Much like you can pretty much count on things like death and taxes, you can also count on new versions of Microsoft’s Windows OS to come along. You can also count on their being some confusion regarding the different versions of the OS and what the can or can’t do.

Fortunately, it seems Microsoft has learned a lesson from the release of Windows Vista and Windows 7 and has simplified things a bit for their upcoming new OS: Windows 8. This week the company announced there will be three editions of its next-generation Windows 8 operating system: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT.

Microsoft made the announcement on its blog and further promised “all editions of Windows 8 offer a no-compromise experience.” Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro will support PCs and tablets powered by x86 processors, while Windows RT works with ARM-powered devices. Windows 8 is aimed at the average consumer, while Windows 8 Pro is designed for tech enthusiasts, business people and tech professionals. The RT edition is intended for lighter-duty devices.

Going for the Pro edition of Windows 8 gets you premium features such as encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity. “If you are an enthusiast or you want to use your PC in a business environment, you will want Windows 8 Pro.”

Windows RT (the OS formerly known as Windows on ARM) will only be available pre-installed on PCs and tablets powered by ARM processors. It will include touch-optimized desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Microsoft is set to finish Windows 8 this Summer with PCs and tablets powered by the new platform following in October. Windows 8 looks pretty good, and we’ve payed with it a bit, so we’re very interested in seeing the final version when its released.

To say when gamers find something they really care about, they take it to extremes can sadly sometimes be an understatement. Back in 2007, Mass Effect was released for the XBox 360 and PC to much critical acclaim and commercial success. The game’s follow up, Mass Effect 2, would release in January 2010 for the XBox 360 and PC and almost a full year later on the PlayStation 3. The final part of the Commander Shepard trilogy was released on March 6th of this year with, as you guessed it, Mass Effect 3.

One of the biggest draws for Mass Effect was the promise of an epic storyline that not only spanned three full games, but contained choices that would affect the rest of the player’s story throughout the remainder of the story. Destroy a race in Mass Effect and they would not appear in Mass Effect 2. Let a character die in Mass Effect 2 and don’t expect to see them in Mass Effect 3.

So in a series all about choice, many players were floored to learn that upon completion of Mass Effect 3 and whichever choices they ultimately made, the game presented them with one of six different endings. The “perfect” ending would feature an additional five seconds of footage. The six “different” endings however were merely palette swaps. No matter what choices were made through the entire story or even in the ultimate decision of the player, they just received a different color explosion, particle effect and small changes in animation, but essentially the same ending.

Look at the side by side comparisons in the video from Crosscade (obviously, spoiler warning).

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Last week, Capcom held its annual media event Captivate in Rome. There they gave tons of information about some of their top franchises. The top announcement came in the form of the third iteration of the Lost Planet franchise being announced with Lost Planet 3. Resident Evil 6 received its release date and gamers were able to try out Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection with Move controls for the first time.

Street Fighter X Tekken for Vita confirmed Cross-Platform Play, a system that will allow players from the Vita to combat PlayStation 3 users. Additionally, DmC Devil May Cry, Dragon’s Dogma and Steel Battalion Heavy Armor were all playable to either press or the general public.

Check out all the news as well as brand new screen shots and videos from Captivate 2012 below and stick with us for more on all these huge titles from Capcom.

Lost Planet 3 has been announced for early 2013 for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

The extreme and unpredictable conditions that characterized the Lost Planet series return, harsher than ever before in Lost Planet 3. Players take on the role of Jim, a utility rig pilot who has left Earth to take on a hazardous but lucrative contract on E.D.N. III. Delivering a diverse range of gameplay, including third-person on-foot battles and intense first-person utility rig action, players will need to brave the uncharted terrain, hostile climate and threat of indigenous Akrid creatures. With a number of multiplayer modes and a compelling single player experience, Lost Planet 3 will delve deeper into the Lost Planet universe, uncovering hidden truths when it releases in early 2013.

