xkcd

by **Jorpho** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 4:55 pm UTC

Well, stuff from D2D does still require activation, which is a bit unnerving. (I don't know if everything at D2D tries to "phone home" during activation, but surely some programs do.)

by **thecommabandit** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:50 pm UTC

So, some more deals:

10% off pre-orders for Global Agenda (a glowy sci-fi spy MMO).
75% off The Last Remnant (some sort of JRPG).
10-25% off all Kalypso games (seem to be most RTSs).

by **Jorpho** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:46 pm UTC

Is anyone else keeping an eye on this "Impulse Now" thing?
http://impulsedriven.com/impulsenow

I suspect it is entirely likely they will be offering Braid for much, much less than $9.99 in the days to come. Alas, I am not in a convenient position to be installing the Impulse client under Windows at the moment. ~~(I think I have an ancient copy of Crossover on my Eee PC, but I could barely get the Steam client running there.)~~ Acht, and it requires the .NET runtime!

by **Jorpho** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:21 pm UTC

...Today, for instance, Galactic Civilizations II is up for the how-can-you-go-wrong price of $1.99. (Pity I seem to have missed some of the nicer deals already. But it seems there are many reports of people having difficulty getting the Impulse tray app to behave. Aveyond looks like it would have been worth $1.99, sigh.)

For something you really don't have to feel guilty about, http://www.gog.com is currently giving away Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum, the first two games in the Tex Murphy series. Word is they haven't necessarily held up very well over time.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/texmur ... murphy.htm

As for Steam, aside from the TF2 free weekend and 50% off sale, some nice deals on Kalypso's games:
http://store.steampowered.com/publisher ... 20Digital/

I'm just slightly tempted by Samorost 2. Look up the first game (it's a free, Flash-based affair) and you might be tempted too.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/40720/

Anyone try Ceville? It sounds pretty good.

by **akeripper** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:38 pm UTC

another deal on gog this weekend is the might and magic deal:
http://www.gog.com/en/promo/might_and_magic

by **Internetmeme** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:41 pm UTC

Jorpho wrote:...Today, for instance, Galactic Civilizations II is up for the how-can-you-go-wrong price of $1.99. (Pity I seem to have missed some of the nicer deals already. But it seems there are many reports of people having difficulty getting the Impulse tray app to behave. Aveyond looks like it would have been worth $1.99, sigh.)

That is such an awesome game! Even without the two expansion packs (Dread Lords doesn't count. That's the base game), it's a great game!

by **Shadic** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:08 am UTC

Torchlight is 50% off for this weekend, apparently.

by **Jorpho** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:47 pm UTC

If you missed the Steam deal, Direct 2 Drive has you covered - for now.

In other news, Popcap is offering 50% off everything for the next few days. But consider that last year Steam had several Popcap games on sale during Boxing Day, and even just a few weeks ago Plants vs Zombies was $7.50. Do you feel lucky?

by **LuNatic** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 6:25 am UTC

Steam Holiday sales have just started - big reductions across lots of different games. It's gonna take me till June 2010 to DL all the stuff I just bought.

by **Axman** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:30 am UTC

Yeah, holy shitballs, everything's on sale. I just picked up The Witcher for fourteen bucks. The Stalker games are selling for $2 and $5.

Far Cry 2, the best game of the God damned year is selling for $10.

by **thecommabandit** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:07 pm UTC

Holy crap. I already feel poor, now I want to buy DA:O and L4D2 off Amazon and then Steam has deals on AI War, BioShock, Braid, Everquest II: The Shadow Odyssey, Fuel, STALKER: Clear Sky, Oblivion GOTY, The Void and Trine. These deals last until 3rd January, right? Because after Christmas I should not only have been paid my bonus (thank you British government) but also have a little boost from Christmas cards.

Also, when you click on a category it has a little comment beneath the title. So for RPGs it says "I put on my robe and wizard hat".

by **defaultusername** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 4:19 pm UTC

thecommabandit wrote:These deals last until 3rd January, right?

In general, yes. However, some really good deals last only 24 hours, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. among them. I just got it. I didn't really intend to, but hell, 2 bucks is literally pocket change. I'm looking forward (with horror) to the upcoming 24-hour deals.

by **Amnesiasoft** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 4:20 pm UTC

Axman wrote:Far Cry 2, the best game of the God damned year is selling for $10.

Evil Genius is better. And it's only $2! Actually, I just didn't like Far Cry 2, it was boring.

by **thecommabandit** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:27 pm UTC

defaultusername wrote:
thecommabandit wrote:These deals last until 3rd January, right?
In general, yes. However, some really good deals last only 24 hours, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. among them. I just got it. I didn't really intend to, but hell, 2 bucks is literally pocket change. I'm looking forward (with horror) to the upcoming 24-hour deals.

