Tales of Monkey Island, PC - £21.95 (you'll get each chapter as they are released)
Demo here.
Review by Dimrill
After doing a fantastic job of resuscitating the Sam & Max story, Telltale Games have turned their attention to the lamentably neglected Monkey Island series with this first episode of a planned 5, The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. Personally, I didn’t hear any rumblings or rumours of such a resurrection, and so was shocked when confronted with the first episode release within a few weeks of the announcement that it was being worked on. Pleasantly shocked, mind.
So what have Telltale got to work with? In my opinion, the series as a whole took a massive nosedive after the third instalment, Curse of Monkey Island. The ditching of the 2D graphics and SCUMM interface for the console friendly GrimE system was a massive letdown. The character and atmosphere was stripped out of the series and we were left with clunky controls and cursing at the screen when Guybrush got stuck on some scenery. Although all of these problems seemed symptomatic of the decline in point and click adventures coupled with the bizarre industry drive towards “everything must be 3D!” It’s taken until the Nintendo DS for the 2D genre to regain a foothold in marketplace, and I for one applaud it.
First things first, Tales... actually feels like a Monkey Island game as soon as you load it up. The art direction is bang on, the music is faithful to the original series, and most importantly Dominic Armato and Alexandra Boyd reprise their roles as the voices of Guybrush and Elaine. I doubt I could’ve accepted it if any of these components were missing. No doubt this is thanks to the return of original designer Dave Grossman as the design director.
The script writing is sharp and witty thanks to Michael Stemmle on this episode, and if the reports can be believed, Ron Gilbert also had a hand in the creation of these new episodes in the early design stages. For instance, there are some wonderful lines early on referring to the gap in the game’s development timeline. The characterisation of Guybrush remains true to the original series, with him being an atypical loveable failure, but the incidental characters could’ve done with a little more work to make them memorable. Series staple Voodoo Lady appears later on, and mention is made of Stan by an ancillary character.
Although Telltale have kept the easy and quick to generate 3D graphics in line with their Sam & Max episodes, they seem to have had troubles with deciding on the control system. Sam & Max was a joy to use, with a simple inventory system which worked on one or two clicks to get anything done. Here it’s a halfway house between Sam & Max simplicity and the traditional Monkey Island complexity. Any item can be examined with a single click, but using the inventory (by pressing “i” alphabet fans) to combine items seems needlessly complicated. Instead of picking up an item and clicking it on the other with which you wish to combine, you have to move both to separate boxes and click on a + symbol. Why? Unfortunately this has haunted me all the way through the episode, never seeming to fade into the background.
Also, the puzzles don’t appear to be particularly logical, with club cards left in socks and a particularly annoying section which involves following sound effects in the jungle. This was a problem I found afflicted Escape... quite profoundly. Hopefully it may be addressed later on in the series. One thing that can be said for this over Sam & Max, is that the episode is considerably longer and larger in scope, which bodes well for later episodes.
Despite these shortcomings, I’ve ended up liking The Launch of The Screaming Narwhal much more than the last Lucasarts attempt in the series. It would’ve been foolhardy in the extreme to expect quality levels to reach the same as the first three games.
Tales of Monkey Island, PC - £21.95 (you'll get each chapter as they are released)
Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal - Review
Professor Layton And The Curious Village, DS - £17.99
Professor Layton And The Curious Village, DS - £17.99 delivered
Cheers to Rubix78 for the tip off.
Rock Band Portable Drum Kit, Xbox 360 - £14.89
Rock Band Portable Drum Kit, Xbox 360 - £14.89 collect in store
Review here.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Wii - £24.85
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Wii - £24.85 delivered
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £12.99
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £12.99 delivered
Far Cry 2 [Collector's Edition], Xbox 360 - £19.95
Far Cry 2 [Collector's Edition], Xbox 360 - £19.95 delivered
Includes:
Artbook
Collectable 50km² map
Far Cry T-shirt
Map Guide Book
Making-of DVD
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, DS - £9.99
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, DS - £9.99 collect in store
Buzz: Quiz TV + Wireless Buzzers, PS3 - £14.99
Buzz: Quiz TV + Wireless Buzzers, PS3 - £14.99 delivered
Update: Expired now.
