SWTOR - Free-to-Play

Do you like Star Wars? Of course you do, who doesn't (opening a whole can on worms on that one). Then do you like free stuff? Again, easy answer on that one. In that case then you should be happy to hear that BioWare and EA have released the Free-to-Play version of Star Wars: The Old Republic today! So if you never played it when it came out last year, or want to visit some old friends now is your time. Long time meat bag fans of the BioWare Star Wars games will also be glad that, as of today, you will be able to get the deadly HK-51 Assassin Droid. This is in addtion to a new area, the prison world of Belsavis along with a the new Operation: Explosive Conflict on Denova (complete with nightmare mode). So prime that blaster and polish your lightsaber crystals (you think OCD Jedi/Sith do that?) and enjoy the game.

SWTOR Goes Free-to-Play(ish) this Fall

A Cartel CoinEA has tried their hardest to keep Star Wars: The Old Republic profitable. They have culled servers and moved users around to increase populations. They have given free weekends to get people in the game. They have kept the game moving forward with patches and game play enhancements such as their legacy system, but it has not been enough. Starting this fall SWTOR will have a free-to-play option to it. The free players will be able to start a character and get all the way to level 50 (level cap) without dropping a dime. Now this does not mean to say that the subscriptions will not have a value. Subscribers will have unlimited access to game features such as character creation, warzones, flashpoints, space missions, travel locations, and the auction house that are free players only have limited access to. Subscribers also will have priority access to logging on.  

They are also adding a new item call Cartel Coins. These can be used to purchase customization and convience items. Current subscribers will get coins to start with and more can be purchased in varios price packs. This is basically their big money making plan to get some cash from these free players. It will interesting to see how this goes for EA and SWTOR. It worked for Star Trek Online so it may work for SWTOR. More information on this can found at the their FAQ located at http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6449.

Crysis 3 Interactive Trailer

Games are all about choice anymore, but how can you make this sort of choice apparent in marketing? People see a paper ad, watch a TV commercial, or see a video on YouTube. These are typically pretty one sided story telling. Ahh but not all is how it seems. Since YouTube does allow you to add fields that can be clicked on it is possible to have a choose your own adventure YouTube trailer. Hence EA has given us the "Crysis 3 Official Single Player Interactive Demo". Not the best of all titles, but if you have 20 minutes to kill you might as well relive all those choose your adventure books.

E3 - The Report

We have returned home safely from E3, and in the process we have, and are continuing, to create content based on the convention. Here are links to the articles we have created. This post will be updated as we add additional content for easy access, without flooding the main page.

Game:	System:
Young Justice: Legacy	360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS
ZombiU	WiiU
Planetside 2	PC
Quantum Conundrum	PC, XBLA, PSN
Hitman Absolution	PC, 360, PS3
Star Trek	PC, 360, PS3
Assassins Creed 3	PC, 360, PS3
Crisis 3	PC, 360, PS3
Nintendo Land	Wii U

E3 - Press Conference Viewings

E3 is a little under 2 weeks away at this point, and with it comes a number of press conferences from the leaders in the video game industry. Too bad many of us (yours truly included) don't get to actually attend these conferences.  So how will we watch them instead? Well many companies will either live stream the conference themselves or have partnered with a cable channel to do it (such as G4 or Spike TV).  As I find / get links for the streams I will place them in this post, which will be moved to the top of the site each time I update it.

Xbox - June 4 @ 9:00 AM PT

Ubisoft - June 4 @ 3:00 PM PT

Playstation - June 4 @ 5:30 PM PT Preview, 6:00 PM PT Press Conference

EA - June 4 @ 1:00 PM PT

Nintendo - June 5 @ 9:00 AM PT
Edit - The Gameslave crew gets to attend and cover the Nintendo Press Conference.

This Week(end)s Geek - DLC Part 2

A few weeks ago I did an article supporting publishers on having day one DLC for games. For those that missed it you can find it here. When I wrote the article the I mentioned how publishers had been doing day one DLC did not really bother me. The day one DLC was included with new purchases of games. You only had to buy it if you purchased the game used. My rational was they were supporting their customers on the rational that you are not their customer if you buy it used as they get no profits from a used game, and only become a customer if you buy the new game or the DLC.  It seemed like a good argument when I wrote the initial article. Then EA / Bioware goes and f*&ks it up.

Not a screen cap from the DLC, I just liked Legion.

With the release of Mass Effect 3 they are going to have the day one DLC From Ashes. This DLC does come with the game, but only the collectors edition or digital deluxe versions of the game (which was not announced until this month). If you happen to only purchase the normal version of the game then you have to shell out the $10.00 for the DLC should you want to play it. Now it feels like they are sticking it to their existing customer base with this. The DLC is not content they started working on after launch to add to the life of the game; it is not a bonus for buying a new copy over a used one, it just seems like a money grab. Don't get me wrong, I am a sucker and will be getting the DLC.  I even canceled my normal version pre-order at Gamestop and placed an order for the digital deluxe version on Origin (since now it would only be a $10.00 difference between standard and digital deluxe). But I still feel like I am getting slighted by the publisher on this one.

(Ok, this was more of a rant then normal articles are, but I wanted this off my chest).

The Gameslave Podcast - Episode 78

Alright, the second go worked great, and if it continues to work I think this is how we will record in the future. Changed to a directional mic and it has really cut out the echo. So next week when hopefully all three of us are together again we will hopefully have a new age of Gameslave podcasts!

Download Link

Notes can be found here...

Damn it Star Wars, I Don't Have That Kinda Money!

What the hell Star Wars? In one day you single handily destroy my future budget and don't even bat an eye! First thing this morning I find that Star Wars: The Old Republic is officially up for pre-order, and with three editions. First there is the Standard edition that comes with a color stone to change lightsaber and blaster colors for $59.99. Then you have the Origin only Digital Deluxe edition for $79.99 that has the stone, a flare gun, training droid for combat, HoloDancer, HoloCam and a STAP (vehicle). But you had to have a Collector's Edition that has all that, a Mouse Droid and a Store that only CE owners get access to. And that's only the digital goods, it also comes with all this:

Click for a full size image

It would be a no brainier for me to buy this, hell it would have already been pre-ordered if it were not for the price of $150!  Then after finally wrapping my head around this Microsoft adds fuel to the fire at the San Diego Comic-Con.  To sell more Star Wars Kinect games when they come out they created a special Star Wars themed XBOX 360.  The system itself is painted to look like RD-D2, complete with sounds and lights to differentiate it from its console brothers.  Follow this up with a C-3PO gold controller, a white Kinect and a 320 GB Hard Drive. I want this, but it is $449!

So thanks Star Wars, EA, and Microsoft.  In one day, ONE DAY, you have deprived me of $600!!!  I hope you are happy with yourselves.