I was just in Zavvi yesterday. They may be showing little respect to their customers at the minute (refusing to value gift vouchers is a real dick move) but they have a few good prices on some games:
Dragon Quest Swords, Wii - £9.99
Lost: The Video Game, Xbox 360 - £4.99
Civilization IV: Complete, PC - £7.99
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, PC - £2 (get this game, you can even put the serial into steam if you want)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadows of Chernobyl, PC - £5.99
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, PC - £9.99
Supreme Commander: Gold Edition, PC - £8.99
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, PC - £5.99
Mass Effect, PC - £4.99
No student discount is allowed these days "because we are going into administration". If they do survive it, which I hope and expect they will, they will have pissed off a bunch of customers.
Zavvi sale
Every Extend Extra, PSP - £3.67
Every Extend Extra, PSP - £3.67 delivered
Thanks to more heat than light for the tip off.
Dragon Quest: Chapters of The Chosen, DS - £9.99
Dragon Quest: Chapters of The Chosen, DS - £9.99 delivered
Gears of War 2 [Collectors Edition], Xbox 360 - £34.98
Gears of War 2 [Collectors Edition], Xbox 360 - £34.98 delivered
Xbox 360 Premium 60GB + Gears Of War 2 + Fallout 3 + PES 2009 - £179.99
Xbox 360 Premium 60GB + Gears Of War 2 + Fallout 3 + PES 2009 - £179.99 delivered
Good old Games Holiday Promotion
Good old games have got a fairly promotion on at the minute. All these bundles for $9.98 each:
Fallout & Fallout 2
Freespace, Expansion & Freespace 2
Descent, Descent 2, Descent 3 + Expansion
MDK & MDK 2
Stonekeep & Lionheart
They all come with Sountracks and other bonus material too. Grab them here.
You can also get the sublime Beneath a Steal Sky, and Lure of the Temptress (which I haven't played) for free, here. They are both freeware anyway, but GOG will sort of the XP/Vista compatibility for you, which is nice and convenient.
Thanks to Matthew for the tip off.
Naruto: The Broken Bond, Xbox 360 - £22.60
Naruto: The Broken Bond, Xbox 360 - £22.60 delivered
I played the demo of this just before my red ringing. Not too shabby at all.
Half life 2, PC - £7.73
Half life 2, PC - £7.73 delivered
You know, for the 3 or 4 people who don't own it yet.
Fun times
What the hell am I supposed to do when this happens? I've had the 360 less than a year, and bought it new from Argos. Will I get this console repaired, a refurbished replacement, or a brand new console?
I've taken such good care of it too, and only just got a live gold account, and a wireless adapter.
Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Wii - £9.98
Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Wii - £9.98 delivered
Viva Piñata Special Edition, Xbox 360 - £4.99
Viva Piñata Special Edition, Xbox 360 - £4.99 delivered
No More Heroes, Wii - £9.99
No More Heroes, Wii - £9.99 delivered
It was this price before, but it has just gone back in stock.
Half-Life 2 [Orange Box], PC - £14.99
Half-Life 2 [Orange Box], PC - £14.99 delivered
Cheaper than on Steam, even with the current sale.
F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, PC - £2.99
F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, PC - £2.99 delivered
This is the second stand alone Expansion to F.E.A.R.
A sad realisation
The total value of all Gamer Pics and Themes on Xbox Live Marketplace is 280,955MS Points, roughly £2,388.
The total value of all Games/Game content is 174,685MS Points, roughly £1,484.
Is there any way to filter all the bullshit out of the marketplace with the NXE?
Guitar Hero: World Tour, Wii - £19.98
Guitar Hero: World Tour, Wii - £19.98 delivered
Or £48.29 with guitar
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, PS3 - £9.99
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, PS3 - £9.99 delivered
Steam Christmas Sale
Valve have dropped all steam games by 10-70%, and there are some incredible bargains to be had. Sale ends on January 2nd.
Here's some of the highlights:
Gumboy - Crazy Adventures - £1.49
Trials 2 Second Edition - £1.49
Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete - £2.24 (great for gaming on an older system)
Commander Keen, Episodes 1-5 - £2.69
Bullet Candy - £2.69
Audiosurf - £2.99 (This also includes the Orange Box Soundtrack)
Portal - £3.49
Bioshock - £3.49
Beyond Good and Evil - £3.74
Far Cry - £3.74
Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast - £4.49
Dark Messiah Might and Magic - £4.49
Painkiller Gold Edition - £4.49
Multiwinia + Darwinia - £4.49 (these are £2.99 separately, but at £4.49 for the two it'd be stupid not to get both)
Everyday Shooter - £5.39
Heretic + Hexen Collection - £5.39
Defense Grid: The Awakening - £10.49 (I am playing this at the moment, it's a lot of fun, review is on the way)
Sid Meier's Civilization IV Complete - £13.49
Sam & Max, Season 1 - £15.29
id Superpack - £18.99
Valve Complete Pack - £39.74
THQ Collector Pack - £39.74
Eidos Collector Pack - £47.69
Peggle Extreme, PC - Free
Peggle Extreme, PC - Free
I just noticed on loading up Steam that Peggle Extreme, the Valve-infused version of Peggle, is free to all Steam users. Go and download it, gt sucked in, and be antisocial for the rest of the Christmas period.
