World destruction comes in small shrink-wrapped packages...

2009/09/19

Releases and Deals on Direct2Drive This Past Week: 13/09-19/09

Releases

Red Faction: Guerrilla
icon
Need for Speed SHIFT
icon
Resident Evil 5
icon
Jedi Knight Bundle
icon
LucasArts Adventure Bundle
icon

Deals

Direct2Drive Turns 5- $5 off Games
icon
Get $5 OFF Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare
icon
CrimeCraft is now $39.95
icon
Trine is now $19.95
icon
D2D Casual Titles Available Now
icon
Share/Save/Bookmark

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day...Apparently

Yes, this week I read that it's international Talk like a Pirate Day on the 19th of September (today), and of course it's been irritating wherever I go on the internet- I have to read text filled with such lovely clichés such as "Aaar", "Matey", "Aye", and so on. rolleyes

They're even "celebrating" it in World of Warcraft.

You won't be reading any of those clichés here, don't worry.

The only good thing about today, and you might like this, is the fact that The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is on sale today at 50% off at D2D

Speaking of Monkey Island, Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3 will be out soon.
icon

Share/Save/Bookmark

Problems With Steam's Jedi Knight Downloads All Ready

It seems that Steam, who is providing digital downloads of LucasArts' Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series as of this week, has got some customers experiencing problems with at least two of the games in the recently digitally released series, namely Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight and its expansion pack Mysteries of the Sith - old classics from the nineties, so no surprise there that they may have problems. rolleyes

I haven't come across any mention of problems from Direct2Drive, but then I've searched their catalog, and as I've posted before, neither Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight nor Mysteries of the Sith seem to be present.

Anyhow, the Steam forums now have solutions amongst all the complaints, to deal with the problems that people have been experiencing.

Sources:

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/09/17/issues-with-steam-version-of-dark-forces-ii-jedi-knight-found/
Share/Save/Bookmark

2009/09/18

Direct2Drive Birthday Sale- Week 2: Action Titles

This is the second week of D2D's birthday sale, and they are discounting titles and selling them for $5 each. Madness. The sale goes on until the 21st, and then it's week 3, which will have an RPG/MMO theme.

These are the titles that are on sale right now:

BioShock
icon - played this through twice; epic game.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
icon - worth it just for the prequel, CoR: EFBB, a classic.

Saints Row 2
icon

Sid Meier's Pirates!
icon

STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
icon - great game, if a bit buggy.

Frontlines: Fuel of War
icon

Thief: Deadly Shadows
icon - good game, played it through several times.

Serious Sam Gold
icon

Max Payne 2
icon - good game.

MLB 2K9
icon

Direct2Drive Turns 5: Week 2
icon
Share/Save/Bookmark

2009/09/17

LucasArts' Star Wars/Jedi Knight and Indiana Jones Series are Available on Direct2Drive now



LucasArts have made Star Wars: Dark Forces, Star Wars Jedi Knight II : Jedi Outcast, and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy available on Direct2Drive this week. They are available to purchase individually or in a bundle with discount.
Loot Ninja said that Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, and Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith would be available as well, but these aren't in the bundle, and I've done a quick search for it in their (D2D's) catalog but haven't seen either so far. Apparently they are available on Steam from what I've gathered.

I think it's more than coincidence that Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was actually released today, six years ago.


These are all excellent games and you can get them quite cheaply- $9.95 for the later two, and $4.95 for Dark Forces. And the bundle is $14.95.

Star Wars: Dark Forces
icon

Star Wars Jedi Knight II : Jedi Outcast
icon

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
icon

Jedi Knight Bundle
icon

In addition to this, there is also the adventure bundle, which includes Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, LOOM, and The Dig.

LucasArts Adventure Bundle
icon
Share/Save/Bookmark

Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Xbox 360 Available for Pre-order


Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
(I'm 75% sure this is the name now, and not just Modern Warfare 2 any more) is going to be released in November this year.


Amazon now has a deal that lets you pre-order an Xbox 360 Elite Edition console which is decked out in a Modern Warfare 2 theme. The console also comes with the game, but it's just the standard edition, mind.

These are the features included:
  • Limited Edition Xbox 360 Console with exclusive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Design.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Standard Edition.
  • 250GB HD.
  • 2 Black Wireless Controllers.
  • 1 Black Xbox 360 Wired Headset.
  • 1 Ethernet Cable.
  • 1 Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable.
  • Free one month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold (Xbox LIVE Silver subscription is included with console).
  • Free Netflix trial offer.
So, go ahead and check it out here: Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Xbox 360
Share/Save/Bookmark

2009/09/16

Moron of the Moment: Bobby Kotick



The first time I did something like this was when I posted about Yoshiyuko Tomino, who claims that games are evil.

