General gaming

General gaming

Weekend Deals: Fable III, Max Payne, and Deus Ex

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 02:16 PM PDT

Max Payne

Steam has slashed the price of Fable III and all of its downloadable content by 66%, bringing the price of the game down to $16.99. Things are quiet on Steam otherwise this week aside from the usual pre-order discounts and a sale on Cogs ($3.40).

Both Amazon's download service and GamersGate have several King's Bounty games on sale. All things aside, Amazon looks like the way to go as its prices are lower -- the Platinum Edition is just $4.99. Amazon also has its usual discounts on newer PC downloads; NBA 2K12 was added this week and is only $23.99.

With all of the press about Max Payne 3 this week, the first two Max Payne games have been put on sale at both Impulse and Direct2Drive. The bundle of the two games looks like the way to go -- at less than $4 there's a good deal of entertainment to be had from both games, even if the story is a bit crazy.

Supply and Demand: Behind the Scenes of Retail Pricing

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 01:43 PM PDT

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Supply and Demand: Behind the Scenes of Retail Pricing

How consumer input affects the price of everything you buy.

By: Seth Macy October 7, 2011

Let's take a trip back in time. Not too far; just 2006. America's economy was zipping along at a frenetic pace. The price of real estate rose exponentially, and if you tried to tell someone that the market wasn't sustainable, they would laugh in your face. Sony began gearing up for the release of the PlayStation 3, and if you spent any time on the Internet, you probably witnessed an argument or two concerning the $599 price tag for the more feature-rich of the system's two models. The two sides of the argument generally boiled down to "it cost too much" versus "it's a great value." And you know what? Both sides were correct.

The fact that the PS3 cost more than the sum of its parts could be proven by gathering together the prices of similar, individual pieces (most Blu-Ray players at the time were still more expensive than the PS3, with none of the extra features). This much was undeniable. However, value is a wholly subjective notion and decided by consumers. If a consumer sees value in a product such as the PS3, then they decide that the price is just. If not, they simply don't buy it, buy a substitute product, or wait until the price comes down to a level they feel is acceptable. This is known in economics as the subjective theory of value.

PS Vita Hands-On Editor Roundtable

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 01:18 PM PDT

We recently visited Sony for a Vita press event where their goal wasn't to reveal information, but to allow media to spend more time with many of the same builds that were at last month's Tokyo Game Show. So after we each spent a couple hours of hands-on time -- spread across Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Resistance: Burning Skies, Wipeout 2048, Hot Shots Golf, Gravity Rush, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Reality Fighters, and Little Deviants -- we sat down and had a chat about what we liked and disliked.

Jose Otero: I'm kind of torn on my favorite game from the event. I dug Gravity Rush because it's a fresh concept that utilizes a really cool-looking floating mechanic to maneuver the main character around -- it's an action game, sure, but it also uses mechanics I don't think I've seen before. On the other hand, I liked UMvC3 because it's a known quantity for me and I find that genre really appealing. So I'm stuck between the game I recognize and another that looks cool, but I don't really know enough about.

Bulletstorm's Profanity Took its Polish Developer by Surprise

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 01:10 PM PDT

Warning: The video above is full of NSFW language.

Of course, that should be a given as it showcases footage from Bulletstorm, a game laced with profanity. The video is a collection of many of the swears from the early portion of the game and is just a sample of what you'll hear over the course of the full campaign. Given just how much naughty language there is, one might assume developer People Can Fly was fully aware of how it would come across. Yet it wasn't until fairly late in the game that the Polish developer grasped just how dirty the characters' mouths are.

Mortal Kombat Kollection Was PSN's Top Seller Last Month

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 12:14 PM PDT


Sony is often criticized for not doing enough to promote the downloadable games available on PlayStation Network. For a long time it wasn't uncommon to see a game suddenly pop up on the PlayStation Store with little-to-no warning. By extension, we also are never given any indication of how well games on PSN are selling. Although it isn't providing any numbers, Sony has debuted a monthly sales chart for PSN games beginning with September.

Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection (a bundle of the first three MK games) was the best-selling game on PSN last month, followed by Resident Evil 4, From Dust, Angry Birds, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3. The latter two don't take into account downloads by PlayStation Plus members, who were given free access to both as of September 20.

Final Fantasy VII, perhaps the most popular game in the franchise, was still selling well enough to come in at number ten despite making its debut during E3 2009. It made a splash at the time, quickly selling in excess of 100,000 copies in just two weeks.

