Bundle Stars Wants You To Think Strategically, Win or Lose…

Posted on August 19, 2013 by geelw

Four games for four bucks might not seem like a stellar deal to some of you used to Bundle Stars‘ usual crazier deals, but three of the four here are nearly endless in what they have to offer and the fourth is an interesting take on a famous historical character. This new deal, dubbed Strategy Classics, nets you Capitalism, Seven Kingdoms II: The Fryhtan Wars, Warlords: Battlecry III and Wars & Warriors: Joan of Arc.

As noted Joan’s game isn’t as deep or “classic” as the others, but if you like Koei’s long-running Dynasty Warriors franchise with a bit of RTS action thrown in, it’s not that bad. Granted, Koei’s later Bladestorm: The 100 Years War did this much better, but for a dollar you get an interesting (and yes, visually dated by today’s standards) 3D action game that’s a funk and funky solo play diversion.

Once Again, Bundle Stars Brings You Lots of Conflict on the Cheap…

Posted on August 13, 2013 by geelw

If you’re like me, you prefer a low stress lifestyle and as little conflict as possible. Of course, here comes Bundle Stars again offering a LOT of conflict for very little money, so how can one not want to slip them a few bucks and partake of some back-alley brawling to let off some Steam? Ah ha ha ha. Anyway, this latest crazy deal offers up ten games for five bucks (slightly adjusted to whatever that is in Pounds, as they’re based in the UK) and it’s a really varied (but conflict heavy) set of titles this time out.

Of course, with my current ridiculously massive backlog, I’m still flipping a coin as to whether or not to commit to MORE games on my hard drive I won’t get to for a while, but as I’ve said before, I won’t stop YOU from buying in and supporting charity. So go get some and think of me when you’re getting into (or running away from) digital danger…

Indie Gala Tempts Me Mightily With Bullet Hell and More…

Posted on August 2, 2013 by geelw

Argh. Here I am, PERFECTLY pleased with only spending the barest amount possible last month by NOT buying a thing during that insane Steam sale (only to be lightly bludgeoned over the scalp by an unbeatable Bundle Stars deal) and now my inbox tells me Indie Gala is running a sale of almost equally epic deal proportions. Fie and a pox on you and all your digital houses. Granted, I totally stink at those Japanese arcade shmups with all those tiny bullets closing in on my poor cute character or spaceship, but they certainly get the adrenaline going when needed. That and a few of the other games look pretty neat. I may pass on trying out the train simulators, though. Not because they’re NOT good, mind you – I just know a few train fanatics who play some of these or other games and yeah, they LOVE them (a bit too much, perhaps… but it keeps them from trying to fondle moving freight cars as they slowly trundle past their favorite hangouts). OK, this time I’ll flip a coin and then decide what to do. Wish me luck and go buy this set of thirteen titles (which will be fourteen when that bonus unlocks on Steam) for yourself or as a gift for that gamer in your life…

Bundle Stars Superfly Indie Bundle Breaks My Sale-Ignoring Streak

Posted on August 2, 2013 by geelw

Yeah, I managed to make it through the ENTIRE month of Steam’s summer sale without spending a damn dime, but I saw this pack of games at Bundle Stars about two weeks back and also ignored it mainly because I thought I had Disciples III: Renaissance already (bought in another Bundle Stars deal a few months back). Well, it turns out I actually had Disciples III: Resurrection from that older bundle. Oops! That and a few of the other games in this new deal were ones I’ve wanted to play but haven’t yet, so there goes my $4.93 off to charity (adjusted to $5.11 with the Paypal fees, boo! But hell, STILL an incredible deal) and I now have ten more games I’ll slowly but surely get to at some point.

Shakes fist at screen: Damn you Bundle Stars (and digital games in general)!!!

(digital eel’s Weird World: Return to Infinite Space looks pretty cool as well – another reason I bought this bundle!)

*Sigh* anyway, if these came in boxes, I’d HAVE to pass them up because I have no room for more physical product here in the home office. At this point, if I dedicated all my free time to going through my stupidly large lot of digital titles from all these bundles I’ll be playing my current digital backlog until 2018 at the earliest (and yes, I did the math for that)…

Humble Weekly Bundle: 15 Spiderweb Software RPGs. No-Brainer Buy of the Week? Absolutely!

Posted on July 11, 2013 by geelw

Eyes Bigger Than the Head and Now REALLY Needs a Time Machine Department: Holy Cats. Spiderweb Software teams up with the Humble Bundle folks to provide ALL of their currently available hand-crafted fantasy RPGs in a “pay what you want” bundle that’s a MUST buy if you’re looking for some of the deepest and most unique role-playing experiences out there. Jeff Vogel and his tiny team of talented tricksters have been slowly turning out some really cool isometric games since 1994 and this spectacular sale features a whopping 15 games (faint, *THUD!*) which can be all yours for as little as a few dollars.