Yeah, I discovered that those ones aren't due to the very large timer ticking away

I've now bought Braid, Everquest II: The Shadow Odyssey and The Void (£15). I already had Shadow of Chernobyl and I decided not to spend too much on everything else, despite how tempting AI War, Oblivion GOTY and Fuel are.

by **SoapyHobo** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 6:04 pm UTC

Thankfully I already own quite a lot of the games/packs that are on sale right now. All I've bought so far is the Oddworld pack and Lucasarts adventure pack, waiting for Dragon Age: Origins to go on sale and thinking about getting KotoR.

by **Axman** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:03 pm UTC

Did you play Far Cry 2 through the first map/ chapter? Because it starts out "I'm a killer, yaaay," to something wholly personal and dark. There's this event that makes you want to become death...

by **LuNatic** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 7:28 am UTC

Axman wrote:Did you play Far Cry 2 through the first map/ chapter? Because it starts out "I'm a killer, yaaay," to something wholly personal and dark. There's this event that makes you want to become death...

I finished the first chapter, and played enough of the second to realise that it's just a rehash of the first, then got bored and moved on to other games. The graphics are really nice, and the gameplay has a few neat touches here and there, but as a story it's pretty uninspiring.

by **LTK** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:48 am UTC

Direct2Drive UK has the Digital Deluxe Edition of Dragon Age available for 25% less, which means that it's now the price of the regular edition.

Buy it now, you fools! Twelve hours left!

I just did. Woo, Blood Dragon Armor for Mass Effect 2 too! Man, if I keep this up I'll have a gaming schedule set for a lifetime. Before it was composed of, replays included: Painkiller, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Dark Void, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, and now Dragon Age is gonna have to fit in somewhere too.

by **Axman** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:01 pm UTC

We may have to agree to disagree. Stringing for the j-man, I could not wait to find another tape. The Jackal was meditative, caring, and prideful. The "this was my country/ I loved my country/ its wealth choked it/ these minds are small/ cleanse it with fire" plot was something I could dig my heels into.

Plus, I know a lot about the Congo.

by **thecommabandit** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:30 pm UTC

LTK wrote:Direct2Drive UK has the Digital Deluxe Edition of Dragon Age available for 25% less, which means that it's now the price of the regular edition.

Buy it now, you fools! Twelve hours left!

You can buy a box of it for £15 on Amazon, which comes with the same as the Digital Deluxe Edition except without the wallpapers and soundtrack (yawn) and without the Warden's Keep DLC. Honestly, I'm not up for paying twice as much just for one DLC.

by **ProZac** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:36 pm UTC

Went through all the deals last night on Steam.

Considering Far Cry 2, Call of Jaurez: Bound in Blood, and Red Faction: Guerilla. Thoughts? I know Far Cry already received both sides of the 'awesome' and 'boring' argument, but I really don't know what to expect going into that. Any 'similar' fps's to compare it to? (No, I've never played a far cry game).

by **LTK** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:58 pm UTC

thecommabandit wrote:
LTK wrote:Direct2Drive UK has the Digital Deluxe Edition of Dragon Age available for 25% less, which means that it's now the price of the regular edition.

Buy it now, you fools! Twelve hours left!

You can buy a box of it for £15 on Amazon, which comes with the same as the Digital Deluxe Edition except without the wallpapers and soundtrack (yawn) and without the Warden's Keep DLC. Honestly, I'm not up for paying twice as much just for one DLC.

If you add the shipping fees it comes up to 23 pounds, and I'm fairly sure I would have been charged more than $7 for that DLC, so that adds up nicely. I prefer being able to download it anyway, and it's still in every way better than the €65 the EA store charges me for it.

by **Josephine** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:05 pm UTC

These are going to end up costing me a lot. I've finally gotten around to getting Garry's Mod (full price, but it's not too much), L4D2, Mirror's Edge, and I'm thinking about getting a few indie games.

by **Axman** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:23 pm UTC

ProZac wrote:Considering Far Cry 2, Call of Jaurez: Bound in Blood, and Red Faction: Guerilla. Thoughts? I know Far Cry already received both sides of the 'awesome' and 'boring' argument, but I really don't know what to expect going into that. Any 'similar' fps's to compare it to? (No, I've never played a far cry game).

