JonCole

No high resolutions, no AA, shitty Ubisoft DRM. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/08/18/from-dust-does-need-online-badly-ported/

1f-ul5QV3S0 Anyone excited for this one? I get a feeling that it's getting the least attention out of all the Summer of Arcade games but I've been having a fantastic time with it. The screenshots that I initially saw did very little to really explain what the game is all about, so I think that may be playing a part. Basically, this game is like a mix between Pixeljunk Shooter and Metroid. The map system, progression via unlocked weapons from bosses, and backtracking for upgrades to existing powers all feel very familiar from Metroid. On the other hand, the actual traversal, physics-based puzzles, and operation of various weapons feel very silky-smooth and organic like Shooter. Any interest out there? It's not coming out for another week, but I'm hoping it gets at least a few more eyes on it.

Ah, I see. I think I know which artifact you're talking about and I was surprised that I found it to begin with. The game didn't really function in that way at all except in that specific instance, which was odd. Still not enough to really anger me in any measurable way, but I guess it'd be different if that was the last one I was looking for.

Wait, what were you trying to collect that it wasn't showing you? I thought that all of the shield/blaster upgrades were shown on the map with those blue diamond symbol things.

Side note on the Indie Bundle 2, they now offer OnLive codes for Braid and Osmos. No reason not to register them if you have an account already.

As good as BF3 looks, lack of distribution through Steam is a dealbreaker for me. I know that sounds stupid or petty and I've argued fairly regularly with people on the topic, but I just don't like being inconvenienced when trying to play games. Any barrier to entry is honestly enough to keep me from a game that even looks as good as this, especially around holiday season where there are about 100 other equally worthy titles that are vying for my attention. EA is deliberately making it harder for me to buy their product, so... I just won't. Instead, I just placed a preorder on Skyrim and will likely put another one on Rage. Easy enough.

Looks like they're running a week long promotion on Ubisoft games, starting with Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands at $5. Too many sales are happening. http://www.onlive.com/games/details/prince-of-persia-the-forgotten-sands#&type=trailers

QlgOodQnFS4 The best

Cancellation is pretty easy. The only thing I don't like about it is that they cancel immediately instead of at the end of your last billing cycle.

Quick question to anyone who bought it so far... if you give enough to get the Humble Bundle 2, are the Steam codes for each bundle distinct? I'm considering this, but I already have the Bundle 2 and want to give it to my girlfriend.

Bulletstorm i feel like bulletstorm was a nice surprise for a small niche of the gaming community that actually checked it out. it takes the idea of a "bro shooter" and does it justice with great minute-to-minute gameplay. honestly, i enjoyed it more than gears of war in many ways, possibly most of which is the lighthearted, self-aware storyline that manages both sincerity and fun stupidity. beyond that, the creativeness of all of the weapons and their alt-fire "charge" attacks kept me switching up my loadout constantly. it's nice having a selection of competent weapons that are all fun to use in almost any situation, as opposed to the weapons in other games that often lead me to stick with assault rifle/sniper as long as humanly possible. the biggest shame is that bulletstorm got a little too bogged down in the "bro shooter" stuff for previews and demos, which led people to believe that this is the worst kind of army of two-esque story garbage around. i'm not saying the story should win any awards, but the character interactions and the inflection points that kept things moving throughout the story were solid and entertaining. i wish more people would give bulletstorm a try, if only because i'm selfish and want people can fly to make a sequel.

All of the previous stuff said, the deal I'm considering - PlayPass for a month ($10) -> Saint's Row: The Third ($35 after PlayPass discount) -> Deus Ex: HR (Free after Saint's Row preorder promo) I guess this is when I have to figure out whether or not I'm serious about OnLive because that's a lot of hours of gameplay to be on that service, not even including the PlayPass stuff. Also, Darksiders is $5 for today. Great price for a great game, if you don't already have it.

I've been doing a little bit of news writing for Game Thing Daily and Tech Thing Daily these past couple weeks and we've since started a new podcast for both of the sites. It basically just gives us a chance to highlight some of the news we were most interested in and elaborate on them in a more editorial tone. Anyways, I'd appreciate any feedback and I'm sure my cohosts would as well.

A lot of campaign progress is front-loaded, I don't really know what they're measuring that by. I was sitting at 50% progress when in reality I was about 1/3 through the game, if that gives you any insight. That said, it does seem like a fairly short game, I'm not quite done with it but I've only spent about 3-4 hours in it.