Experimental Gameplay Project is back
The Experimental Gameplay Project was a site I had a ton of fun on a few years ago, it was full of tiny interesting little games. It went away for a bit, but is back in action now.
One game in particular stuck in my mind, Tower of Goo, which went on to become the phenomenal World of Goo, and 2DBoy's Kyle Gabler is one of the site's founders.
Here's what they have to say for themselves:
"We're a group of indie game developers, running a friendly competition every month. The rules: Make a game based on the month's theme, and don't spend more than 7 days. New games posted at the end of every month."
Read more about the site here, and if you are still not interested, have a look at the list of names involved.
Cheers to indiegames for the heads up.
A question of what is right
UPDATE: Looks like Cyanide are not happy about being paid less than £40 for their game.
On the official forums, they have this to say:"Jessica has confirmed that all key's sold by these websites will be blacklisted and become unusable. Any further threads regarding these keys will be deleted."
Link here.
So, if that does happen, I fully suggest that you seek out a refund from G2play. I'm going to contact Cyanide now for a response. In the meantime, I suggest you hold off from buying from G2play. Cheers to Oliver M. for the heads up.
UPDATE2:
I've just heard back from Jessica, community manager from Focus’ games, the publisher of Blood Bowl."Concerning the website : G2Play, they sell player keys only. Thus this suppose that the person who buyed the key has already buyed an original version of the game (retail version or digital version). Because g2play don’t give you the file or the link to download the game, they give only the 2 serials [note: "2 serials" refers to the fact that the game requires two serials, one during installation, and a different one when it is first launched - Lewie].
-> If your readers buyed a key on the website they can send all the information concerning the first purchase (the “legal” purchase) and we will able to check with them the key and find a solution.
-> If your readers didn’t buy the game before they are in an illegal procedure (if they buy only the key on the website g2play that suppose that they install the game with the CD or link of someone, it’s forbidden) and we can’t do anything for them.
Can you send me an example of a serials buyed in this website in order to see why a website can sell our game illegally."
Language barrier seems to be a bit of a problem here, but as far as I can tell, according to Focus if you bought the serial from G2play, then either borrowed a disc, or downloaded an ISO, it is illegal, and will be blacklisted. If you bought the game, then for some reason lost your serial, and can prove it, they won't be blacklisting your serial, but I think that realistically that doesn't apply to anyone.
UPDATE3:
More from Jessica:"Concerning the serials, we are checking how the website could have the serial.
If they stolen the keys it’s illegal. Furthermore G2play is not a partner so they are not authorized to sell the game."
I agree if the keys are stolen, or generated by using some kind of keygen, then they should be blacklisted. However, if they have just been sourced from a cheaper international supplier, then it shouldn't be illegal. You can bet for sure that the packaging the retail release comes in won't all have been sourced in France, they will have gone to the cheapest international supplier, and in my opinion it would be hypocritical to accuse your own customers of being criminals just because they follow the same practise.
Why would G2play not be allowed to sell the game? If that's the case, eBay should be pretty worried. I'm pretty sure that she actually means "we want more money".
UPDATE4:
Another serial retailer, Online Key Store, who are also selling Blood Bowl serials at a discount have responded to blacklisting concerns here."We buy keys cheap from asian countries so they cannot be blacklisted, this is a legitimate company not some cowboy illegal operation.
The keys will work fine and they will never be blacklisted because we get them from a reliable source."
UPDATE5:
I've just heard from an Anonymous commenter that serials have started to be blacklisted, with the message:Error occured!
Your Serial is deactivated.
Can anyone else confirm that this has happened to them too?
Original article:
It's come to my attention that Blood Bowl, a fantasy American football game based on the games workshop property of the same name, has just come out, and is £39.99 to buy.
