And here is the article:

Industry-research group finds small minority download premium content via Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii over three-month period; 15 percent got content online via PC or Mac.

Downloadable content is all the rage in gaming at the moment, with such high-profile titles as Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, and Red Dead Redemption getting premium add-ons. However, according to a recent survey by the NPD Group, only a small minority are getting DLC via connected consoles.

According to a survey by the industry research group spanning three months, 75 percent of consumers 13 and older did not download digital content on any platform at all. Some 15 percent downloaded content via a PC or Mac, 4 percent through a smartphone, and 2 percent connected via a Blu-ray Disc player or a digital video player, such as Apple TV or Roku. (The sample size of the study was not provided.)

The remaining 6 percent downloaded content via a connected “game player,” a category that covers the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. Russ Crupnick, NPD’s vice president and senior entertainment analyst, put a positive spin on the relatively low number.

“The promise of the connected experience is coming, as prospective Blu-ray owners want their players to come with connectivity, and half of game consoles are already connected,” he said in a statement. “The doors are also opening wider for music, video, gaming and other forms of entertainment.”

Anita Frazier, NPD’s top analyst for toys and video games, elaborated on the gaming aspect of the study. She said that, thanks to online connectivity, the demographic of what is considered a “gamer” is broadening.

“Today’s gamer might be a hardcore teenager playing games online with his friends, a 40-something female playing Farmville on Facebook, or everything on either side of that spectrum,” Frazier said. “We would not have seen this type of audience diversification and expansion if it weren’t for connected Internet, smartphone, and online gaming options.”

Source: Gamespot

APB Steam refund update

25/09/2010 in Digital Distribution, News

If you bought APB from Steam, apparently EA are now offering a free game as a refund. Valve put up a brick wall, but EA are making up for the fact that customer who bought their game ended up with nothing to show for it.

If you contact them through this site, and tell them you’d like another game to replace APB, they will give you any game currently available on the EA Store. I don’t think that they will let you get preorders, but it’s worth a shot.

You can pick from the likes of Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Spore, The Saboteur, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and all sorts of other stuff.

Thanks to CHooligans for the heads up.

SavyGamer » APB Steam refund update

What’s coming up next on Steam? What are the next big games featuring Steamworks DRM? I’m here to tell you.

I am pretty sure everyone heard by now about Mafia 2 and is eager to play. On Friday August 27th the time has come, 2 weeks left only.

If you haven’t played the demo yet you may checkout this great video on YouTube made by the guy from www.tweakguides.com

It was recorded on Full HD (1080) using max details. Enjoy the graphics.

If you have the Demo installed and are using a Nvidia card don’t miss the latest PhysX drivers. released by Nvidia yesterday. The new version 9.10.0513 has bug fixes for Mafia 2.

For a list of various Mafia 2 Bonus Packs checkout our user’s R0TTENCAT Steam thread.

An other great game people are waiting for is Civilization V. The PC release is set on September 21st and 2KGames already promised to released a demo prior.

One of the greatest fans of Civilization seems to be State  Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley.

"Now, therefore, I, Martin O’Malley, Governor of the State of Maryland, do hereby pay tribute to the outstanding achievements of Sid Meier on this day, July 28, 2010, and hereby recognize September 21, 2010, as Sid Meier’s Civilization V Day, and call upon the people of our State to join in celebrating this salute."

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102480-Maryland-Declares-Official-Civilization-V-Day

Greatest changes to Civilization 4 are hexagonal instead of square landscape. A new combat system. Now only one unit per field is allowed (no unit stacking anymore), but for this we get ranged combat. Some more controversial changes are removal of religion and all  civic choices are permanent. If you choose to develop a pious or militaristic society for example you will be stuck with this decision for rest of the game. A bit strange considering Civilization was always about human cultural evolution and that naturally involved changes. Just take Germanys history. From clansmen, to kingdom to religiously fundamentalist. From monarchy to republic, to dictatorship to be split into communism and democracy.

For a more comprehensive preview check out Stuff.co.nz Civ5 recent preview. Our Polish guys should instead visit this site for a large preview. The Germans can instead visit Gamestar.de for a nice preview. If you think reading is for pussy’s then I have these screenshots for you too taken by a User Beta Tester. 

