Bargain thread

I played 4 before 3 and I just couldn't get in to 3. the stuff they added for 4 really did something magical with the way I played it.

Matt Bowyer, if you like cities builders with a political and cultural facets, it's great. You place each and every building unlike a SimCity. The real meat of the game is figuring out how to make your little island profitable -- manufacturing, exotic crops, raw minerals, tourism, etc (all the Tropicos are like this). It's also a slightly funny game, always poking fun at itself.

What did they add in 4 that's not in 3? That's what I really want to know!

That's not really easy to answer. Same UI, same art assets, the vast majority of the structures are the same, same graphics, same controls, etc. 4 does add a few new buildings, a couple of new edicts and a few more foreign power to interact with, but overall these changes amount to very little. The real change is in the type of scenarios and the pacing has been refined a bit. It's much more a stand-alone expansion than it is a sequel. For example, in 3 you had to wait until your workers built a building. In 4, you can still do that, or if you have extra cash, "quick build" the building. Subtle change, but instead of having to wait 5-10 minutes for that building to be built before you can do anything, you have the option of getting it done which allows you to move on to the next thing.

So if you didn't play 3 much, the differences in 4 are quite small. If you played 3, then you'll notice that 4 has more refined gameplay than 3.

NCIX's Cyber Monday sale has the following video cards on sale:

XFX Radeon HD 7870 $190 (comes bundled with Far Cry 3)
nVidia GTX 660 $190 (comes bundled with Assassin's Creed 3)
nVidia GTX 670 $310 (ditto)

Since it's time to put my trusty old 5770 out to pasture and I was going to pick up Far Cry 3 anyway, I went with the 7870.

http://www.dvg.com/.sc/ms/ch/news

11-26-2012

***ANNOUNCING THE DVG END OF YEAR SALE***
From now until the end of December, buy an In Stock, PDF, or Vassal game, and get an In Stock, PDF, or Vassal game of lesser value FOR FREE!
When you place your order, leave a comment with the title of the game you would like for free.
We'll mail you both games, and the shipping for the second game is FREE!

---------------------------------

hmmm...not "equal or lesser value"?...hmmm

Don't know where else to put this but uhhh... Staples has Kingston 32gb USB thumb drives at a whopping $30 off (total $20). I don't even need a thumb drive and I bought one at that price.

Damn, that's a good deal (can't remember what I paid for my 32GB a few months ago, but it was way more than $20).

I should probably put a link to that: http://www.staples.com/Kingston-Dat...-USB-20-USB-Flash-Drive-Purple/product_472376

They come in different colors too! There's apparently some urDrive nonsense that launches on autoplay but maybe that's deletable with a format. I'm not about to upload 32gb of data somewhere when half of it is probably gonna be porn.

I can't afford this shit. I don't even like Hornet Leader very much, and now I'm thinking about new DVG games? MADNESS!

Amazon has the Sandisk Fit 32GB thumb drives for the same price. Maybe they should call them "thumbnail" drives, they are even smaller than those itty-bitty Logitech receivers. And for another $8, you can get a PNY 64GB thumb drive.

Sandisk and PNY are filthy, dirty whore companies.

I own products from both companies because I am a filthy, dirty consumer whore.

Speaking of consuming, if you'd like to consume some digital entertainment while spending less than a dollar, Steam is offering puzzle game Droplitz as the Daily Deal for November 28 for a mere 99 cents (80% off).

Meanwhile, GamersGate still has 11+ hours left on its four daily deals:

• Disciples III Gold Edition $8.99 (70% off)
• Silent Hunters 5 $4.99 (75% off)
• Dungeon Siege 3 $4.99 (75% off)
• Binary Domain $19.98 (60% off)

Citation needed.

One helluva deal is going on right now.

Humble Bundle is offering a THQ bundle. https://www.humblebundle.com/

Pay what you want for:
Darksiders
Metro 2033
Red Faction: Armageddon
Company of Heroes + Opposing Fronts + Tales of Valor

Beat the Average (Currently $5.32) and also get:
Saints Row 3

Even better, all unlock on Steam.

What the what ? How is that deal even possible.

:O

A coworker: "Deciding the split between THQ and charity is a tough one. Both seem like charity to me."

Holy crap @ that THQ bundle. If I hadn't just dropped $10 2 weeks ago for the one from Amazon I'd be all over that. Hell, I might still grab it just to have digital copies of all the CoH games AND I still don't own Saints Row III. Wow. Just, wow.

Steam's Weekend Deals are out:

#1 is the Unreal Deal Pack for $13.59 (66% off). This includes every PC Unreal game released. You'll be up to your eyeballs in Skaarj. If you just want Unreal Tournament 3 (strangely, the fourth game in the series) it's $6.79 (66% off).

#2 is Endless Space for $14.99 (50% off). It's also free to play until Sunday at 1 p.m. Pacific time. [joke about Brian Rubin space game addiction here]

Daily Deal for November 29 is Trainz Simulator 12 for $9.99 (75% off). It's a rail shooter but without the shooting.

