrow, where undoubtedly a million points will get on the board. And then we can finally put that baby to rest.

Also on today's show, we talk about something not Apple related (if you can believe it), play our Yay or Nay game (copyright, trademark, all rights reserved 2012), and count how many accents Emily whips out. (Our last count was nine.)… Read more

Valve--the company behind the hit computer game Portal and the popular online game-downloading system Steam--has been working on hardware and software for a "Steam Box," a set-top console that would rival the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, and even Apple TV, according to a report.

Citing unnamed sources, The Verge reports that Valve could choose next month's Game Developers Conference or June's E3 to unveil the Steam Box, which could shake up the industry.… Read more