G2Play, the slightly controversial web site that I have posted about for Steam codes before, are selling serial numbers for blood bowl for about £14. These aren't for use with Steam, these are just standard retail serials.
Now, all you will get from them is the serial number, from then on you are on your own. You will need to find a way of installing the game yourself. You could either borrow a copy off a friend (but I don't think it has had a retail release in the UK as of yet), or you could load up a torrent site, and download an ISO.
During the installation process, you will use the serial number you get from G2play, and a genuine license will be generated for you. In principal, this isn't too different to buying a game, accidentally breaking the disc, and then borrowing a friends copy to reinstall it, but using your legitimate serial number.
You will then have effectively the same game installed as if you had bought it from a shop. You'll be able to play online, patch it and the developers are being paid.
It's a very grey area, and in purely legal terms there is probably something wrong with it at some stage, but I think it is basically moral. How do you guys feel about it? Would you like me to link to deals like this in the future?
If you decide to go for it, let me know how it goes.
Blood Bowl, PC Serial - £14.02
Whilst I am at it, they have a few Steam serials for cheap:
Empire: Total War - £14.53
GTR Evolution - £10.25 (includes a free copy of Race 07)
(Those prices are using currency conversion, and might be a bit off)
N+, XBLA - 400MSP
N+, XBLA - 400MSP
This is a limited time offer until July 13th for Gold members only. Usually the game is 800MSP.
Currently, the cheapest Microsoft Points deal is £14.73 for 2100MSP here.
This was previously incorrectly priced at 560MSP. If you bought it at that price, call Support on 0800 587 1102 and they will refund you the difference - enough for a Rock Band song.
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Xbox 360 - £33.26
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Xbox 360 - £33.26 delivered
It is the Asian version, but completely region free, and in English.
Machinarium, PC/Mac - £10.43
Machinarium, PC/Mac - £10.43
$3 pre order bonus, and you will also get some artwork and 5 MP3s of music from the soundtrack.
Eliss, iPhone/iPod Touch - £0.59
Eliss, iPhone/iPod Touch - £0.59 (opens in iTunes)
Very nice almost-puzzler. The goal is to create supernovae by placing a core of the appropriate size and colour inside an appropriate receptacle. Cores can be combined and split to alter their size, and if two cores of the same colour overlap your life starts to drain - complete enough supernovae and you clear the level.
There's a free demo available here (opens in iTunes). The 59p price is a sale price for a limited period.
Drop7, iPhone/iPod Touch - £1.79
Drop7, iPhone/iPod Touch - £1.79 (opens in iTunes)
Discussed on this week's ListenUP, Drop7 gives you a 7x7 grid in which to drop numbered spheres. If, when a sphere is dropped, the number of any sphere on the grid is equal to the amount of spheres on its line, horizontally or vertically, it disappears. After a certain amount of moves, the board is shifted up one square and another line of blocks is added.
I don't want to call it a mash-up of Tetris and Sudoku, because that sells it as something trying to pander to the popular, and it's definitely its own thing. It's one of those things that's very hard to explain, but luckily enough there's a free demo available here (opens in iTunes). Isn't that fortuitous.
Columns Deluxe, iPhone/iPod Touch - FREE
Columns Deluxe, iPhone/iPod Touch - FREE (opens in iTunes)
The Mega Drive classic on the iPhone/iPod Touch. Free download for this weekend only.
Gears Of War 2 [Limited Collector's Edition], Xbox 360 - £17.73
Gears Of War 2 [Limited Collector's Edition], Xbox 360 - £17.73 delivered
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, DS - £21.49
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, DS - £21.49 delivered
Fight Night Round 4, Xbox 360 - £32.62
Fight Night Round 4, Xbox 360 - £32.62 delivered
It is the Asian version, but completely region free, and in English.