Free games!
Well, it is Christmas, and some very generous indie devs are giving away their games, for free!
I blogged previously about how to get Lugaru for free, but now, it turns out you don't even need to do the facebook thing, since all that does is get you this link. It's probably a bit naughty of me sharing that link, sorry guys!
Pocketwatch Games are also giving away their animal based arctic adventure "Venture Arctic" for free too, head to their store, and use the code "CPN5867042685" to get it for free.
Lugaru, PC/Mac/Linux - Free
Venture Arctic, PC/Mac - Free (apply code "CPN5867042685")
Enjoy!
100 Classic Book Collection, DS - £14.99
100 Classic Book Collection, DS - £14.99 delivered
Another non-game for the DS from Nintendo. We all know this will sell millions, and at £14.99, it seems pretty reasonable. It's worth noting that, to my knowledge, all the books on it are public domain, so are free around the internet any, you are just paying for the portability and the interface.
Flower, Sun, and Rain, DS - £17.99
Flower, Sun, and Rain, DS - £17.99 delivered
Amazon keep dropping the price on this, first it was £21.84, then £19.79, and now £17.99.
Maybe it's not selling too well (wouldn't really be a surprise), so if you don't mind waiting, I bet it will be sub-£15 in then next month or so.
Mario Strikers Charged Football, Wii - £19.99
Mario Strikers Charged Football, Wii - £19.99 delivered
Universe At War, PC - £1.73
Universe At War, PC - £1.73 delivered
£1.73 for a competent RTS? Yes please.
Janurary Sales
Well, it's that time of year again. The middle of the day on the 24th of December, and you know what that means. It's January sales o'clock!
The retailers want us to spend money, so that's what we should do.
I'm going to be keeping up with the best deals available periodically throughout the Christmas period, although my spelling might get worse later on in the day. Keep checking as regularly as you can, because good stuff will sell out fast.
That said, give a thought to our Charity effort this Christmas. If you save a bunch of money, maybe give some to those less fortunate via our Chip In Child's Play widget to the right ->
Stuntman: Ignition, Xbox 360 - £7.49
Stuntman: Ignition, Xbox 360 - £7.49 delivered
Supposedly includes a free baseball cap "Whilst stocks last", but I imagine they have given them all away by now.
Dragon Quest: The Chapters Of The Chosen, DS - £13
Dragon Quest: The Chapters Of The Chosen, DS - £13 delivered
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Xbox 360 - £2,935
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Xbox 360 - £2,935 delivered
Janurary sales start early at Gamestation.
Update: Heh, looks like they have found the decimal point button, and fixed it now. Funnily enough, I still have it in my basket at the old price.
Play TV, PS3 - £44.99
Play TV, PS3 - £44.99 delivered
My parents use this, and they are really happy with it. I've used it a fair bit myself, and I was pretty sceptical at first, but it actually really impressed me.
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, PC - £9.99
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, PC - £9.99 delivered
Ratchet & Clank: Tools Of Destruction, PS3 - £9.99
Ratchet & Clank: Tools Of Destruction, PS3 - £9.99 delivered
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, Wii - £17.99
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, Wii - £17.99 delivered
Alone in the Dark - Limted Edition, PC - £6.98
Alone in the Dark - Limted Edition, PC - £6.98 delivered
Metal Gear Solid, PS3 - £12.97
Metal Gear Solid, PS3 - £12.97 in store at Tesco
Or even better, get PC World to pricematch it to £10.35
120GB HDD, Xbox 360 - £69.99
The 120GB HDD for the Xbox 360 is £69.99 in-store at Gamestation right now as part of their 'Star Buys' promotion. That's the same as RRP on a 20GB HDD and it comes with the transfer kit to move all of your content and saves over without any hassle.
I haven't been able to get an end-date on the promotion but they seem to be selling out fast. I can't imagine this will be on for too long.
DS lite, Turquoise/Pink - £75
DS lite, Turquoise/Pink - £75 delivered
This offer will go up Midday tomorrow (Friday), and the stock is ready to be dispatched for delivery on Monday.
You'll have to be very quick, since only 50 units are available.
RIP Free Radical
One of my favourite British developers has just closed their doors.
Free Radical, creators of the Timesplitters series, has, according to gamesindustry.biz, have closed up shop.
I loved the Timesplitters games, number 2 being my favourite, I have lost hours to it over the years. I loved Second Sight to bits too, it always felt like I was breaking the rules when I wasn't supposed to be, and it had a pretty great twist at the end.
In honour of their output over the last nine years, here's the best price I can find on all of their games. New where I can do, and if used is much of a discount I have included that too.
TimeSplitters, PS2 - £8.99 delivered
TimeSplitters 2, PS2 - £2.50 delivered
TimeSplitters 2, Xbox - £4.99 delivered (or £2 used)
TimeSplitters 2, Gamecube - £5 delivered
Second Sight, PS2 - £8.99 delivered (or £3 used)
Second Sight, Xbox - £7.99 delivered (or £3 used)
Second Sight, Gamecube - £5 delivered
Second Sight, PC - £1 delivered
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, PS2 - £9.89 delivered (or £7 used)
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, Xbox - £3.91 delivered
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, Gamecube - £10 delivered
Haze, PS3 - £9.99 delivered
Sadly, none of their Xbox games have been made 360 compatible yet. Maybe Microsoft is bitter about them going PS3 exclusive (although that is entirely speculation on my behalf).
