Although the appearance of a beta page last June confirmed the existence of Battlefield 4, we haven't seen nary a lens-flared screenshot or gun render from EA since then. Someone else has, though: GameStop CEO J. Paul Raines tweeted that he's seen the game.
Borderlands 2's playground world of Pandora teems with monsters, bandits, psychos, burning psychos, cowardly robots, and the ever-ubiquitous loot, but what if a special retreat existed for the wayward warrior to take a break, dust off his or her feet, and plug a few (thousand) bullets into the slavering maws of bloodthirsty beasts?
US games retailer GameStop has announced in a press release that the rumoured Steam Wallet cards are, in fact, real and in stores now. The cards are available in $20 and $50 denominations and those funds can be used for anything on Steam, from games to workshop items.
"Offering Steam Wallet codes at GamesStop extends more options and convenience to gamers around the world" said Valve's Director of Business Development Jason Holtman.
Gamestop's decision to pull free OnLive codes from copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution is more than simply an unfortunate business decision. It's the first real shot in a war between publishers and retail that's been a long time brewing. Whether or not it has the right, contractually or otherwise, isn't really important in the grand scheme of things. What matters is that it did it, giving up one of the year's biggest PC games to make its point - and that's the kind of decision that ripples and echoes in the wider industry. By this time next year, stories like this won't even be a surprise.
Yesterday we mentioned that retail copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution are being sold with a bonus OnLive activation code. Today, Joystiq report that Gamestop HQ has sent a message out to employees telling them to move all stocks of the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution to store back rooms in preparation for shipment back to Square Enix.
This is an escalation from an earlier order, which asked employees to remove the OnLive coupons from copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution by hand. Now Gamestop are simply refusing to sell PC copies of the game. A Gamestop spokesperson told Ars Technica that "Square Enix packed the competitor’s coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge." It's a remarkable move from Gamestop, and the latest incident in an escalating conflict between digital distributors and traditional retail stores.
Residents of the USA can now get a glimpse of the bonuses they'll recieve, should they pre-order the game from specific retailers, reports Joystiq. While Europeans have had a chance to survey their best bet for the past month, this is the first time Americans can see what they'll receive should they purchase their game from Gamestop, Amazon or Best Buy.
Chris leads the team as Logan, Dan, Evan and Lucas discuss Minecraft's profits, GameStop buying Impulse, Logan's scandalous Reddit tell-all, a new spin on Truthiness and Falsity, a major videocard listener question, and much more!
PC Gamer US Podcast 267: IAmA Podcast
Yesterday, the world's largest physical game retailer announced that it would buy its way into the online PC game distribution market by acquiring Stardock's Impulse service. On the other end of that deal is Stardock founder and CEO Brad Wardell, who started up Impulse in 2008. We got Brad on Skype to discuss what this deal means for him, for you, and for all of PC gaming.
Game retailer GameStop has apparently decided to buy its way into two PC game-selling technologies at once. In a single press release, the retail giant announced that it will acquire both Stardock's Impulse download service (a competitor to Steam) and Spawn Labs' streaming service (a competitor to OnLive). The release indicates that Impulse will continue to function as normal, but will be fully integrated with GameStop.com within the next few months.
With GameStop's backing, Impulse could suddenly become a real threat to Steam, which currently dominates digital PC gaming sales. Founded in 2008 by Stardock, it's currently a respectable but distant competitor that's gotten some attention through Stardock's own games like Sins of a Solar Empire, Demigod, and Elemental.
(Note that GameStop isn't buying all of game publisher/developer Stardock, only the Impulse, Inc. subsidiary.)
GameStop is a massive retailer that sells hard copies of games for full price. Kongregate is a free flash portal that integrates lovely web games with achievements, profiles, leaderboards, and micro-transactions. GameStop just ate Kongregate last night. BE AFRAID.