Mario Power Tennis (New Play Control), Wii - £4.99
Mario Power Tennis (New Play Control), Wii - £4.99 delivered
Street Fighter IV, PC - £17.73
Street Fighter IV, PC - £17.73 delivered
It was selling on Steam for £16.19, but they decided that was too cheap, and upped the price to £26.99.
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box & Trivial Pursuit, Xbox 360 - £12.85
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box & Trivial Pursuit, Xbox 360 - £12.85 delivered
Back From Glastonbury
Well, as you can probably tell by the fact that I am posting bargains again, I am back from Glastonbury. I had a wicked time, definitely going to go again next year too. Musical highlights were Bon Iver, Easy Star All-Stars, Noah and the Whale, The Horrors, and blur.
Here's some photos:
<3
Meridian4 half price sale
Meridian4 half price sale at Steam.
I am thinking of picking up Vigil: Blood Bitterness.
You're in the Movies + Live Vision Camera, Xbox 360 - £12.99
You're in the Movies + Live Vision Camera, Xbox 360 - £12.99 delivered
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, DS - £10.93
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, DS - £10.93 delivered
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, DS - £17.99
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, DS - £17.99 delivered
Street Fighter IV [Collectors Edition], Xbox 360 - £26.85
Street Fighter IV [Collectors Edition], Xbox 360 - £26.85 delivered
Metroid Prime Trilogy, Wii - £32.86
Metroid Prime Trilogy, Wii - £32.86 delivered
Just under £11 each for 3 excellent games.
Resident Evil 5, Xbox 360 - £19.99
Resident Evil 5, Xbox 360 - £19.99 delivered
or £27.99 for the Steelbook edition.
Far Cry 2, PC - £2.93
Far Cry 2, PC - £2.93 delivered
Might be a miss price, so be quick.
Update:
Now sold out, and back up to £11.93.
Update2:
TheHut.com are liars. They sent me an email saying the following:
I am sorry to advise that we had a limited amount of stock available of Far Cry 2 at the promotional price which has since sold out.
We can confirm that payment has not been taken and you are free to re-order at the current price should you wish.
What they actually mean is "we typed in the price wrong by accident, and once we realised our mistake, we cancelled all of the orders, because we didn't want to have to sell it to you for £2.93"
It really wouldn't hurt them to be honest, or at least come up with a better lie.
Government choose PEGI over BBFC
Looks like the government have decided to have PEGI as the sole ratings board for videogames in the UK, instead of the BBFC.
This means that games will no longer be rated by the BBFC, but by PEGI. I assume that this will also make PEGI age ratings legally enforceable (?).
Industry responses here:
Mike Rawlinson, Director General of ELSPA, the trade body which represents games publishers:
“The Government has made absolutely the right decision for child safety. By choosing PEGI as the single classification system in the UK, British children will now get the best possible protection when playing videogames either on a console or on the internet. Parents can be assured that they will have access to clear, uniform ratings on games and an accurate understanding of game content.
Today’s decision will ensure that games ratings stay relevant and adapt to the changing nature of videogames for many years to come. Retailers will now have clear, legal backing to help them prevent access to unsuitable content by children.
We will work closely with the Government, the Video Standards Council and the BBFC to ensure a smooth and rapid transition to this new ratings system.”
Simon Little, MD, ISFE:
“This decision by the British government to adopt PEGI as the single ratings system for videogames in the UK will give British children the same protection whether they are playing at home or online, as children in 28 countries across Europe.
PEGI meets the criteria set out by Professor Byron in her review and has also been further updated to take into account developments in new technology as game playing moves increasingly online and becomes increasingly interactive. It is a robust system which protects children online and offline. We will continue to ensure that PEGI remains the most relevant and effective system for helping parents, guardians, teachers and retailers to protect children both now and in the future.”
David Yarnton, UK General Manager, Nintendo:
“The Government has made the right decision. The PEGI age rating system is right for the protection of children as it is designed specifically for games and interactive content.
