The Elder Scrolls Anthology: More Proof Physical Product Isn’t Dead Yet…

Posted on August 2, 2013 by geelw

BOOM. Nine game discs, five maps, hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of gameplay, a custom package to die for and something hard to hit the digital-only detractors upside their harder heads with, Bethesda Softworks upcoming must-buy The Elder Scrolls Anthology has officially and instantly made it to my Holiday Gift Guide 2013 list, gaming division. While it’s missing the LONG out of print standalone TES: Battlespire and Redguard side-story adventures (which I say NEED to get re-released one of these days), $80 for the entire main Tamriel saga (including expansions AND the Morrowind Construction Set!) is an absolute BARGAIN when you consider some of the games here are still a bit expensive when bought in either their original or Game of the Year formats as individual packaged products…

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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…

GOG.com’s Summer Sale Is ON: FREE Torchlight For All! More Games @ HUGE Discounts!

Posted on June 18, 2013 by geelw

OK, this is just great (plus tax, which still makes this deal FREE, by the way). Scoot on over to gog.com and check out their Summer Sale for up to 85% (!) off select DRM-free games and a FREE digital copy of Runic’s awesomely addictive dungeon crawler, Torchlight waiting for your hot little hands to snap it up. Torchlight is a Diablo-style hack & slash RPG with a lovely cartoon style (it sort of looks like a mildly angry Disney cartoon), additively simple gameplay, and loads of loot to collect. Sure, it’s a solo-only focus, but the game has a way of hooking you in and keeping you occupied that’s hard to explain. Poke around the internet for some mods that add levels, items, new character skins and more to the experience and you end up with a game that’s bigger than it seems. Even if you don’t buy anything else, a free game any day of the week is a fantastic deal, I say. Act fast, though – Torchlight goes back to being a paid product on June 20. Oh, look at that… the room cleared out faster than if a gassy cow exploded in a corner… people just love those deals!

Amusingly enough, I’d get this…but I have three copies of Torchlight here already. er, no… FOUR (2 physical discs, one on each computer here). Yes, I do love my Torchlight. It’s like a digital blanket of demons and loot… ahhhh…

Humble Weekly Sale/Humble Bundle 8: MORE Games To Die For, But Act Fast…

Posted on June 5, 2013 by geelw

OK, I’d almost missed this incredible Humble Weekly Sale thanks to some emails getting eaten by my spam folder, but wow. Some of Telltale Games’ biggest hits, including the critically acclaimed episodic series The Walking Dead, is up for grabs for a stupidly LOW price for the next 20 or so hours. If you love adventure games and great stories well told with a few puzzles thrown at your brain for good measure, you NEED this bundle, period.

Oh, did I mention that Humble Bundle 8 has made over $2 million for charity? I didn’t? Well, I just did a sentence ago, silly. Anyway, THAT one’s on sale for a bit longer (6 days) AND now has eleven games and ten soundtracks for under $6!

Anyway, the clock, she is ticking, no? So stop reading here and go HERE to get what’s coming to you. Or else. “Or else, what?” you say? Or else you’ll be kicking yourself in the pants for not getting these games at a great price AND be stuck reading Fifty Shades of What’s Left in the Freezer again this weekend, silly. Seriously – The Walking Dead alone is THAT good a game that slapping down a measly five bucks or more will net you Steam keys for all five episodes

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…

GOG.com’s Latest Weekend Sale Will Get You Regular Like Clockwork…

Posted on June 1, 2013 by geelw

Another weekend of life on earth means another awesome gog.com sale, so here you go: Another all-Activision deal with a nice lot of classics up for grabs at dirt cheap prices. Of course, you’ll need a BIG clock with a lot of time on it (just make your own and stick by the 100 hours in a day deal you’ve cooked up in your head) and a new career in doing nothing but going through the library of stuff you’ve bought if you buy the whole 31 game package. Well, you don’t HAVE to grab the entire bundle, as it’s quite varied and yes, you might not like every game in the set. But I bet you’ll definitely see a few you just HAVE to try out and that’s what it’s all about, right?

Humble Indie Bundle 8: Too Much For Almost Nothing At All (And More If You’re Not Cheap!)

Posted on May 28, 2013 by geelw

How the heck do they do it, I keep wondering. Games like these cost a chunk of time and money to make, but here we go once more – your chance to help out charity by paying what you want to grab some great indie games and awesome bonuses. A buck (cheapskate!) gets you FIVE great games and a nice set of soundtracks, but if you beat the average price and pony up a few dollars more, you unlock two more really cool games (and feel better about yourself, right?). As with most Humble Bundles, this one’s up for two weeks and after that, it’s gone for good. Pop on over to the Humble Bundle site, poke around and see what’s what, then give ’til it doesn’t hurt. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play Charity will thank you kindly and you’ll walk away with a steal and a happier hard drive full of cool stuff to play.