It wasn't that long ago to get movies, games, and music; you had to drive to a store to buy it. Now almost everything can be bought online.

Receiving content, whether it be programs, videos, or other files, has become a digital process that is firmly embedded in almost everything we do.

Will we ever stop needing physical formats?

Epic Games has a long history in game development. The company has a wide variety of games on a host of platforms. Starting with PC and moving into consoles and iOS, Epic Games has been on the front of development tools with its Unreal Engine and illustrating the ability of fostering talented developers.

Since Epic Games is a development studio with games and also creates game development tools, they have had impressive insight about how to make games for a variety of hardware.

Celebrating their 20 year anniversary, Epic Games released a free soundtrack with music from their games over that span of time. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (1998) illustrates the company's beginnings while Infinity Blade II (2011) really shows how far Epic Games has come, as well as their open mind to new possibilities.

When the first iPhone released, the lack of support for Adobe Flash was a big deal. Desktop versions of website wouldn't be able to display all the content available and the experience would be "incomplete."

Android announced the operating system would support Flash, it was originally seen as an attack against Apple's closed operating system and how Android was a "step-up" against iOS.

Now with iOS at version 5.1 and Android 4.0 in the wild, does having Adobe Flash even matter?

Google Drive officially released and is in the process of rolling out. The name change, essentially bridges Google Docs (now renamed Google Drive) with online storage support. It connects all your Google-driven accounts together like documents, Google+, and images.

Google Drive also lets you share content with friends and get comments on anything uploaded. Current support is through desktops and on Android devices. iOS apps are currently in development without a concrete release date.

Nick highlighted the release already, but how does Google Drive fare against other online storage services like iCloud, SkyDrive, and Dropbox?

Opera has various mobile browsers like Opera Mobile and Opera Mini for many different operating systems. Opera Mini Next is made to show upcoming ideas and changes that might be implemented into the official Opera Mini browser.

It's a nice preview of ideas that the development team have and gives you a chance to give feedback. Opera is opening to creating a community for their Opera Mini browser.

Here's how to download Opera Mini Next and take part of in the development of new features:

In the eternal battle between Ninjas and Pirates, I would always say Ninjas win.  But after getting some time to preview Deep Silver's Risen 2: Dark Waters' Treasure Island DLC I may have to re-think my position.  Obviously Ninjas still win, but if the Pirates are like the ones in Risen 2: Dark Waters, then the battle may be much closer.

The Treasure Island DLC is free downloadable content if you pre-order Risen 2: Dark Waters.

I never had a chance to play Risen 2: Dark Waters before sitting down and experiencing two separate sections of the DLC.  After the preview, my expectations of the RPG game are mixed.  I like the idea of playing as a pirate, the skill tree, and variety of weapons and tools; but I don't know if the game is presenting anything new.

Playing Minecraft with friends is great, but playing with people you don't know can ruin the fun. A solution is to create your own VPN server that only you and your friends can access. Theoretically, when creating a VPN network everyone will be able to play Minecraft in a server, hidden from the lurking eyes of other players.

The most common VPN software used is Hamachi. Hamachi is an easy to use VPN client that doesn't require a lot of work to install and setup, but everyone who is planning on joining your secret match will have to install Hamachi. Just think of it as a rotating server between your friends.

Loadout is like a 1980s big budget action movie transformed into a multiplayer third person shooter (TPS). The free-to-play game combines big weapons, big explosions, and big deaths into an addictive and fun experience.

Edge of Reality is developing Loadout for a Summer 2012 release. Whether that is mainly in a beta form or close to a final build remains to be seen, but my hands-on demo of Loadout has me convinced that the developers have something special on their hands.

The game focuses on two things: weapon crafting and great gameplay.

Instagram is one of most popular photo apps on iOS. When it was announced that Instagram would be releasing on Android, many people were waiting in anticipation for when it would release.

The app is now available on Android devices, allowing you to take your customized pictures and share them across many of the most popular social networks.

Read our review of Instagram below.

File hosting sites are convenient when you need to share files with others. But when you need to download multiple files from different file hosting sites, it takes a long time to separately access them.

jDownloader lets you add the URL to files so they can be downloaded without sitting and waiting. The program supports many of the most popular file hosting sites and is easy to use, but at first glance it does look a little overwhelming.

jDownloader is simple once you understand the basic functions.

Using jDownloader doesn’t require much technical knowledge. All you need is the URL of the link and jDownloader handles the rest.

Have you wondered how to get Android apps onto your Kindle Fire that are missing from the Amazon store?

The Kindle Fire is a great Android tablet. It’s a device for casual users who read e-books and buy content from Amazon. Kindle Fire's customized Android 2.3 operating system also allows you to have more options with apps and other content.

But the Kindle Fire doesn’t support the Google Play Store and you have to buy your apps from Amazon’s app store. A lot of popular apps aren't available on Amazon's store, like the official Facebook for Android app.

There also isn’t any native support for Google’s services like Google Play Music.  Amazon has locked access to the Google Play Store from the Kindle Fire forcing you to purchase apps from Amazon.

Here’s a simple work around:

1. Read more »

YouTube is the best source to get a wide variety video. From movie trailers, user video blogs, and viral video, you can spend hours moving from video to video.

There are times that you want to have a copy of a video with you when you're not connected to Wi-Fi or home internet and aTube Catcher is one of the simplest programs to download videos in a wide variety of formats.

Take a look at our video How to with aTube Catcher.

Free-to-play games are a great way to experience games without initial payment. They started out as mostly casual/social games and massive multiplayer role playing games (MMORPGs), but now new titles are exploring first person shooters, action adventure, and evolving MMORPGs to be more accessible and easier to play for casual players.

There are games that I saw during GDC 2012 that look really interesting for casual and hardcore players:

United Front Games and Square Enix released a behind the scenes trailer about the development of Sleeping Dogs and how Hong Kong shaped its tone and visual style. Their experiences seeing the city and culture helped shape the dynamics of the third person action adventure game.

My first impressions at GDC 2012 convinced me the gameplay was solid, and hearing how much Hong Kong influenced the developers illustrated that they're introducing the city in as authentic a way as possible.

Outside of the Moscone Center, home of GDC 2012, I took a look at a few of EA Mobile’s newly released and upcoming apps releasing for iOS, Android, and Facebook.

Games from Playfish, PopCap Games, and EA Mobile were on display. Playfish was demoing an update to The Sims Social. PopCap Games was showing off Zuma’s Revenge for iPad and Solitaire Blitz for Facebook. Pogo Games was showing their Android version of their Pogo Games app. Electronic Arts were showing off a few new titles like Mass Effect: Infiltrator and Burnout Crash! for iOS.