(Credit:
Steam)
Update: Left 4 Dead is currently discounted on Steam's website at 40% off (from $39.99 to $23.99), but just for this weekend only.
If you haven't tried playing Left 4 Dead yet because of the price, or aren't sure about the game in general, that's OK. Valve has decided to let you try it out for free.
At 5:01 p.m. PDT Thursday, you'll be able to download and play the game for free via Steam for a whole 24 hours. Better still, to get your full 24-hour allotment of play time Steam allows you to preload it to your account right now.
This isn't a free-forever offer, nor is there going to be a discount available afterward (as with what happened with UT3 in March). Alas, the game will be locked again the following night, but at least it will give you a chance to play and decide for yourself. Obviously, Valve is hoping you'll love it and send some cash their way to keep playing.
Valve's Steam software has a new feature for game publishers that lets them sell additional downloadable content, or DLC, from within their games.
To do this, it uses a new in-game purchasing system built off of the in-software Web browser. The first title to feature this is The Maw, which now includes two additional levels that can be purchased for $1.25 each, then played immediately. Previously, all add-on content was sold as a separate purchase from Steam's game store.
The new feature is available to all developers as part of Valve's Steamworks publishing platform. For games with existing add-on content, this means that the companies will be able go back and update their titles to allow in-game purchases.
Micropayments are becoming an increasingly important part of modern games, not only as a way for publishers to continue to make money from a title after it's released, but also to help bring in extra sales from people who purchase games used.
Valve says the new system will allow users to purchase and add additional content, even on titles that were not purchased through Steam's game store, just like it does with physical software titles that were purchased from other retailers.
Previously: Valve announces best PC gaming idea of the year (so far)
Valve is now selling downloadable content on its Steam, Web-powered games distribution software.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
(Credit:
Steam)
Have any plans for the weekend? Yeah, I'm talking to you. If not, here's a suggestion: how's about some online Capture-the-Flag action (or Deathmatch action, whatever floats your boat) on Unreal Tournament III Black. Oh, and it's free. OK, so it's for the PC only and doesn't apply to the PlayStation 3, but it's still a pretty cool deal and it's something to do.
Whether or not you have the game, it's all good. The free weekend includes the game, the Titan Pack expansion, and the 2.0 patch. Now, all you have to do is sign up for a Steam account, which is also free, and you are good to go.
After the entire weekend hullabaloo dies down, Unreal Tournament III Black will be available on Steam at a 40 percent discount, costing around 12 bucks, and will remain so, right up until March 15.
In the meantime, go frag some people online tonight. Go ahead. Frag the hell outta them. (There are more than a few screenshots of the game below.)
(Credit:
Amazon)
Amazon.com on Tuesday launched its first foray into digital downloads for games. The new online store offers more than 600 casual titles without the need for physical media. Amazon says all the titles at launch are under either $6.99 or $9.99 with older titles leaning towards the lower end of the spectrum. As an added promotion, the company is giving away three free titles, which gamers have a week to scoop up before the prices return to normal.
The launch comes just a little over two months since Amazon acquired Reflexive Entertainment, a casual-game service that is still selling titles with its own DRM solution and store front. In Amazon's case, purchased games must be downloaded with a special download tool similar to what's required to grab music tracks from the company's MP3 service. The games then phone home the first time you launch them to verify the purchase information.
Each game can be played for 30 minutes as a timed trial before the need to purchase. This model directly competes with that from Yahoo Games and to a certain degree Valve's Steam service, although unlike Valve, Amazon is not yet offering a download service for larger AAA titles from major publishers.
The service is PC-only for now, which is mostly a limitation from game developers who don't offer the titles on computers running OS X or Linux. However, a Mac version of the store is likely in the works.
Starting Monday, Electronics Arts will sell its popular video game Spore free of any digital rights management restrictions.
It's part of a slew of titles which EA will offer on Valve's Steam distribution platform, according to a report by Ars Technica. Besides Spore, the collection will include Warhammer Online, Need for Speed Undercover, Mass Effect, and FIFA Manager 09. Crysis, Crysis: Warhead, and SiN Episodes: Emergence are already available on the service, and there are more on the way.
Prices for the DRM-free versions are said to be on par with what the games would sell for in a box in a retail store.
It's a move likely to win EA some points with gamers after the disastrous public response to its DRM policy for Spore. Originally the company locked the game using DRM software called SecuROM to no more than three machines, which it later upped to five.
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