61 Frames Per Second

Browse by Tags

(RSS)

Good Old Games Deals: More Fallout Than You Can Handle

I may have been late to the party on Fallout 3, but Bethesda's RPG masterpiece (yeah, I went there) is one of the few games I had to force myself to finish, just because otherwise I knew I'd be playing it forever. Mainly, I wanted to clear my plate of Fallout and go back for a second helping this upcoming summer, where I plan on playing through the game again (and purchase all of the expansion packs) as a right wasteland bastard, instead of the goody-two-shoes of my last apocalyptic adventure. But now that the fine folks over at Good Old Games are offering Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics--along with some super-nice goodies--bundled together for the odd price of $14.37, I suddenly feel the urge to visit the early years of a series I inexplicably missed as a mid-to-late-90s PC gamer.

As with anything available at Good Old Games (who is in no way paying me for this post), the real incentive for their digital downloads--aside from the ultra-low price--are the extras bundled with every purchase--and this Fallout three-pack has some good ones.

Posted Apr 21 2009, 02:45 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments

Filed under: bob mackey, sales, deals, recession, depression, economy, good old games

More Discount Friday Gaming Deals

Due to the extreme popularity of PopCap's world-conquering Peggle, it will soon be illegal to not own a copy of this addictive little game for at least one of its many supported platforms. Those of you who haven't yet experienced the joy of PopCap's instant gratification funhouse needn't fear a midnight assasination by the Secret Peggle Police, though; this weekend on Steam--the frugal-friendly digital download marketplace--you can pick up both Peggle and its sequel, Peggle Nights, for a mere $9.99. Considering the first Peggle debuted on XBLA for this price alone, you really can't find a much better deal--that is, until next weekend, when Steam will inevitably have some new mind-blowing bargain available.

Posted Apr 10 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: bob mackey, sales, steam, deals, recession, depression, economy, good old games

Dear GameFly: Please Try Harder

I've been a recession gamer long before the actual recession started. This isn't due to any foresight on my part; you tend to be pretty frugal when you've haven't yet made a living wage in this lifetime. As a result of my relative cheapness, I signed up for GameFly in late 2005, and since then, my life has changed for the better. I used to find myself trapped in a horrible cycle where I would buy games, never find time to play them, and then stare in deep guilt at a DVD rack full of shrink-wrapped titles that were only depreciating in value.

Since I changed my buying habits, I've become a much more selective gamer with a little more disposable income--both of which are good things. But, despite all of the inherent awesomeness of GameFly, the service could use a few improvements.

Posted Mar 16 2009, 08:45 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: bob mackey, recession, depression, economy, rentals, gamefly

Will New Games Stay at $60?

It may be hard to believe, but games are cheaper now than they've ever been; in fact, if you adjust for inflation, the cost of admission for gaming has gone down pretty drastically over time. 30 years ago, you could buy an Atari 2600 for $199, and in the mid-90s, a non-first-party cartridge game could set you back anywhere between 70 and 90 bucks--and keep in mind I didn't adjust these prices to account for the current value of the American dollar. From the 32-bit era and onwards, though, gamers got a bit of relief; it seemed like 50 dollars was going to be the standard price for a new game--which is why it was somewhat of a shock to hear that this standard would be moving up to $60 when the current-gen started just a handful of years ago. Now, the cost of a new game at retail may be a bargain when compared to what we used to pay for gaming, but with so many options available--and a lack of disposable income in the world today--you have to wonder how long it'll be before new games appear on the shelves at $50 (or lower) again.

Posted Mar 03 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: retail, bob mackey, gamestop, recession, economy, game prices

Millions of Disappointing Tomb Raider Sales for Eidos

Tomb Raider: Underworld was one of those games I was a little bummed about missing out on over the busy 2008 holiday season. I'd pretty much abandoned the series after the second installment, but flirting with both Tomb Raider: Legend and Anniversary over the past few years proved to me that the series might once again deserve my full attention. Because I was without some sort of device used to stop time, though, my winter break was filled to the brim with other games, some of which I really shouldn't have been playing. So I couldn't help but feel guilty after hearing multiple reports on podcasts, blogs, and websites about the disappointing sales of Underworld; did my lack of care doom this underdog series to an undeserved death, just when it was getting good again? Well, according to Gamasutra, the rumors of Tomb Raider: Underworld's retail death have been greatly exaggerated:

Although Eidos previously admitted disappointment with Tomb Raider: Underworld’s sales, the title racked up 2.6 million unit sales in the period, with a faster rate of sell-through than either Tomb Raider: Legend or Tomb Raider: Anniversary.

It's unclear what exactly Eidos would consider "not disappointing," but it's safe to assume at this point that Tomb Raider: Underworld has made a very healthy profit--unless they happen to be supplying their development team with an endless supply of cocaine and high-class prosititutes.

