microids posts

The DRM-free web site GoG.com has added the final game in the adventure game trilogy that also contains but Syberia and Syberia 2. In fact the third game in the series, Amerzone: The Explorer's Legacy, was originally the first game in the trilogy to be releaserd, back in 1999.

The classic point-and-click adventure game from publisher Microids and creator Benoît Sokal has you exploring a mysterious (and fictional) South American country as you follow the story of a previous explorer's journey to Amerzone. The game can now be purchased and downloaded at GoG.com for $9.99. It also contains the game's main musical theme as an extra free download.

The subscription-download hybrid PC game site GameTap has added yet another title to its list of games people can play with one monthly paid subscription. This time the game is Still Life 2, the recently released "M" rated adventure game from publisher Microids. It's a sequel to the 2005 original Still Life which itself was a sequel to a previous 2003 released adventure game Post Mortem.

Still hanging around GameTap's free game selection this week is the American McGee's Grimm chapter Master Thief. It will stay in the free section of the game site until this coming Thursday where it will be replaced with a currently unannounced game.

With outlets like Steam, Impulse, Direct2Drive, GameTap, GamersGate already out there there is no lack of places you can download PC games. Now publisher Playlogic has decided to enter this crowded market with their own entry, GamEssence (and yes, that is how they are choosing to spell it on their site).

The site's selection of titles is pretty sparse at the moment with just 41 games to choose from. The games come from either Playlogic itself orfrom another publisher Microids. However Playlogic states in their press release that they plan to expand GamEssence to include hundreds of titles from third party publishers. It will be interesting to see if this new venture will make any headway against the already established brands.

This is the playable demo for the adventure game, Return to Mysterious Island 2, inspired by the Jules Verne novel "The Mysterious Island." In it, players can assume to roles of two different characters - Mena, the young navigator the Jules Verne competition and Jep, her monkey companion. The game can also be synchronized with iPhones so that players can solve puzzles in the game while on the go.

"Return to Mysterious Island 2 begins with the crash of the helicopter that came to rescue Mina. She survived but is once again trapped on the island. All of a sudden, under her very eyes, an unknown disease afflicts the plants first, then the animal life. Mina explores the island to locate the infection source. She searches Captain Nemo's base in vain, then the ruins of an unknown civilization, and finally understands that it is outside pollution that threatens the island. The only way to save this natural wonder is to turn the shield back on. But if Mina makes this decision, she gives up -as Captain Nemo did before her- the idea of returning to civilization..."

Download Return to Mysterious Island 2 Demo (562 MB)

This week the Gametap PC game download service is making some folks happy by extending the free-to-play run for one of its games. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl, the 2007 FPS from GSC Game World, was placed on the free list last Thursday but Gametap has decided to keep it free to play for another week.

Added to the free-to-play list for one week is Syberia, the classic adventure game from Microids. Added to Gametap's paid premimum service is Post Mortem, yet another great adventure game from Microids. And next week prepare to get inside a 50 foot tall killing machine as Microsoft's Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries is added to Gametap's premimum service on May 28.

It's Tuesday which means its Game Addition Day over at the DRM-free GoG.com site. This week the site has added the 2004 released horror adventure game Obscure from developer Hydravision Entertainment and publisher Microids. You can download the game for $9.99. It also comes with a free soundtrack, wallpaper and movies.

This week GoG.com is also putting up three more adventure games on sale for just $4.49 each, a 25 percent discount from their normal GoG.com price. The games (The Feeble Files, Waxworks and In Cold Blood) will be on sale at that price until the end of the day on Monday, May 18.

The DRM-free game download site GoG.com is having a busy week. We've already reported on a couple of new additions to its library and today the site announced it will be adding new titles from publisher Microids, The first game from the Microids catalog is a collection of the arcade racing titles MegaRace 1 and 2. Both games are being sold together for $5.99.

In addition, GoG.com has a new bundle sale going on. They have put three games from their Apogee library (Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, Blake Stone: Planet Strike and Rise of the Triad) on sale for 25 percent off their normal price. The sale ends on Monday and requires folks to put in the APOGEE promo code in the payment screen.

This is the demo for Still Life 2, a point-and-click adventure game that follows an FBI agent named Victoria McPherson who investigates dark, gruesome crimes.

"Still Life 2 remains true to the spirit of its first installment and continues to allow to play and manage two characters bound by the same fate. This time, the aim is to control two heroines, see the game from two complementary viewpoints and experience two different gameplays. Depending on whether you are playing Paloma Hernandez, the victim being hunted by the killer or Victoria McPherson, the FBI agent tracking him down, you can alternate between survival and investigation."
Download Still Life 2 Demo (1.02 GB)

On April 1, adventure game publisher Microids announced production of their adventure game sequel Syberia 3 for the PC and PS3 with a rather weird feature that had the two systems share info in order to complete the game. The press released sounded odd and we inquired to Microids if it was an April Fool's joke. We were told it was by their PR person.

Well, it sound like while that particular press release was a fake, Microids does in fact have plans to make Syberia 3. Today they announced that the game is definitely coming on the PC but added, " . . . everyone knows that to amortize the development costs of a major video game with that level of quality, it is essential to develop it for multiple platforms, PC and consoles."

The problem? Microids says Sony won't release their games for the Playstation platform in the US. That issue, combined with what the company says are the ". . . exorbitant royalties demanded by Sony to manufacture the games on its consoles" are a roadblock to making Syberia 3 a reality. So Microids are asking people to send in emails to supporToSyberia3PS3@microids.com. We are not sure if this will really help matters . . but there you go. Get Sony to allow Syberia 3 to be made for the PS3 and we can have it for the PC as well.

Some April Fool's gags are funny but also blatantly obvious. Others are a little more subtle, Such is the case with today's "announcement" by Microids for Syberia 3. The press release for the third game in the cult favorite adventure game series looked, at least at first, like the real thing.

That is until you actually read it. It states the game will allow "those playing on PC and those playing on PS3 to collaborate online, thanks to a simultaneous data exchange and sharing mode on the two platforms." Uh-huh. It also states, "Only PS3 players who have collaborated with PC players, and vice versa, . . " can actually finish the game. We emailed Microids' PR contact who admitted the truth: "Well... I do have to confess this is an April Fools joke..." Well played Microids . . . well played.