As a global company we welcome the decision as mature and intelligent as it works across some 30 international territories.“
Rob Cooper, Managing Director, Ubisoft UK:
“The adoption of PEGI as the rating system for games is a good decision. The PEGI system is future-proof, delivering effective child protection now and in the future. PEGI Online is a key component of the system, ensuring that the government does not have to re-assess the entire system once again in 12 months time.”
Mike Hayes, President and CEO, Sega Europe:
"This is an important decision for the UK public. PEGI is the only system that has the power to prevent games publishers distributing unsuitable content to children.”
Keith Ramsdale, Vice President and General Manager, EA UK, Ireland and Nordics:
”We welcome the government's decision. PEGI is the right choice to protect children from inappropriate gaming content, and best suited to continue to do so in the future as interactive entertainment moves increasingly online.
We applaud this collaboration between government and industry to find the best solution for consumers and for the UK marketplace.”
Andy Payne, Managing Director, Mastertronic Group Ltd and Chairman, ELSPA:
“This is the right decision for the UK consumer. The PEGI system is specifically built for interactive content both on and offline and is recognised throughout Europe. In a connected digital world, implementing age rating standards that are understood across traditional frontiers will protect children from unsuitable content and help to educate parents at the same time.”
Neil Thompson, Senior Regional Director UK & Ireland Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft:
“This is the right decision, the most important issue to be considered is that of child safety. A single PEGI system is by far the best means of promoting child safety; given the fact that PEGI is used for offline and online games in 29 countries across Europe. In a globalised market where children can play video games online across borders, this decision will provide clarity and consistency in deciding what games are appropriate for children and in enforcing those decisions – now and in the future”.
Update:
Apparently the Video Standards Council has been given powers to ban games. gamesindustry.biz reports:
The Video Standards Council – the new body managing game ratings in the UK – has been given tough powers to enforce legislation of the new PEGI system.
Company's that do not adopt the PEGI system will face fines and the possibility of titles not being granted a license to be released in the UK. The VSC also has the option to ban games from release.
"The VSC will be an independent body, as is the PEGI system, and while I'm sure there's some joining up to do, it's a tough system," detailed Electronic Arts' UK MD Keith Ramsdale, who has been consulting with the Digital Britain report as part of his role on the ELSPA board.
"We've gone further than the recommendations and PEGI will impose fines for non-compliance and possible exclusion from the PEGI system for non compliance.
"This isn't something ELSPA can affect, this will become a legislative statutory system and ELSPA doesn't get an influence, it's being handled independently," he added.
While the PEGI system has always raised concerns that it was a self-regulatory system, the Video Standards Council will oversee ratings and crack down on any companies trying to exploit the system as it puts into place a self-declaration process.
"To be honest so much content now goes online it's not realistic to expect a classification body to classify a product. It's got to be a self-declared process," said Ramsdale.
"But there's a big difference between self-regulation and self-declaration. So what a publisher will do is complete a self-declaration and of course there will be checks on what content people put in, and there will be highly punitive measures should publishers not comply."
David Cooke, BBFC Director:
"We have argued consistently that any games classification system needs to put child protection at its heart. It must involve consultation with the British public, command their trust, and reflect their sensibilities. It must take account of tone and context and be carried out by skilled and knowledgeable examiners. It needs to involve the provision of full, helpful and carefully weighed information to parents and the public more generally. It must have the power and will to reject or intervene in relation to unacceptable games or game elements. It should make a substantial contribution to media education, for example through dedicated websites and through work with pupils, students and teachers. It must be speedy and cost effective. It must have the capabilities to monitor online gameplay and to attract new members to online classification schemes. And it must be independent in substance as well as appearance, reaching its decisions and providing information on the basis of its own detailed assessments.
The BBFC has always supported PEGI and wished it well, but it continues to believe that it satisfies these requirements better than PEGI. However, it will cooperate fully in the detailed work needed to give effect to the Government’s decision. And it must be independent in substance as well as appearance, reaching its decisions and providing information on the basis of its own detailed assessments.”
I'm going to Glastonbury!
