NPD released the results of a survey today, wherein we are able to learn trends in the acquisitioning of video games for the PC. The results were somewhat of a big shock to me — it’s something I’ve known will happen in the future, I just didn’t think we were already at this point.
According to their survey (emphasis on survey — they’re not using actual sales statistics, but were able to survey a very wide range of people), full videogame downloads are selling more units than boxed copies. According to the survey, this is largely due to the fact that Steam exists, as it is listed as the top digital distributor, right above Direct2Drive. This is in the frontline digital retailers category — when it comes to casual digital retailers, BigFishGames leads the pack.

I’m personally wondering if this is a trend that will continue. Could this be the beginning of the (inevitable) fall of PC games being distributed physically? I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but this definitely shows that video game downloads are gaining traction.

Let me know in the comments what your preference is. Personally, I’d much rather hop on Steam and buy a game to download instantly than have to leave the comfort of my lair to make a purchase. It’s convenience over all, even if it does mean that I miss out on some of the cool stuff, such as the physical game manual and box.
And while that is my stance on the subject, I still do somewhat miss the old days where those things meant something. Even if I did prefer buying a physical copy, game manuals have decreased in quality so much in recent years. Could this have to do with the fact that digital sales are picking up, so publishers see less of a reason to spend the extra money making a spiffy manual?

Anyway, a total of 8,000 people were surveyed, which “is [then] weighted and projected to be representative of the U.S. population ages 2 and older.” Very interesting results, to say the least. Let’s see if this trend keeps up.

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Awesome news for PC gamers from the Nvidia front!

The company that brought you the popular Geforce graphics cards series, have recently announced the launch of their new 3D vision surround system!

This cutting edge technology takes 3D gaming and raises the bar, in terms of quality, by enabling the stereoscopic effect using three computer screens.

In order to be able to produce these effects on your PC, you need to be the owner of a GeForce GTX 400 series GPUs, 3D Vision and SLI technology.

Andrew Fear, senior manager at Nvidia stated that it was the creation of systems like this, that he loves working at the company. He said “The reason why I love working at Nvidia is because we can make products like this which make gaming better”. He went on to state that this will take 3D to a whole new level, as he said: “Trust me, you may have experienced 3D, but you have never seen 3D like this.”.

In order to enable the new 3D Vision Surround technology, users of compatible Nvidia cards will have to download the brand new GeForce Beta v258.69 driver, which has just been made available.

Have a look at this new phenomena by watching the video below:

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All computer gamers love a good indie game every now and then. Well, how about six indie games, right now? How much, you ask?
Well, just ask yourself. Wolfire Games is holding a “Humble Indie Bundle” promotion in which you pay whatever you think six indie games are worth.
Every game is cross-platform (Win/Lin/Mac) and completely DRM-free. Those are the main two reasons I chose to support the promotion as well as the developers. Mad respect.
Now, the bundle is only available until Tuesday (May 11th), so you may want to pick it up pretty soon. Check out what’s included…

The Games

As I mentioned, there are a total of six games available in the bundle. The total price of each of these games individually would be $115. Wolfire Games has banded together with the developers to offer you the opportunity to say pshaw to that and pay whatever you think the games are worth (or whatever you’ve got).
Included in the bundle are World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Wolfire’s own Lugaru, Penumbra Overture, and recently added Samorost 2.
Let me fill you in on what these games are all about…

World of Goo

This game requires no introduction. You’ve surely heard of it, if you keep up with anything gaming-related. It’s a physics-based puzzle game, in which you connect little blobs of goo to create a structure able to reach from point A to point B without crumbling in on itself (or one of the many environmental hazards present throughout).
It’s a ton of fun, and has garnered somewhat of a cult following in the indie gaming community. Developer 2D Boy has participated in several bundle events such as this in the past.
This is probably the most widely acclaimed game in the bundle.

Aquaria

This is an interesting title that has you following a mermaid kind of person named Naija as you swim throughout the ocean and sing. A lot of the game is actually based around singing, actually, as it allows you to interact with the world. This is one of the games in the bundle I haven’t had a chance to try out yet, but it definitely looks like an interesting break from most modern games, in that it focuses a lot on the artistic aspect of game-making, as many indie games do.

Gish

Gish is a platformer in which you play as a gloopy glob of tar named… Well, named Gish. You jump your way through the game with the abilities to become heavy, stick, slide, and expand. The gameplay is very inventive, even if it is sometimes hard to see Gish with all the shadows and darkness. (Of course, his yellow eyes give him away, but it’s hard to tell exactly where you’re positioned sometimes.)

