DRM is slowly seeping into every gamers life. PC gamers are old hats at this dark and dreary world called digital rights management. The CD key being the most infamous of implementations. Stopping you from playing online with the same download, making sure copies weren’t made, and requiring you to buy copies new. Yes, it is a most terrifying world so lets dig deeper with caution.

PS3 gamers have recently been introduced to the Online Pass and I have no doubt that similar systems may follow on the 360. With the 360′s supposed higher piracy rate how could Microsoft ignore developers. Developers – publishers more so – hate losing money and piracy is probably the biggest dent in revenue. I don’t study morals nor do I want to make people feel guilty, but piracy is essentially stealing. You’re stealing someone’s intellectual property. That’s another topic and I’m not interested in opening a big debate like that right now.

I’m not totally against DRM to be honest. I do not like the idea of not being able to borrow or lend games, but I am for developers getting paid for their work. I’ve only had 400+ run-ins with DRM. Those being all of my music that Apple thinks that I shouldn’t be able to transfer from my iPod back to my computer (unless of course I bought it from the iTunes store). It wasn’t a pleasant experience and it’s made me more understanding to people who’s lives are digital. I’m more traditional in the sense of liking physical copies. I even by CDs. Yes, CDs. I buy my music.

Moving back to games, I have only had one hiccup caused by DRM. I like a good RTS and am a big fan of the Warhammer 40, 000 universe. I was an obvious target for the Dawn of War games. I own DaW, Winter Assault and Dark Crusade. Three years back I wanted to play Dark Crusade with a friend who not only didn’t own it, but we couldn’t find a local or online retailer that had it or could ship to our area. We decided to just download the game on our respective systems as the game didn’t require a disc. This ultimately failed when he got an error stating that another person with the same copy was playing online. It was a disappointing day.

I have my beefs with DRM and am fully aware that it is not only here to stay, but going to expand. I just hope that with all this extra security, my $60 still gives me some ownership.

Have you had run-ins with DRM? Let us know below.

One of the greatest indie shooters. Period.

There are literally thousands of games to play for absolutely zero dollars these days. From puzzle games, to RPGs and even FPSs, there are amazingly crafted games for different platforms to play for nothing.

Tiny Towers – iOS Devices

An amazing and time consuming game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. You are the manager of a tower that you build floor by floor. You can build different types of business floors or residences. Stocking floors will consume most of your time although can take hours to complete. It’s not a fast paced game by any means but will have you twitching to get back to see if a floor is finished building.

Assault Cube – PC/Mac/Linux

AC is a great FPS for all the major desktop OSs. It’s a very simple game and does not contain persistent ranking and a large variety of weapons, but it does have lots of great modes, fast action and a great community of map builders. You’ll find yourself up late gibbing and fragging like the olden days of shooters.

Alien Swarm – PC

Alien Swarm has already had lots of press in the few years it has been around but if you haven’t heard of it, get it now! It’s a top down shooter with a ranking system and four-player coop as its core. If you have Steam and don’t have Alien Swarm you are seriously missing out! It’s even free!

Pocket MMO – iOS Devices

MMOs have slowly began to invade the iOS devices and they are turning up surprisingly good. Pocket MMO is a strange fantasy/sci-fi world with thousands of players and lots of quests and items for the price of zero. You can however pay for an expanding experience, but the free world will have you quite busy.

Online Poker - PC/Mac/Linux

Online Poker is one of the great poker services on the internet. You can play with many people around the world and choose from a variety of styles of poker. It’s a great game to waste time or join up in tournaments to spend an afternoon. Get ready for some good trash talk.

EDITED: Changed favourite poker site.

What are your favourite free games? Tell us below in the comment section. 

Nintendo will also be hosting a special Pokémon event, Between 4pm-6pm (local time) on July 21st. The event will just be a get together of fans to trade, and battle, as well as have the opportunity to win some prizes. Nintendo is also planning a massive Zelda themed chalk drawing that will be drawn over the course of the convention.

The complete list of games that will be demoed is as follows:

Nintendo 3DS:
•  Super Mario
•  Mario Kart
•  Kid Icarus: Uprising
•  Star Fox 64 3D
•  The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
•  Pokédex 3D
•  METAL GEAR SOLID® Snake Eater 3 D from Konami
•  Shinobi™  from SEGA®
•  Super Street Fighter® IV 3D Edition from CAPCOM
•  RESIDENT EVIL®: THE MERCENARIES 3D from CAPCOM
•  DEAD OR ALIVE® Dimensions from TECMO KOEI

Wii:
•  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
•  Kirby Wii
•  Rhythm Heaven
•   Fortune Street
•  Captain America™: Super Soldier™ from SEGA
•  Just Dance® 3 from Ubisoft®

Nintendo DSâ„¢ family of systems:
•  Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

The dlc will cost $3.99, or 320 MS Points, on the PSN, and XBLA respectively.