Minimum requirements

• OS: Windows 7, Vista SP2, XP SP3
• Memory: 2 GB RAM !!!
• Hard Disk: 8 GB RAM
• Processor: Dual Core CPU
• Graphics: DirectX 9.0c with at least 256 MB RAM, (ATI HD2600 XT – Nvidia 7900 GS or Core i3 CPU with integrated graphics)

Recommend requirements

• OS: Windows 7, Vista SP2
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Processor: 1.8 GHz Quad-Core
• Graphics: …with at least 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 9800 or ATI Radeon HD 4800)
• DirectX: DirectX 11

For original Fallout fans this was like a dream came true when Bethesda announce that Obsidian is making the next Fallout game.    Fallout New Las Vegas

Insiders and fans know that Obsidian was founded by Black Isle (an Interplay Studio) veterans, the makers of Fallout 1 & 2. Chris Avellone designer of Fallout 2 and lead designer of former Fallout 3 (Codename Van Buren) before it was canceled as results of Interplays finance troubles, is now the lead designer of Fallout New Vegas. Sometimes life can be just and we gamers surely can expect some glory of the past on this sequel.  PC release day will be October 22nd.

Fallout New Vegas will feature it’s own storyline that has nothing to do with Fallout 3 but instead will have similarities with Fallout 1 & 2.

We can expect so to see old acquaintances like the  New California Republic (NCR) and the Super Mutant Marcus from Fallout 2 making an appearance. New will be the full implementation of melee weapons and combat. A hardcore mode for the Fallout geeks. Now you actually have to drink water regularly in the wastelands or you die. A Level cap of 30.

If language is not an issue you should definitely play the game in English. The game features some prime voice caste like Zachary Levi from Chuck (Chuck himself) and Michael Dorn,to most of us know as Mr. Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and the movies. For a full list of this exclusive cast go here to USA Today. It’s really a list of Who’s Who in the business.

Behind the Scenes: The Many Voices of New Vegas on No Mutants Allowed

Fallout New Vegas will like Mafia II and Dragon Age feature multiple Pre-Order bonuses. What you get depends where you buy.

The Classic Pack, available when you pre-order through GameStop, contains:

• Armored Vault 13 Suit – Extensively patched up and dotted with piecemeal armor, this outfit is an homage to the classic ending of the original Fallout.
• Vault 13 Canteen – This handy device is useful for staving off dehydration and providing a small amount of healing in the Mojave Wasteland.
• Weathered 10mm Pistol – A well-worn 10mm pistol that packs an extra punch despite its modest size.
• 5 Stimpaks – Food and water are good for long-term healing, but when the fighting is fierce, Stimpaks help keep Wastelanders upright.

The Tribal Pack, available when you pre-order through Amazon, contains:

• Tribal Raiding Armor – Pieced together from scraps of armor, this outfit provides protection without impacting mobility.
• Broad Machete – This heavy-bladed melee weapon does high damage against limbs and can quickly deal out a flurry of attacks.
• 5 Bleak Venom doses – Useful on any Melee Weapon, Bleak Venom makes short of work of most living targets.
• 10 Throwing Spears – If you would like to silently pin an enemy’s head to a wall, Throwing Spears are the way to do it.

The Caravan Pack, available when you pre-order through Steam and Wal-Mart, contains:

• Lightweight Leather Armor – This hand-modified suit of leather armor reduces its overall weight without impacting its ability to protect.
• Sturdy Caravan Shotgun – Despite its rough appearance, this Caravan Shotgun will reliably fire 20 gauge shells until the Brahmin come home.
• 4 Repair Kits – Useful for repairing any outfit or weapon, Repair Kits are a valuable tool for any caravaner.
• Binoculars – The Mojave Wasteland is a dangerous place, but with these trusty Binoculars you’ll be able to spot trouble coming.

The Mercenary Pack, available when you pre-order through Best Buy, contains:

• Lightweight Metal Armor – Modified for long-range travel, this Metal Armor sacrifices some protection for mobility and overall weight.
• Mercenary’s Grenade Rifle – Though similar to other 40mm Grenade Rifles in the Mojave Wasteland, this model has a faster reload cycle.
• 3 Super Stimpaks – When you absolutely, positively, need to keep your blood inside your body, Super Stimpaks fix you up in no time.
• 3 Doctors Bags – Mercenaries and broken limbs go together like Iguana-on-a-Stick and Nuka Cola. Thankfully, these Doctors Bags take a bit of sting out of the inevitable crushed skull.

