Major digital distributors Direct2Drive, GamersGate and Impulse have refused to stock Infinity Ward's highly anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on PC due to its reliance upon Valve Software's rival distribution platform Steam, Voodoo Extreme reports.

"We believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased," D2D explains in a statement masquerading as a listing for Modern Warfare 2 in its store. A representative later told Kotaku "We don't believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse."

Modern Warfare 2 on PC will use Steam and Valve's Steamworks framework for DRM purposes as well auto-update, achievement and anti-cheat features, among others.

However, both Direct2Drive and GamersGate sell ACE Team's Zeno Clash--which requires Steam. D2D also offers several other Steam-based titles... Read more

Stardock today announced that a new "Nvidia Edition" version of its PC digital download platform Impulse is set to be released later this summer.

The application will function just as Stardock's current incarnation of Impulse does, but will also automatically detect and install driver updates for Nvidia graphics cards.

"The single biggest issue preventing PC gamers today from having an optimal experience is a failure to update their video card drivers," said Stardock CEO Brad Wardell.

Continued Wardell: "For many users, updating video drivers has been a complicated and sometimes confusing experience. As PC game developers ourselves, we recognized those concerns and, in partnership with Nvidia, have taken a step to make the process more accessible."

As Independence Day is drawing near, online retailers have already kicked off their weekend sales, with the highlight thus far being Steam's half-off sale on Fallout 3.

Usually $50, a digital download of Bethesda's acclaimed post-apocalyptic PC RPG can temporarily be yours for $25. However, this doesn't include any of the $10 downloadable expansions, so the more frugal of you may want to wait until October, when the game and its five downloadable add-ons will be sold together in a $50 Game of the Year bundle.

Other standout deals include the X-Com Complete Pack for $7.50 at GamersGate and Call of Duty: World at War PC for $35 at Direct2Drive. Impulse also has several noteworthy sales going on, including a $30 Sins of the Solar Empire/Expansion Bundle and free copies of Red Faction 1 and 2 with a pre-order of RF: Guerrilla.

Oh, and don't forget that with Street Fighter IV PC coming out next week, both Steam and Impulse are offering 10% off pre-orders, making the fighting game $36.

Digital distributor Impulse is sowing seeds of destruction by offering the first two Red Faction titles for free with PC pre-orders of Volition's shooter Red Faction: Guerrilla.

While Guerrilla focuses on demolishing constructions in the third person, 2001's Red Faction and 2002's Red Faction 2 delighted in exploding environments from a first-person perspective, complete with a terrain destruction engine.

However, Impulse notes you will not receive the two games until you are charged for your $39.99 Guerrilla pre-order--which will only happen when Guerrilla arrives. Publisher THQ hasn't confirmed the PC release date quite yet--the console editions arrived in early June--but several retailers, Impulse included, expect it to arrive on August 25.

Street Fighter IV for PC is now available for pre-order with a 10% discount on digital distributors Steam and Impulse, bringing Capcom's fighter down to $35.99.

Street Fighter IV PC is released on July 7, packing several new graphical filter effects and Games for Windows Live support to give achievements, online play and rankings.

Combatants curious as to how Street Fighter IV will run on their PC can test its might with the excellent SF4 benchmark tool, featuring several AI-controlled matches.

The happy Friday tradition of slashing prices on top-notch video games continues this week, bringing a killer deal on Empire: Total War and assorted other milder savings.

The crown jewel of this week's bargain crown is Steam's offer of Empire: Total War for a mere $25, down from $50--just in time for the sizeable update 1.3 arriving Monday. Also available with 50% off is the $35 Empire: Total War Special Forces Edition.

Steam also celebrates its addition of sixteen titles from war-happy NovaLogic by offering 10% off them all, including the Delta Force and Joint Operations games.

Good Old Games is offering 25% off shooter Painkiller Black Edition, down to a trifling $7.49--the discount will appear when you go to the checkout.

Joining the library expansion fun, Impulse still offers 10% off Ubisoft additions Far Cry 2, Assassin's Creed and Heroes of Might and Magic V - Tribes of the East.

