3941

GamersGate:

I use it and enjoy the system. The temp files that it downloads are the compressed game. You can back them up so you won’t ever have to DL the game again. There is also a way to authenticate it without being online (saw this in the Sword of the Stars forums). I also contacted Customer Support directly concerning my copy of Colonization (that I believe has install limits). They said it does have it but if I should use them up they would gladly reset it. And unlike Steam, you can just play the game without having to launch another application (though I have no problems with Steam doing this anyway, but others do).

Universe At War:

  1. The problem with the game is the units. They really are unique, and each side plays VERY differently. Getting one of those Walkers to blow through the enemy is great. However, they give you almost no info on HOW to use the units. Its almost as if they want YOU to figure it out. So with diverse, odd looking units, its tough to figure out what unit you need to counter this and that. And with a lackluster SP mode, you may be turned off real quick. By the time I started figuring out each unit, their campiagn was over. If you stick with it, you WILL be rewarded with unique units that ARE fun to use. Its easily UaW’s strong point, the weak spot being not enough info on what they do.

  2. The graphics sometimes look good, but other times look too much like they came from a console (it was codevelopped for the 360, so taht explains that).

  3. It does have a conquer the world mode that looks interesting and offers lots of replayability. The strength of the AI is unknown, however. I spent a brief amount of time in this mode and can say that the AI was aggressive. If I had a weak force in the front, the AI would take it out. Unprotected territory? The AI would grab it. But I never completed it so I can not say if the AI keeps it up and have not played enough skirmish matches to know how well the AI behaves. You get a couple leaders to move around the map that are allowed a ‘bodyguard’ of veteran units that carry over from battle to battle.

To give you an idea of the units, one of the three races has a saucer unit that has three glowing orbs. In attack mode, they are orange and basically leave the saucer and attach onto a unit, slowly sapping it of health (use the saucers in a group and they can be devastating). But, you can toogle the saucers to a support unit. In this way, those orbs turn blue and attach to friendly damaged units and heal them. So you have attack mode and health mode (great for raiding. Attack the enemy untis, than switch to heal mode and watch them heal each other to full strength, than attack again). This same race has these huge walkers that move slow, crushing everything underfoot. You can equip them with armor, AA guuns, Cannons, modules that create units, etc. So as they bring their powerful cannons to the enemy base, they are dropping units off as they go. Walking bases.

Again, if they just made it easier to have known what they different units were used for, this game may have been more popular. As it were, definately too complex for the console crowd. The console port I think took resources away from the pc version.

  1. These are the same guys who also did Star Wars Empire at War. I feel that game was done as well as they could do it. Their heart was put into it. They had a launch day patch followed up by 2 more patches.

Jorune

3942

This weekend’s Microcenter deals:


3943

I went through with this plan, but I don’t think I ever reported the results. Best Buy refused to price match the deal. The manager I spoke with said he’d been told not to honor any “deal of the day” type deals. I told him that the price match policy available online says absolutely nothing to that effect and, indeed says they’ll price match any in-store price offered by a local competitor. I pointed out that the deal was in-store and that Microcenter was right down the street. He calmly refused to honor the deal and then deigned to begin explaining to me, an apparent fool, that such in-store deals of the day are designed to get customers into the store.

I responded that I didn’t care why the deal was put into place, just that Best Buy honor its price match policy with regard to in-store pricing by competitors. Manager guy, to his credit still calmly, tried to justify through mental gymnastics that I’m still unable to replicate, that a deal for one day is somehow different from a deal offered for a greater number of days. He then refused, for the third or fourth time, to honor his company’s clearly laid out price matching policy. I left in disgust, but in no particular surprise.

3944

Why didn’t you just go to the Microcenter down the block?

3945

They were already sold out of copies of the game.

3946

What Rock8 said, which I’d already mentioned a few pages back when all this was current. Seeing the deals posted by unbong reminded me of the whole stupid thing.

3947

Oh man, I wish I had a microcenter near me. I have wanted to trey Battle March for a while now and that is a great price, even if it is on the 360.

3948

Steam weekend deal is up: Ubisoft Classic Pack for $9.99, includes the following 4 games: IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946, Dark Messiah Might and Magic, Beyond Good and Evil, and Far Cry.

3949

That’s hard not to bite on, even though I own Dark Messiah (PC) and BG&E (Xbox). I’ve always wanted to try IL-2.

3950

Lately, my Ire Cannon is like a high pressure lawn sprinkler.

But c’mon, let’s stop with the “it’s the publisher” meme already.

3951

That is pretty tasty. I’ve finished Dark Messiah, which I enjoyed enough to want to repurchase and keep around for occasional choppy action having lost the disk. I’ve never played Far Cry or IL-2 and they both seem like a good time. I have a copy of BG&E that doesn’t work with Vista 64 (wholly because of some DRM balls) - I think the Steam version is fine though, but may need to double check before I splash the cash. That’s a lot of nifty gaming action for under a tenner.

On a similar BG&E tech supporty note, how is it best controlled? Is it ok using mouse and keyboard or will I be missing out without a joypad?

3952

Awesome pack. I’ll be getting that for sure.

3953

Damn you Steam! More games to buy that I’ll probably never get to play.

3954

I already own Dark Messiah on Steam (bought it on launch day, absolutely brilliant game that was one of my favorites released that year and quite unfairly maligned by a lot of people), so if I buy this pack, will I get a gift copy of the game that I can give away? Just curious if anyone knows.

3955

Jeez. I know I’m going to have to bite on that, damn you Steam. I’ve already got to many games to play these days!

3956

I think I own all of those games (not sure about IL-2), and yet I’m tempted to rebuy them just for the Steam convenience.

Damn all you rebuyers! This is all your fault!

The publisher is the one who decides which DRM to use. That’s not to say the developers are always in the background, wringing their hands about how DRM “punishes” their paying customers or anything, but AFAIK they usually don’t get a say in the matter.

I preferred it with a gamepad, but IIRC it played OK M&K too.

3957

Ooops, I convinced my girlfriend to buy Beyond Good & Evil last night from Good Old Games…same price but minus the 3 “bonus” games from Steam.

3958

I think I’m still going to get BG&E from GoG.com, just so that it’s future-proof and will still work when I get my new computer and get Vista 64.

3959

I bet Valve did this to strike back at GOG. The timing is just too odd.

3960

Holy Buh-jeezus, that is amazing.