Pretty much a downside of course, but on the other side Steamworks DRM is one of the less intrusive DRM out there theses days. Don’t let us forget 2KGames Bioshock 1&2 using SecureRom DRM + Games for Windows Live. EA’s EADM, Stardocks Impulse, Activision/Blizzard Battle.net and worst of all UBISOFT shit DRM.

At least Steamworks also comes with nice features like Achievements, Online Saves (Steam-Cloud) fully working game-overlay, friend-list and matchmaking.

Join the forum discussion on this post

SEGA Week kicks off with a bang starting with the uber SEGA Complete Pack available at a great discount price. This bundle includes EVERYTHING from Sega currently available on Steam (excludes unreleased games). Offer ends on May 24th – don’t miss out on huge savings!

Sega Complete Pack
€ 59.99
$ 89.99 »  € 70.86 (+18.12%)
£ 49.99 »  € 58.18 (-3.01%)

Fair price I guess. Worth for the Total War series. Individual price is well over 400€! This deal is week-long and ends on May 24th. Doesn’t include AVP2010 in Germany! Yet they sell it for the same price in there.

Monday – May 17th
Aliens vs. Predator 2010 – 50% off
Tuesday – May 18th
Sega Sci-Fi Pack : Space Siege, Stormrise, Universe at War: Earth Assault – 75% off
Wednesday – May 19th
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing – 50% off
Thursday – May 20th
Total War™ Mega Pack – 66% off
Napoleon: Total War™ – 33% off

Friday – ? – May 21th

Football Manager™ 2010
€ 49.99 € 24.99 
$ 39.99 $ 19.99 » € 16.00 (-35.97%) 
£ 29.99 £ 14.99 » € 17.22 (-31.09%)

The deal continues during weekend. By the way FM2010 is the only game from the SEGA pack which will give you a chance to download it onto your MAC. Also, the game is currently on free weekend and so you can try the full version for free. Click HERE to participate. You gotta have Steam installed though.

This deal again means nothing to our readers from Germany, who are unable to buy it off their part of Steam Store.

Can’t wait which prices are going to drop during Saturday and Sunday.

This post will get updated as new "day" deals are announced.

6 November update: added new releases: Big Brain Wolf, Magnetis, Aztaka, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition, RailWorks HST Buffer Version DLC, and Sacraboar.

7 November update: added League of Legends, Europe only.

2  November

• Men of War: Red Tide
• Men of War: Gold Edition

3  November

• Spellforce – Platinum Edition

4  November

• Shattered Horizon
• Massive Assault
• Massive Assault: Phantom Renaissance
• Massive Assault Network 2
• Massive Assault Collection
• Doom Rails
• Fatale
• Earthworm Jim Collection

5  November

• Big Brain Wolf
• Magnetis
• Aztaka

6 November

• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition
• RailWorks HST Buffer Version DLC
• Sacraboar
• League of Legends

Men of War: Red Tide

US: $24.99
UK: £19.99 (33% higher)
EU: 21,99€ (31% higher)

Men of War: Gold Edition

US: $34.99
UK: £27.99 (33% higher)
EU: 31,99€ (36% higher)

Spellforce – Platinum Edition

US: $14.99
UK: £13.49 (49% higher)
EU: 14,99€ (49% higher)

Shattered Horizon

US: $19.99
UK: £14.99 (25% higher)
EU: 19,99€ (49% higher)

Massive Assault

US: $29.99
UK: £21.99 (22% higher)
EU: 24,99€ (24% higher)

Massive Assault: Phantom Renaissance

US: $19.99
UK: £9.99 (17% lower)
EU: 12,99€ (3% lower)

Massive Assault Network 2

US: $39.99
UK: £19.99 (17% lower)
EU: 28,99€ (8% higher)

Massive Assault Collection

US: $59.99
UK: £34.99 (3% lower)
EU: 39,99€ (1% lower)

Doom Rails

US: $9.99
UK: £6.99 (16% higher)
EU: 8,99€ (34% higher)

Fatale

US: $6.99
UK: £4.99 (19% higher)
EU: 5,99€ (27% higher)

Earthworm Jim Collection

US: $19.99
UK: £15.99 (33% higher)
EU: 19,99€ (49% higher)

Big Brain Wolf

US: $9.99
UK: £7.99 (32% higher)
EU: 7,99€ (19% higher)

Magnetis

US: $4.99
UK: £3.49 (16% higher)
EU: 4,99€ (49% higher)

Aztaka

US: $14.99 $11.24
UK: £10.99 £8.24 (22% higher)
EU: 13,99€ 10,49€ (38% higher)