Lugaru

Lugaru is a game widely based in hand-to-hand combat between you, a rabbit, battling other rabbits and wolves. This is the game made by the founders of the Humble Indie Bundle, Wolfire Games.
Your attacks launched against fellow woodland creatures vary depending on the position of your character. If you’re crouching, you’ll have a different attack than if you’re running. In this way, you can get involved in strategizing your games pretty deeply to the point of sheer addiction. You can counter your enemy’s attacks to ensure your safety, but if you become too predictable, they can do the same to you. (Luckily, you can then counter their counter to avoid any further damage.)
Lugaru is fairly popular, especially amongst the Mac indie gaming scene. There are community mods available to enhance and expand your experience.

Penumbra: Overture

Penumbra is a series of survival horror adventure game. Penumbra: Overture is the first in the series.
It is a game void of guns, so the majority of your attacks in the game have you using the environment or various melee weapons to take out your enemies. A lot of the game entices you to be stealthy as to avoid detection and stay alive… This backs up the horror setting in the game and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Samorost 2

Samorost 2 was just added to the bundle this morning. If you’d gotten the bundle before then, return to your unique key URL you received upon purchasing to download the game. Otherwise, you’ll be able to get it when you get all the rest.
It is a point-and-click adventure title with unique graphics and an interesting library of sounds. If you’re into puzzle/adventure/point-and-click games, you’ll find a lot to love in Samorost 2.

[The Humble Indie Bundle]

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Seven long years have passed since the release of the original Mafia game, and since then there has been no sign of a sequel to it in all that time, but no longer, Take-Two Interactive announced the arrival of Mafia II, to finally hit the store shelves of North American game stores on August 24^th. The game will become available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The original Mafia game was released also in august, but on the 28th in 2002, and received many good reviews, from the gaming community.

This new installment is set during the 40s and 50s, and follows the wannabe wise guy Vito, an Italian immigrant, trying to get away from living in poverty. He Joins La Famiglia with the goal of climbing up in the ranks, in order to become a “made man”. In this sequel a lot of thought and time went into the details, where Take-Two, went as far as striking a deal with playboy, to use the appropriate magazines, that were actually used during the time period.

The sequel to Mafia is but one of many titles Take-Two is getting ready for release. Other titles, due to come out between August and October are Civilization V, Max Payne 3 an L.A. Noire. The plans are to release all of those between the mentioned time period, however Take-Two already hinted at a possible delay, for at least one of the mentioned games, due to  financial reasons.

In any event it looks like gamers are in for a hot fall, with plenty of new releases coming out, starting with this sequel, that will hopefully be able to measure up to the original Mafia game, which was a truly excellent game at the time of release, 7 years ago.

Mafia II (Video Game) List Price: $19.99 USD New From: $13.49 In Stock Used from: $9.29 In Stock Release date August 24, 2010.

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The beta for the ultra-super-duper hyped real-time strategy game, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, began yesterday. As sc2blog.com said in an early impressions post,

Blizzard has delivered. Thousands of people have already downloaded and installed the StarCraft 2 Beta, the Battle.net 2.0 platform is online and fully operational (where it counts), maps are downloaded swiftly, and finding a match takes seconds.

This sounds promising.
The full game is expected to hit shelves sometime during the first half of 2010. And, like with all Blizzard games that I know of, it will be cross-platform, letting both Windows users and us Mac users take part in the fun. (This is the main reason I love Blizzard so much.)

The beta consists of a total of ten playable maps, which is more than some modern online FPS’ can say, so I’m pretty impressed, especially considering this is just a beta. There may be even more in the final release.
There will also be the “Galaxy Editor,” which is a comprehensive and sophisticated content creation tool for the game, allowing users to create their own mods and maps, expanding the replayability and creativity in this game from “very high” to “unbelievably expanse / infinite.”

Unfortunately, I don’t yet have access to the beta, but from what I’m seeing it looks pretty amazing. Blizzard’s once again looking to not just take part in a genre, but absolutely revolutionize it.

See larger image Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (Video Game) List Price: $59.99 USD New From: $44.98 In Stock Used from: $35.00 In Stock Release date July 27, 2010.

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Personally, I’ve never checked this series out, aside from their iPhone installment. That game’s amazing, though, so I imagine that a game from that series would be even better on a bigger screen with more precise controls, so this is something I’ll definitely be checking out.

The game also has an expansion, titled “Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun – Firestorm.” Firestorm lengthens the campaign mode, giving you more bang for your nonexistent buck.

All in all, this game looks pretty great, and for free, you really can’t go wrong. For me, though, it will be easing the pain of the upcoming Starcraft 2 more than any new Command & Conquer games.