Now I move on to the man I really wanted to debut in this series. He is truly evil according to some, having earned some demonic nicknames over the past few months. He is the Dark Lord of evil Publisher Activion: Bobby Kotick.

Both Bobby Psykotick and Activision have gotten on the wrong side of gamers and celebs lately. Here are a few reasons why he’s won this award, Moron of the Moment:
  • He’s bragged about how much he earns ($ 15 million last year).
  • He’s detailed how to rip gamers off by making them buy more for just one game.
  • He has said he would raise the prices of video games higher if he could (as if they’re not expensive as it is).
  • He has claimed to know what gamers want by saying that we only want more and more sequels and not new IPs.
  • He has brazenly stated that he wants to take the fun out of making video games.
  • Activision threatened to stop supporting Sony consoles.
  • He has also said that he might stop supporting consoles as a whole as he wants gamers to play through TV without console support.
  • He has revealed his plans for world domination- at least as far as video games triumphing over other media goes.
  • He’s only in the business for the money and nothing else, except perhaps spreading his evil influence.
Quotes from Bobby Kotick:

“people are happy with existing franchises, provided you innovate within them.”

"We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

“In the last cycle of videogames you spent $50 on a game, played it and took it back to the shop for credit,” he told attendees. “Today, we’ll you a $100. You might add a microphone or drums, you might buy two or three expansions packs, different types of music. Over the life of your ownership you’ll probably buy around 25 additional song packs in digital downloads. So, what used to be a $50 sale is a $500 sale today."

“And the best of all margins – the 25 percent operating margin business – has the potential as we can see with World of Warcraft to be a 50 percent operating margin business. What used to be a low 20s return on invested capital business is now growing to a plus 40 percent return on invested capital business.”

"We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."

“I view the medium as having the potential to eclipse film and television,”

"the company is not interested in games that "don't have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million franchises"

"I try to promote an atmosphere of skepticism, pessimism, and fear in my company."

Activision recently got on the bad side of Courtney Love, former Nirvana band-mates, and fans, by using Kurt Cobain’s likeness in Guitar Hero 5. Love signed a contract which stipulated what the use of Kurt’s likeness would be, but Activision has apparently abused this agreement. Love says she’s going to sue the $h1t out of Activision. I hope she does. Then at least that would be a big chunk out of Psykotick’s pocket.
Share/Save/Bookmark

2009/09/15

Valve's Gabe Newell in: Journey to Oz!

Talking about gamers getting ripped off, here's another interesting story going around lately.

If you haven't been keeping up with the situation, I'll keep it short and simple:

Valve started working on Left 4 Dead 2 less than a year after Left 4 Dead got out the door. This made the L4D community unhappy and they formed a boycott against the title. The boycott leaders were eventually flown to Valve's HQ to see the game in person, and came away pleased, and allegedly brainwashed, but said they would not drop the boycott until their respective demands were met. Some people have actually resigned from the boycott group on Steam, though- about at least 20 000 people since this happened. Result!

Jumping on the bandwagon, another guy from Australia wanted Gabe to see his modding effort for Left 4 Dead, but Gabe jokingly said to this guy, Joe W-A, that they were boycotting the project. So Bruce decided to raise the money to have his fat @$$ flown over to Oz to see it.


The guy raised about $ 3000 in less than 3 days, by getting donations from readers of his blog, "FlyGabeNewell".

So, Gabe Newell and Erik Johnson are now expected to fly over there and see his little project. In fact, a lot of people expect Gabe to pay for the trip himself, instead of stealing gamers' money. Some don't even know if he'll be able to fit through the airplane door, let alone his seat.

Didn't I say before that this guy was greedy?

Apparently Newell's words were as follows, “The English language lacks the words to express the level of excitement Erik and I feel that you and your friends have pulled this off."

I bet in reality it was something like: "Oh for f***'s sake!"

I wonder if someone had to say, "So Gabe, how much do we have to pay you to halt development on L4D2 and release it maybe a few years from now along with Half-Life 2: Episode 3," what his response would be?

"Uh, $ 2 000 000 and a box of twinkies," or something.

Anyway, it's all good fun, and I think this story is getting very twisted now. It'll likely be remembered for years to come. lol

Sources:

Gamers raise $3,000 to fly Gabe Newell to Australia
Gabe Newell going to Australia on fans' dime to check out L4D campaign
Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters still campaigning despite Valve visit
http://flygabenewell.blogspot.com/
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/L4D2boycott
Share/Save/Bookmark

Leaked Details of Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition

Just two months ahead of the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, some details and photos have been leaked onto the internet about the vaunted Modern Warfare 2's Prestige Edition, which is only available for console owners (the PS3 edition sold out recently).

