Most people agree that Microsoft’s original Games for Windows Live initiative was a bust: pushy, buggy, intel-grabby, hard to navigate, intrusive. It demanded information people didn’t want to give, it often simply didn’t work, and it seemed like a very sad attempt to glue online console functionality to the rip-roaring freedom of a PC. It did not go over well. Well, next month they’re relaunching it – the online store side, for the most part …
GamesBrief ran a piece last week with the somewhat hysterical title “Five Reasons why Steam will Destroy the PC Games Industry.”
In a word: it’s a monopoly. Or it’s fast becoming one. And monopolies, historically, are dangerous, regardless of industry.
It’s not easy being a Mac owning gamer. For so long the deserved recipient of the industries jokes and PC gamers distain, gaming on Mac has always been something of an afterthought, falling some way down on Apple’s priorities both from a hardware and software perspective. With games software remaining overpriced, underpowered and largely unsupported, Mac gaming has existed as the proverbial wasteland for the mouse and keyboard loyalist. However, to quote the ever quotable …
According to Apples latest annual report, 20.7 million phones were sold during 2009, representing an increase of 78% compared to 2008, and generating a total revenue of $6.8 billion dollars. Net sales of other products and services increased to $696 million dollars predominantly, according to their report, because of an increase to net sales of third party digital content and applications…
I mean seriously, what is the matter with this guy? First he decides to stir up a pointless ruckus by complaining that Valve’s Steam service is exploitative of the little guy, a conflict of interest for Valve, and untrustworthy – an act for which he is universally condemned, and called much harsher names than I’ve called him. Then today he decides it’d be wise to further assify himself by accusing Valve/Steam’s position on PS3 sales …
With the all press that LucasArts has gotten for releasing Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and several of its classic adventures on Steam, it was really just a question of time before other publishers would follow. First to jump on the “everything old is new again” bandwagon: Activision with news that they’ve expanded their offerings on Steam to include the King’s Quest and Space Quest Collections, Aces of the Galaxy, Time Shift and 3D …
All during this past weekend, LucasArts has been teasing its Twitter followers with hints of a big announcement for fans of their back catalog. The wait is finally over. After years of pleading and begging from its dedicated fan-base LucasArts has answered the call and plans to re-release some of its back catalog. Partnering with Steam, LucasArts is releasing – in a first round – 10 games on July 8, 2009: Armed and Dangerous Indiana …
Has anyone heard of Trine or tried out the demo? Developed by Frozenbyte, Trine is billed as a physics-based, action/puzzle platformer with three different swap-able player characters – Wizard, Thief, Knight – who each have specific abilities to help you solve puzzles and defeat the undead that populate the game world. The wizard can create objects out of thin air, the thief is agile and can latch onto solid objects and the knight is a …
Review by Jason Dobry Killing Floor Developer Tripwire Interactive Publisher Tripwire Interactive Released May 14, 2009 Available for PC Verdict: 2/5 Rotten Egg “Tripwire Interactive recently released Killing Floor, an updated retail version of the 2005 mod by the same name for Unreal 2004. I managed to secure it for only 15 bucks on Steam, so it seemed like a low-risk venture. But can a four-year old mod stand up to the king of co-op …
Review by Meho Krljic Zeno Clash Developer Ace Team Publisher Valve Corporation/ Noviy Disk Released April 21, 2009 Available for PC Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up “If punching people in the face was this fun in real life no one would be taking heroin, going to college or playing videogames”
One of the more interesting tidbits to come out of Gamasutra’s recent analysis of the state of GameStop was the huge profit GameStop makes selling used games. It’s not rocket science how they do it. They buy back nearly mint games from gamers for pennies on the dollar, slap a big price tag on the units and stick them up on the used game shelf. GameStop makes 48 cents on the dollar on used games, …
It’s been threatening for some time now: first a bit of misdirection involving a possible sniper update, now revealed through clever internet chicanery to be the Spy. I don’t really play much Team Fortress 2 any more, but I do love these character movies. And so shall you!
Check out this mini-interview. Valve’s vice president of marketing, Doug Lombardi, fills in Doug Kuchera of Ars Technica on the ins and outs of keeping it fresh with their customers. In a word…UPDATES: “The updates cause an incredible spike in sales. And when the update is offered in concert with new Achievements, new media, such as a new ‘Meet the…’ movie, and a promotion, such as a Free Weekend and/or limited-time price drop, the spike …
Valve Software’s The Orange Box is on sale for $9.99 all weekend, meaning you have approximately fifteen hours left to do what you should have done when it was $50. This purchase gets you Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, Half Life 2: Episode 2, multiple-game-of-the-year-winning-and-critical-darling Portal, plus the relentlessly jolly Team Fortress 2. Remember if you already own any or all of these, you can gift them to fellow Steam subscribers at …
This must be Steerpike’s Week of Obscure and Creepy Games, since I’ve gotten roped into playing another one as well, that I’ll be writing about later. Anyway. Tale of Tales is a Belgian studio with the pretty-much-explicitly-stated goal of making games that aren’t fun. What can I say, they’re Belgian. The Path has been on the radar for a while now; by far T of T’s most ambitious game, billed as a “short horror” experience. …