Yes! Red Faction: Guerrilla. It's nothing at all like Far Cry or Crysis. The boring factor is because all of the missions result in you killing someone and all his someones, save for the handful of missions where you get something or give something from or to someone but have to kill a bunch of someones, first. But the game is so God damn immersive that each encounter is downright real, and if you're a stealthy dude, you can hear men praying for their survival once your reputation gets high enough. Look, for ten bucks, it's not a waste.

by **aion7** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:50 am UTC

I bought the id pack, indie puzzle pack, complete Shooter pack, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2, LucasArts adventure pack and Rome Total War.

For anyone wondering about the indie puzzle pack, here's my initial impressions of the two games I've played: Chains is really cool. Good base gameplay, and heaps of difficulty. It controls well. Obulis either starts out badly, or is just bad. Annoying music, odd structure, and uninspired gameplay that is all about correctly timing obvious solutions. This is just what I got from the beginning though, so it might get better.

by **Jorpho** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:07 pm UTC

Cogs was intriguing on D2D at $5 a few weeks ago... At $2, how can I deny it?

If you were thinking of Machnarium, before the day's end you can get it direct from the publisher along with Samorst 2 for a special price:
http://machinarium.net/blog/2009/12/16/ ... 10-60-off/

And D2D is kicking off its year-end sale with a whacking blank page of nothing. Hmm. Direct2Drive.co.uk is up, though:
http://www.direct2drive.co.uk/holiday/

Not much of note so far, though.

by **hendusoone** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:49 pm UTC

Yeah, I went for Cogs today. Also picked up the BF2 pack (I already have BF2 and Special Forces, but $7.50 for the convenience of not having to dig around for old CDs, it's worth it... I can still stink hours into that game on a good server) and King's Bounty: Armored Princess. That one's relatively recent, and looks interesting, though I didn't play the first King's Bounty. For $10, I'll give it a go.

I am getting tired of the "Steam servers are too busy to process your request" message, though. Stupid holiday sales with the overloading of the servers!

by **Jorpho** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:40 pm UTC

Ahh, there we go.
http://www.direct2drive.com/holiday/

Most of what's there is available at Steam for a better or equal price. The big standout is the Lucasarts Adventure bundle for $2.50 - a real baffling price, considering that The Dig and Last Crusade are available individually for $2.50! (Too bad I just got The Dig on Steam for that price.)

by **Jorpho** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:49 pm UTC

I am thoroughly unimpressed that even this so-called "Popcap Complete" collection lacks Zuma's Revenge!

Maybe I should just get it over with and pony up the ten bucks at popcap.com while I still can.

by **LTK** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:03 pm UTC

Jorpho wrote:Ahh, there we go.
http://www.direct2drive.com/holiday/

Most of what's there is available at Steam for a better or equal price.

Not if Steam charges you in euros it's not. D2D is the absolute winner for me.

by **Guiro** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 8:47 pm UTC

For those of you who don't have it, The Orange Box is now only $15 dollars on Steam, today only!

by **Jorpho** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:37 pm UTC

Y'think Prey is worth two bucks? With so much else to play, I find myself inclined to let mediocrity fall by the wayside.

by **Amnesiasoft** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:02 pm UTC

I enjoyed it plenty for $5. You can't pass up $2.

by **SoapyHobo** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:18 pm UTC

BioShock has been added late to today's sale, £3.50 $5 €probably far more than the other two.

Well worth it, I reckon.

by **headprogrammingczar** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:59 pm UTC

Prey is sold out on Steam. How is that even possible?

by **Amnesiasoft** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 12:00 am UTC

Steam still needs to provide you with a serial number for some games, if they don't have a serial number to give you, they can't sell you anything.

by **thecommabandit** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:50 am UTC

I was confused too, but it actually says it on the description. But still, BioShock for £3.50? YES.

by **Dobblesworth** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:05 pm UTC

So far in the Christmas sales, I've picked up Zombie Driver, Eve & Bioshock for less than £10 of investment in the past few days. Zombie Driver is ridiculous fun so far; amazing how simple a concept of "run over zombies" can have such interesting customizability. Eve & BS are yet to install, I will probably play the latter at some point, the former when I get insanely bored of WoW and need a new MMO to learn, and when it's for small change as £3, it's worth it I guess.

by **Goldstein** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:49 pm UTC

Jorpho wrote:Y'think Prey is worth two bucks?

I liked Prey. It's got some novel features and plays well. Mind, if you're not a FPS fan then it's got nothing for you, but you knew that already.

by **Jorpho** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:13 pm UTC

Aw yeah. I almost bought Jade Empire for its sale price the other day, and now here it is. Who needs to spend $30 bucks on Dragon Age to get a Bioware fix?

Having been greatly enjoying Moonpod's Starscape, I was kind of hoping Mr. Robot would go on sale too.

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