PC PowerPlay

Civilization IV is a 4X turn-based strategy computer game and the fourth installment of the Civilization series, and designed by Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and his video game development studio Firaxis Games. It was released in North America, Europe, and Australia, between October 25 and November 4, 2005, and followed by Civilization V.

Half-Life 2: Episode One is a 2006 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve for Windows. It continues the story of Half-Life 2 (2004); as scientist Gordon Freeman, players must escape City 17 with Gordon's companion Alyx Vance. Like previous Half-Life games, Episode One combines shooting, puzzles and storytelling.

Medieval II: Total War is a strategy video game developed by the, since then disbanded, Australian branch of The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It was released for Microsoft Windows on 10 November 2006. Feral Interactive published versions of the game for MacOS and Linux on 14 January 2016. It is the sequel to 2002's Medieval: Total War and the fourth title in the Total War series.

BioShock is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. The first game in the BioShock series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 platforms in August 2007; a PlayStation 3 port by Irrational, 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes was released in October 2008. The game is set in 1960, and follows Jack who discovers the underwater city of Rapture. Built by business magnate Andrew Ryan to be an isolated utopia, the discovery of ADAM, a genetic material which grants superhuman powers, initiated the city's turbulent decline. Jack attempts to escape, fighting ADAM-obsessed enemies and Big Daddies, while engaging with the few sane humans that remain and learning of Rapture's past. The player, as Jack, can defeat foes in several ways by using weapons, utilizing plasmids that give unique powers, and by turning Rapture's defenses against them.

Far Cry 2 is a 2008 first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A top-down shooter version for mobile phones was developed and published by Gameloft. It is the second mainline entry in the Far Cry series. Set in a fictional Central African country engulfed in civil war, the storyline follows a mercenary who is assigned to kill the Jackal, a weapons dealer inflaming the conflict. The player navigates the open world, completing missions for factions and allies called Buddies while managing their health and equipment. A competitive multiplayer mode allows players to fight in teams or as individuals.

Fallout is a series of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games—and later action role-playing games—created by Interplay Entertainment. The series is set during the 21st, 22nd and 23rd centuries, and its atompunk retrofuturistic setting and art work are influenced by the post-war culture of 1950s United States, with its combination of hope for the promises of technology and the lurking fear of nuclear annihilation. A forerunner of Fallout is Wasteland, a 1988 game developed by Interplay Productions to which the series is regarded as a spiritual successor.

Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the Mass Effect series and a sequel to the original Mass Effect. The game takes place within the Milky Way galaxy during the 22nd century, where humanity is threatened by an insectoid alien race known as the Collectors. The player assumes the role of Commander Shepard, an elite human soldier who must assemble and gain the loyalty of a diverse team to stop the Collectors in a suicide mission. Using a completed saved game of its predecessor, the player can impact the game's story in numerous ways.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a 2010 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the third major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the second chapter in the "Ezio Trilogy", as a direct sequel to 2009's Assassin's Creed II. The game was first released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November and December 2010 and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in March and June 2011. A remastered version of Brotherhood, along with Assassins's Creed II and its sequel, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, was released as part of The Ezio Collection compilation for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch on February 17, 2022.

Deus Ex is a 2000 action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive. Set in a cyberpunk-themed dystopian world in the year 2052, the game follows JC Denton, an agent of the fictional agency United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO), who is given superhuman abilities by nanotechnology, as he sets out to combat hostile forces in a world ravaged by inequality and a deadly plague. His missions entangle him in a conspiracy that brings him into conflict with the Triads, Majestic 12, and the Illuminati.

Falcon 4.0 is a combat flight simulation video game developed by MicroProse and published by Hasbro Interactive in 1998. The game is based around a realistic simulation of the Block 50/52 F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter in a full-scale modern war set in the Korean Peninsula. Falcon 4.0's dynamic campaign engine runs autonomously.

Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. Players assume the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who must escape the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is invaded by aliens. The gameplay consists of combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving.

phpBB is an Internet forum package written in the PHP scripting language. The name "phpBB" is an abbreviation of PHP Bulletin Board. Available under the GNU General Public License, phpBB is free and open-source.

Joomla, also spelled Joomla! and sometimes abbreviated as J!, is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) for publishing web content on websites. Web content applications include discussion forums, photo galleries, e-Commerce and user communities and numerous other web-based applications. Joomla is developed by a community of volunteers supported with the legal, organisational and financial resources of Open Source Matters, Inc.

A CD-ROM is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while data is only usable on a computer.

Antivirus software, also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware.

Kaspersky Lab is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and operated by a holding company in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky, Natalya Kaspersky, and Alexey De-Monderik; Eugene Kaspersky is currently the CEO. Kaspersky Lab develops and sells antivirus, internet security, password management, endpoint security, and other cybersecurity products and services.

WarGames: Defcon 1 is a video game for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows developed by Interactive Studios and co-published by MGM Interactive and Electronic Arts. Although both versions possess the same missions and content, the PlayStation version is a tactical vehicle-shooting game while the PC version is a real-time strategy game. The game is loosely based on the movie WarGames; the story was scripted by John Badham, director of the original film.

Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and New Zealand.

Boogiepop Phantom is an anime television series animated by Madhouse, based on the Boogiepop light novel series by Kouhei Kadono. The series is directed by Takashi Watanabe, from a screenplay by Sadayuki Murai, with original character designs by the light novel's illustrator Kouji Ogata, and sound direction by Yota Tsuruoka. Chronologically, the story follows immediately after the events of the series's first volume, Boogiepop and Others, while also making references to the prequel sixth volume, Boogiepop at Dawn.

Love Hina is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 1998 to October 2001, with the chapters collected into 14 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The series tells the story of Keitarō Urashima and his attempts to find the girl with whom he made a childhood promise to enter the University of Tokyo. The manga was licensed for an English-language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop, in Australia by Madman Entertainment, and in Singapore by Chuang Yi. Two novelizations of Love Hina, written by two anime series screenwriters, were also released in Japan by Kodansha. Both novels were later released in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop.

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, also known in Japan as New Mobile Report Gundam Wing , is a 1995 Japanese mecha anime series directed by Masashi Ikeda and written by Katsuyuki Sumizawa. It is the sixth installment in the Gundam franchise, taking place in the "After Colony" timeline. As with the original series, the plot of Gundam Wing centers on a war in the future between Earth and its orbital colonies in the Earth-Moon system.

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen is a Japanese light novel series written by Yoshinobu Akita. It was adapted into manga, five anime television series and a video game.

PC Format was a computer magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and licensed to other publishers in countries around the world. In publication between 1991 and 2015, it was part of Future plc's Format series of magazines that include articles about games, entertainment and how to get the most out of the platform. Despite the occasional mention of alternatives, PC Format takes the term 'PC' to mean a Microsoft Windows-based computer.

Atomic once was a monthly Australian magazine and online community that focused on computing and technology, with a great emphasis on gaming, modding and computer hardware. Atomic was marketed at technology enthusiasts and covered topics that were not normally found in mainstream PC publications, including video card and CPU overclocking, Windows registry tweaking, and programming. The magazine's strapline was 'Maximum Power Computing', reflecting the broad nature of its technology content.

FamilyPC was a monthly American computer magazine published from 1994 to 2001. The collaboration between The Disney Publishing Group and Ziff-Davis was a brainchild of Jake Winebaum, with Robin Raskin serving as its first editor-in-chief. The circulation of the magazine was 400,000 copies in 1998.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,495 square kilometres (93,628 sq mi), with an estimated 2023 population of over 68 million people.

The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City.

PC Zone, founded in 1993, was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. The precursor to PC Zone was the award-winning multiformat title Zero.