No sale. They'd have to pay me good god damn money to put that piece of EA filth on my computer. Sorry EA, I'm never buying a PC game from you ever again.
Nothing, but it's by EA and I trust them about as far as I can throw their headquarters and installing Origin would mean putting far too much trust in them.
No, it's not just a storefront it's also a DRM client and depends on my account being in good standing. Origin, like Steam, has control over your library and not you. The difference is I trust Valve far more than I do EA to not fuck around.
Actually, there are quite a few games that just work w/o Origin running, even if you buy them through it. Dragon Age, Saboteur, Bulletstorm, a few others that I have but can't recall atm. I think even Mass Effect 2, but that might be pushing it. So it's only a partial DRM - although I'm with you on any EA titles that actually DO use it.
I don't have any particular beef with Origin. Except it's five times as difficult to work with as Steam is. I can get a game running on it, but most of the time my games are stuck in an updating limbo and say "fuck it" and go and open something on Steam.
Late bargains! Steam Midweek Madness deals are up: #1 is Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 Special Edition with Kung Fu Grip for $4.99 (50% off). #2 is Grand Theft Auto IV in various packages for 75% off. Re-commence the debate over how awful GTA IV is/isn't and whether it's worth a measly $4.99. Gamefly's Weekly Deal is All the Games You Already Own for 75% off, also known as 75% off various Valve titles. Prices range from $1.25 for Team Fortress Classic (!) to $4.99 for more recent titles like Portal 2.
Re: Gimbal (http://www.gimbalgame.com/) So far there's quite a lot of servers. It's much faster to get into and just start blasting than Stellar Impact, so it has that going for it. I'm not convinced about its long term prospects, but 3 bucks? Sure. Main thing I'm concerned about is the split personality thing - it wants to be up close where the ships and explosions look gorgeous, but unless you're zoomed WAY the hell out so that everything is a dot you can't be competitive. Starfarer dealt with this by being slower paced and having ludicrously short (relatively speaking) weapon ranges - this does neither of those things, and suffers as a result. Gorgeous sound work and visuals, though. Turrets rule the early boats, but I suspect as skills and weapon variety (not to mention unlocks) increase that changes fast.
Wow, I never thought I'd see a new addition to the Cannon Fodder series. I bought and played the original... something like 20 years ago, and haven't seen it mentioned since. I loved that game, so funny and it was probably the first RTS(esque) game I'd played. This latest entry doesn't seem to be loved too well by critics though.
In some ways, I prefer Battlefield 1942 to any of the sequels. Over time, they have lost a lot of the elegant simplicity that made that game work so well. BF1942 worked great as a quick, pick-up-and-play game. The additions of loadout customization and unlocks and squads and such have diminished that, even if it's easy to see why people like those features.
I liked it, it was a little slow at the start, but then the full blown craziness happens, if you like the Serious Sam style then it doesn't disappoint. I assume multiplayer would be fun, but never played it with any friends.
Steam Weekend Deals: #1: Dark Souls™: Prepare To Die™ Edition is $26.79™ (33% off™). Buy the game then write 100,000 words about it, just like Lizard_King! #2: Death Rally is $4.99 (50% off) and free to play until 1 p.m. Pacific Sunday. Gives new meaning to 'chitty chitty bang bang'. New Humble Bundle 4 for Android. Both Android gamers can now get five games for whatever price they want and a sixth, Machinarium, if they pay more than the average ($5.96 at the moment). These games are also available for Windows, Mac and Linux: Splice Eufloria Waking Mars Crayon Physics Deluxe Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP (Android beta) And in case you didn't check, the Steam Daily Deal for November 8th is Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII for $24.99 (50% off). Planes! Rivets! And there's still 8 hours left to use Green Man Gaming's 25% off code for any PC game (except the ones they exclude).
I'm tempted for the humble bundle just for the Sword and Sworcery soundtrack. My favorite part by far about that game.
There's also the most recent Indie Royale bundle, which is seven games big. Basketbelle looks like it might be neat. Are these Avernum games any good? I've never played any of the Spiderweb games but I've always been curious.
Creole Ned linked to the Greenman Gaming deal above, but I thought it would be worth noting that GMG now has pre-orders available for the upcoming SimCity game (Due in March), and the 25% off voucher code GMG is currently offering is currently working for that game, and will drop the price from $59.99 to $45.00 for the Limited Edition. I don't know if this will work outside of North America. This code expires on Nov 16th (12:00 UTC/GMT). GMG25-UAAHK-6AI9S
The caveat being that this is the always-online, random-internet-dude-will-name-your-neighbour-city-Penisville, Origin-required Sim City. EA is still competing with Ubisoft for the spot as the shittiest publisher.