BioShock Infinite

Oh, and in case you were wondering, here’s the list of the honors that BioShock Infinite won

Best of Show Honors

• 1UP
• CNET
• CNET TV
• Cheat Code Central
• Destructoid
• Digital Trends
• EGM
• Electric Playground
• Eurogamer.it
• Everyeye.it
• Examiner
• FPSGuru
• G4 X-Play
• Game Informer
• Game Informer – #1 Game in E3 Hot 50
• Game Rant
• Game Critics Awards
• GameReactor TV
• Game Revolution
• GamerNode
• Gamer Theory
• GameSpy
• GameTrailers
• gamrFeed (VGChartz)
• Giant Bomb
• GotGame
• IGN
• Lazygamer.net
• Machinima
• Meristation
• MovieStinger
• MSNBC
• MTV Multiplayer
• Official Xbox Magazine UK
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Game Guy Blog
• Ripten
• USA Today
• Venture BeatVideogamer

Other Awards and Honors

• Eurogamer.it – Best FPS of E3
• G4 X-Play – Biggest Surprise
• Game Critics Awards – Best Original Game
• Game Critics Awards – Best PC Game
• Game Critics Awards – Best Action/Adventure Game
• Game Informer – Best Multiplatform Game
• Game Informer – Best Action Game
• GamePro – Most Awards Award
• GamePro – Modern Warfare 3 vs. Battlefield 3 Award
• Gamer Theory – Most Anticipated Games After E3
• Gamer Theory – Best FPS
• GameSpy – Best Multiplatform Game
• GameSpy – Best Shooter
• GamesRadar – Most Valuable GameGameTrailers – Best PC
• GameTrailers – Best X360
• GameTrailers – Best PS3
• GameTrailers – Best First Person Shooter
• GamingExcellence – Best Graphics – Artistic
• GamrFeed (VGChartz) – Best First-Person Shooter
• Glitchytasty – Most Artsy
• Glitchytasty – Best Story Teller
• GotGame – Best FPS
• IGN – Best Xbox 360 Game
• IGN – Best PC Game
• IGN – Best Shooter
• Jeuxvideo – Best FPS
• Lazygamer.net – Best Shooter
• Meristation – Best FPS
• MSNBC – Best Art Direction
• Nowgamer – Best First Person Shooter of E3
• Official Xbox Magazine – Most Valuable Game
• PC Gamer – Most Valuable Game
• PlayStation: The Official Magazine – Most Valuable Game
• Spaziogames – Best Action/Adventure
• Xbox 360 Achievements – Most Anticipated Games of E3

Orcs Must Die!

Orcs Must Die! will be available for digital download on PC and Consoles this summer!

Nintendo had a decent showing at this years E3 press conference. They started with a celebration of 25 years of Zelda, and the beginning of the Nintendo eShop for DSi. The eShop works like the Wii Shop channel, providing both downloadable titles, and virtual console games (now including retro gameboy titles). The next big thing on Nintendo’s list was their line up of 3DS games. These titles included: Mario Kart 3D, Star Fox64 3D, Super Mario 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Luigi’s Mansion 2, and much more. Nintendo also announced Pokédex 3D, a free download for the 3DS in conjunction with Pokémon Black/White. 3DS users can download an exclusive boost to their Pokédex which fills in 16 rare Pokémon’s data for you. This download will be available through the eShop.

Of course the biggest announcement was their new console the Wii U, however I will be going into further detail on the new system in a later post. It was a good conference, but a little heavy on the Wii U controller.

I expect good things from Nintendo this year.

-Lego City Stories

-Darksiders 2

-Tekken

-Batman: Arkham City

-Assassin’s Creed

-Ghost Recon Online

-Dirt

-Metro Last Light

-Alien: Colonial Space Marines

-Ninja Gaiden 3

This new console seems to be bringing a lot more hardcore action to Nintendo, many of you are probably looking at this list and saying “That’s a lot of blood for a Nintendo console”, this foreshadows great things, maybe Nintendo will finally see a GTA title on the Wii U, or maybe even, some version of Prototype perhaps. Either way the Wii U will bring a lot more games, and gamers to Nintendo in the near future.

Among other things, Sony announced during their E3, that two specially refurbished (in HD, and 3D) game bundles will be released. One will be the God of War Origins Collection, which will feature both PSP God of War titles. The other will be the ICO, and Shadow of the Colossus bundle. Each of the bundles will feature digitally remastered versions of their original counterparts, and will offer those who missed out on these titles a great experience.

These great bundles arrive September 30th.

Mass Effect 3 has put on a great show, at this years E3. Through both gameplay and trailers, Bioware has shown that they mean business. The new dodging system looks great, and should prove useful. Running to cover in Mass Effect 2, could sometimes be just as dangerous as standing in the open, so being able to roll to cover will be awesome. The new melee attacks for Shepard also looks promising (better than the small punch from Mass Effect 2 anyway) and should be useful when husks close in. The Reapers, and battles against them look amazing, and should play out to be epic battles.

Now something that Xbox 360 fans will get to enjoy, Kinect voice commands. These are just simple commands, such as you and your teams powers, the positioning of your squad, and conversations. The really good part is that it works so far. The precision shown in the gameplay in terms of the picking up of specific words was amazing. This will also give 360 owners the chance to talk to a TV, and not be called insane.

Mass Effect 3 invades Earth on March 6th, of 2012.