Who knows what could have lead to this decision. I guess a lot of the blame could be levelled at Haze not living up to what anyone would have hoped. Maybe there was internal management issues. Whatever the reason I wish everyone involved the best, and hope that everyone finds new employment soon. Thanks for the fun times.
BOOSH!
Child's Play - The Gamers' Charity
At SavyGamer we're committed to saving gamers money. That much is obvious. You come here because you're looking to keep a little more cash in your pocket to use for other things. Maybe you've saved enough to buy an extra game with the difference between our prices and RRP. But what about using that little extra you saved you help out other gamers?
Specifically, the patients in children's hospitals around the world. Children who could use games to either escape their situation or to regain a form of social interaction. Children who could use the Wii to keep fit when they can't get out and about, or who regain dexterity through the use of a controller. Kids who should just be able to have fun, even though they spend most of their time in a hospital for a condition that they didn't deserve.
I think we can all agree that's a cause worth our time.
So here's a modest proposal. I'd like the readers of SavyGamer to give just a little something to these children. Maybe have a look at the most recent game you bought from SavyGamer, and donate the difference between that and the retail price. Maybe half of the difference, or whatever you feel you can afford.
If you use this ChipIn widget then we'll be able to track how much SavyGamer readers have donated to Child's Play. Your entire donation will go to the Child's Play cause - neither SavyGamer nor ChipIn will take anything out of it. You don't have to use it if you don't want - you can PayPal your donation directly to childsplaycharity@penny-arcade.com if you so wish.
I've set a modest goal of $200 by the New Year, which I think we should all be able to achieve together, and I'd love to see it climb far beyond that. What do you say?
You can find out more about Child's Play here.
Console Price drop at Zavvi
If you are looking to pick up a PS3 or a 360 on it's own, Zavvi is probably your best bet.
They have dropped the prices of all three Xbox 360 consoles, and all models of PS3. Here are the new prices.
Xbox 360
Arcade - £97.64
Premium (60gb) - £148
Elite - £195.73
PS3
80gb - £264
The premium is the best buy there in my opinion, another £70 for a different colour and an extra 60gb hardly seems worth it, but £30 on top of the Arcade for a premium is easily worth it. The PS3 is probably still over priced for my liking, and unless it performs really well in the second half of December, I predict a price cut, or big retailer discounts in the new year. Remember as well that PC World will price match Zavvi and take 10% of the difference off. Currys also price match PC World and take off 10%, but I don't know how far you'll be able to push that.
Thanks to everyone who sent in this tip.
Update: There was some confusion over the pricing, but it looks like it is £148 for a 60gb Pro.
Guitar Hero World Tour with Guitar, Xbox 360 - £58.29
Guitar Hero World Tour with Guitar, Xbox 360 - £58.29 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Guitar Hero World Tour with Guitar, PS3 - £58.29
Guitar Hero World Tour with Guitar, PS3 - £58.29 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Guitar Hero World Tour with Guitar, Wii - £58.29
Guitar Hero World Tour with Guitar, Wii - £58.29 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Prince of Persia, Xbox 360 - £19.57
Prince of Persia, Xbox 360 - £19.57 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Sonic Chronicles, DS - £14.67
Sonic Chronicles, DS - £14.67 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
FIFA 09, PSP - £14.67
FIFA 09, PSP - £14.67 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
FIFA 09, Wii - £24.25
FIFA 09, Wii - £24.25 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
We Love Golf, Wii - £14.67
We Love Golf, Wii - £14.67 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Table Tennis, Wii - £9.78
Table Tennis, Wii - £9.78 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Lego Batman, Wii - £17.12
Lego Batman, Wii - £17.12 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Animal Crossing: Lets go to the City, Wii - £28.25
Animal Crossing: Lets go to the City, Wii - £28.25 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
Fable II, Xbox 360 - £19.57
Fable II, Xbox 360 - £19.57 collect in store at Argos.
Deal available until Christmas Eve.
PlayStation Network Collection: Power Pack, PSP - £9.99
PlayStation Network Collection: Power Pack, PSP - £9.99 delivered
Features flOw, Beats and Syphon Filter: Combat Ops
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, Xbox 360 - £7.99
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, Xbox 360 - £7.99 delivered
GAME Nintendo Promotion
To coincide with the release of Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City, Game are offering discounts on a bunch of Nintendo titles.
First, head here, and complete the 4 (incredibly easy when you use the clues) questions, and they will email you various discount codes.
Two of the codes are pretty useless. Even with £3 off Wii Speak, it is cheaper to get it ffrom Play.com for £17.99 Similarly, Animal Crossing + Wii Speak is cheaper from Gameplay at £48.93, even with £5 off.