Stardock-run digital distribution platform Impulse has begun adding PC titles from publisher Ubisoft to its catalog, with more slated to arrive in the "summer" timeframe. Assassin's Creed and Far Cry 2--both from Ubisoft Montreal--and Nival's Heroes of Might and Magic V - Tribes of the East mark the three Ubisoft titles offered thus far. Impulse is currently offering 10% off each game, making them $17.99 a piece.

"As our Impulse platform continues to gain favor among PC gaming fans, we're continuously adding the best titles the industry has to offer," said Stardock CEO Brad Wardell. "We look forward to working with Ubisoft on future releases."

The PC version of Street Fighter IV will hit North American retailers on July 7, Capcom business development VP Christian Svensson recently revealed in a blog post.

Some retailers, including Capcom itself and Amazon.com, will sell a $60 bundle that packs a SFIV-branded MadCatz Fight Pad alongside the otherwise-$40 DVD release. The PC version packs support for higher screens resolutions than the console editions that hit earlier this year, and also includes three new optional visual filters.

The game will also be available from various digital distribution outlets, including Capcom's estore, Steam, Impulse, Direct2Drive, Metaboli, Gametap, Nvidia.com and GamersGate, all of which should reflect the standard MSRP of $39.99.

If hoofing it down to the local game store isn't your cup of tea, you'll be pleased to learn that you can now buy and install Relic's Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (PC) from the comfort of your computer chair. Just hit up Steam, Impulse, or Direct2Drive.

The Impulse version carries a $2 discount, making it $28, while Steam and Direct2Drive are selling the stand-alone expansion at the suggested price point of $30.

Also available this week from ye olde brick and mortar shops, Tales of Valor brings new units, missions, and multiplayer modes to the World War II strategy series. However, it does not require you to own either of the two previous Company of Heroes titles.

Elemental: War of Magic developer and Sins of a Solar Empire publisher Stardock today unveiled Goo, a new technology that the company claims will solve common publisher and consumer complaints with digitally distributed games and DRM.

Short for "Game Object Obfuscation," Goo will let developers "encapsulate their game executable into a container that includes the original executable plus Impulse Reactor, Stardock's [suite of developer tools], into a single encrypted file."

The first time a player runs a "Goo'd" game, they will need to enter their e-mail address and serial number for online activation. The game is then tied to a user's account, with Stardock adding that "the game never needs to connect to the Internet again."

"[Goo] finally makes possible a way for gamers and publishers to transfer game licenses to players in a secure and reliable fashion," said Stardock CEO... Read more

Stardock CEO Brad Wardell recently took exception to a recent Edge editorial proclaiming the "Age of Steam," writing a stiff defense of competition in the digital distribution market.

Wardell's company maintains Impulse, a service similar to Valve's Steam that launched in 2008. And while Steam has taken a lead in the digital PC gaming marketplace, Wardell argues that it's still too early to name a clear winner.

"I must confess that I am surprised to see Edge, or anyone else for that matter, imply that Steam's early lead in digital distribution translates to permanent dominance," said Wardell, who quickly made the case that Valve's 20 million accounts and half-million daily visitors can partly be attributed to "shrewd business practices," such as acquiring Counter-Strike and its user base.

"As new titles come out bundled with Steamworks, which requires a user to become a Steam user in order to play the game (something I would normally think that the press would raise alarm about if this were being done by say EA... Read more

Publisher Stardock today announced the launch of Impulse, a new PC gaming digital distribution and retail platform for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Impulse is available for download now on the platform's official website.

"Impulse is a platform first, a store second. Our primary objective with Impulse is to address the issues users have with their Windows experience today," said Stardock CEO Brad Wardell.

Essentially rebranded version of the company's previous digital distribution solution Stardock Central, Impulse is bundled with today's retail release of Stardock's Political Machine 2008. All titles registered on a user's Stardock.net accounts are available via Impulse.

Supporting all types of PC software including games, applications and utilities, Impulse does not require its users to be online to play single-player titles. Stardock... Read more