Gamersgate's four daily deals today are:

Arcania for $7.50 (75% off)
Spellforce 2 for $4.99 (75% off)
Theater of War Collection for $11.24 (75% off)
Jagged Alliance: Back in Action for $9.99 (75% off)

Better off just going to GoG and picking up a DRM-free copy of UT2004 ECE, which is the pinnacle of the series.

Just note that if you want Jagged Alliance: BiA, you can get it from GreenManGaming for $7.50 instead of $10 from GamersGate.

GMG has a new deal up, pre-order anything on this page, and get a 35% off coupon for your next order ( must be used in 21 days or less ).

Also of note regarding GamersGate is that they are running their "buy 3 get the 4th free" deal. If you have at least 4 items in your cart, the cheapest one will be free at checkout.

Now would be a really good time for you to buy Eurofighter: Typhoon, HardWar, and Realms of the Haunting for half off at DotEmu.

I wish there were four I wanted in that sale. Settlers 7 at $9 is a great price (though it's non-Steam) and there's Legacy of Rome at $5. Other than that, though...

Dark Souls is currently available on Amazon for $15.99 (60% off) for the 360 and PS3.

I'm a Dark Souls ignoramus. Is it better to play on the 360 or the PC?

PC, as long as you have a controller.

Well, there's a couple things to consider:
That sale you quoted is for the base game only, and there have been sales on the PC version (which already ships with the DLC) for the same price (I don't remember the price for the 360/PS3 version of the dlc, but I think it was like $15 all on its own or something, you'll want to verify that for your console of choice).

Secondly, the PC version offers much better graphics if you use a very easy to install player mod (you basically put a couple files in your DS folder, the end), and that mod has added benefits such as back-up saves and the like if you decide you want to toy with it.

Also, the framerate is greatly improved on the PC version in a few key places, though individual PC performance may vary.

Finally, both versions play relatively the same if you use a controller. I wouldn't recommend playing it with a Mouse/KB.

I'm not sure any more how the different online communities compare with eachother at this point, but all things considered I prefer the PC version.

I'm sure it must have been posted somewhere earlier in this thread, but 50 pages of things I have zero clue about yet are confusing: is there a good "getting started" guide that explains this humanity thing or why this bonfire won't give me 10 flasks of something or another back and only gives me 5? My secret santa was either an incredibly kind person, or cruel, and gifted this to me this year and I'm looking forward to figuring it all out after the BF podcast.

Amazon currently has Spec Ops: The Line up for $5 (Steam key activated, it says). This also gets you the $5 promo credit towards their Editor's Choice games in January.

Most importantly, the PC version lets you savescum so you don't have to run back to the fucking Capra demon 2582179813579 times.

I'm kinda impressed with GameFly's direct download (the old Direct2Drive) deals lately. I got Kingdom of Amalur last week for $7 and just picked up the upgrade for Cities XL 2012 for $6 (some good looking mods help this one). Not too shabby.

Here's the full list for Gamefly's Weekend Deal. Up to 75% off Focus Home Interactive titles:

• 7 Sins $3.75
• Blood Bowl Chaos Edition $20.99
• Blood Bowl Legendary Edition $7.99
• Cities XL 2011 $9.99
• Cities XL 2012 $27.99
• Cities XL 2012 Expansion $5.99
• Cities XL Limited Edition $5.99
• Confrontation $15.99
• Farming Simulator 2013 $23.99
• Game of Thrones $34.99
• Game of Thrones: Genesis $15.99
• Runaway: A Road Adventure $3.99
• Runaway: A Twist of Fate $7.99
• Silverfall $2.49
• Silverfall: Earth Awakening $2.49
• The Next BIG Thing $11.99
• Wargame: European Escalation $27.99
• Yesterday $20.99

gog.com's Weekend Deal is 60% off various Nordic games:

• Alien Nations $2.39
• Aquanox $2.39
• Aquanox 2: Revelation $2.39
• Book Of Unwritten Tales $13.39
• Chaser $2.39
• Dark Fall 2: Lights Out $2.39
• Dark Fall: The Journal $2.39
• Gothic 2 Gold Edition $3.99
• Gothic 3 $3.99
• Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition $3.99
• The Guild Gold Edition $3.99
• The Nations Gold Edition $2.39
• Neighbours From Hell Compilation $3.99
• Painkiller Black Edition $3.99
• Panzer Elite Special Edition $2.39
• Spellforce 2: Dragon Storm $3.99
• Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars $3.99
• Spellforce Platinum $3.99

And do pay close attention to that Spec Ops URL. I'm still trying to figure out WTF.

What do you mean pay attention to the URL. I see a normal looking amazon link.

There is no way that can be random. boobs n tits? Seriously?

No, there is no way. Somebody thought it would be hilarious to sneak it in. He might be in trouble once people notice.