The other two vouchers, £5 off selected Wii games and £3 off selected DS games are a bit more useful. Here is the pick of the best deals:
Wii
WarioWare: Smooth Moves - £24.35
Big Brain Academy - £12.49
Wario Land: The Shake Dimension - £24.35
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - £24.35
Mario Party 8 - £24.35
DS
Mario Kart DS - £21.89
Sight Training - £14.61
New Sonic Xtreme videos found
Now, you guys might not have owned a Sega Saturn, but I certainly did.
Sonic Xtreme was the game that was going to save the system. A brand new, 3D Sonic game, filled with new ideas. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. For a range of reasons, both internal politics at Sega and technical issues, it never saw the light of day.
However, just recently, a pair of new videos of the game as it might have eventually been, have been discovered.
PC Version - "New Paths"
Saturn Version - "New Worlds"
Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Xbox 360 - £11.30
Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Xbox 360 - £11.30 delivered
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, DS - £14.98
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, DS - £14.98 delivered
This is an example of a game that shouldn't be good, but is.
It's a 2.5d Metroidvania, with very fast paced combat.
Universe at War: Earth Assault, Xbox 360 - £4.99
Universe at War: Earth Assault, Xbox 360 - £4.99 delivered
It was this price a few days ago, but had sold out. Back in stock now.
Home - Review
Home, PS3 - Free
Review by LewieP
(as of Home v1.03)
Booting up home, the first thing I got to do was create a character.
No matter what you do, the character will not look like you, they will look like someone from an awful lifestyle photoshoot.
I was unable to give my guy a beard, maybe I have to pay for that.
Miis are fun, Soniis (I think I invented that) are simply not. No matter what combination of 'dead inside' eyes, focus group fashion and overdone hairstyle you give them, they still end up looking very punchable.
One you make your character, you are transported to your coastal apartment. I must say, the game is quite pretty in a very inoffensive, clinical, way.
Here you can move things about, and sit down if you like.
I guess, you could throw some money at Sony for a new sofa...
The problem with it all, there is some great views, huge areas are visible from your balcony, but unless I am much mistaken, it is all superficial. There is no exploration, and nothing to do. Beyond your balcony, it is just eye candy.
I chose to venture out of my apartment, and see some other people. I went to my door (the only exit for the apartment), and it said "Press X to download this area", then I had to wait whilst it downloaded the area.
I don't know why it didn't just do this from when I arrived. It was the only obvious place I could go, and that would have saved me the wait.
When it does finally load, I am in the main area. It is filled with interactive adverts for Sony products. Sorry, I mean content.
There were people around, so I did the only thing the clunky broken communication interface was conducive to, making a prat of myself. I was asking "A/S/L?", asking people if they want to play chequers, then running away, and I spent a lot of time telling people I have no keyboard and dancing at them. I got quite a crowd at one point.
The minigames are beyond pointless. I have had more fun gaming on my phone, and Wii Sports nailed how to do a casual bowling game at launch, how can Sony balls up something that simple with all the time they have had.
I'll admit, I really wanted to dislike Home from the start, and it did absolutely nothing to convince me it is anything other than a waste of time, energy, and money for everyone involved.
Sony have very successfully replicated all of the tedium of everyday life, without any of the fun that could be had in a virtual world. All wrapped around a vacuous, hollow shell of a game filled with barriers, both to your time, freedom, and wallet.
lolsony.
You're In the Movies, Xbox 360 - £17.99
You're In the Movies, Xbox 360 - £17.99 delivered
Software only, so this is only good if you already have the Live vision camera.
Flower, Sun, and Rain, DS - £21.84
Flower, Sun, and Rain, DS - £21.84 delivered
Adventure game from Suda51/Grasshopper Interactive. Almost certainly worth a look.
Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo Dungeon, Wii - £16.99
Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo Dungeon, Wii - £16.99 delivered
Lugaru, PC/Mac/Linux - Free!
As a nice little Christmas present, and a thinly veiled marketing technique for their up and coming game Overgrowth, Indie devs Wolfire are giving away the previous game 'Lugaru' via Facebook.
Check it out:
Go to the Facebook group page, and make yourself a fan, then attend this facebook event and get your code on Christmas day (and Add me whilst your there ;D).
Wolfire blog
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Xbox 360 - £19.56
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Xbox 360 - £19.56 delivered
Mirror's Edge, Xbox 360 - £22.99
Mirror's Edge, Xbox 360 - £22.99 delivered
Not in stock at the minute, I doubt you would get it before Christmas, but it is a pretty good price.
Mirror's Edge, PS3 - £22.99
Mirror's Edge, PS3 - £22.99 delivered
Not in stock at the minute, I doubt you would get it before Christmas, but it is a pretty good price.
Far Cry 2: Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £29.35
Far Cry 2: Collectors Edition, Xbox 360 - £29.35 delivered
It comes with:
Artbook,
Map,
T-Shirt,
Map Guide Book,
Making-of DVD.
Far Cry 2: Collectors Edition, PS3 - £29.35
Far Cry 2: Collectors Edition, PS3 - £29.35 delivered
It comes with:
Artbook,
Map,
T-Shirt,
Map Guide Book,
Making-of DVD.
Far Cry 2, PC - £17.61
Far Cry 2, PC - £17.61 delivered
Although it is probably worth going for the Collectors Edition for £19.56.
It comes with:
Artbook,
Map,
T-Shirt,
Map Guide Book,
Making-of DVD.
