News

Well, a few hours before it all goes live, Valve have said that they won't be releasing Portal to LAN centres on the Steam for Cafes program until ...... Boxing Day.

http://www.theaubergineroom.com/stuffed_by_valve_again

I know a lot of people have been asking for Portal and have been eager to play it, and I'm afraid I have to say sorry. You'll be playing it by yourself at home until after Christmas.

Sorry everyone.

The Xbox 360 classic, Geometry Wars, is now available to play on our centre PCs, via the dark majiks of Steam.

Like all really great games, Geometry Wars is pretty straightforward - fly a spaceship around, blow up shapes, don't die. WASD keys move your ship, the mouse moves the gun (like a tank the gun can move 360 degrees, independently of the direction you're moving/facing).

A simple concept - but you'll soon find yourself tackling hordes of enemies who run away when you move towards them, bombs, gravity traps, weapons upgrades - it's great!

In time for the weekend, and despite the magical lies of 'guaranteed pre-order delivery dates' - Halo 3 is now available for play on the big screen plasma in the centre.

Come in, give it a go, and let us know what you think. So far we're very impressed with it - it's a solid sequel to Halo 2, and has far more of the fun elements that made the original Halo such a smash hit.

Sadly an 18 rating means we can't offer Bioshock for play in the centre. However, that's no reason to miss out on the Bioshock love. The Cult of Rapture have announced that they're making the (very excellent) soundtrack available - as a free download!

Head on over to http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/home.html - it's a zipped 23mb file.

Cheers,
TOM

With the release of the Eye of the North expansion today, I'm pleased to announce that it is available to play in the centre. If you log in with our centre account, you'll have access to all three Guild Wars chapters as well as the Eye of the North expansion.

Why not pop in and try it out? We've got each Guild Wars chapter for sale, and they come with a free day pass, so you can spend some time progressing in the game.

This is pretty big, and a long time coming. Blizzard have announced that they are finally accepting Paypal for WoW subscription payments.

This means you no longer need a credit card - you can use your normal debit card (like Switch) to pay through Paypal.

I know a number of players who'll be thrilled that they're not reliant on their parents credit cards to continue playing each month :-)

Don't forget we also sell 60 day timecards in the centre, if you want to continue playing using good old fashioned cash.

Professional Gaming in the UK is starting to edge more and more into the mainstream. The BBC are currently carrying a story on their website about the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) final which is being held in Paris.

The Beeb article also touches on the increased amount of female gamers playing at a professional level, and the big money prizes which are starting to creep up to the levels we see in the USA and Asia.

All good stuff, and bodes well for the future. You can find the BBC article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6272546.stm

Cheers,
TOM

We all knew it, but now it's official. A three year study at Brunel University into online role playing games has found that it improves the imagination and exposes players to new ideas and ways of thinking.

Everyone - over the next week we shall be carrying out some major website upgrades. We will be upgrading the base code which powers our site, and then adding in some nifty new features - making it easier for you to use.

If you encounter any issues or problems with the site, please can you post a comment to this item? That way we can easily keep track of any issues, and it will let people know that an issue has already been reported and is being dealt with.

Thanks for your help,
TOM