Posted Mar 02 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: tomb raider, eidos, bob mackey, sales, recession, economy, tomb raider underworld

The Economy Strikes Again: Midway Files for Bankruptcy

It's strange; at one point in time, news of a major gaming publisher filing for bankruptcy would have been a big deal, and most likely the result of a massive bomb on the level of Sega's Shenmue. But with the current crumbly state of our economy, the collapse of yet another company is a commonplace event with no real need for explanation. That being said, are you shaken to your very core in knowing that popular publisher Midway filed for Chapter 11 today? I didn't think so--though perhaps this quote from GameSpot's take on the story will show you that Midway's status in the industry--despite the whole bankruptcy thing--was far more successful than most of us would assume.

Posted Feb 12 2009, 08:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: mortal kombat, bob mackey, midway, economy, bankruptcy

The Economy Strikes Again: Layoffs at Sega

In what seems like the worst time ever for employment in the video games industry--aside from the early 80s crash, of course--the bad news doesn't seem to stop a-comin'. And today is no different; a recent news report just came out of Edge Online stating that 30 employees at Sega of America have been given the axe. Here's what a Sega representative had to say about the downsizing (copied from the Edge's report):

"Sega of America has grown at pace with the booming videogame industry, but at this time of economic recession, harsh retail landscape, and the reality of business challenges to profitability, we must take steps to reduce our cost structure and ensure long-term success."

Joystiq's take on the matter was a bit perplexing to me:

In the future, it would be nice to see Sega invest in the promotion of its more unique titles (Valkyria Chronicles says hello) instead of focusing so intently on that past-his-prime blue hedgehog.

If you'll allow me to play Devil's Advocate here, producing nothing but Sonic the Hedgehog games would probably be the best course of action for Sega (economically, of course) until we get out of this soul-sucking slump.

Posted Jan 21 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments

Filed under: sega, sonic the hedgehog, bob mackey, layoffs, economy, valkyria chronicles

Sign of the Times: Current Gen to Stick Around a Little Longer

It wasn't too long ago when Sony produced a commercial for the fictional Playstation 9 during their initial Playstation 2 campaign; that's right--the company was once so successful, it had the funds to advertise things that didn't even exist. But these were far different times, before the dot-com bubble completely burst; back in those days, you simply had to log onto the Internet and wait for padded envelopes full of money to arrive at your house (who knows where they came from). But in our modern times of economic disparity and joblessness, the evolution of entertainment technology is not one of our biggest priorities. And, according to a San Jose Mercury News report from yesterday, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, recognizes the current problem with the standard five-year hardware cycle:

"Just coming up with something that's faster and prettier isn't going to be sufficient. The life cycle for this generation of consoles — and I'm not just talking about Xbox, I'd include Wii and PS3 as well — is probably going to be a little longer than previous generations."

If you've ever been around casual Wii gamers, then you probably realized that the one factor nearly every console war has been fought over is now completely irrelevant: graphics don't matter.

Posted Jan 13 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: microsoft, xbox 360, sony, console wars, xbox, ps3, bob mackey, hardware, economy

Rock Band Takes a Step in the Right Direction

The title of this post may be a bit misleading; after all, Rock Band has consistently improved on the music game genre since its inception. But it looks like the series is going to continue with its tradition of excellence by washing its hands (temporarily, anyway) of the assumed-to-be-mandatory yearly installment. According to a Crispy Gamer CES report, Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopolous said just as much during a keynote interview:

“We’ve actually made a choice to break out of the annual release cycle for Rock Band this year,” Rigopolous told the assembled press and industry members. “[This is] partly because the annual cycle places limits on the choices you can make as a developer. We’re trying to take a long term view.”

Of course, Alex Rigopolous shouldn't exactly be made the patron saint of music gaming; after all, Harmonix is hard at work on their upcoming Beatles game, which may include a bevy of new plastic instruments to take up space in your home.

Posted Jan 12 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: rock band, harmonix, bob mackey, rock band 2, economy

Life Without Playstation

The future is a funny thing. If you had told me back in the fall of 2005 (what I regard as the height of the PS2) that Sony would be a money-bleeding mess three short years later, I probably would have slapped you out of pure contempt. It wasn't that I was a Sony fanboy, you see; it's just that the thought of a powerful company taking such a fall from grace was something once regarded as sheer lunacy--hell, even when Nintendo was sucking with the N64, they at least had the Pokemon brand to pump billions of dollars into their coffers. Sony? ...Not so much.

Posted Jan 07 2009, 08:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: playstation 3, sony, sega, ps2, ps3, Saturn, bob mackey, economy, business

1UP and the State of Games Journalism

The news of 1UP's buyout and the end of EGM hit me pretty hard yesterday; thankfully, I had the appropriate amount of whiskey left, and the chance to sleep in this morning. It wasn't just the fact that I do a lot of freelancing for them that got me down in the booze-soaked dumps--as far as I know, the duties of rogue writers like me have been left untouched. The reason this little turd of an event ripped my heart out--along with a whole helluva lot of other readers-- is that 1UP is a site that basically grew out of the idea of fostering relationships between readers and writers. So when an assload of 1UPpers got thrown out onto the street yesterday, it was sort of like watching a drive-by shooting take down most of your family at a Christmas party.

Posted Jan 07 2009, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments

Filed under: 1up, journalism, bob mackey, jobs, ugo entertainment, economy

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.