So yeah, I haven't done a blog entry in quite some time, but I figured why not come back with a bang? Here's my yearly Black Friday deals post, a little early this time. As far as I know, everything on this post should be accurate. I used leaked scans from the ads found at blackfriday.info and some info from cheapassgamer.com. However, I did start working on this post about a week and half ago, so deals may have changed last minute. I'll review it on Thanksgiving day to check and see if what I have is correct. If you see any errors, please leave them in the comments.
Items in bold are ones that I think are pretty cool and worth checking out.
First things first: here's some notable deals I want to get out of the way from retailers that don't get a special spot in the listing:
Dualshock 3 for $30 at RadioShack Lego Rock Band FREE when you buy $20 of stuff at Old Navy
For PC gamers, Steam is having day long sales every day for the next five days. They have some GREAT deals right now, like Osmos for only $2 and Batman Arkham Asylum for $25. Check this page every day for new offers.
PS3 owners, Sony is having a sale on various PSN games this week.
$5: Bomberman Ultra Comet Crash Flower The Last Guy Prince of Persia Classic
$7.50 Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao Smash Cars
$15 Fate/Unlimited Codes (PSP)
Killzone 2 DLC sale: Flash and Thunder for $3, DLC Bundle for $10
Anyways, now on to the brick and mortar stores. Click on the link to skip directly to the store you want to see.
I recently decided to get GameFly because I found that there were so many new games I wanted to try out, but not necessarily buy them. So far, i've been very impressed by the service. So much so that I thought I'd let you all know about my experiences so far. If you don't know, GameFly is a rental service, much like NetFlix, that allows you to rent games by mail.
First, let's talk about the main part of the service, renting. Their library of games is extensive. They have almost any game you could want for PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, DS, PSP, and GBA. So far it seems like most of the games I've wanted to rent are readily available, with the exception of brand new games, which tend to have Low to Very Low availability. But usually they'll be more available in a week or two once the initial renters have returned their copies.
The process of selected what games you want is fairly simple. You simply search the site for the game you want to rent and add it to your GameQ. Once you have titles in your GameQ, you can rearrange them to tell GameFly which you would like to have top priority. When you return a game, they will pick the next available game out of your GameQ and send it. Pretty simple.
You receive the game disc/cart only in an envelope that opens up into a pre-paid return envelope. Inside the envelope you'll find a protective cardboard sleeve with a paper sleeve inside that contains your game. You can keep any game as long as you want. Once you are done with a game, just put it back in the envelope, drop it in the mail and they'll take care of the rest. Once they receive your game, they'll ship out the next available game on your GameQ
In addition to offering rental services, GameFly also has an extensive library of used games for you to buy at a discounted price. Often times, their used game prices beat out GameStop. For example, I bought Prince of Persia for PS3 from them for only $22, whereas GameStop was charging $27 at the time I bought it. Another example: GameStop wants $55 for Red Faction: Guerilla whereas GameFly only wants $43 for it. Another nice thing about GameFly is that if you rent a game and you end up enjoying it, you can opt to keep the game without having to send it back. Oh, and all you CIB whores out there, don't worry, if you decide to keep the game, they will mail you the case and instructions for free. Since the case and instructions haven't been touched by anyone, they're in perfect condition. Oh yeah, I should also mention that all 6 games I've rented from GameFly so far have been in mint condition with no scratches or fingerprints of any kind.
Their shipping times are pretty good too. I live in Minnesota, and it usually takes three days for me to get a game from them or for them to receive a game I send back. However, sometimes when sending a game back, they will use something called fast return, where they ship your next game as soon as they get tracking confirmation from the post office that you put the game in the mail. I haven't figured out how that works yet, however.
Their plans are pretty well-priced too. $15.95 per month for one game out at a time, $22.95 for two games, $29.95 for three games, and $36.95 for four games.
GameFly offers a program called GameFly Rewards to all of its members at no charge. Every three months you are a member, you will get $5 GameFly Dollars to used in their used game store. Also, if you're a member for six months, you will get 5% all purchases from them, and if you're a member for a year, you'll get 10% off. So the longer you remain a member, the better of a deal you'll get if you buy games from them. Add that on top of the $5 they give you every three months, and the savings start to stack up pretty well.
Click here to give it a shot! They have a free trial, and your first month is discounted if you decide to keep going with them.
I am very behind in the times but i am sure there are still others out there who have not made the jump to either purchase a 360 or if you already own one to go wireless. This my friends is for you - I am stealing this from the review i did on the actual game page found here. More info at the bottom of the review.
Not much need for an overview on this bad boy.
Simple to hook up: clips on the back of the system then plugs into the USB port beneath it.
