As someone who is usually willing to patiently skip the $60 drama of first-week purchases, I've kept my eye on pre-order bonuses since they are generally something I won't have access to in my late-game-buying scheming. A trend that's intensified lately are exclusive pre-order bonuses - wherein a retailer offers something that you can only get by pre-ordering the game at their store - and the most recent example of Batman: Arkham City leaves me feeling flabbergasted, bamboozled, and slightly hoodwinked.

It's actually so confusing that the Arkham City community manager had to release a guide to keep the frothing fanboys and fangirls (fanpeople?) at bay. Want the sweet Robin skin? You better get yo' shit at Amazon (or buy it later as DLC). But what if you want the Joke DLC Carnival Map, which offers an additional four hours of gameplay? Gamestop, suckah. Not to mention the Robin Animated Series, Batman Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Batman Year One, or Batman 1970s skin, which according to the guide aren't offered in the US - which probably means we have to pay for it later, a la horse armor.

And wait! There's even more crap you have to buy in order to get everything. For example, if you want the special yellow Sinestro Corps PS3-only skin you need to also buy the extended cut version of Green Lantern on Blu-Ray. Because lord knows, we need and extended cut version of that movie in our home libraries.

What irks me about this pre-order debacle is that I feel like either a) the retailers battling it out for our money right in front of our faces, and we're the ones suffering because of it or b) retailers assume that gamers are obsessive collectors and completionists that will waste their money on stupid stuff like yellow costumes. Either way, it's insulting. I can understand the idea of exclusivity - remember how Soul Calibur III forced you to pick your console version based on the exclusive characters (Heihachi (PS2), Link (Gamecube), and Spawn (Xbox) - I still have my Gamecube version, btw)? That was pretty clever. But making us scramble and choose sides regarding where we are going to buy our shit for reasons other than price just seems as ridiculous as Strife's haircut in Soul Calibur III.


exhibit A

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It's no secret that I loved the MetroidVania-esque XBLA game Shadow Complex, to the point that I voted for it as one of the top video games of 2009. Not to mention the fact that IGN recently named it the #1 XBLA game of all time. It's a shame that so many good, hard-working people never played it.

But this isn't some sob story, dear readers! The game, contrary to popular belief, did not die in a tragic warehouse fire along with thousands of Monchichis late last year - it's alive and well, and, according to Major Nelson, will be on sale October 11-17th for 600 MSP ($7.50 USD); half off its regular price.

In other words, jump on it!

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For anyone who has been desperately waiting for Battlefield:Bad Company 2's Vietnam DLC pack to go on sale before picking it up, then you are truly in luck, friend.

This week, said DLC just so happens to be Xbox Live's Deal Of The Week, and is going for the princely sum of 600MSP. That equates to $7.50 in real money (well, US dollars at least) and is a decent 50% saving.

So, if you've been waiting for this to come down in price, then you should definitely pick this up. You never know: if you do, there's a chance you might even get to watch me repeatedly stab you in the face on account of my mad skills. Loser! no comments

via Joystiq

Like raining gummy worms, some delicious news has descended from on high upon us lowly gamers. One of my favorite early Xbox 360 games, Prey, is getting a sequel in 2012, in the form of the aptly named Prey 2.

Can't wait to jump through more alien vagina chasms! no comments

It's been a while, but we're back with some new user submitted content! This time, friend of the site Joshua Pohl is here to give us the low-down on the recently announced Duke Nukem Forever special collectors edition. If you would also like to submit an article, you can do so by clicking here.

The entire internet community might still be shocked that Duke Nukem Forever has an actual release date for later in 2011, but that hasn't stopped 2K Games from revealing a special collectors of the game.  It is appropriately dubbed the "Balls of Steel Edition", will cost $100, and contains (amongst other things) a moderately sized statue of Duke's head and torso, as well as a 100-page hardback book, which covers all the important information about the development and craziness of Duke Nukem Forever.

Here is a complete list of everything included in the Balls of Steel of edition, as released by Shacknews: 
 - Collectible bust of the greatest ass-kicker of all-time.
 - Numbered, limited edition certificate of authenticity.
 - 100-page hardcover book entitled 'History, Legacy & Legend: Duke Nukem Forever Art from the Vault'.
 - Duke Nukem Forever postcard series.
 - Duke Nukem Forever radioactive emblem sticker.
 - Duke Nukem Forever collectable comic book.
 - Duke Nukem Forever foldable paper craft.
 - Duke Nukem Forever poker chips.
 - Duke Nukem Forever mini-card deck.
 - Duke Nukem Forever radioactive emblem dice.