Xbox Live 60GB Starter Kit - £48.93
Xbox Live 60GB Starter Kit - £48.93 delivered
Includes a 60gb drive, headset, ethernet cable and 3 months of Live.
Burnout Paradise, Xbox 360 - £14.98
Burnout Paradise, Xbox 360 - £14.98 delivered
Not in stock right now, so this is just a pre-order.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £14
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £14 delivered
Not in stock right now, so this is just a pre-order.
Resistance 2, PS3 - £19.99
Resistance 2, PS3 - £19.99 delivered
Not in stock right now, so this is just a pre-order.
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, Xbox 360 - £14.43
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, Xbox 360 - £14.43 delivered
Rock Band: The Colour and the Shape - 1200MSP
Foo Fighters: The Colour and the Shape, Xbox 360 Rock Band DLC - 1200MSP
This price is only available until 5PM GMT next Tuesday, December 16th, at which point it will revert to the previous 1600MSP price point.
The cheapest deal for Microsoft Points is currently here.UPDATE 17:15: It seems like this is not available yet. I'll update again when it is.
UPDATE 19:43: This deal is now available on xbox.com but not on the Dashboard.
UPDATE 21:35: Okay, everything looks like it's working now. Go getcher deal.
Alone In The Dark: Fixed Edition, PS3 - £19.99
Alone In The Dark: Fixed Edition, PS3 - £19.99 delivered
Zack And Wiki - Quest For Barbaros' Treasure, Wii - £14.73
Zack And Wiki - Quest For Barbaros' Treasure, Wii - £14.73 delivered
Bully: Scholarship Edition, Xbox 360 - £9.73
Bully: Scholarship Edition, Xbox 360 - £9.73 delivered
Not in stock right now, so probably no good if you want it before Christmas.
Bully: Scholarship Edition, Wii - £9.73
Bully: Scholarship Edition, Wii - £9.73 delivered
Not in stock right now, so probably no good if you want it before Christmas.
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, Xbox 360 - £17.73
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, Xbox 360 - £17.73 delivered
Not in stock right now, so probably no good if you want it before Christmas.
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, PS3 - £17.73
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, PS3 - £17.73 delivered
Not in stock right now, so probably no good if you want it before Christmas.
Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe, Xbox 360 - £23.94
Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe, Xbox 360 - £23.94 delivered
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts And Bolts, Xbox 360 - £34.89
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts And Bolts, Xbox 360 - £34.89 delivered
A few pennies cheaper at the hut, but not in stock at the minute.
Castlevania - Dracula X Chronicles, PSP - £12
Castlevania - Dracula X Chronicles, PSP - £12 delivered
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £14.67
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £14.67 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PS3 - £23.94 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PS3 - £23.94 delivered
My review can be found here.
Mirror's Edge, Xbox 360 - £23.94
Mirror's Edge, Xbox 360 - £23.94 delivered
My review can be found here.
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, PC - £5.99
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, PC - £5.99 delivered
Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack - 400MSP
Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack - 400MSP
This price is only available until 5PM GMT next Tuesday, December 9th, at which point it will revert to the previous 600MSP price point.
The cheapest deal for Microsoft Points is currently here.
D-PAD Christmas Countdown
To mark the begining of advent, starting today, D-PAD Magaine are having a daily giveaway, for all of December.
Things kick off today with a copy of Guitar Hero World Tour up for grabs, and Dave from D-PAD says:
"we've managed to get hold of some fantastic prizes that range from new release games to....well, you'll see!"
Good luck to everyone entering, head here to enter.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, PS3 - £19.99
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, PS3 - £19.99 in store at Gamestation.
Thanks to a bunch of people, actually, for the tip offs.
2100 Microsoft Points - £15.49
2100 Microsoft Points - £15.49 delivered
Apparently there's somewhere selling 2100 Lips-branded points at £14 but I couldn't find the site when I looked. If anyone knows it please post in the comments.
Thanks to JJ for the tip.
Fable 2, Xbox 360 - £19.57 delivered
Fable 2, Xbox 360 - £19.57 delivered
A little bird tells me that is is also a similar price in-store at Gamestation.
Gears of War 2, half price soon at Gamestation
We've heard from an anonymous insider that Gamestation will be dropping the price of Gears of War 2 at some point in near future. It looks like Gears of War 2 on the Xbox 360 will be down to £20 in Gamestation stores across the UK, maybe in time for Christmas.
The current online price is a VAT friendly £37.18, and the in store price is £40, but if our sources are correct, there should be an in store drop to £20. So if you are looking for the best price on it, I would suggesting waiting to see what pans out with Gamestation.
Disappointing sales of the title at the chain is said to be behind the promotion.
The source has also speculated that COD:WAW (reviewed here) is a potential future half price game, but couldn't give a timeframe.
Command & Conquer: The First Decade, PC - £14.67
Command & Conquer: The First Decade, PC - £14.67 delivered
Contains:
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer - The Covert Operations
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Command & Conquer: Red Alert - The Aftermath
Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Counterstrike
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Yuris Revenge
Command & Conquer: Renegade
Command & Conquer: Generals
Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour
Would make an ideal Christmas present.