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In 2010, Jerry Holkins, aka Tycho, posted chapters for what he hoped would become the third installment of Penny Arcade’s steampunk RPG game series, but then much to the dismay of fans, not much else was heard of about the game.

Cut to 2012 and not only does the game have a developer, indie devs Zeboyd games, but it should be released sometime this summer. I got a chance to sit in on the panel where the game’s creators, plus Holkins himself, discussed how the game resurfaced and came to be.

What is obviously different right from the start in On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 is the SNES-style art and graphics. The previous two games looked a bit more like one of Mike Krahulik’s comics, but this third game is less comic, more Final Fantasy. The battle system and dialogue boxes are reminiscent of all my favorite RPGs growing up, but combined with the snarky, sometimes foul dialogue always present in the Penny Arcade games, it’s more like an R-rated version of Dragon Warrior.

During the Q&A portion of the panel, fans asked a lot about the other apparent difference in On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness 3, which is the absence of a customizable protagonist. In this third installment, players take on a party of Gabriel, Tycho, and Ann. The developers mentioned that they may wrap up the story of the previous protagonist, but you won’t be able to play as him. However, there will be enemies in tiny hats, and tiny hats make everything funnier, so it all balances out.

On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 will be available this summer on PC, Mac, Xbox, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android.

When it comes to image manipulation tools, the granddaddy of them all has to be Adobe Photoshop. Go to pretty much any company that spends any time manipulating images and they will have Photoshop. It is, to all intents and purposes, the standard against which all others are measured.

It’s been quite some time since Adobe launched a new version of its Photoshop software but finally, that time has come. Well, at least in the form of a new Beta.

Late yesterday, the company released Photoshop CS6 beta into the wild. It features a new, faster and more modern user interface, re-engineered design tools and content-aware patching.

“Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “We couldn’t wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows.”

If you want to check out the new beta it would help to have fast internet. The file weighs in at about 1GB. PC users need to have a 2GHz or faster processor with at least 1GB of RAM and be running Windows XP SP3 or Windows 7. Mac users need multicore Intel processor, 1GB of RAM and OS X 10.6.8 or newer.

The Photoshop CS6 beta is available now from Adobe’s website. Expect the final version sometime in 2012.

If you want to know more, click through for the full press release from Adobe.

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Though one of our contenders for Game of the Year, even The Flickcast has to admit there have been a share of problems in the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (mostly if you were one of the poor souls who chose to play it on the PlayStation 3 though). As expected, another patch is coming out soon to hopefully finally fix the frame rate issues that have afflicted players the further they progress in the PS3 version as well as other quest improvements that had become minor inconveniences.

There will also be new features added to the game. Some of these are minor and only affect the PC like the option for high end rigs to add shadow effects to the grass in the world. Others are awesome visual upgrades like new cinematic kill cameras for projectiles, spells and melee weapons. Take a look below at the kill cam trailer which shows some fantastic new visuals like a full on suplex and an arrow shot high into the air and taking an opponent out with a shot to the head (not the knee unfortunately).

NEW FEATURES

• New cinematic kill cameras for projectile weapons and spells
• New kill moves and animations for melee weapons
• Shadows on grass available (PC)
• Smithing skill increases now factor in the created item’s value
• Improved visual transition when going underwater
• Improved distance LOD transition for snowy landscapes

Check out the new Kill Cam animations trailer after the jump for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s 1.5 Patch now in Beta on Steam and coming soon to PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

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As we first told you a few weeks ago, Microsoft has today released the first “Consumer Preview” of the latest version of its Windows software. The new software has been dubbed Windows 8 and is, according to Micsosoft, is “Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability.”

According to the company, here’s what you can expect from the Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a prerelease version of Windows 8 that focuses on people and apps and gives you powerful new ways to use social technologies to connect with the people who are important to you. Windows 8 Consumer Preview is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7 and has the security and reliability features you expect from Windows, but we’ve made it even better. It’s fast, and it’s made to work on a variety of form factors—especially the new generation of touch devices.