Just make sure if you have an ethernet cable plugged in your 360 remove it before plugging this in.
It has gotten pretty good reviews all over the web. Well this is not a good one this is a scathing one! And to be honest i don't see why ANYONE has had anything good to say about it!.
Congratulations MS you made a wireless adapter that works with your console! When 360 could have easily been wireless out of the box the Wii, PS3, DS, and PSP all were!
The hefty 100$ MSRP should have you thinking twice about picking this up when there are cheaper wireless alternatives on the market. Apparently MS originally had stated that only their Wireless adapter would work with the 360 but after i did some research on the web for 360 wireless alternatives I found there are many wireless options available for a much more affordable price.
Unless your an accessory collector and NEED to have something official this is not worth the price given there are so many worthwhile alternatives on the market.
RF Generation Review Score
FAIL*
*sorry for not putting a real score here I just felt that it didn't really deserve one. Outside of the fact that it does what it is supposed to do there are few to no redeeming factors of this piece of hardware. Also i know this isn't really a review field. Get over it. I just enlightened you.
Love them or hate them, zombies have been in video games since the early eighties and don't look like they're going anywhere any time soon. In Valve's latest release, Left 4 Dead, you play as one of four survivors during the zombie apocalypse. Left 4 Dead features four scenarios where you must guide the survivors to a designated spot to be picked up before they are overwhelmed by the zombie horde. Left 4 Dead is a first person shooter, developed by Valve owned Turtle Rock Studios, using the Source engine. Left 4 Dead received a number of awards for it's multiplayer modes at the end of 2008, but is the game really worth your while? Let's take a look at the game and find out...
Now, in about three days, I can officially say that I am a Civil Engineer. Now, Civil Engineers do a lot of things. Designing Bridges, Creating Dams, Building Things, Creating Traffic Jams, Mitigating Floods, yeah, we do all that and much more. See, there is this thing though. Most, if not all Civil Engineers specialize in something. I, for example, specialized in transportation. Seamar, specialized in structures. See, from an ethics standpoint, we agree only to practice in the fields we're competent in. We know better than do attempt to do something when we have no idea how. So, we know better than than to do and market things that we have no idea how to do, so why does Microsoft then try to do something it doesn't really know how to do?
Microsoft does a bunch of things well. I personally enjoy their Wireless Mice and Keyboards. Windows XP was and still is amazing. So Microsoft can in fact do things well. But there are certain things that Microsoft doesn't do well. Vista, for example. Windows 98 is to Windows XP like Windows Me is to Windows Vista. So, some things that Microsoft do are just terrible.
So, Microsoft has this wonderful little console that many of you might lovingly refer to as the Microsoft Xbox 360. It's lovely little console, but it had some problems. These problems caused Microsoft to issue a recall for the 360, and with that recall came quite a monetary hit on their ledger. So, what caused this problem?
So, this wonderful guy at the Gartner Group, Bryan Lewis, who happens to be their research VP and chief analyst, has stated that the source of their gigantic recall lies in the fact that Microsoft decided to design their original GPU by themselves. Did you know that Microsoft designs GPUs? Neither did I. When I think Graphics Accelerator, I think NVidia and ATI. Turns out, once a massive recall is initiated, that Microsoft also thinks ATI for their graphics needs, as that's who they contracted to redesign their 360 GPU.
Here's to you, Microsoft. If only you had used ATI or NVidia to begin with, you wouldn't have had this massive recall and all those extended warranties. I bet you all don't care, as your warranties are longer. But then, there are probably several of you who wish they didn't have to send their 360 in because of a RRoD. If only Microsoft stuck to what it could do well and contracted out that what it couldn't, you might have never had to send out your 360.
People have been sneering at the price of the PS3. They say it is expensive. You know, this statement is correct. However, I find it troubling that many of these people that say the Playstation 3 is overly expensive have no problem laying down the money for Microsoft's 360. I find such actions humorous. Let's analyze what I perceive as the true costs of these two systems, in terms of what they have to offer and what hidden costs lie with the system. Perhaps, we'll be enlightened after this discussion. Perhaps you'll be enraged. Chances are though that my arguments are pretty decent, and perhaps it will make take a second look at which system you ultimately end up purchasing.
For those of you unaware, there's been another X360 BC update. This time it adds another 80 or so games. I'm glad they are still working on them, hopefully the news of a download service for Xbox1 games won't stop these from being released. Another feature added this time around is cross-platform play between the Xbox and the X360 for multiplayer Xbox1 titles.
Of personal note this time around are: Shattered Union, Blood Omen 2, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, D&D Heroes and Apex. Apex is a much overlooked racing game where you build and race your own cars for a company you create. Excellent graphics and good gameplay, it didn't get a lot of exposure and has become harder to find in the wild. It was also notable because when it was released it had an unprecedented 11,000 polygons per car model.
