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• 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. Read More... 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. Read More... 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

• Recession Gaming Deals: The 360 Arcade Pack-In

  If you're anything like me, you probably don't have a lot of extra money to spend on entertainment. But the savvy among us know that it's not necessary to spend the standard $59.99 retail price of a new game to have fun. Everything from Steam's weekend deals to console digital download services prove that you don't have to go into debt to waste away a few afternoons. But sometimes, cutting out the middleman isn't always involved in finding amazing gaming deals; cheapskates are often welcome in the wonderful world of brick and mortar retail, as long as no one knows how truly poor we are. Read More... Posted Mar 24 2009, 02:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: microsoft, xbox 360, sega, bob mackey, pack-in material, recession, depression

• 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. Read More... 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. Read More... 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. Read More... 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

• Industry Predictions for 2009: Doom and Gloom Edition

  Happy New Year, everyone! Please note before continuing that you are unlikely to see the word “happy” in any other place in this entry. My predictions for where gaming is going in 2009 are not particularly rosy, but these are lean times, and lean times do not care so much about your feelings. More closures: As investors pulled money and game sales underperformed, companies closed left and right at the end of 2008. I expect that trend to continue as more Christmas sales results come in. Independent developers, the ones completely unprotected from the financial storm, will be in the most trouble, but publishers will probably close down a significant number of internal studios also. Midway, of course, will be first—there’s a chance some semblance of the company will get out of its current turmoil, but that Midway will bear little resemblance to the one of today. The $60 price ceiling will hold: Late in the year, the news that Call of Duty: World at War was being sold at $50 in some places scared the bejeezus out of some of the big industry analysts, who began to wonder aloud if the $60 price ceiling was viable in a recession of this magnitude. But the answer to that question doesn’t really matter: whether it seems viable or not, there is no way that that maximum price will drop. It took the industry ten years, a lot of hard work and a whole new hardware generation to get to $60. Lowering the price now wouldn’t just hurt bottom lines immediately, it would hurt them long term as publishers would have to do all that hard work again. Price cuts from an initial asking price of $60 may come quickly, but you all know that’s nor new either. After all it wasn’t that difficult to find Call of Duty 4 for $40 prior to Christmas 2007. Read More... Posted Jan 02 2009, 12:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments Filed under: psp, dlc, joe keiser, recession, 2009, call of duty world at war, predictions

• Making Black Friday Work for You

  Man, have you seen the list of new releases for this week? Don’t even bother: unless you desperately want retro re-releases like Chrono Trigger or Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (and there’s no shame in that) the marquee title is the rubbery werehog opus Sonic Unleashed. Those that have been following Sonic’s downward spiral know this is no cause for joy. Nintendo even released Boogerman on Virtual Console. BOOGERMAN. It’s like everyone suddenly ran out of games to sell. So somehow we have a barren week in November. Unsurprisingly, it’s also Thanksgiving week. The industry is sending a message loud and clear: stop buying games for yourself, and start buying them for other people. And belts are tight this year. But that has also led to retailers turning Black Friday into less of a day and more of a season. You can use that to your advantage, if you figure out where to look: -First of all, go to CheapAssGamer. Every. Day. I didn’t find every single thing in this list there, but naturally, they had them all anyway. They also have the full list of what you can get at those horrible door buster sales, so for those of you that enjoy risking life and life before the sun comes up in the name of sweet capitalism check it out. If you don’t make it back, we will try to get a good deal on your tombstone. Read More... Posted Nov 24 2008, 02:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: joe keiser, recession, christmas, armored core, shopping, black friday

• The Big Question: Are Games Depression Proof?

  Okay, so we might not quite be in a depression yet, but whether or not it’s on the way is a question that’s been keeping a lot of people up at night. For people like us, that begs another question: can video games survive it? The reason I’m bringing this up today is because GameStop just announced how well they did over the last three months, and that company’s performance is a pretty good barometer for how well things are going over all. Looking at that announcement alone, the answer to “will games live?” is “probably, but just in case…” It turns out that people actually spent more money at GameStop this year, despite having less money and Halo 3 coming out last year. So things may be looking good, but many companies, including GameStop, are lowering their predictions of future money making, just in case it all drops off a cliff. Here are a few more of the points that have been made by a variety of smart, educated people who make a lot of money on this sort of stuff: Read More... Posted Nov 20 2008, 02:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: gamestop, joe keiser, recession, depression