Many Battlefield 3 Issues Being Resolved in Time for Launch, Producer Reiterates it's a Beta

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 11:51 AM PDT

Battlefield 3

Many of those who have been able to try the Battlefield 3 beta since it kicked off late last month have been quick to pass judgment based on its glitches and bugs. With a release coming in less than three weeks, there have been questions about how all of these issues will be worked out by then. (DICE says many of them will be; more on that a minute.) Whether it's because other betas have been released that essentially operated as demos or some other reason, there seems to be a misconception about what a beta is, says producer Patrick Liu.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding of the term 'beta test,'" Liu told the Guardian. The Operation Metro map featured in the beta may lack vehicles and not show off Conquest mode, two things fans want to see, but again, this is a beta and therefore the goals DICE had in mind might not perfectly align with what gamers want in a demo.

"We ran the alpha tests with a Rush map and we wanted to have some sort of reference so we could compare results -- so we needed to have more-or-less the same map," he explained. "But we do understand the concerns that we didn't show a Conquest map, but we have demoed Caspian Border, and we did run a Conquest map as a limited PC-only test."

Review: Aliens Infestation isn't Perfect, but It's an Essential DS Game Regardless

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 11:01 AM PDT

I have a few complaints about Aliens: Infestation, Sega's new portable-version-of-Colonial-Marines-but-not-really action shooter for DS. They're pretty trivial complaints, though. Usually, criticisms in a review are meant as caveats: Things to consider before committing to buy a game. Not this time, though. Infestation is a game that any fan of Metroid, Aliens, or classic action games in general should grab. It's a wonderful verse in the DS's swan song. I have no hesitation in recommending it.

No, my complaints are more nit-picky. They're the sort of things I wish I could have brought up during development, because they concern fine details that would turn a great Aliens game into a perfect one. Little elements of pacing, atmosphere, interpreting the source material -- that kind of thing.

People Would be "Really Sick" of Resident Evil if it Didn't Branch Out From Survival Horror

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 10:33 AM PDT

Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City

The upcoming 3DS game Resident Evil: Revelations looks to be returning to the series' roots as a survival horror series, but that's not indicative of the direction the entire franchise is moving in. In June we saw the arcade-style shooter The Mercenaries 3D released on 3DS, and Slant Six is currently at work on Operation Raccoon City, a third-person shooter. Recent numbered games (RE4 and 5) have been more action-oriented than the older games in the series. It's a diverse array of games to come out of the same franchise in a fairly short period of time, and that's helped to keep the series from becoming stale, according to Resident Evil producer Masachika Kawata.

"At the core, basically, we want to make the best use of our brand. Resident Evil is an IP, and a franchise, that people have loved for a long time," Kawata told Gamasutra. "It's still very, very popular and we're very, very happy about that, and we want to basically answer all the requests that we get about the series. People want to see a lot of different experiences within the Resident Evil universe, and so we've been fortunate enough to be able to answer those requests with a lot of different experiences, in different forms, in games."

FarmVille Movie Could be Written by Toy Story Scribes

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 09:54 AM PDT

FarmVille

There have been some wacky games optioned for movies -- Asteroids, Missile Command -- so the idea of a FarmVille movie shouldn't shock you or anything. That might be your reaction anyway to what was hinted at in a recent interview with two noteworthy Hollywood writers.

Speaking with IGN, Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen were asked about what they're working on besides the story for the upcoming Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure game.

"So, yes, we will continue writing movies," the duo said. "We are also working on several new and very exciting opportunities. We're in conversations with Zynga to do something with one of their brands. Can't really say too much on that front yet, but 'Old MacDonald' didn't have a factory, if you get our drift."

Watch UFC PPVs and More on Xbox Live Starting December 1

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 09:16 AM PDT


One of Microsoft's surprises during its E3 press conference this year was the announcement about UFC content coming to Xbox Live. We're now less than two months away from seeing that become a reality, and we have some new details on what will be possible.

The focal point of the UFC app appears to be pay-per-views. And that should come as no surprise -- PPV revenue is a huge aspect of UFC's revenue and it's in its best interest to make purchasing a PPV as easy and convenient as possible (and watching an unauthorized stream online as unattractive as possible). Both standard definition and high definition (in 720p) versions of PPVs will be available, each at their own respective prices, which will presumably be the same amount you'd pay through your cable provider. Microsoft Points won't be necessary; you'll be able to pay directly with your credit card through Xbox Live, so there's no need to worry about purchasing points and having some left over that may never be used.

The first PPV to be available through the Xbox Live app is UFC 140 on December 10, headlined by Jon "Bones" Jones versus Lyoto Machida for the light heavyweight title and Frank Mir versus Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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