I concur, a Phenom II X4 is exactly what I did when I was doing a similar half-generational jump you were considering, TP. I also managed to snag a mobo for a pretty low price ($40 or something) and the upgrade slid just under $300.

Unfortunately, it's really only worth upgrading at this point if you're going to do the whole chipset at once (Mobo, CPU, RAM). I guess if you really wanted to squeeze as much out without doing that, you could get one of the Intel Core 2 Extreme processors and try them out. Not really a good long term choice, I have to stress.

I believe you can also opt for a free game of your choice, meaning you can pick up something recent/expensive at no cost (B1G1, effectively).

Eh, they're clearly still in a growing phase. They do seem to be getting fresh titles fairly regularly though, including newly released titles like Fear 3 and upcoming stuff like Deus Ex and Space Marine.

I just finished the third zone of this game... I like how the puzzles and enemies actually feel like they belong in the elemental zones they're attributed to (in other words, not any palette swaps). The bosses are also a lot more satisfying than in most pattern-recognition type games, mostly because they actually seem to bring together the themes of the zone they're bookending and quiz you on them.

Eh, with the CPU TP has I think some of these video cards are a little overkill. The 5770 is a great card at about $100 and probably the best bang/buck you can get at the moment.

Fantasy asshole, rolling through a hedge.

I don't really agree with any notion that they're overcompensating. Nintendo loses nothing from this. They get press about the lower price, price sensitive people will now pick it up, and early adopters are appeased with games they'd likely never buy on their own (not to mention cost Nintendo zip since they're all first-party games). If they wanted to generate real value for consumers, they'd give out manufacturer's coupons for future Nintendo releases or even carte blanche credit for 3DSWare and Virtual Console stuff in the name of consumer choice.

I think that's what I mean by feels more planned, because planning only really matters to me if it boosts my enjoyment of a series. At the very least, I can appreciate that any changes that were made over time seem to be in favor of fan reaction, rather than due to a hobbled "master plan".

Has anyone here watched Fringe? It seems a much better execution of J.J. Abrams vision (especially since he's stayed with it the whole way thus far, unlike just sticking with S1 of Lost) and feels much more planned as far as twists and payoff goes than most shows I've watched in recent memory.

Microsoft Studios has a lot of DLC on sale for 50% off that might interest Idle Thumbs fans. In particular, Halo: Reach map packs and Forza 3 Car packs are all pretty cheap. Here's the full list - Halo: Reach • "Halo: Reach - Defiant Map Pack" - 800 MSP - 400 MSP • "Halo: Reach - Noble Map Pack" - 800 MSP - 400 MSP Halo 3 • "Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Halo 3 Mythic II Map Pack" - 800 MSP - 400 MSP The "Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack" is currently not included in the sale. Halo Wars • "Halo Wars Strategic Options Add-on Pack" - 800 MSP - 400 MSP • "Halo Wars Historical Battle Map Pack Add-on" - 800 MSP - 400 MSP Gears of War 2 • "Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection" - 800 MSP - 400 MSP • "Flashback Multiplayer Map Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Combustible Multiplayer Map Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Snowblind Multiplayer Map Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Dark Corners Multiplayer Map Pack" - 560 MSP - 280 MSP Forza Motorsport 3 • "Community Choice Classics Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Autoweek Car Show Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Nurburgring GP Track Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Jalopnik Car Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "The Road & Track Car Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "The Summer Velocity Car Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "World Class Car Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "VIP Car Pack" - 800 MSP - 400 MSP • "Motorsport Legends Car Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Benchmark High Speed Ring" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Sidewinder Proving Grounds" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP • "Hot Holidays Car Pack" - 400 MSP - 200 MSP "The Exotic Car Pack" is currently not included in the sale. Fable III • "Fable III Traitor's Keep Quest Pack" - 560 MSP - 200 MSP • "Fable III Understone Quest Pack " - 400 MSP - 200 MSP Kinect Sports • "Kinect Sports Calorie Challenge Pack" - 320 MSP - 160 MSP Alan Wake • "Alan Wake: The Writer" - 560 MSP - 280 MSP • "Alan Wake: The Signal" - 560 MSP - 280 MSP Crackdown 2 • "Premium Toy Box Pack" - 560 MSP - 280 MSP • "Premium Deluge Pack" - 560 MSP - 280 MSP