Wait a minute, you can still update a disk-based version of Steam from 2004 to the current release-

Back in 2020, YouTuber and Portal speedrunner nicl83 uploaded a video detailing a curious discovery: the version of Steam included on retail DVDs of Half-Life 2 can still be recognized by Valve’s servers and updated to the modern client we use today.

Now, there are naturally some caveats here. There’s really no practical reason to do this⁠—updating the client will effectively wipe the archival, time capsule version of Steam you just installed, and it is so much quicker and easier to get Steam off the official website.

The process is also, naturally, a huge pain. Nicl83 starts in Windows XP, which they describe as providing the “best results” with initially installing Steam from the Half-Life 2 DVD. From there, a halting, almost arcane series of restarts and faile…

Tropico 4 is free on GOG to kick off the 2024 Back to School sale-

Watch On

It’s the last week of August, another summer is slipping away, the kids will soon be back to school, and for some reason that means Tropico 4, the banana republic management sim, is free for the next three days on GOG.

Tropico 4 is not the latest and great addition to the long-running city-and-politics simulator: That honor goes to Tropico 6, which came out in 2019. But you know what Tropico 4 has that Tropico 6 (and, for that matter, Tropico 5) doesn’t? It’s free. Come on, we’ve already covered this.

It’s also a pretty good game: “It’s not a great leap forward, but growing bananas and rigging elections remains remarkably entertaining,” we said in our 72% review. And if you dig the Tropico 4 experience and want even more, GOG also has the T…

You can grab all 3 Dragon Age games and all their DLC for a measly 10 bucks on Steam right now-

Friends, here is my story: Coming home to the UK from Summer Game Fest, hungry and heatstruck, I arrived at one of Los Angeles International Airport’s many food and coffee stands. Blearily, I ordered a latte and some kind of egg salad sandwich composed mostly of bread. The cashier told me that this humble repast would somehow be $21, in violation both of the social contract and mankind’s covenant with the Lord God.

Being an assertive and self-confident type, I said absolutely nothing and meekly paid up. But I shouldn’t have, because if I still had that $21 I could have bought the entire Dragon Age trilogy—base games and all the DLC—twice over in the currently ongoing Dragon Age Steam sale. In place of a thin film of egg smeared on a loaf of wholewheat and a latte that …

Watch Walton Goggins do a bunch of chems and blast a fist-sized hole in a dude in the new Fallout series trailer-

No need to stand by any longer: the new trailer for Prime Video’s Fallout TV show was just broadcast, and you can check it out above. The series will begin on April 11… and end on April 11, too, if you’re into binging TV shows: the trailer ends with the announcement that all episodes will be available immediately, rather than shown week by week.

The Fallout trailer gives us a closer look at the three main characters—Walton Goggins as The Ghoul, Ella Purnell as Vault-dweller Lucy, and Aaron Moten as Brotherhood of Steel disciple Maximus—and hints a bit more at their motivations. As some fans guessed, based on the last teaser, pre-war Goggins/Ghoul was a Vault-Tec spokesperson who unfortunately didn’t make it inside one of the Vaults when the bombs dropped.

Wizards of the Coast has admitted to using AI art in a recent promotional image-

Update 1/7/24: In the days following this story, Wizards of the Coast acknowledged that the Magic: The Gathering promo image was indeed made using AI tools. You can read our latest story on the controversy and its aftermath.

Original Story: In December, Wizards of the Coast committed to not using AI art in Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, saying it requires its artists, writers, and other creative contributors “to refrain from using AI generative tools” to create its products. Despite that, MtG fans are accusing the company of using AI to create the backdrop for a promotional image of new cards—something WotC flatly denies.

Wizards shared the image on Twitter on January 4, writing, “It’s positively shocking how good these…

Where to find the High Banks weapon and gear crates in Once Human

Tracking down the High Banks weapon and gear crates, when you first visit the hilltop town in Once Human, is the trickiest part of its exploration, but you’ll need to find them if you want to complete every objective in the Explore High Banks mission. The town itself isn’t too big, but there are quite a few buildings to investigate, plus a lot of monsters roaming around who make your job harder.

While the Mystical Crate is easy to find—guarded by the elite enemy in the centre of town—the other two are a little way out, so it’s understandable if you missed them. All that said, here’s where to find the High Banks weapon crate and gear crate to complete those objectives and get some loot.

High Banks weapon crate location

Wordle hint and answer #652- Sunday, April 2-

Whether you need to save your impressive Wordle win streak or would like to improve your abilities, you’ll find everything you need just below. We’ve got general tips and advice to help you make the most of every guess, the answer for today’s Wordle laid out in plain text, and for those who just need a helping hand, a fresh clue written especially for the April 2 (652) puzzle.

An anchoring green in the middle of my opener gave me something useful to work with, and although my follow-up guess was frustratingly grey-heavy, it did at least eliminate enough letters to make the next guesses much more focused, and I won today’s Wordle with plenty of room to spare.

Wordle hint

A Wordle hint for Sunday, April 2

The word you’re looking for today can refer…