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 Hey, remember this little game by the name of Portal? It came out just over two years ago to massive critical acclaim and gained tons of awards all the while spawning memes all over the internet? Have you played that game yet? If not, what's wrong with you? Like really, you're missing out big time, buddy.
However, now's your chance to correct this issue. In celebration of Steam coming to the Mac after all these years as a Windows only affair, Valve has decided to offer up the full uncut version of their game Portal on both Windows and Mac as a gift to the masses (until May 24).
If you haven't played Portal, now's the time. It's a fairly short game (about 3 hours or so), but it's one of the more satisfying games I've ever played. It never overstays its welcome and is excellently paced. And of course, once you're done playing Portal, there are oodles of fan-made mods that you can partake in, such as Portal: Prelude, maps from Portal: The Flash Version, and many others.
So my only question is, what are you waiting for? DOWNLOAD IT NOW!
Here's the post that makes the weekly release list look like child's play. The black friday deals! For those of you in Euroland or where ever and don't know what Black Friday is, it is the day after Thanksgiving here in the US in which all the stores try to get people to come in and buy stuff for Christmas by offering insane deals. Of course, many stores entice gamers to come in and get stuff, so here's what's being offered this year. Before I get into it, I want to give props to cheapassgamer.com, bfads.net, and blackfriday.info for all the information found in this post.
Please note that the deals in bold are the ones I recommend most of all.
To get started, choose a store below to see what they have to offer.
External Link: Amazon.com deals from Cheap Ass Gamer
Best Buy
Circuit City
Costco
Game Crazy
GameStop
KB Toys
K-Mart
Meijer
Sam's Club
Target
Toys R Us
Wal-Mart
Continue reading 2008 Black Friday Deals
 Valve has announced that they will be distributing Dylan Fitterer's critically acclaimed AudioSurf on its digital distribution service, Steam.
AudioSurf, for those of not in the loop, is an independently developed game that allows you to "ride your music". In essence, it's like Amplitude crossed with a puzzle game. However, you can import your own music or play songs off of a CD, it will create a chart based on the difficulty you choose. In the game, you try and match three blocks of the same color in a row, or go for combos as your ship flys along to the music. I played the game last month when it was in open beta, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Apparently other people feel the same way as I do, because the game is up for three awards, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, at the Independent Games Festival main competition, which will be held on February 20 at the Game Developer Conference.
AudioSurf will be released over Steam on Friday and will sell for $10, but since Valve kicks all kinds of ass, they will give you a dollar off the price if you preorder the game before Friday. BUT WAIT! With the purchase of AudioSurf, Valve will also throw in The Orange Box soundtrack, which you can use in the game! That's right, you will be able to ride through Still Alive, 9000 Degrees Kelvin, or one of the many other selections from The Orange Box in the game when you buy it from Steam! Also, the game will make use of Steamworks, allowing support for Steam Achievements that will be on your profile page.
Not convinced? There will be a demo available on Friday so you can make up your mind.
So, dear readers, fire up Steam and get your credit card out! What's that? You don't have Steam?! Well, then go make a free account over at www.steampowered.com! Or, if you have an ATI video card go here to get some free games when you sign up (Nvidia owners, you go here and get more than ATI owners...sorry). Oh and while you're at it, join the RF Generation group on Steam so we can share achievements!
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 Brace yourself, EA did something great here...
EA has just announced a new installment of DICE's Battlefield series. It's called Battlefield Heroes, and it's yet another World War 2 first person shooter...but wait a minute, it's a cartoony game. Hmm, I wonder where EA got that brilliant idea from. Regardless of whether or not they totally ripped off Valve's style, it's pretty cool to see that they are trying something new in the WW2 FPS genre.
However, the biggest news about this game is that EA is doing something that could change the game industry as we know it. They are going to be giving the game away for free! THAT'S RIGHT! EA IS PUBLISHING A GAME FOR FREE! How will it be funded though? Well, it will make use of every gamer's favorite new gaming trends: in-game advertising and microtransactions. The exact nature of the in-game ads and the microtransactions are unknown at this time, but I wouldn't be shocked if EA charged you for bullets. Hopefully it will be at least pretty well featured without having to download or pay for any add-on content. The other huge concern I have about the game is that they are saying "Battlefield Heroes™, an all-new Play 4 Free cartoon-style shooter that will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to an all new mass audience." I just hope that advanced gamers will be able to enjoy it too.
And apparently, this is only the beginning of EA's venture into free games. In the press release announcing the game, they kept referring to this new business model they have called "Play 4 Free". No other games are known to be part of this plan, but I am very interested to see where EA takes this in the future.
Nothing else is known at this time, but more about the game will be revealed in the March issue of Games for Windows magazine.
Who says EA isn't innovative?
[Battlefield Heroes website]
 From the category of EXTREME RUMORS, Kotaku mentioned that The International House of Mojo, a LucasArts/Telltale Games/Double Fine fansite, ran a story talking about the new game from Double Fine that will supposedly be revealed at Leipzig during Tim Schafer's (head honcho of Double Fine and designer of Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandago at LucasArts) keynote speech on creativity in the games industry. The new game is reportedly called Brutal Legend and will star Jack Black as a roadie who dies, is banished to hell, and must get to rock heaven. Since that story was posted at IHOM, Double Fine requested that they take down the story, which we all know means that there must be some merit to it.
Plus, notice the picture of Jack Black I included with this article? It's from Kotaku's article about the story. See what Jack Black is wearing in there? It's a Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp shirt from Double Fine's webstore! So, we know that Jack's a fan of the game, which gives this rumor even more merit since Jack is a huge star and Psychonauts, their first game, was critically lauded but not accepted by the public. Maybe they thought that by having Jack Black on board, they would be able to get more public attention and still keep the Psychonauts style of gameplay.
Personally, I think this rumor has a rather large amount of merit to it even though IHOM retracted the story. But of course, I'm a big fan of Tim Schafer and Jack Black, and it would be the most incredible thing ever if they were to team up. Maybe I think it's got merit because of how much of a fan I am of them.
 According to 1up, it was revealed at Microsoft's XNA GameFest 2007 that the company plans to bring Xbox Live Arcade to Windows as part of its Games For Windows Live initiative. That's right, now you'll be able to play Uno on your PC...or wait a minute...you already can. Or, what about Geometry Wars on Windows? Well, there's Grid Wars (I'm not linking to a download site because MS did a cease and desist on the creators. If you want it, Google it), or you can get the real Geometry Wars on Steam.
Despite all my sarcasm in the last paragraph, I think this is a good idea for Microsoft, if they actually do it right. By that I mean Microsoft should allow you to play games on your PC that you have already bought on your Xbox and vice versa so that you aren't stuck buying the same game twice. That would be a great move for current Live subscribers. However, I do think XBLA on Windows may not be a good idea because people who don't have an Xbox Live subscription because there's already a great service that does what XBLA would do, GameTap. But still, props to Microsoft for not forgetting the PC gaming market.
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