Xbox 360 + Kung Fu Panda + Lego Indiana Jones + PGR 4 + Sega Superstar Tennis + Extra Wireless controller - £166
Xbox 360 + Kung Fu Panda + Lego Indiana Jones + PGR 4 + Sega Superstar Tennis + Extra Wireless controller - £166
One of the best 360 bundles about, and I've actually heard goodish things about Kung Fu Panda.
Either collect in store, get free 5-7 days delivery, or pay £5.95 for 1-5 days delivery.
Update: Seemingly unavailable now, despite still being advertised on the telly...
Hmm. I'll keep you updated.
Meadowhall Centre Gamestation Opening tomorrow
The 250th Gamestation is opening tomorrow morning in the Meadowhall Centre in Sheffield.
To celebrate the event, there is going to be some guys in Mario & Sonic costumes, the local radio station are there to offer people shots of octopus, and there are going to be prizes and stuff.
There will also be some special offers available:
Gears of War 2, Xbox 360 - £20
Halo 3, Xbox 360 - £10
Xbox 360 Pro with Pro Evo 09 - £150
The first 50 customers there in the morning will get a "special goodie bag". Opening time is 10am.
Little Big Planet, PS3 - £23.91
Little Big Planet, PS3 - £23.91 delivered
Thanks to John for the tip.
World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King (Collectors Edition), PC - £39.99
World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King (Collectors Edition), PC - £39.99 delivered
Comes with a bunch of stuff:
Behind-the-scenes DVD,
Official soundtrack CD,
Artbook,
Mouse pad,
In-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm,
Two 'World of Warcraft' Trading Card Game 'March of the Legion' starter decks, with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector's Edition.
Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City with Wii Speak, Wii - £49.99
Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City with Wii Speak, Wii - £49.99 delivered
Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City, Wii - £28.99
Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City, Wii - £28.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge - Review
Mirror's Edge, Xbox 360 - £27.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PS3 - £27.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PC - £21.99 delivered
Review by LewieP
What on earth are DICE doing wasting their time with the Battlefield series?
They have just created a stunning, incredibly forward thinking platformer that pushes the boundaries of what a first person game was thought to be.
DICE's single greatest success is having made a game where you actually feel like you are in control of a human being. The rules are all firmly based on reality, no superhuman athleticism here. The controls are tight and responsive, and you are always directly in control, and always fast. Very quickly you understand your characters limitations, and how to push them.
You can see, hear and feel Faith's every breath.
The pacing of the story mode is spot on. The action constantly moves at an utterly relentless speed, with brilliant set pieces strung together in a way that would make Valve jealous. But it almost never deviates from the core gameplay mechanic, just builds on it. It may not be long, but it wastes very little of your time, is a joy to be in control of, and always challenging.
Now, Mirror's Edge is a very intelligent platformer, but you will have to work for it. You will die many times in Mirror's Edge, and it's easy to find it frustrating. Some of the checkpoints seem a bit on the sparse side, and the level design can often punish you for being curious. I don't know to what degree this is by design, but for me, if any game would benefit from ripping off the Prince of Persia rewind, it would be Mirror's Edge.
That said, when you do finally overcome those moments of frustration, you really do feel like you have achieved something.
The combat is a downside.
It is not a game about the combat.
My biggest problem with the combat is that it detracts from the game somewhat. It is good to have the option to kill/KO all the enemies. It is also good that it is often the best option to avoid combat at all. It is bad that there are points at which you are forced to use the combat, or 'break' the AI to avoid combat.
It is also bad that there's a point where you are forced to use a gun. It killed the mood of the game for me, and is almost unforgivable.
I applaud DICE for making combat ancillary to the core gameplay, a very brave move, but I still think they slightly mishandled it.
That said, once I realised that I could pick up dropped weapons whilst sliding, I slung together some incredibly badass combat sequences.
I am completely sucked into the time trials. Once I have worked out how to 3 Star (A 'perfect' run) a level, I spend ages trying to actually do it. Mastering a level, and earning the 3 Star ranking is one of the single most rewarding moments of gaming I have ever had.
Mirror's Edge has a classy, bright and beautiful visual design that gives it an identity entirely of it's own. You could not mistake it for any other game on the market, which is always nice. It manages to turn fairly mundane locations like "office block" into gorgeous urban playgrounds bursting with colour and charm. Blue skies present and correct.
Also, smashing open the doors feels incredible. There should be a level that is just a long straight corridor filled with red door after red door, for a mile or so (maybe in the DLC).
There are a few annoyances that I wish they had worked on. Having a check point immediately before a cut-scene, or a door with a very slowly turning wheel to open it is poor form (although I suspect it is to mask loading times in some cases).
The quirks of the Unreal 3.0 engine are out in full force. Texture pop up, and lifts from the same supplier used for Mass Effect. There is also an odd glitch where when you respawn, world objects like dropped weapons that were stationary appear to drop vertically into the level. Hardly detracts from the game, but it's a bit sloppy, and worth mentioning. I also noticed a typo error in the Subtitles, what's with that?
The time trials are fantastic, but it would have benefited from at the very least a screenshot (video would be even better) preview of each level on the selection screen. As it is, you have to remember them by name, and if you can't remember the name of a particular level, you have to guess, and load each one up until you find it. It's sloppy, and some of the names are really not that distinctive.
