PC Powerplay #239 May 2015

PC PowerPlay issue #239 goes hands on with the final instalment of StarCraft 2, Legacy of the Void, runs down the Reader’s Games of the Year for 2014, reviews Battlefield: Hardline, Pillars of Eternity, Dark Sould 2: Scholar of the First Sin and more! We also take a look at the PC and bandwidth requirements for streaming services like Netflix and Stan, and round –up the best routers on the market.

I DENNE UDGAVE

IN THIS ISSUE

28 MORE SLEEPS

Issue #239. Next issue we celebrate being in print for 20 years - quite a feat for any magazine but especially one that is focussed on PC gaming and tech. It has been quite a month when it comes to technology. Streaming services have finally found footing int he Australian market and, to everyone’s surprise, the local service, Stan, currently has a better catalogue and offers more bang for your buck than the grand poobah of streaming services, Netflix. That, of course, will change in coming months as Netflix increases their catalogue. It’s a good time to have an internet connection and be looking for entertainment. On the other end of the scale there’s the recent landmark court case between t he producers of The Dallas Buyer’s Club and iinet,…

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IN THIS ISSUE

THIS MONTH...

DANIEL WILKS Shaved (once) @drwilkenstein MALCOLM CAMPBELL Played Bloodborne BENNETT RING Bought a ticket to ride @bennettring JAMES COTTEE Fought for robot rights @j_cottee MEGHANN O’NEILL Became afraid of the dark @firkraags DAVE KOZICKI Played cops and robbers BEN MANSILL Lost a race ROBERT NORTH Left our warm embrace ANGUS BAILLIE Was unusually quiet ALESSANDRO GUARRERA Started interning @ALguarrera DAVID HOLLINGWORTH Was on a boat, man CAMERON FERRIS Ate lots of jelly @pcpowerplay…

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REGULARS

Inbox

LETTER OF THE MONTH WINS! Write in to PCPP with your rants, considered opinions, and endless run-on sentences of pure awesome. The address is letters@pcpowerplay.com.au. Each letter read by hand! This Letter of the Month winner scores himself a Ballistix 16GB Kit (4GBx4) DDR4 kit, thanks to our friends at Micron! LETTER OF THE MONTH FRIENDLY CONVERSATION I must admit, like most gaming nerds, I don’t like change. And when the two writer reviews came in I didn’t think I would like them. But they have won me over, they read like a pod cast and getting more than one view on a game is incredibly helpful. PC Powerplay is an important part of my gaming news gathering and now that you are moving into more online media I think…

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REGULARS

FEEDBACK #238

Matthew Schmidt: I stared at the cover for ten minutes before realising it wasn’t a mirror. Good issue. Great article at the back about how.... passionate fans can be. wokeye27: Great edition budget cases was great... but are the two high scorers better than the Bitfenix Shinobi? Very keen for Witcher 3! Drav: I really enjoyed this issue, perhaps more than any I’ve read so far (I started with #200). Great work. Deathboy101: Got mine today, I can never guess the timing these days, the posties must be having a read before riding them around. Loving the back cover. MAKE YOURSELF HEARD! facebook.com/pcpoweplay www.pcpowerplay.com.au…

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REGULARS

BOXIAO (BEN) AGE 35 | PERTH, WA

FOUR MOST IMPRESSIVE FEATURES: 1. XFX R9295X2 GPU 2. Corsair AX1500i PSU 3. Epson EH-TW9200W Projector with 100” screen 4. Logitech G27 Racing Wheel with Playseat LAST UPGRADE: An entire new gaming rig (i7-4790k CPU, ASUS Maximus VII Ranger MOBO, Corsair AX1500i PSU, Corsair H105 Cooler, XFX R9 295X2 GPU, G.skill 32GB Trident X 2400Mhz RAM, Samsung 850 EVO 1TB solid state HDD, Western Digital Black 4TB HDD, Corsair 780T case, Pioneer Blu-ray writer) DREAM UPGRADE: Another R9 295X2 with a freesync monitor or a Corsair K95 keyboard as my 5 years old Razer keyboard has seen better days. FAVOURITE FEATURE: XFX R9 295X2 and Corsair AX1500i WHY SO SPECIAL?: I have been planning to build a new gaming rig to replace my 5 years old rig for over a…

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FRONTEND

Blood, vomiting, new factions in Total War: Attila DLC

Total War: Attila has received a brand new DLC dubbed Blood & Burning that transforms the strategy title into a spectacle of – you guessed it – blood and burning. Comparable to Rome II’s Blood & Gore DLC and Shogun 2’s Blood Pack DLC, Blood & Burning adds blood effects, decapitations, limb dismemberment, disembowelment, and vomiting troops to make Total War: Attila the videogame equivalent of an HBO drama, even if without the gratuitous sex scenes and female nudity. However, though it will only set you back a few dollars, many Steam users have been quick to criticise the lack of new animiations and questioned why this wasn’t included in the original release or provided free of charge. There’s also another DLC pack for players keen on more content which…

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