Daily Deals: Steam: Nuclear Dawn is $2.49 (75% off). It's an FPS! It's an RTS! It's a floor wax! It's 71/100 on metacritic! Gamersgate: Dawn of War II: Retribution is $7.49 (75% off). One of the many in the long proud line of DoW Colon games.
Prototype and Prototype 2 and Prototype 2 DLC for $7.49 at Amazon right now! Activates on Steam, apparently.
Zany weekend deals below (note: zaniness not guaranteed) gog.com is offering 80% off the following Telltale games: Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space $5.99 Sam & Max Save the World $5.99 Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse $6.99 Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures $3.99 Back to the Future: The Game $4.99 Tales of Monkey Island $6.99 Bad news: Thanks to a new deal with Interplay (!) gog.com is going to be raising the prices on some of its titles. Good news: The entire Interplay catalog will be on sale for the next week. Here's all 25 games: Fallout Fallout 2 Fallout Tactics Freespace Expansion Freespace 2 Descent Descent 2 Descent 3 Expansion Sacrifice Giants: Citizen Kabuto Earthworm Jim 1 2 Redneck Rampage Collection MDK MDK 2 Shogo: Mobile Armor Division Kingpin: Life of Crime Stonekeep Castles Castles 2 VR Soccer '96 Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader Messiah Battle Chess Special Edition Conquest of the New World M.A.X. M.A.X. 2 Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business Die by the Sword Expansion Shattered Steel F/A-18E Super Hornet Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus Screamer Evolva Origin asks you to mark Veteran's Day by solemnly remembering the sacrifices that were made and also by BLOWING EVERYTHING UP in the following manshooters that are 50% off: Battlefield 3 $19.99 Battlefield Bad Company: Vietnam $7.49 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 $9.99 Battlefield 2: Complete Collection $9.99 Battlefield 2142 Deluxe $7.49 Dead Space/Dead Space 2 $9.99 (each) Medal of Honor $9.99 Medal of Honor: Airborne $4.99 The Saboteur $9.99 Sniper Elite V2 $24.99 FEAR 3 $9.99 Deep Black Reloaded $14.99 This deals runs through November 13th. And finally, Gamefly's Weekend Deal is up to 75% off RPGs if you prefer to blow things up with magic missiles instead of napalm: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic $4.99 The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut $4.99 Mass Effect 2 $4.99 Dragon Age: Origins $4.99 Borderlands Game of the Year Edition $7.49 The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition $14.99
Daily not-dead-yet Deals for November 10: Steam: Stellar Impact $2.49 (75% off). Note: This is multiplayer-only. There is no solo path to impacting things in a stellar way. Gamersgate: Titan Quest Gold Edition $4.99 (75% off). Go on, buy another copy!
Anno 2070 and DLC are currently 66% off (under $20 for the base game) on Amazon. Does not activate on Steam, sadly.
It's showing up as 9.99 for me, which is still a tremendous amount off. I bought it the other day when it was 7.50 and I must say P2 is a much better crafted game than P1 and probably worth it alone. It's still a joyless, horrible story whose point is hammered in over and over but the city's got way more personality, the graphics are improved, and the combat is vastly streamlined. The extra DLC adds in new ways to advance via series of challenges that add a ton of side content to the game.
I dunno, maybe it was the divided city but P2 didn't have the WOW moments of massive crowds fleeing in panic before me, or cars madly swerving out of the way, as I drove a tank down the sidewalk. I mean, the behaviour was still there in the game, but I just didn't have as much reason to indulge in it.
Daily Deals for November 11: Steam: 4 Elements is $1.99 (80% off). This puzzle game features 'an adorable little fairy' as your aide and a 'mix of classic addictive game play ideas but taking them to a new level'. Noe of that old level business! Gamersgate: Bet on Soldier is $3.00 (80% off). Gambling and war, together at last!
Daily Deals for November 12: Steam: Fray is $9.99 (50% off). This is a low-rated (31/100 on metacritic) multiplayer-only turn-based game that only runs on 64-bit versions of Windows. Its appeal may be...limited. Gamersgate: Confrontation is $13.58 (66% off). Looking at the screenshots, this appears to be the game for people who have fantasized about being a fur-covered soldier. Gamersgate is also offering the Commando series of games for up to 75% off as a midweek deal. Each title is a mere $1.24 except for Commandos Strike Force, which is curiously a penny more. You can get the Commandos Complete Collection for $3.75 (this includes five titles).