It appears that 2K is only making 2,000 of these, so if you want one, you'd better pre-order soon!

Image courtesy of Joystiq.com. no comments

Word on the street is that a 1080p remake of Halo: Combat Evolved is coming to the Xbox 360 this November. It's being developed by Saber Interactive, who made TimeShift. As long-time readers and listeners may remember, I played and finished TimeShift last year, despite the fact that I hated every moment of it.

I'm genuinely excited to play an updated version of the game (although the original is still a solid playthrough), but I remain skeptical until some hands-on impressions roll in. no comments

As you've probably already heard, Sony had a middle-of-the-night presentation (further proof that Japan is their target market) about the device no one saw coming: the PSP2, or NGP ("Next Generation Portable"). Here are my initial thoughts.

Its feature list is impressive: 5" OLED screen, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, front and rear touch screen, six-axis control, a compass, front and rear cameras, and DUAL ANALOG STICKS (which I've been screaming for since first playing the PSP on its launch day almost six years ago). It's got everything I could ask for in a portable gaming system.

But therein lies my biggest problem. My desire for a "portable gaming system" has dwindled to nil since the release of the iPhone. iPhone's games may not have analog sticks, real buttons or a 5" screen, but they have everything else the NGP has, AND IT'S ALREADY IN MY POCKET. I'm going to have a hard time paying the (probably steep) price for another system that I'll have to lug around, sync, etc.

Also, I'm somewhat worried by the fact that the picture above looks clumsy and uncomfortable. Maybe all those inputs will actually be a little too much?



I am a little excited about the idea of an online store a la the PSP GO or the iOS App Store, and cross-platform PS3/NGP games (provided I don't have to pay for the game twice). The fact that it can play PS3 games is pretty awesome.

Lastly, there is no way it's coming out this holiday season (like they announced), if only because there won't be enough launch titles. Unless they make a bunch of PS3 games playable on it.

What do you guys think? no comments

Update: The Red Dead Redemption DLC deals listed here are only available for one day, so get them while you still can!

Wow. Just... wow! Maybe it's because it's the last week before Christmas, but the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN Store are both drowning in new content today. Seriously, it's like content-a-palooza out there!

I would list all of it here, but frankly, that would probably take me around 54 years, so I've decided to just give you the highlights. All of these are available now, by the way, so go check 'em out:

- Dead Space 2 demo; XBLM and PSN.

- Gray Matter demo (the new game from Jane Jensen, author of the Gabriel Knight series); XBLM and PSN.

- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam; XBLM and PSN; 1200MSP ($15)

- Red Dead Redemption DLC special offer;XBLM; Undead Nightmare now available for 600MSP ($7.50) or all three DLC packs available for 1200MSP ($15), whilst the Legends & Killers and Liars & Cheats packs are 50% off at 400MSP ($5)

- Fallout:New Vegas Dead Money DLC; Xbox exclusive content; 800MSP ($10).

As if that wasn't bad enough, littlebigplanet.com also states that the demo for Little Big Planet 2 will arrive on PSN tomorrow, December 22nd. Whew! Provided that you are:

a)Rich, and

b)Off work this week, then you should be laughing!

Wait, what's that you say? This is the final week before Christmas, and as such you're broke and up to your ears in deadlines? Oh well, there's always next week. no comments

Gamestop has just merged with the barely-relevant IGN, which will effectively turn the site into a giant advertorial outlet. Please forgive my skepticism as I'm sure the writers at IGN are professionals and their opinions on games will hopefully remain objective, but from now on don't be surprised when you see a Wii party game collection receiving a 9/10 and front-page placement on the site over the holidays.

"Would you like to pre-order a good review with your purchase today?"

Source: http://blogs.forbes.com/insertcoin/2010/12/07/ign-and-gamestop-merging-into-uber-gaming-portal/?boxes=Homepagechannels  no comments

Today's Deal of the Day promotion over on the Games For Windows marketplace is none other than the post-apocalyptic survival horror/action shooter, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl. As seems to be the norm for the promotion, the game will be on sale for just $0.99, and the deal will only run until tomorrow.

If you want to pick the game up, you can do so here, but remember; the deal will only last until 8:30 PST on December 7th. no comments