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Now, I know that this is just a demo, so it doesn’t really deserve a review, but it’s a pretty hyped-up game, so I figured I’d give it one anyway.

The demo hit the Playstation Network today, and I grabbed it as soon as I could. After the long download, and the short-but-seemingly-endless installation, I jumped right on in.
I’m actually playing as I type this up… Taking breaks in-between sentences. I can’t put this controller down.

Alright, match over. Time to take a break.

As you may know, a beta for this game hit PSN a while back. I participated in the beta, but only played one round and put it down because of how terrible the map was. I really didn’t like the map, and it ruined the beta for me.
Luckily, the demo has a much better map to play on, so I was able to give it a better shot.

One great thing I noticed right away was the simple system for the online play. I think one of the main reasons the Modern Warfare series is so successful is because of how straightforward and simple the online system is. There’s not much to figure out, and it’s easy to jump in and play.
Bad Company 2 matches the simplistic system, and it works out amazingly well. I was parachuting into the battlefield in a matter of seconds.

The graphics in this game are outstanding. I personally feel that they’re better than the graphics in Modern Warfare 2, especially the lighting. (Please excuse all the comparisons to MW2, but… Well, that will happen.)
One thing that I know is better is the sound design. The sounds in Bad Company 2 didn’t disappoint me… They were amazing in the first game, and they’ve gotten even better. All of the sounds are incredibly crisp and unique, and really help with the overall immersion of the gameplay.

Speaking of gameplay, you’ll be happy to know that it’s… Well, it’s great! Everything feels responsive, the controls are sometimes a bit irritating when you spend so much time play MW2, but not too difficult to get used to.
There’s a very nice feeling of satisfaction with just about any kill in this game. It takes more than it does to take someone down in MW2, and I feel very accomplished every time.

Now, I’m a sniper. I love sniping… It’s what I tend to stick with most of the time in first-person shooters. I’ve become so used to the sniping in MW2 that Bad Company 2′s sniping is just… Incredibly easy.
I haven’t decided yet whether that’s good or bad, but it’s definitely fun. This game takes out the realism of breath patterns and holding in your breath to get a good shot. It’s always just like your rifle’s being suspended perfectly in the air in front of you. It’s an incredibly steady shot. And while it is easier than in MW2, it’s still very satisfying to get a good headshot.

And if you don’t get a headshot? Say you shoot a guy in the chest, and he manages to get away. Some other guy comes up behind him and blows his brains out. Now, he had barely any health at that point… You did most of the work. In Modern Warfare 2, it doesn’t matter; you get a standard assist no matter what.
Now, this is something that I am loving about BC2… So far, I’ve come across two assist severities. That’s probably all there are, but I’m not sure. There’s a standard “Assist,” for which you get 10 points (a kill is 50), and a “Critical Assist,” which is when you do more damage to your enemy, resulting in you banking 30 points. While you still don’t get credit for the whole kill, you’re definitely treated better as an assist killer here, and it feels nice.

Speaking of things feeling nice, nothing feels better than blowing the cover from in front of an enemy. This game brings with it the brilliant destructible environments from the first iteration, and they feel even nicer.
I’ve seen several buildings actually collapse in on themselves entirely, swiss-cheese walls buckling under the pressure of the roof they’re supporting, and just giving way to the force of destruction. This was not possible in the first game, and it adds a whole new sense of realism and “Oh my god, that was awesome” moments to the game.

This game feels very polished. I’m enjoying the demo so much that at this point, after spending less than a day with it, I know for sure that this is a must-have game of 2010 for any first-person shooter fans. How it stands up to MW2? It’s too early to tell right now, but it’s looking good. And this is coming from a huge Modern Warfare fan.
To sum this review up, I’ve gotten several messages from friends of mine on the Playstation Network, asking “Is it good?”, as they see that I’m playing the demo. I’ve replied to every one with “Dude, amazing.”
Download. This. Demo.
I’m not going to give this game a score out of ten yet, because… Well, this is just a demo, and I don’t want to be mistaken as judging the entirety of the game. But I will tell you again and again that this game is a freaking blast. This is worth your time.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is due to be released on March 2nd. Pre-order your copy today, I know I did.

See larger image Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Video Game) List Price: $19.99 USD New From: $15.49 In Stock Used from: $4.15 In Stock Release date March 2, 2010.

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Here is the trailer for Lord of the Rings: Conquest that was just been released by Pandemic Studios. The game offers  unique gameplay that was never before seen in a Lord of the Rings title. Lord of the Rings: Conquest video game will be released on January 13th, 2009 for the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, DS, and PC.

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