With those games I noted above I'm just about ready to retire my Xbox to storage. All I need now are Rallisport Challenge 2, Mechassault 1, Transworld Snowboarding and Star Wars Obi-Wan. Still, considering the vast difference between architecture and difficulties in emulation of any kind, having 50% of my Xbox1 games on that list isn't too shabby.
Here's the latest additions to the backwards compatibility list:
November 2007 Back Compatibility titles added: 2006 Fifa World Cup Germany 25 to Life AMF Bowling 2004 Apex Arena Football Armed and Dangerous Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance Batman Rise of Sin Tzu Bionicle Blade II Blinx: The Timesweeper Blitz The League Blood Omen 2 Blowout Breakdown Burnout 2: Point of Impact Cabelas Dangerous Hunts 2 Championship Manager 2006 Colin Mcrae Rally 2005 Crime Life: Gang Wars Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 Dungeons& Dragons Heroes ESPN College Hoops 2k5 ESPN NFL 2k5 Fantastic 4 FIFA 06 Soccer Fight Night: Round 3 Final Fight: Streetwise Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone Freedom Fighters Freestyle Street Soccer Future Tactics: The Uprising Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee Godzilla Save the Earth Goldeneye Rogue Agent Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max'd High Heat MLB 2004 Hunter: The Reckoning Indiana Jones And The Emperors Tomb MLB Slugfest Loaded MVP Baseball 2003 MVP Baseball 2004 Nascar Thunder 2002 Nascar Thunder 2003 NBA 2k3 NBA Ballers NBA Inside Drive 2002 NBA Street V3 NCAA College Basketball 2k3 NCAA March Madness 2005 NCAA March Madness 2006 NFL 2k2 NFL 2k3 NHL 2005 NHL 2K3 NHL Hitz Pro Nightcaster: Defeat The Darkness NTRA Breeders Cup: World Thoroughbred Championships Playboy The Mansion RLH Hunt or be Hunted Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Rocky Rugby 2006 Shattered Union Shrek Super Party Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter Starsky & Hutch Syberia II Techmo Classic Arcade Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Test Drive The Bard's Tale The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe The Guy Game The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age Thousand Land Thrillville Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers Turok: Evolution Van Helsing WarPath Worms 3D Zathura
Below is the link to the article on Major Nelson that besides having this list, also has links to the complete list to date as well as a downloadable PDF file of all current backwards compatible Xbox titles.
So Halo 3 has been out for a couple of days now. I thought I'd share with you it's impact it's had on me, a guy who doesn't hate it or love it, just two ships passing in the night so to speak. I made a list of things Halo 3 is indirectly responsible for, because in the end I guarantee you 50% of X360 owners still won't have a copy of it. After all, all of us X360 owners aren't Halo fanboys as many people think. So it's good to view Halo 3 from a neutral perspective, it reminds everyone that hype aside everyone considers it inferior to BioShock and that's the kind of irony you can't replicate with ad campaigns and marketing.
I went online to see if I could take advantage of the 3 free days of Xbox Live, I couldn't. But I did see the "Crash of the Titans" demo when I was there, good find and fun demo, like Kameo mixed with Crash Warped.
All those desperate Halo 3 fans are trading in their PS3's, sisters and other X360 games to buy the Helmet. That means plenty of selection of used X360 titles to choose from in game retailers and pawn shops everywhere.
More friends of mine buying 360's because they are Halo fans of yesteryear. It'll be like old times, except I'll coerce them into playing Ace Combat 6 instead of Crimson Skies when they get sick of Halo 3.
The flame wars have begun and the trolls carry large bloody clubs around in the forums. It makes for interesting reading and hilarious commentary.
When Call of Duty 4 comes out (shooter of the year BTW) all the whining pukes I find on XBL will still be playing Halo 3, so the matchmaking with strangers will be of higher quality.
All in all I have to thank Bungie for creating this diversion that both indirectly benefits me and amuses. The game may be forgettable but i'll always remember the money I've saved and the laughs I got.
Just a shout out to all of you Halo 3 fans who may have received scratched Halo 3 discs in your Collector's Edition boxsets. Microsoft has had a disc replacement program for quite some time now, so if you got home and opened your Halo 3 Limited Edition to find one or both of your discs scratched, well here's the link you need to be clicking:
You'd think the supposed "biggest 360 game of the year" wouldn't have cheaped out on packaging or quality. Really puts a dent into the validation of having so many LE versions of games coming out. Live and learn I guess.