Dragon Age: Origins

US: $49.99
UK: £29.99 (0% lower)
EU: 49,99€ (48% higher)

Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition

US: $64.99
UK: £39.99 (2% higher)
EU: 54,99€ (26% higher)

RailWorks HST Buffer Version DLC

US: $7.99
UK: £4.99 (4% higher)
EU: 5,99€ (11% higher)

Sacraboar

US: $19.99
UK: £17.99 (49% higher)
EU: 17,99€ (34% higher)

League of Legends

US: N/A
UK: £24.99
EU tier 1: 29,99€
EU tier 2: 29,99€
EU tier 3: N/A

• New release: Commandos 2 + 3 @ GoG – both games for $9.99
• JoWooD catalogue 30% off & Patrician 1 + 2 @ GoG
• Steam middleweek “DEAL” – Assassin’s Creed 75% off ONLY FOR AMERICA!
  
• Steam new release indie-game Itza Bitza – 10% off til 21th Oct, hurry!

Good Old Games

Good Old Games gem of the Week: Septerra Core (1999). Get it for $4.99!

We know there are a lot of RPG fans here at GOG.com and this week we decided to put a spotlight on a role-playing title, but different than others, unique. Septerra Core is a console-style RPG made by a USA developer Valkyrie Studio in a spirit of Japanese RPGs. Pete Davison took the fun ride into the world of manga-styled characters, intricate storyline and he wrote down his impressions here. With the article comes the $1.00 discount, so you can grab the game for only $4.99 until Sunday, October 25 at 11:59 p.m. EDT

JoWooD catalogue (total: 8 games) 30% off!!

For the whole week, until Monday, October 26 at 11:59 p.m. EDT, all games from JoWooD’s catalogue are 30% off! This means you can grab such gems like for example: Painkiller: Black Edition or Gothic 2 Gold for $6.99 and The Nations Gold for only $4.19. Get the whole package for $47.52 and save $20.40! PS. I personally recommend Spellforce Platinum edition – cool unusual RPG style game. $9.99 for a game and 2 expansions, not a bad deal at all :)

New release Patrician 1 + 2 both games together $5.99. Get them here!

New release: Commandos 2 + 3 – both games for $9.99. Get them here!

GamersGate

Who missed THQ deals in Steam, here is new and better deal (IMHO!) in GamersGate! All THQ games are off 50%!

Highly recommended!

Sample: Red Faction Guerilla 19.95€
For comparison Steam prices (thanks, Rad-86):
US: $39.99
UK: £34.99 (43% higher)
EU: 49,99€ (86% higher)

Steam

Steam has week deal too! Assassin’s Creed: Director’s Cut Edition 75% off. FOR AMERICA ONLY!

It’s the middle of the week and you’re hard at work (or play). You need a break. The solution? Join history’s deadliest and most secretive clan of warriors in Assassin’s Creed™: Director’s Cut Edition. Get it before Thursday morning and save 75% off the regular price. Offer available in North, Central, and South America only.

And another release – indie game Itza Bitza. But not very fair price.. But acceptable.

US: $9.99 $8.99
UK: £6.99 £6.29 (15% higher)
EU Tier1: 8,99€ 8,09€ (35% higher)

Medieval II: Total War

US: $19.99
UK: £9.99 (21% lower)
EU: 9,99€ (26% lower)

Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms

US: $14.99
UK: £4.99 (47% lower)
EU: 9,99€ (2% lower)

Let’s hope that this isn’t just a case of them being late to update the US price.

Battlefield 2: Complete Collection

US: $29.99
UK: £14.99 (20% lower)
EU: 19,99€ (2% lower)

The Godfather 2

US: $39.99
UK: £24.99 (1% higher)
EU: 19,99€ (27% lower)

Two games can be pre-purchased that are have a fair price for Europeans.

Dreamkiller

US: $29.99 $26.99
UK: £27.99 £25.19 (49% higher)
EU tier 1: 21,99€ 19,79€ (8% higher)
EU tier 2: 20,99€ 18,89€ (3% higher)

Machinarium

US: $19.99$14.99
UK: £14.99£11.24 (19% higher)
EU tier 1: 16,99€ 13,24€ (30% higher)
EU tier 2: 14,99€ 11,24€ (10% higher)

If you’ve forgotten what Tier you’re from you can always check out this page.

You can download tor’s script from this website.

Thanks again for this great script! :)

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