The triumphant return of the RPG

Now that the fi rst big wave of crowdfunded titles is landing JOHN GILLOOLY looks at the past, present and future of the RPG.

In his missive to Kickstarter backers announcing the release of Wasteland 2, Inxile’s Brian Fargo made a point of the fact that without crowdfunding the game would never have been made. This is in spite of the fact that the original title is widely held as one of the seminal early RPGs, inspiring a generation of developers and acting as a huge influence on many games made in the 25 years since its release.

As you’ll see in our review of the game this month, the game has been a huge hit in the PCPP offices, bringing with it a flood of nostalgia for a genre many of us grew up with, but one whose pickings have become incredibly slim in recent years. It isn’t so much that the RPG has gone away, but it has morphed and splintered into all kinds of different things, its influence felt across all kinds of genres. But along the way the big, meaty isometric epic adventures have become thin on the ground.

Anonymous networking

Davey Winder wonders if a social network can ever be truly anonymous, and is horrified by Facebook’s latest announcement.

Love it or loathe it, the Portable Document Format (PDF) – developed by Adobe and released to the world in 1993 – is a fact of online life. If you do any kind of internet research, you’re sure to find documents in this format, and while most web browsers have builtin PDF viewers, they’re typically less well featured than the real Adobe Reader. Regulars to these pages will know that I’ve been bashing Adobe for the past few years due to various security vulnerabilities in its products, not to mention the seemingly endless torrent of fix patches, but for once I’m putting these security matters aside to concentrate on an altogether different complaint.

ASUS RT-AC87U

Power and performance meets style and user friendliness with the new high end Asus router.

Looking like the front of a sleek sports car, the new Asus RT-AC87U takes its design and shape from the Asus Republic of Gaming G range of laptops. With its angled build, carbon fibre style finish and four giant antennas, the RT-AC87U isn’t going to win any awards for subtlety; this design is all about achieving the best performance possible. It can still lower its presence a little by switching off the humming blue glow of the network LEDs leaving it about as low profile as a unit like this can get. Asus knows its market here is hardcore users and makes a great addition to any gamer’s or tech enthusiast’s network setup, both with design and ability.

Raspberry Pi Model B+

Learn to program, control robots or just stream music using this tiny computer.

The Raspberry Pi Model B+ is, like previous models, a tiny computer built for hobbyists, students and anyone who wants to learn more about how computers and computer programs work.

Comparing to its predecessor – the model B , the B+ has a microSD slot (instead of a full-size SD version) and a combined audio/video port (instead of separate stereo sound and composite video connectors). These changes were necessary to make room for its 40-pin GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) connector that’s designed to connect and control other devices. You can still connect equipment designed for the B’s 26-pin connector, but the extra pins let you hook up even more sensors, lights and motors. It also has four (up from two) USB ports.

Has Shellshock made the internet unsafe?

A new security vulnerability affecting more computers than the Heartbleed bug allows hackers to steal your information from banks, routers and security cameras.

For the second time this year, security experts have discovered a widespread flaw that places the safety of the internet – and the personal information you store on it – in doubt.

The latest vulnerability is called Shellshock, and it affects more computers than Heartbleed – a flaw discovered in April that let hackers extract passwords from hundreds of thousands of the world’s most popular websites.