Well, there you go. You can go to Microsoft’s website and download Windows 8 to try for yourself. Although, unless you have a touch monitor you won’t be able to experience it exactly as it was intended.

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Since its announcement last June, gamers have been awaiting the arrival of the latest Alien franchise title. With the lackluster response from the most recent Aliens vs. Predator title, it looks like it is up to Aleins: Colonial Marines to pick up the pieces of the franchise and put them back in the right places.

SEGA makes an odd choice of making this trailer fully cinematic while the previous one released featured in game footage. The reason behind that is the game has a look and feel that we have experienced many times before with FPS Marines versus Aliens gameplay. If they focus too much on this in the trailer instead of building on the possible story points like the chaotic nature of a full battalion of marines taking on an infestation, the game could potentially just feel like one of those “been there, played that” scenarios.

In terms of scale, Aliens: Colonial Marines may be the largest single player battle gamers have had the opportunity to encounter. Expect lots of grizzly cut scenes with dozens of different marines acting as cannon fodder to the xenomorph menace.

For now, check out the trailer after the jump. Stick to the Flickcast for more on Aliens: Colonial Marines coming to the PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 scheduled for Fall of 2012.

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With the growing popularity of BBC America over the past few years, US audience members have become inundated in the wild world of all things Doctor Who. With massive billboards in Times Square, TV spots on primetime TV, and more toys than you can collect, The Doctor has become a staple in American TV culture.

With that, it only makes sense that another industry that’s skyrocketing would try to claim their territory with this franchise, in the form of a video game.

The game, titled The Eternity Clock, has been shrouded in mystery, for the most part, since it was announced a few months back. All that we know is that fans will have the option of playing as The Doctor or love interest River Song.

The game is set for release next year on PS3, PC, and the newest Sony platform, the Vita. In the last few days, BBC leaked the very first teaser of the game online, and we’ve got it for you to check out.

It may not show much, but you can check it out after the jump and judge for yourself.

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Sony Online’s DC Universe Online has had a pretty rough year. Between the server blackouts, the massive PSN hack, and dealing with a paid service to a broke community, they’ve fallen on some hard times.

But that isn’t stopping them from releasing tons of new content for their now free DC Universe Online. Just a few months ago, we were opened up to the world of Green Lantern with their Fight for the Light DLC. Now their continuing in the trend with a whole Flash universe-based DLC in Lightning Strikes.

Set to hit your console and PC next week on December 6th, the new features include a brand new Eletricity Power set, as well as an all new map, new challenges, and tons of Flash-based characters for you to interact with.

We’ve got a brand new trailer highlighting these features for you to check out after the jump, as well as the full rundown on what the DLC includes. Take a look at that after the jump, and don’t forget to grab DC Universe Online for FREE on PC and PS3 now.

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Presented without much comment is the new trailer for Rockstar Games upcoming Grand Theft Auto V. And yes, it appears the game is set in Los Angeles. Let that speculation end now.

In the trailer we hear the game’s protagonist talking about trying to become a good family man before realizing the futility of that course and switching to the criminal route. We also we see a car being chased by the police (naturally), part of a robbery and other criminals going about their business.

In addition, a Vinewood sign is shown (the GTA name for Hollywood), a helicopter and a jet. Hopefully these will be part of the game and players will be able to fly them. That would be cool.

Check it out after the break. Look for Grand Theft Auto V to arrive early next year.

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Awesome. That’s the only word to describe it. The Call of Duty franchise just keeps getting better and better.

And now, with the latest installment, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, hitting stores next month we’ve got even more to be excited about. To keep the excitement going until the release, we’ve got a behind-the-scenes trailer featuring weapon proficiencies. Yes, it continues the awesome trend.

As always, by clicking through you certify you are 18 years of age or older. If you are, check out the trailer after the break.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hits store shelves on November 8. Can’t. Wait.

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