Here's a new trailer for Assassin's Creed. Awesome ending. I'm really looking forward to this game more than ever now, let's hope it lives up to it's hype. Here's (raises glass) to a medieval Splinter Cell/Prince of Persia hybrid.
That's a fundamental fact of the universe. Does Tan like Gundam? Well he's not a fan nor is he opposed to it. Why is Tan referring to himself in the third person? Well because it's Friday and with the weekend looming so close his mind is elsewhere.
He was lucid enough however to take notice of this TGS Trailer of Mobile Ops: The One Year War for the X360. Tanks, heavy weapons, 40 foot Mech suits what else does a game need? It's not the flashiest game nor the most impressive I've seen, but it does have an appeal of massive destruction and simple fun many games today seem to lack. So sit back and enjoy the carnage on what's looks to be a laid back, easy, fun game with big multiplayer potential.
Mitch Gitelman, manager of FASA Studios has confirmed that today was the last day for operations and that half of their employees will transfer to Microsoft Gaming Studios and other positions within Microsoft.
It's still not known whether their latest release Shadowrun had anything to do with it, by all accounts it was a success regardless of it's criticisms. Fortunately it's intellectual properties were bought by Microsoft in 1999 so they may live on yet and benefit from a fresh start. Just to give you an idea of who they are, here's a small list of some of their most notable titles:
MechCommander
MechCommander Gold
MechCommander 2
MechWarrior 4: Vengeance
MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Shadowrun
I've been waiting for a Mechwarrior 5 for what seems like forever. Mechassault is a nice little diversion but I want a sim with a mechlab Maybe Microsoft will take the series in a new direction. Maybe just maybe, I'll get a MechCommander 3 and a Crimson Skies 2 as well.
An article via GameSpot has revealed that the Conan the Barbarian game (not to be confused with the Age of Conan MMO) is apparently hacking it's way into stores September 28th as opposed to it's previous expected release of 2008 and later stated late October.
This "M" rated PS3 and X360 Action game with a similar style to God of War will go on sale for $59.99 in North America and £44.99 for the Xbox 360 version, and £49.99 for the PlayStation 3 in the U.K. with a BBFC 18 rating.
Unfortunately in my opinion it's published by THQ, or as I call them Poor man's Activision. Which means it'll either surprise everyone by not becoming a steaming pile of crap, or it'll become another normal THQ title.
Here's an E3 2007 gameplay vid for your viewing pleasure:
Before you ask, no I haven't beaten the game yet. But I figured seeing as this is quite a large game and will take many many hours to complete, I'd post my review of it for those who may be on the fence about whether they should buy it or not. Like a "game for lunch" type deal but after say 10-12 hours in or so. I suppose this could even apply to the PC version as well to some extent.
For those of you frivolous and generous with your Microsoft Points, this weekend (specifically September 2nd and 3rd) four Xbox Live Arcade titles will be dropped to half price for those two days only. Here's the four titles:
Small Arms - 400 Microsoft Points (normally 800 Microsoft Points)
Zuma Deluxe - 400 Microsoft Points (normally 800 Microsoft Points)
Gauntlet - 200 Microsoft Points (normally 400 Microsoft Points)
Dig Dug - 200 Microsoft Points (normally 400 Microsoft Points)
Remember, that's 12:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday, September 2 until 11: 59 p.m. GMT on Monday, September 3. After that they return to their original prices. For more information check out the source article at Major Nelson:
I recently decided to get GameFly because I found that there were so many new games I wanted to try out, but not necessarily buy them. So far, i've been very impressed by the service. So much so that I thought I'd let you all know about my experiences so far. If you don't know, GameFly is a rental service, much like NetFlix, that allows you to rent games by mail.
Now, in about three days, I can officially say that I am a Civil Engineer. Now, Civil Engineers do a lot of things. Designing Bridges, Creating Dams, Building Things, Creating Traffic Jams, Mitigating Floods, yeah, we do all that and much more. See, there is this thing though. Most, if not all Civil Engineers specialize in something. I, for example, specialized in transportation. Seamar, specialized in structures. See, from an ethics standpoint, we agree only to practice in the fields we're competent in. We know better than do attempt to do something when we have no idea how. So, we know better than than to do and market things that we have no idea how to do, so why does Microsoft then try to do something it doesn't really know how to do?
Before you ask, no I haven't beaten the game yet. But I figured seeing as this is quite a large game and will take many many hours to complete, I'd post my review of it for those who may be on the fence about whether they should buy it or not. Like a "game for lunch" type deal but after say 10-12 hours in or so. I suppose this could even apply to the PC version as well to some extent.
For those of you frivolous and generous with your Microsoft Points, this weekend (specifically September 2nd and 3rd) four Xbox Live Arcade titles will be dropped to half price for those two days only. Here's the four titles:
