Bargain Thread 2014

KaoFloppy · 2014-12-09T10:44:20.000Z

Steam today: Empire: Total War - $9.99 - (50% off).

Steam midweek #1: EVE online - Core Starter Set - $4.99 - (75% off).
[indent]Some smaller discounts on subscription plans, up to 27% off for 12-month sub.[/indent]
Steam midweek #2: Stronghold Crusader 2 - $33.49 - (33% off).

Steam secret: Steamworld Dig - $2.49 - (75% off).

Syzygy · 2014-12-09T12:05:05.000Z

Mysterio:

Hoplite for iOS is free for the first time ever.

Thanks for that! I’ve had my eye on that since I saw a video of one of the Rocketcat devs discussing and playing his favorite iOS Roguelikes.

RichVR · 2014-12-09T12:58:13.000Z

Mysterio:

Hoplite for iOS is free for the first time ever.

Thanks for the heads up. Fun little game.

fuzzyslug · 2014-12-09T13:21:12.000Z

RickH:

I usually pass, but I got AC Unity, CoD:AW, and Dragon Age Inquisition to fill out the gift requests. Could have added new releases like The Crew or The Halo Collection. None of these had significant discounts during Black Friday sales, and $40 each is as cheap as they will get before Christmas by my reckoning.

Giving Best Buy $30 for 2 years of 20% discount on all new games has already paid for itself and then some. That brings it down to less than $33 each and all of a sudden I’m the cool uncle that gives the hot games as presents.

Can you be my uncle?

mrcjhicks · 2014-12-09T21:27:12.000Z

The Humble Store started up its Winter Sale today. I pawed through some offers and picked up The Bridge and The Novelist.

LockerK · 2014-12-10T04:55:47.000Z

If anyone else was disappointed at the lack of Nintendo in Best Buy’s current sale, word is that next week’s deal is Buy One Get One 40% off on Wii U & 3DS in-store, or buy 2 and get a $20 gift card online. That would make two $60 games ~$77+tax if you have Gamers Club Unlocked.

Telefrog · 2014-12-10T07:49:50.000Z

Buy an Xbox One bundle from the Microsoft Store and get another free game.

Microsoft Store

Xbox consoles - Microsoft Store

Shop Xbox One X & Xbox One S

For example:

Xbox One with Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag - $349.00 Plus choose another free game from this list. Includes GTA V for Xbox One, Halo MCC, Sunset Overdrive, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

KaoFloppy · 2014-12-10T10:29:29.000Z

Steam today: Double Fine Publisher Sale.
[ul]
[li]Massive Chalice - $20.09 - (33% off).[/li][li]Broken Age - $8.49 - (66% off).[/li][li]Hack ‘n’ Slash - $4.54 - (66% off).[/li][li]Spacebase DF-9 - $6.80 - (66% off).[/li][li]80% off: Brutal Legend, Iron Brigade, The Cave, Psychonauts, Costume Quest, Stacking.[/li][/ul]
Costume Quest 2 is not on sale.

JoshL · 2014-12-10T10:32:20.000Z

I know DF has taken a lot of heat recently, but just in case there is anybody on earth that doesn’t own it, Psychonauts really is the best game ever.

Gus_Smedstad1 · 2014-12-10T10:48:42.000Z

JoshL:

Psychonauts really is the best game ever.

Unless you’re a sissy, like me. Because as we know, if I found the Meat Circus tear-my-hair out, rage-quitting-ly awful, it’s because I’m a sissy.

CraigM · 2014-12-10T10:51:37.000Z

Meanwhile I’m ‘that guy’. You know, the one who breezed through the Meat Circus, and only found out its reputation later.

But yes, the game is fantastic. Fantastic level variety.

divedivedive · 2014-12-10T10:58:08.000Z

Oddly enough, I too am ‘that guy.’ Didn’t know the Meat Circus was that bad until much later. Thanks, internet!

robc04 · 2014-12-10T11:06:06.000Z

JoshL:

I know DF has taken a lot of heat recently, but just in case there is anybody on earth that doesn’t own it, Psychonauts really is the best game ever.

I’m curious, what is so great about it? I played it for a couple hours a while ago and thought while decent, it wasn’t anything I felt the need to continue with at that time. It’s still in my ‘play at some time’ list and not my ‘done’ list, so I may get back to it.

Nightgaunt · 2014-12-10T11:21:57.000Z

Yeah, I’ll weigh in as a dissenter. I expected to love Psychonauts, and there’s no doubt the setting and story are inspired and the levels have a lot of variety. But I felt they dropped the ball on the basic platforming controls and that spoiled the game for me. I maybe played half way through on PS2.

Gus_Smedstad1 · 2014-12-10T11:25:05.000Z

Like most Schafer games, the game part of Psychonauts isn’t that great. It’s the writing. Once you start delving into the more interesting mental interiors, you come to appreciate why it’s so well regarded. The Milkman’s paranoid fantasies, for example, are truly memorable.

RickH · 2014-12-10T11:36:36.000Z

CraigM:

Meanwhile I’m ‘that guy’. You know, the one who breezed through the Meat Circus, and only found out its reputation later.

But yes, the game is fantastic. Fantastic level variety.

I remember doing one particular jump over and over, listening to the same sound bite from Raz’s hallucinated father, until I finally got it right. Must have been at least 30 times. That sequence (wire to fence to flipside of fence to other wire while avoiding fireballs) was just crap, and should have been nerfed in testing. Nothing else in the meat circus felt particularly unfair, but there was damn little margin for error.

But as a game, we’ll never see a 3D platformer like Psychonauts again. There was just too much imagination, too many fresh art assets over too many areas. A modern game producer would throw up his hands at creating half as many unique envirornments for a modern game.

RickH · 2014-12-10T11:40:44.000Z

Nightgaunt:

Yeah, I’ll weigh in as a dissenter. I expected to love Psychonauts, and there’s no doubt the setting and story are inspired and the levels have a lot of variety. But I felt they dropped the ball on the basic platforming controls and that spoiled the game for me. I maybe played half way through on PS2.

I’m not sure about the quality of the PS2 port, I’ve played it at least 3 times on the Xbox and on a 360 in compatibility mode. I found that the controls weren’t Mario-tight but were servicable, especially once you acclimated to using the ball to travel. Hopefully, the PC version would control decently with 360 controller.

Gus_Smedstad1 · 2014-12-10T11:41:23.000Z

RickH:

Nothing else in the meat circus felt particularly unfair, but there was damn little margin for error.

I’d say that having to a lot of moderately hard things while under time pressure ended up being unfair. Part of the reason there was so little margin for error was that I had to get it right the first time, or the bunny would eat the kid, and I had to do it all over again. It suffered from the typical problem of platforming games, where I did a lot of stuff over and over again to get to the part that was defeating me. Pretty soon I wanted the bunny to eat the kid.

TurinTur · 2014-12-10T11:43:33.000Z

I didn’t have a problem with the controls with keyboard/mouse, though I left the game in the second to last level.

Rock8man · 2014-12-10T11:45:16.000Z

Well, I’ll be the dissenter against the dissenters then. The part I liked best about Psychonauts were the basic platforming controls, which I thought were some of the best. Their double jump, for example, has you jumping off a floating ball to get the momentum for the second jump. That just made it so much more satisfying to me compared to most other platformers where the double jump is basically magic.