real-time strategy

New statistics from the creator of League of Legends (and a variety of industry sources) indicate that the free multiplayer PC real-time strategy game had an average of 3 million concurrent online users in July, besting the entire combined total peak player count for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox 360 (1.4 million) and people playing the top 100 games on Steam (650,000).

Riot Games, developer of League, also noted in an infographic that the game usually sees an average of 12 million players a day, with about 32 million active players logging in every month. Just for reference, when World of Warcraft sat at the top, it had about 12 million subscribers total.… Read more

I won't join the chorus of pundits who've declared PC gaming "dead," but I will say it's pretty bereft of high-profile titles these days.

On the other hand, if you're into real-time strategy (RTS), there's absolutely no better platform than the PC. And many would argue that there's no better RTS experience than the Command & Conquer series.

Normally $29.95, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is now just $17.97 when you download it from the EA Store.

Is C&C 4 the best game in the series? In … Read more

What's better than a freebie? A freebie that's actually decent. Case in point: Electronic Arts is giving away three awesome real-time strategy games--one of which all but defined the genre.

For a total cost of zero dollars, you can download Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

Yes, they're old, but so is this giveaway--as I've just learned from CNET's John P. Falcone, who wrote about these and other free PC games more than two years ago.

Yes, the graphics look dated--really dated. And, yes, you have to jump through some downright obnoxious hoops to get them to run on Windows XP or later. (Hey, thanks and everything, EA. But would it have killed you to provide a simple installer?)

On the other hand, you're in for hours, days, maybe even weeks of solid RTS entertainment. The very first time I played Tiberian Dawn, which was originally known simply as Command & Conquer, I became a lifelong fan of the genre. Red Alert was even better, and GameSpot agreed, awarding it a 9.5.… Read more

Welcome to today's episode of Recycling Old PC Games for Fun and Profit. Our first contestant: Doom Classic, the first-person shooter that spawned a thousand imitators, several hundred ports, and one horrendous movie.

Next up: Command & Conquer Red Alert, the real-time strategy classic responsible for a massive drop in global productivity.

In my youth I was a tremendous fan of both games, so it stands to reason that I'd welcome them to my iPhone. However, neither is getting a permanent home.

Let's start with Doom. While id Software's official port offers a pixel-perfect recreation, the game is 16 years old--and it shows.

Indeed, juxtaposed with Doom Resurrection, a made-for-iPhone game with 21st century graphics, Doom Classic looks positively ancient. It plays that way, too: You can't even jump.

Part of this is personal bias: I don't think FPS games work well on small screens, especially when touch controls are involved. For me, Doom Classic feels cramped, confined, and seriously out of date.… Read more

After spending the morning hours organizing his documents and case files, Power Downloader decides it's high time for a break. Though he's happy with his organizational progress so far, Power knows that he can't spend all of his time working. After all, a little relaxation and time out from a project often helps to recharge both the body and the mind.

To make the most of his downtime, Power Downloader decides a little gaming is just the thing to help him relax. With nothing new to play on his computer, Power decides to check out the top … Read more

Add Sierra's World in Conflict to the list of enticing real-time strategy games for 2007. The game envisions a Cold-War-turned-hot conflict between the U.S. and Soviet Union, with an emphasis on pick-up-and-play action over resource management. Look for it on the PC and Xbox 360 in the fall of 2007.