I'm going to be going to Glastonbury this Friday, early because I'm stewarding for Oxfam again. If any of you are going, and see a guy in a tailcoat, that's probably me.
I'll probably post a couple of times from the festival too, and have a few guest articles to keep you busy. My Twitter feed will probably be active.
Whilst not buying any cheap games, you should check out the new (technically) legal home of the undergdogs. Highlights I have noticed include System Shock, Discworld and Xargon. It's kind of hard to find games other than spending a long time clicking on links right now, but they are working on that, and you can follow the progress in their forums.
XxX
Monster Hunter Freedom 2, PSP - £14.99
Monster Hunter Freedom 2, PSP - £14.99 delivered
Or get:
Monster Hunter Freedom: Unite, PSP - £17.99 delivered
Which I gather is like an expanded version of MHF2.
Street Fighter IV [Collectors Edition], PS3 - £38.99
Street Fighter IV [Collectors Edition], PS3 - £38.99 delivered
Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Xbox 360 - £28.11
Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Xbox 360 - £28.11 delivered
Completely region free, and cheaper than the best price for the PS3 version (£32.99 delivered).
The Hut link problems
For some reason my affiliate links to The Hut seem to be broken. I have found a simple workaround, press F6 then enter (F6 is a shortcut for 'focus on the address bar'), and then it will load fine.
In the meantime whilst I am looking into it I won't use the affiliate links in new deals from The Hut, til I can find a solution to the link problem. If anyone has any ideas for a solution, please let me know.
ChoicesUK cheap games
ChoicesUK have got a pretty decent selection of cheap games right now. I thought I would bundle them together into one post because of their postage pricing.
They give free delivery on orders over £25, or £1.99 for any order under £25. That means bundling together a few of the games could get you the whole lot delivered for free.
Here are the highlights:
Xbox 360:
Alone in the Dark - £5.99
Fable II - £14.99
Mirror's Edge - £7.99 Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!
Stuntman: Ignition - £6.99
Prince of Persia - £7.99
Golden Axe: Beast Rider - £6.99
Star Wars: Force Unleashed - £12.99
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith - £9.99
PS3:
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - £12.99
Skate - £6.99
Jericho - £5.99
F.E.A.R. 2: P.r.o.j.e.c.t. O.r.i.g.i.n. - £1.2.9.9
Unreal Tournament 3 - £8.99
Wii:
Sim City Creator - £4.99
MySims Kingdom - £9.99
Warioware Smooth Moves - £12.99
Resident Evil : Umbrella Chronicles - £12.99
PC:
Empire: Total War - £12.99 (or £29.99 on Steam)
Far Cry - £1.99
DS:
Pokémon Pearl - £14.99
Phourglass - £9.99
The Incredible Hulk - £6.99
Spore Creatures - £4.99
Guitar Hero On Tour Decades + Grip - £12.99
PSP:
Patapon 2 - £9.99
Pursuit Force - £2.99
Wipeout Pulse - £9.99
Let me know if you spot any other good deals.
LocoRoco 2, PSP - £5.99
LocoRoco 2, PSP - £5.99 delivered
At Mum: That'll do nicely for my birthday please. XxX
Resident Evil: Archives, Wii - £14.73
Resident Evil: Archives, Wii - £14.73 delivered
This is a port of a remake of a game originally released in 1996, and a prequel to said game that wasn't very good. At least they have priced it fairly.
Edit:
Wait, Wikipedia says this is REmake + RE0, but the retailer is implying it is just REmake. Who should we believe?
Fallout DLC
Fallout 3 Add On: Anchorage & The Pitt, PC - £11.73 delivered
Fallout 3 Add On: Anchorage & The Pitt, Xbox 360 - £12.73 delivered
At RRP for MS points, they would be the equivalent of £13.60 on the 360, and I can't find any particularly cheap MS Points right now, and you get the advantage of not have to convert your cash into a form Microsoft will accept.
Does anyone know if these play off the disc or what?
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