games-for-windows-live posts

This is a news story that's basically a case of "damage control" for developer People Can Fly. Destructoid posted up word that an obscure Electronic Arts product disclosure page shows that People Can Fly's upcoming first person shooter Bulletstorm will require a persistent net connection for the PC version of the game (something like Ubisoft's current DRM set-up for the game).

However the page was incorrect according to a "tweet" from People Can Fly's founder Adrian Chmielarz. He stated, "No, Bulletstorm PC does not require any constant connection, only for install and for online play (duh!)." He added in a second "tweet", " We're investigating wtf happened. Persons responsible will be set on fire and shot in the balls for extra points." Indeed clicking on the actual EULA that's listed on the product disclosure page confirms Chmielarz's claims. By the way, Destructoid also didn't seem to be aware until today that the game also uses Games For Windows Live but that's something that's been known since last December.

[Via Blue's News]

In 2010, Microsoft announced that the company was getting back into publishing PC games after several years of not releasing any PC game titles. One of the titles that Microsoft is planning to publish is Age of Empires Online, a persistent online RTS game that takes the fan favorite game series in a new direction and in several different ways.

The game comes from developer Robot Entertainment (made up largely of former members of Age of Empires' creator Ensemble Studios). It's been in closed beta for some time now but today Microsoft officially announced a couple of major features in the game. One is that the previously announced Greek civilization will be joined by the Egyptian civilization when Age of Empires Online launches later this year. The other announcement is the first details on the business model for the game. Check out the details of that particular part of the game and more about Age of Empires Online after the jump:

The holidays are all gone and now it's time to get back to normal. That is, as far as PC game download sales are concerned. Here are the price cuts we have found for this weekend:

• Steam has The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena on sale this weekend for $5.
• Direct2Drive still has all of its games from 1C Company on sale for 75 percent off.
• Impulse has a number of games on sale this weekend including Need For Speed games for 50 percent off and Demigod for $4.99.
• GamersGate also has a large number of games on sale this weekend.
• Games For Windows Marketplace has Alpha Protocol on sale this weekend for $14.99.
• In celebration of "Trogday" Telltale Games has put Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People on sale until January 20 for $14.95.

If you live in the Eastern time zone of the US there's just 12 more hours of 2010 left on the calendar. There's also not much time for the daily sales deals that have popped up for the month of December. Check out what you can save for today only and for one case for the weekend.

• Impulse has the space-based MMO EVE Online on sale today online for just $9.99.
• Sorry folks; it looks like GamersGate is done with its daily sales event; however you can still get hundreds of games that have been on sale for the past week.
• Bohemia Interactive has put a number of its game on sale in its online store, including its flagship game ArmA 2 for 75 percent off.
• Direct2Drive has put Medal of Honor on sale today only for 50 percent off its normal price.
• Games For Windows Marketplace has Lego Batman on sale this weekend for $9.99.

Are there people out there who are already taking down your Christmas trees and other holiday decorations? If so consider keeping any snowmen you may have in the house; it's still winter after all. Oh, you came here to find some PC game download deals? OK we have those as well.

• GamersGate has The Tomorrow War on sale today only for just $6.
• Impulse has the boxed limited edition version of Elemental on sale today only for $49.95.
• The Games For Windows Marketplace site has put Prototype on sale today only for $14.99.
• From now until January 31, all of the game's from developer Frogwares are on sale on its site for 30 percent off.

Monday is the start of a slow news week at least as far as PC games are concerned but folks stuck at home because of the Northeast blizzard can still save some money today.

• Until December 31, EA's online store has all of its PC download games on sale for 33 percent off.
• Microsoft's Games For Windows Marketplace web site is doing the daily deal dealie all this week. For the next 22 hours it has Jewel Quest on sale for just $9.99.
• Direct2Drive has RUSE on sale today only for $24.95.
• Impulse has Blake Stone Aliens of Gold on sale for just $1.99.
• Except for Back to the Future and Poker Night at the Inventory, all of Telltale Games' games are on sale for 50 percent off until January 3.
• Finally GamersGate has hundreds of PC game titles on sale all this week for as much as 80 percent off.

Bulletstorm is looking to be a lot of fun to play and now the GameStop web site has revealed that the first person shooter from developers People Can Fly and Epic Games will be getting a Limited Edition for the PC version. The GameStop web site reveals that folks who purchase the Limited Edition for $49.99 will get an extra weapon (the Peace Maker Carbine), extra boots and armor, visual upgrades for the game's Iconic Leash and an extra 25,000 experience.

The GameStop site also has a picture of the Limited Edition's box which seems to indicate that the PC version will be supporting Microsoft's Games For Windows Live service. We have emailed Epic Games to get confirmation.

[Via Blue's News]

Update: Epic Games has confirmed to Big Download that the PC port of Bulletstorm is indeed a Games For Windows Live title.

As 2010 draws to a close, we look back and marvel at how far PC gaming has come over the past decade. The start of the new millennium brought technology and trends that will resonate for years to come. So we take this opportunity to examine some of those technology trends and see how they might grow over or fizzle out over the next ten years. Here are our predictions of what PC gaming might look like in 2020.

While Steam is having a pretty massive holiday PC game sale at the moment, the Games For Windows Marketplace and the GamersGate web sites have their own week-long savings events that will last from now until next Monday, December 27.

• The Games For Windows Marketplace web site has several horror-themed games on sale this week. Among them are S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl for just $4.99, Plants Vs Zombies for $7.49., F.E.A.R. 2 and A Vampyre Story for $9.99 each and Resident Evil 5 for $14.99.
• The GamersGate web site has a ton of games on sale for the next week. That includes Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 for $7.98 each and Star Trek Online for $14.98.

Earlier this year it was announced that developer Timegate Studios was working on a sequel to its 2009 released sci-fi shooter Section 8. The sequel, Section 8 Prejudice, will be self-published by Timegate for digital distribution sometime in the first quarter of 2011.

Today we can finally reveal that Section 8 Prejudice will have a price point of just $14.99 when its released via download. That's for a game that contains more content than the original game which was priced at $50 for the PC version when it was first released. Section 8 Prejudice will have a full story-based five hour single player campaign along with the Conquest multiplayer mode with a full selection of maps, the new Swarm multiplayer co-op mode, bot support for both multiplayer modes, dedicated server support and a web portal where players can display their stats and in-game achievements. While the game will be using Games For Windows Live for things like achievements, the PC version of Section 8 Prejudice will be made available for purchase on other download services like Steam, Direct2Drive and Timegate's own online store (for console owners the game will also be released for the PS3's Playstation Network for $14.99 and for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft points).

Keep reading after the jump for more info on the game including hands-on impressions of the game's Swarm mode.