This week, we ran rather long on the main topic, so we skipped the community corner, but you will be happy to know that this upcoming podcast will feature nothing but community content, so if you have questions, get them in before Friday at 7PM Pacific time.  You can email them at tips@aeropause.com, post them in the forum in the Aeropodcast question topic, or phone them in via our voice mail at 206-339-8362.

The podcast was mixed by Stephen Munn, using music from Revolution Void.  Look for it at www.revolutionvoid.com.

Download the podcast from here or subscribe to the podcast using one of the services below: Also make sure to review us on iTunes.

Aspyr sent out the word that if you have Steam and a PC, you can finally get your hands on DreamKiller.  DreamKiller has Alice as a young lady that can enter dreams, fighting off the evil that haunts and torments the hosts’ mind.

The trailer shows off a montage of people that you will do battle against, with each looking like mixes between childrens toys and demonic beings.  I am still a little on the fence with this one, but with a $30 price point, it might not be a bad pickup for a nice diversion.  Look for a review here in the near future.

And if you own an Xbox 360, you will see DreamKiller coming to your platform by the end of the month. 

DREAMKILLER FOR PC LAUNCHES EXCLUSIVELY ON STEAM®

Delve Into the Dark World of Nightmares in the Relentless Horror-Themed FPS and Experience More Terror at the Newly Launched Official Website

AUSTIN, TX – OCTOBER 12, 2009 – Aspyr Media and Mindware Studios announced that the fast, frantic new horror FPS Dreamkiller is available now exclusively via Steam®, Valve Corporation’s delivery and management platform for the PC. Dreamkiller for Windows PC features 50 Steam Achievements, Leaderboards and frantic online multiplayer action. To delve deeper into the nightmarish world of Dreamkiller gamers can visit the newly launched official website at http://www.dreamkillergame.com.

In Dreamkiller gamers take on the role of Alice Drake, a psychologist with the extraordinary ability to enter the minds of her patients and combat the ravenous foes haunting their dreams. Utilizing a host of fantastic weapons and her own special abilities, Alice confronts our common demons only to discover an even deeper menace reigns within. Dreamkiller features 12 rich levels of single-player gameplay each laced with swarms of hideous and disturbing enemies reflecting the mind’s infinite palette of fear. The onslaught continues with numerous multiplayer modes and a host of over-the-top weapons and supernatural abilities.

Dreamkiller will ship later this month for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The title is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

About Aspyr MediaAspyr Media, Inc. is a leading videogame publisher that creates, packages and delivers fun to millions around the world. Hailing from Austin, Texas USA, Aspyr strives relentlessly to ensure a quality experience for consumers and industry partners. To fall more deeply in love with Aspyr and its amazing line of products, visit www.aspyr.com and see just how much fun you can legally have.

About Mindware Studios

Mindware Studios is a game developer based in Prague, Czech Republic that has been delighting fans and the media since its inception in 2002. Games developed by Mindware include Cold War for PC, Mac, Linux and Xbox® and Painkiller Overdose for the PC. To learn more about Mindware Studios, its games and the state-of-the-art game engine Meng, visit www.mindwarestudios.com.

About Steam

The leading online platform for PC games and digital entertainment, Steam delivers new releases and online services to over 20 million PC users around the world. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.

So it seems that Steam quietly removed the Half-Life 2 64-bit version support. While for new players this may be a great relief since that version was known to be buggier than a motel in New York City, it has unleashed every gamers worst fear: lost saved games. While this is no great surprise, 64-bit software usually writes things with 64-bits in mind and as such are incompatible w/ 32-bit software, the fact remains that it was clandestinely performed and now the owners are left empty-handed. As a thread popped up on Steam’s forums, Steam’s support stepped in and provided the advice of using a cheat code to return near to the last place they were in the story. I’m sorry but that’s about useful as a publisher advocating the use of a crack to play their game. Now, Blues News has obtained word from Valve that the 64-bit version will return, but no timetable was given to placate the current players who have been stranded. Is it too much to ask for a saved game converter to allow the old saves to be used?

The bigger fear here has come true: digital distribution does not mean you own anything. As a consumer, when you plunk down your paper and coin for a ware, you are purchasing the rights to something and you expect those rights to be maintained for the agreed upon time. The worst nightmare is to find out that all your hard work has been for naught. We all know that online capabilities will probably cease to function at some point in the future, but losing your offline game casts serious doubt on this architecture. What do you think? Should Valve being doing more for the owners mired in this mess? Or, should the players just suck it up that their 4 year old game still plays?

Seen on The Escapist.

You can buy the set for$19.99 (£14.99), or individually, Star Wars: Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II are $4.99 (£3.49) each ; Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith for $2.99 (£1.99); and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy are $9.99 (£6.99) each. Seriously, Steam, what’s with the UK pricing? The exchange rate isn’t that bad, surely?

Anyway, my whole point being that all of us at Aeropause would like to see people post up their own user reviews in the forums.  This way, you can get multiple views on a game from our gaming community, as well as from the writers on the site.  Also, you may want to post up a review to get an honest critique on your writing style, etc.  One way or another, we want to be an inviting community for all of our readers, and even for those that might be lurking on the outside, trying to find a way to come into the fold.  So, hit up the forums and start posting up your own community reviews in the PC Gaming, Console Gaming or General Gaming forums.  If the idea takes off, we might even create a forum specifically for user reviews.

And who knows?  We may come back to these to check out people when it comes to bringing on new staff writers in the future.  So, agree or disagree with our reviews?  Write one up yourself, and you may find it spotlighted on the front page of Aeropause.com.

As had been hinted at via achievements, the Pinnacle Station DLC adds three new achievements, and 2-3 hours of challengeing gameplay.  It appears that Pinnacle Station is an Alliance training facility, and the new DLC will have Commander Shepard going through the training exercises.  You have to have become a SPECTRE before you can access the DLC, and it will set you back 400 Microsoft points.

Also new to the marketplace to tie into the release of the DLC are new avatar clothing items for Mass Effect.  There are uniforms, armor, hats t-shirts and even helmets.  Unfortunately, there are no remote controlled Makos, but then again, it would be uncontrollable, and constantly crashing into something.  If you are interested in the avatar clothing choices, follow this link.

If you have the PC version of Mass Effect, you do not get the DLC free this time.  After a patch is applied, it appears you can install the DLC.  However, you have to purchase it from the EA Store and it will set you back $5.34.  No word on whether the DLC will be available on the Steam Marketplace, and there are words of mixed results downloading this version and installing it on the Steam client.

It’s £23.99 (or whatever that is in dollars) rather than £84.16, and with the quality of some of those games…
There’s another deal as well, check it all out here.
Seriously, this is a great deal, and it ends on Monday, so get going!