Also - a weird glitch that is present on the 360 version, not sure about other platforms. In the time trials, if you are on a level with glass windows, when you start a run, they are all intact. If you go and smash them all, then restart, they will remain smashed. Abusing this can save time too.
The story is not all that great. The dialogue is not quite mature enough to do the setting justice, and it is the first game I have played where the animated cut scenes look markedly worse than in game footage. I really don't know why they decided to ever take the player out of Faith's perspective. The game's insistance on using uber-cool slang like "Blues" (police officers) and "Bird" (Helicopter) gets pretty annoying. Just ignore the story and play the damn game.
Mirror's Edge is a very important game. DICE have raised the bar for First-Person games as a whole. I want to see all games have this level of physical immersion. No excuses now.
A triumph of interface, immersion and level design. Incredibly human. A must play.
Discuss it in the forums.
Mirror's Edge, Xbox 360 - £27.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PS3 - £27.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PC - £21.99 delivered
Mercenaries 2: World In Flames, Xbox 360 - £19.99
Mercenaries 2: World In Flames, Xbox 360 - £19.99 delivered
Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Xbox 360 - £19.99
Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Xbox 360 - £19.99 delivered
Metroid Prime Pinball, DS - £9.99
Metroid Prime Pinball, DS - £9.99 delivered
Comes with a rumble pak, but I think that might be for the original DS phat. Anyone know for sure?
Valve Complete Pack, PC - £78.94
Valve Complete Pack, PC - £78.94 on Steam
A big spend, but it is a huge catalogue of quality games. You get:
The entire Half-Life series, including expansions, episodes and multiplayer,
Team Fortress 1 and 2,
Portal,
Counter Stike, Condition Zero and Source,
Day of Defeat, Source,
Peggle Extreme,
and Left 4 Dead.
Worth it is you don't already own any of them.
Gears of War Golden Lancer DLC, Xbox 360 - Free
Gears of War Golden Lancer DLC, Xbox 360 - Free
This is a bit of an exploit opened by the new online Marketplace at xbox.com. Follow the link and log in and you'll be able to queue the download to your 360.
This is the same gold-plated gun that is available as a code in the Collector's Edition of Gears 2. If you only bought the regular edition then you were supposed to miss out on this extra.
If you want it, grab it quick - I imagine this loophole will be closed soon.
UPDATE: Hope you grabbed it, it's now 99999 MSP. If you think it's worth it.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - Review pt.1
It has QTEs.
In a fighting game.
...At one point, it says "Mash buttons repeatedly"
That is one of the instructions.
More later.
Saints Row 2, PS3 - £17.99
Argos have Saints Row 2 for the PS3 for £19.99, and PC World will price match plus 10% of the difference off. PC World are currently selling it for £39.99, and by my maths that comes out as £17.99 when bought in-store.
Print off this page and ask for the pricematch in-store.
Saints Row 2, Xbox 360 - £18.49
Argos have Saints Row 2 for the 360 for £19.99, and PC World will price match plus 10% of the difference off. PC World are currently selling it for £34.99, and by my maths that comes out as £18.49 when bought in-store.
Print off this page and ask for the pricematch in-store.
Half Life, PC - 78p
Half Life, PC - 78p/$0.98 on steam.
I am pretty sure everyone will have this already, but if not, you really should have it.
This price is to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Half Life. Certainly one of the most influential games ever. It was a pivotal title in the FPS genre. It broke down a lot of the genre's conventions, and pioneered first person narrative. A brilliantly designed game that is still very playable today.
I feel old.
What you need to know about Wii System Menu 3.4.
Nintendo recently offered an update for the Wii software, which offered several improvements, these are:
Support for USB keyboard in the Mii Channel
Enhanced parental controls
Improved SD card read/write speed
One of the negative side effects of this update is that currently, the Twilight Hack will not work with it. This means that if you update to System Menu 3.4, and then wish to run homebrew on your console, you will be unable to do so.
If however, you have already installed the Homebrew Channel, you should be fine. It will not break currently installed Homebrew applications, it will only prevent new installations of the homebrew channel.
It is likely that a workaround will be found soon, so don't despair if you have already updated.
I would recommend that you avoid updating your system in the mean time, unless any of the new features are hugely important to you, or you are happy with your Homebrew Channel install.
Call of Duty: World At War - Review
Call of Duty: World At War, Xbox 360 - £35 delivered
Call of Duty: World At War, PS3 - £37.71 delivered
Call of Duty: World At War, PC - £29.49 delivered
Call of Duty: World At War, Wii - £29 delivered
Review by LewieP
CODWAW (Cod·Wah) is a funny beast.
The previous entry in the Call of Duty series was a big franchise reboot. It left behind the World War 2 backdrop of the previous entries in favour of a modern setting, It also brought a whole load of new ideas to the table for the multiplayer, adding an almost MMO style meta-game to the multiplayer really added to the game, and it was also hugely successful. It was also developed by Infinity Ward.
This entry to the series is seemingly undeserving of a number. It goes back to the relatively safe territory of World War 2, and instead of telling a new story, tells the story of (fictional) characters taking part in the (real) World War 2. It is developed by Treyarch, whose previous output can generously be described as 'mixed'.
