impulse posts

Yep, that sentence is correct. The game is centered around you protecting your . . .pig . . . while also trying to capture your opponent's . . .pig. Is it just us or does this sound an awful lot like a game that Monty Python might come up with in their heads? In any case, Sacraboar (love the title too, by the way) has both single, skirmish and multiplayer modes (LAN and Internet) and will be released on November 6 via Impulse and Steam. You can pre-order the game now for 25 percent off its planned $19.99 price and get instant access to the game's beta test.

It's Halloween Eve but for PC gamers looking for good deals, the treats are already here:

• GoGamer.com has launched a new 48 Hour Madness sale with lots of PC games on sale, including Painkiller Black Edition for $4.90, Velvet Assassin for $12.90, Prototype for $19.90 and Stormrise for $7.90.
• Impulse has several games on sale at their download site including all of the Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War games for $37.49.
• GamerGate also has a bunch of games on sale at their download site including Space Siege for $9.99
• Direct2Drive has the PC version of Ghostbusters on sale for $9.95. Don't forget their special Halloween-themed sales that we mentioned earlier this week
• Steam has put Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on sale for 40 percent off its normal price. So do Impulse and Direct2Drive
  
• GoG.com has three horror-themed games on sale for 30 percent off this weekend.

It's the eve of the weekend which means PC download sites are having their regular weekend sales deals. A quick check of the Internet can yield a lot of savings:

• Steam has put ArmA II on sale this weekend for a mere $24.99. They also have the new version of AI War: Fleet Command on sale for $14.99.
• This weekend, the Impulse service has several titles on sale, including Red Faction Guerrilla for 50 percent off its normal price.
• GamersGate has Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II on sale now for 50 percent off. Tomorrow it will have ArmA II at 50 percent off and Ëuropa Universalis III Complete for just $9.99 until Sunday.
• Direct2Drive will take $5 off a purchase of Aion until Sunday if you put in the code 5OFFAION at checkout.

Earlier this week we reported that both Direct2Drive and Steam would have their own unique in-game items for people who pre-order the BioWare fantasy RPG Dragon Age: Origins. As it turns out, yet another download site is getting the same treatment.

Stardock's Impulse PC game download service offers the Formari Memory Band which adds 1 percent experience points to your game's character along with one extra skill point. Meanwhile ordering the game from Amazon.com adds the Lion's Caw Boots item which adds to armor, dodge, and evading missiles. It also has a $10 video game credit for future Amazon purchases. Finally, GameStop is offering its customers a Feral Wolf Charm which "adds to your armor and increases your health regeneration." Confused yet? Yep, so are we.

Thursday is usually the day when PC game download services offer up some cool weekend sales. It's Thursday so where are those price cuts? Ah, there they are:

• Impulse has several games on sale from now until Sunday, including Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor for half-off its normal price and Street Fighter IV for just for $29.99.
• Gamersgate has put X-Com Complete and Hollywood Pictures 2 for 50 percent off each on its site. Also, Sword of the Stars Ultimate is just $9.99 this weekend.
• Steam is selling Saints Row 2 for just $7.50 for today only. All of the Dawn of War games are still on sale for 50 percent off until Monday.

We've already reported on what PC game titles are on sale via Steam this weekend but there are other price cuts to go around in the next few days. Let's look at them right now:

• The GamersGate download site has put a number of titles on sale, including Velvet Assassin for 50 percent off its regular price, Fairy Tales: Three Heroes for 40 percent off its normal price and the The Golden Horde for 50 percent off.
• The Impulse service has several games on sale this weekend including a four game bundle of THQ shooters (first two Red FactionTen Ton Hammer games) for $29.99.
• GoG.com has put two RPG game bundles (Ishar Compilation and Robinson's Requiem Collection) containing a total of six games on sale for just $5.98 until Monday.
• Direct2Drive has taken $5 off the Battlefield 2 Collection until Sunday. You have to put in the code 5OFFBF2CC at checkout to receive the discount.
  

You have been waiting for this day all week; the start of the weekend PC sales period. As usual the various PC game download sites all have something to offer.

• Gamersgate will put one JoWood game on sale every day for 50 percent off its normal price this month. Today its Gothic Universe on sale. Also from now until Sunday Red Faction 1 and 2 along with Campus are both 50 percent off.
• You have just a few more hours to check out the many PC games on sale at GoGamer.com. Their sale ends at 3 am ET Friday morning.
• Impulse has a number of games on sale from now until Sunday. That includes Company of Heroes Gold Edition for 25 percent off.
• Steam has put Audiosurf on sale for just $4.99 from now until Sunday and the Oddworld games are on sale for 66 percent off for the same period. Finally you can get the recent FPS Legendary for free when you buy Raven Squad via Steam. Also don't forget those week long sales events we reported on earlier this week. Finally you have until Friday to buy Left 4 Dead for 50 percent off.
• Direct2Drive is still offering a selection of indie games for just $5 each until Monday.

Stardock head man Brad Wardell isn't afraid to state his opinion on pretty much any subject so in a recent Shacknews interview (conducted at PAX 2009 last month) it's no shock to hear him talk about Microsoft's efforts to promote PC gaming via their Games For Windows Live service.

Wardell stated he intended for Stardock's upcoming fantasy RPG Elemental to be a Games For Windows Live title. However, he adds that he found the conditions of working with Microsoft to be too hard. He states, " . . . if you want to use Games for Windows Live to update your game, you have to go through [their] certification. And if you do it more than X number of times, you have to pay money." Ultimately he says, "If Games for Windows Live maintains that strategy and they take over, I'm done. I'm not making PC games. I would be done." We don't think that's likely to happen, however, since many major PC game titles have bypassed Games For Windows entirely,

Fans of Ironclad Games' 2008 space strategy title Sins of a Solar Empire now have a new update to download. The 1.18 patch for the game is now available via Stardock's Impulse client. There's also a 1.04 patch update for the game's 2009 micro-expansion Sins of a Solar Empire Entrenchment.

You can check out the massive change log for the patches at the game's official message boards. The patch mostly has a number of balance changes for the game's units and many of the changes have come at the request of the game's fans. As we reported earlier this year a second and final micro-expansion, Diplomacy, will be released in 2010.

If you like sales of PC games you know that you usually have to wait until at least Thursday to see a bunch of them pop up. Guess what? It's Thursday! Let's see what we can find, shall we?

• GamersGate has put a number of their titles on sale from now until Sunday on their site. That includes the Unreal Compete Pack for 60 percent off, games in the Panzers Elite Action series for between 40 and 50 percent off, and X-Blades, Crusader Kings Complete and Aztaka for 50 percent off each.
• Impulse has put several games on sale this weekend including Project Aftermath for just $4.99 and Scrapland for $6.99.
• The retail web site GoGamer.com has put up a number of current and older PC games on sale from now until 3 am ET on Saturday. They include games like ArmA II for $34.90, Majesty 2 for $24.90, Order of War for $34.90 and City of Heroes for $12.90.
• Amazon.com has one day sales in their "Gold Box" for Wolfenstein for $20.
• Steam is selling F.E.A.R. 2 and the recent mini-expansion F.E.A.R. 2 Reborn for 50 percent off each.
• Don't forget the previously announced $5 game sales at Direct2Drive and the Strategy First sales at GoG.com.