New digital distributor emerges: Atomblock

Distributor Atomblock is to launch a new download site in UK with 450 titles ready to download from clients including EA, Codemasters, Ubisoft and 2K Games. Atomblock plans to have over 1000 titles by the end of the year.

Atomblock is the latest player to join the increasingly competitive world of digital games distribution. The firm says it will open digital game shops for retailers and media, and its platform has already been picked up by MSN Benelux.

Much like many of its rivals, Atomblock’s service includes DRM, content delivery, payment, customer service and also reporting. Its clients will be able to launch digital download stores in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain and other territories by 2011.

Atomblock was founded in 1995 and distributes software and hardware in Benelux.

The more the merrier?
At this stage their website http://www.atomblock.com/ does not contain much info as of yet so I have no clue what games they will have available at launch, prices, if they’ll have any launch specials or if they’ll kick Steam where it hurts. But I might be a bit blind.

Source: MCV

Green Man Gaming, a company located in the United Kingdom, is about to launch a digital download store for the PC with a difference, claiming its store will be able to offer "pre-owned" digital sales. "Previously the minute you had paid and downloaded your game it had no resale value", says Gian Luzio, Green Man’s COO. "This is extremely expensive for the gamer and does not encourage the consumer to try new genres or franchises. Our leading edge technology gives downloaded games a value that gamers can trade-in at any time".

You’re probably asking yourself? "how will this work", the COO says "We will pay significant royalties to the publisher each time the game is traded in perpetuity".

And the follow-up questions, like "how much will pre-owned games cost?" and "who’s going to determine the value of trade-ins?", sadly those are going to have to wait until Green Man launches sometime around March.

Source

This is a pretty good idea in theory – modding website selling games for user made mods.

The more Steam competitors out there the better.

European store: http://eu.xfirestore.com

American store: http://us.xfirestore.com

1: Get the Downloader

Once your payment has been completed, you can get the Downloader from the Confirmation Page, your Account Page or the Confirmation e-mail. This installs our Downloader (DLM.exe) on your PC, simplifying the game download process.

2: Install the Downloader

Launch the Downloader by double-clicking the DLM.exe file, and follow the on-screen instructions. You will be asked to select a folder in which to download the game installer. We advise using a different folder for each downloaded game. You can then start the download by clicking the appropriate button.

3: Install your game

Once your game has been downloaded, you can install it immediately through the Downloader prompt. Should you want to install it at a later time, just go to the folder you specified earlier and double-click the game .exe file. Please note that the Downloader uninstalls itself from your computer once the download is complete.

And as one of our users spotted:

Steam Unpowered IRC (15:56:33) Juzi: http://us.xfirestore.com/pc-games/buy-download-Company-of-Heroes:-Gold-Edition.html

Steam Unpowered IRC (15:56:56) Juzi: http://eu.xfirestore.com/pc-games/buy-download-Company-of-Heroes—Gold-Edition.html

Some games are priced equally!

At least they’re showing all currencies now:

Browse for the Top Games Under $10/£7/10€ or Top Games Under $5/£4/5€ and find the day’s top-sellers.

Yeah we all know one dollar IS one euro…

Games Under 5€

Games Under 10€

Let’s just compare for example Batman: Arkham Asylum:

US: $49.95

UK: £24.90 (19% lower)

EU: 49.90€ (48% higher)

So, the conclusion? I’d say it’s about on the same level as Steam store the only difference being that you can actually switch between the prices, I haven’t tried to buy anything so I am not entirely sure it works but I just thought I’d share this news with you. You can check it out here.

Ok, it seems like you can change into whatever store you like and buy that game cheaper. I just tried with Batman: Arkham Asylum, now how the download works is that they give you links to download file parts from metaboli.com. Then you jist install it and your ready to go.