A lot of people thinking of picking up CODWAW will be thinking a lot about the Multiplayer. Sorry, I have not played the Multiplayer. I am not a big fan of online FPSs anyway, so consider this a review of the single player aspect of CODWAW.
I jumped straight into the single player. Before each mission you are given a bit of historical background to the mission you are about to undertake. These are in the format that can best be described as halfway between a BBC2 WW2 documentary and a White Stripes video, voiced over by Jack "Corporal Roebuck" Bauer. Honestly, I don't know how I feel about these. Generally, I think history is fair game for making books/films/games about, and world war 2 is just a part of history. I just think using archive footage of real soldiers in real battles, likely real soldiers who died fighting, in the same game that features a "Nazi Zombies" mode is a little crass. More on that later.
The first mission opens with a cut scene, only it's a "you can move your head so it's not actually a cut-scene, honest" type of cut-scene, you'll be seeing a few of them. The game has you switching roles between a rescued American POW, Miller, fighting The Japanese, and a (believe it or not) Russian, Dimitri Petrenko, from the 3rd Shock Army, fighting in Stalingrad, and later across Germany.
The core gameplay is pretty much what I've come to expect from COD. Set pieces strung together with shooting bad guys, taking cover, and using a range of weapons (all of which are pretty fun to use, and sound great) to follow a very linear set of objectives.
A few things did bother me. There are more invisible walls in CODWAW than any game I have played in a while. Far too often you are stopped by an invisible force, for seemingly no reason. I'm not expecting some kind of open-world game, but it's really disappointing when sloppy level design breaks your immersion. Similarly, there are lots of times when there are ledges or walls that you should be able to climb over, and you can't. Sometimes you can easily hop a 3ft wall, other times a 1ft step is insurmountable. This is pretty basic stuff, and I don't remember it being a problem in COD4. There are often a bunch of conveniently placed explosive barrels too. In 2008.
I can't help but feel I am alone on the battlefield. There are times when I know I would not have been a good target, it would have made more sense for the enemies to target one of my squadmates, but still I am target number one. Conversely, you have to single-handedly achieve all of the objectives, you can forget about expecting your buddies to kill any of the enemies, and left to their own devices they would never get anything done.
The environments, whilst generally pretty, are very un-interactive. A lot of stuff doesn't react to being shot. There are loads of doors that can't be opened. The fire burning effect is not all that good. The animation is sometimes excellent, like when you see your buddies slide behind cover beside you, but they will also often clip through corpses, and the really seem to struggle with steps and stairs, I have more than once seen people floating/clipping through the ground.
There are lots of constantly spawning enemies. Times when it is simply impossible to just kill all the guys, you have to kill a few, then run through an invisible gate, which will trigger the command to stop spawning more guys.
There are also QTE-esque "press this button to not die" thrown at you every now and again to keep you on you toes. Because everybody loves them.
You have the same health/death/respawn system from COD4, although I must say, it is not implemented as well here. Sometimes check points feels far too spread out, and sometimes too close together. I have also often respawned at the end of a series of corridors, or at the bottom of a flight of stairs, just to have to walk a long time each time it reloads. Kinda frustrating. I also had to quit once because I was being respawned over a grenade and hadn't got enough time to move out of its way, or throw it away.
That said, the 'return the grenade' manoeuvre feels a lot tighter. I can't put my finger on what has changed, but I am much more often successful at it than I was in COD4.
Other good stuff -
The Flame-thrower is a hell of a lot of fun, if a bit over used.
When a grenade goes off, you know about it. Lots of nice sound and visual effects really put you right there in the battlefield.
There is probably one of the better "on rails" sections of any FPS in a while, shame it was so short, and is skipped when playing co-op.
The soundtrack is actually a real surprise, mostly subdued electronic stuff. I wouldn't have thought it would work on paper, but it makes a great change from sweeping orchestral themes we are so used to in WW2 games.
Split Screen Co-op is a much welcome addition, you'll have to sit pretty close to the screen, or have a big telly, but I can see myself replaying it many a time on co-op.
The Nazi Zombie mode is as fun as you would hope. It reminds me of one of the best bits from RE4. You get points for killing zombies, and you can use these points to get more ammo, better weapons, and other stuff. Great fun, and very frantic.
Overall, it is a bit hard to get too excited about CODWAW. The narrative, characters, and set pieces are all a notch lower than those of COD4. That said, it certainly has some great moments, and some of the new stuff is a lot of fun.
As great as COD4 was, it certainly wasn't forward thinking enough that the design won't get stale pretty fast. This is a sequel which brings very little new stuff to the table, and it really shows that Treyarch are simply not as good at making Call of Duty games as Infinity Ward are. There is fun to be had here, for sure, but if you wait another year, you will get the real sequel to COD4.
As a sidenote, props to Treyarch/Activision for making the Wii version the same game as the other versions just with less pretties. More of that please.
Discuss it in the forums.
Call of Duty: World At War, Xbox 360 - £35 delivered
Call of Duty: World At War, PS3 - £37.71 delivered
Call of Duty: World At War, PC - £29.49 delivered
Call of Duty: World At War, Wii - £29 delivered
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