It turns out that the night vision goggles are not real, but plastic, and made in a factory in China. Photos have also surfaced about the art book too.

All of a sudden there are the sounds of laughter coming from PC owners (lol), and the collective expletives being uttered as console owners read this (evil). I wonder if the goggles actually work...

If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is...

Sources:

Modern Warfare 2 art book and goggle factory snapped
Modern Warfare 2 Art Book Leaked
Night Vision Goggle Leaked
Share/Save/Bookmark

2009/09/13

Video Games Coming Out in September 2009: 9/13 - 9/19



Picks of the Week:
Red Faction: Guerrilla, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Resident Evil 5

Finally, all these games come to PC! I'll likely be interested in getting these sometime in the near future.
As for the rest, I've seen a lot of WET recently. That might be good. I like the music-that's for sure, but the heroine, Ruby, looks a bit like a horse, at least in some shots.

PC


Batman: Arkham Asylum
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Madballs in Babo: Invasion
(Steam)
Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim
Need for Speed Shift
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Resident Evil 5

Zuma's Revenge

PlayStation 2


Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
NHL 2K10

PlayStation 3


Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Heroes Over Europe
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Need for Speed Shift
NHL 10
NHL 2K10
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

Tornado Outbreak
WET

Xbox 360


Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Heroes Over Europe
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Need for Speed Shift
NHL 10
NHL 2K10
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

Qubed (Every Extend Extra Extreme, Lumines Live, Rez HD),
Tornado Outbreak
WET

Wii


Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
NHL 2K10

Our House: Party!
Tornado Outbreak
Toy Story Mania!

Nintendo DS


Bleach: The 3rd Phantom
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Horse Life Adventures

It's a Girl Thing! My Boyfriend

It's a Girl Thing! Princess in Love
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Our House
Prank'd: Prank Your Way Around The World
Scribblenauts

PSP


Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Need for Speed Shift

Source:

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1194
Share/Save/Bookmark

September is Megadeth Month

Why is this? Well, today is metal legend Dave Mustaine's birthday. And as you should know, he is the frontman, lead singer, and guitarist for one of the big four in thrash metal: Megadeth. He turns 48 today.

And I'm not stopping there.

Today is also remembered due to the fact that the Dawson College shooting took place on this day in 2006. The perpetrator, Kimveer Singh Gill, claimed that the song "A Tout le Monde", inspired him to carry out the act, and he allegedly planned for it to take place on Dave's birthday. And he was also a big fan of video games, I should add, which the media took notice of.

Perhaps this was also intentional, but over the years, a few of Megadeth's albums, including one of their best, Rust in Peace, 2004's "return to form", The System Has Failed, and their soon to be released latest album, Endgame, have all been released in September.That's three of their twelve studio albums.

And not to mention their compilation, Anthology: Set the World Afire was also released in September.

If you look at the dates like this:

September 13
Dave Mustaine's birthday
September 14
The System Has Failed
September 15
Endgame

Pretty cool, huh? So Close! Maybe one day they'll get an album released right on Dave's birthday.

Endgame should be out this week- the date is said to be the 15th of September. So far people who have listened to the streaming versions on the net (Megadeth's MySpace page) are comparing it to Metallica's Death Magnetic of last year, and they say it's better...more or less.
Share/Save/Bookmark

RRR Hubs updated

My other series of hubs over on my HP account have been updated, in the same manner that my CGR hubs have: mostly some asthestic changes, like thumbnail galleries and other stuff that I can't remember- I did all these on Thursday, I think.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Brothers-in-Arms-Hells-Highway
http://hubpages.com/hub/Call-of-Duty-WAW
http://hubpages.com/hub/Fallout-3-game
http://hubpages.com/hub/Red-Alert-3
http://hubpages.com/hub/Far-Cry-2-game
http://hubpages.com/hub/STALKER-CS
http://hubpages.com/hub/FEAR-2

Other hubs that have been checked and perhaps changed:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Video-Games-You-Will-Want-to-get-this-Christmas
http://hubpages.com/hub/Video-Games-You-Will-Want-to-get-this-Christmas-Part-2
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Duke-Nukem-Forever-Demo-Reel
Share/Save/Bookmark

What does AAA stand for?

It's not an abbreviation of anything. It just means the best of the best... 

"Well, now you know the truth: Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade!"

English French German Spain Italian Dutch

Russian Portuguese Japanese Korean Arabic Chinese Simplified
by : BTF

Label Cloud