Yes, some of that coin you pay will indeed go to some great causes (the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play Charity), so feel free to feel guilty and pay more than the average or even give more money to Vogel and his merry men and women if you like. OK, I’m babbling on here, but I’m just thrilled about this offer because it gives some of you the chance to play some really fun and challenging old-school epics. Oh, in case youe sense of humor is too new school or just slow on the uptake, Jeff is making a funny in that video when he calls himself a “living legend”. Some folks on YouTube don’t seem to understand this. Damn kids…

Bundle Stars Latest Deal Is A Challenging One, That’s For Sure…

Posted on June 28, 2013 by geelw

Oh, it’s tempting and tempting indeed to snap up eight huge strategy games and two racers for a mere $2.50 (ridiculous!) in this Dynamite Bundle, but be careful here, as some of these games demand a TON of patience. While WINNING is very rewarding once you get used to the extreme difficulty in a few of these (Death to Spies: Moment of Truth and Men of War: Vietnam are notoriously brutal), you’ll still find that this isn’t a bargain pack for the casual-minded players at all. King’s Bounty: The Legend and Fantasy Wars are probably the “easiest” in terms of accessibility and fun (but they’re still tough in spots), The other historical and not so historical strategy and sim games are pretty damned daunting for novices and that only leaves the two racers as something “simple” to play (which they aren’t really).

That’s both a recommendation and a caveat in case you haven’t guessed yet. So yes, if you like it rough – this one’s for you. It’s a cheap lot that can’t be beat for sheer value and you can play all night and not wake up in an alley somewhere with your pockets turned out and all your organs intact. Well, your butt and back will be sore from passing out in your chair, but better from too much gaming than something you’d rather NOT recall, I say…

Bundle Stars 8: 12 Games. 5 Bucks. Any Questions?

Posted on June 5, 2013 by geelw

Bundle Stars does it again! OK, maybe they’re not all “great” games, but the variety here is important (and impressive). Besides, I’m betting some of you will play all of these and smile like a pet getting it’s tummy rubbed. Hell, at under fifty cents a pop (!), this is yet another ridiculous deal that makes your wallet happy and your brain happier (but maybe not so happy because you’ll be using it to think up excuses to get out of doing important stuff just so you can get some more game time in!). I was going to say something else, but I looked up and the room has cleared out. Blast you, Bundle Stars! Stealing my readers with another sale, grrrrrr…

Bundle Stars’ Outlaws Bundle Wants To Permanently “Borrow” A Buck From You…

Posted on May 24, 2013 by geelw

Blast you again, Bundle Stars! These dollar deals are TOO outrageous to pass up for budget-minded gamers looking to score a great deal AND do some charity work without so much as lifting an arm to help a puppy filled basket-carrying granny across the street (you lazy gits, you). Anyway, this week’s awesome deal is The Outlaws Bundle – SIX games from Steam’s huge digital closet from publisher Meridian 4: PAM (Post-Apocalyptic Mayhem), Robin Hood – The Legend of Sherwood, Pacific Storm and all three games in the RIP Trilogy. That’s two strategy games, a car combat game and three arcade style run ‘n gunners for your slightly adjusted to UK rates dollar. As the kids say (well, the kids from 1985 or so), you can’t be that with a baseball bat.

…Well, you CAN beat that with a baseball bat, but if by “that” you’re referring to your PC or laptop… er, that’s kind of a a bad idea because you’ll have nothing to play those games you just paid a dollar and a few cents for. So go beat a couch cushion with a chopstick instead. AFTER you do your good deed for the day and by these games…

VGA 101: uDraw Tablet (PS3): THQ’s Folly Makes For A Really Cool Budget Artist Buy…

Posted on May 15, 2013 by geelw

uDraw PS3a uDraw PS3b

When the uDraw was first released for the Nintendo Wii, it sold well enough that THQ decided to bring the tablet peripheral to both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but took a little too long to get it to market as more functional tablet devices became hot sellers. You could say that the company greatly overestimated a few things, most importantly, the selling power of the uDraw to an a PS3 and 360 audience made up of more hardcore gamers who had little to no use for a new peripheral they wouldn’t go near with a ten foot pole (unless they were using that pole to smash the thing to bits). Needless to say, uDraw on the PS3 and 360 didn’t do well at all and plenty of retailers and probably a few distributors were left sitting on plenty unsold stock… Continue reading →

VGA 101: Anvil of Dawn Gets GOG’ed (FINALLY!)

Posted on May 14, 2013 by geelw

Dreamforge’s classic 1995 first-person dungeon crawler was one of my favorite games back in the day and I still have my original CD and manual in the library. It’s been around as “abandonware” for a few years, but that and other versions were (and are) incomplete, missing the movies and/or fully voiced dialog, making for half the game it should have been. Well, the fine folks at GOG.com have gotten this one up and running (it turns out Ubisoft has the rights, which means we could HOPEFULLY see a remake down the road) and available for the low price of $5.99 (whee!), which makes me a happy camper indeed. Granted, I finally got my CD up and running last week, so I won’t be buying this right away. But it’s REALLY great to know it’s exactly where I need to find it, now whole again and able to be enjoyed by a new generation of gamers (who I surely HOPE will appreciate it for how important it was to the genre) who won’t compare it to games inspired by it (backwards!) or think it’s a new “retro” styled game (oh, the irony there!)…