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RuneScape's mad, mad, mad, Mad May approaches
With the virtual flowers in bloom and the birds and bees merging together to form a hybrid class (beerds), you should expect life and vitality springing forth out of your MMOs this spring. RuneScape is embracing the season by hosting an entire month of prizes called Mad May. Taking place during the titular month, Mad May will dowse subscribers with bonuses and freebies. First up is an extra daily spin on the new Squeal of Fortune game, which offers players a chance to win a variety of prizes every day. Following that is a hefty 5,000 Loyalty Point boost for members. These points may be redeemed for a whole bunch of new items, including emotes and auras. Finally, Jagex will cap off the month by rewarding all subscribers with 250,000 XP on June 1st. In addition to the Mad May bonuses, RuneScape will see the return of Wild Weekends during the month. Details about what the Wild Weekends will entail are forthcoming, as is a special behind-the-scenes look into the game's upcoming projects.
Pre-order Diablo 3 from Future Shop, get this steelbook
Diablo 3 Pre-orders from Canadian games distributor Future Shop will snag a pretty pretty steelbook for free. The steelbook features character art and the standard Diablo 3 emblem. Future Shop warns there are "limited quantities," so if steel or books are your thing, you may want to jump on this one soon.In related news, Diablo 3 has 131 review votes on Future Shop for a score of 4.5/5, and we assume these are all based on the beta -- which is open for all this weekend -- and the box art. Unless the idea of a steelbook alone is really that cool.[Thanks, Zack!]
Warhammer Online is cross-promoting with Wrath of Heroes
Are you the sort of player who just can't get enough of Warhammer Online, whether in classic form or the new Wrath of Heroes bite-sized version? Or are you a fan of the latter game and not sure if you want to keep up a subscription to the former? The latest cross-promotional deal for the games is aimed directly at players like that -- starting now, any players with active Warhammer Online subscriptions will receive a 50% bonus to gold and experience in Wrath of Heroes. There's no complicated process to getting the bonus; if you have both accounts on the same EA/Origin account, your characters will reap the benefits, although it may take up to 24 hours for the system to line up if you've just started a subscription. The bonus also stacks with items from the Wrath of Heroes store, letting veterans of Warhammer Online get ahead in the new game.
Google plugs 14 holes, hands out $47k to security researchers
Every year Google offers a bounty to those that can dig up security flaws in its browser. This year, the company is putting $1 million on the line at CanSecWest. But, before the Mountain View crew can even pack up for the event, it's got to cut checks for $47,000 to four different researchers. The vulnerability bounty hunters found 14 flaws in Chrome that were patched in a update on March 4th. That big payout included three separate $10,000 bonuses for "sustained, extraordinary" contributions to the browser's security. For full details on the bugs and the price paid for each, hit up the source.
Good Guy Sniper: Kills Hitler in Sniper Elite V2 pre-order bonus, doesn't die
Sniper Elite V2 doesn't ask too much out of players, just that they have a steady hand and, with a new pre-order bonus, that they kill Hitler. Pre-ordering Sniper Elite V2 before its North American ship date of May 1 gets players the Kill Hitler bonus mission and two new rifles, the SVT-40 and the Kar 98.The story in Kill Hitler has players intercept the Fuhrer's train before it leaves for Berlin and snipe him as he scurries away on foot, with only one opportunity to actually hit Hitler and alter history. Really, this game is actually a time-paradox generator, and every time you miss sniping Hitler a world exactly like our own is created -- and you know you don't want that. If you hit him, though, you'll have never been born. Twilight Zone style.
WAKFU puts out a call for (paying) pioneers
With WAKFU's launch rapidly approaching later this month, the information is pouring forth fast and furious from this free-to-play title. One of the biggest questions that players have at this stage is just how a game is going to make its money, and in the case of WAKFU, Ankama is certainly hoping that the experience is fun enough to warrant a regular subscription. If you're already on board with the WAKFU philosophy and wish to subscribe for a premium membership, then Ankama has a few great pre-launch offers for you. By signing up for three, six, or 12-month plans, you can net yourself plenty of in-game items as well as the esteemed title of "WAKFU Pioneer." Ankama has also published a helpful chart illustrating the differences between the F2P and subscription plans -- such as whether or not you can become an eco-terrorist (we kid you not). Other differences include the ability to own a home vs. set up an in-game shop, how many professions you can master (six vs. 16), and whether or not you can run for office. [Thanks to Derek for the tip!]
T-Mobile's 'Nudge, nudge' bonuses revealed
Walk into any T-Mobile store and dither a bit and you'll find a cavalcade of freebies thrown in. The operator's outlined an "under the counter" bonus to coax fence-dwelling customers to open their wallets. Upgrade to "Unlimited-Premium 5GB" or "Unlimited-Ultra 10GB," wink at the cashier and tap your nose three times (we made the last two up, we admit) and a $15 "Mobile Hotspot" and $5 "MobileLife Album Plus" could appear in your package. In the corporate missive TmoNews scooped above, the company wants to keep these as a secret sweetener, but will add both if you request them directly. We'd suggest you pull your finger out, because when everyone starts asking for them, we can't imagine it sticking around for long.
IBM wins diet monitoring and reward patent, celebrates with sip of Spirulina
Does your employer offer a "wellness rebate program?" No? Then you can't be working for IBM, which has been bribing its staff to eat healthier since 2004. It's a Watson-worthy idea, because what the company pays out in incentives it recoups in lower healthcare costs. Now, after a decade of toing and froing with the USPTO, IBM has finally patented a web-based system that makes the whole process automatic. For it to work, a person must use a micro-payment network to buy food, which allows their purchases to be monitored and compared against their health records. If they've made the right choices, the system then communicates with their employer's payroll server to issue a reward. Completing the Orwellian circle, the proposed system also interacts with servers in the FDA and health insurance companies to gain information about specific food products or policy changes. You can duck the radar, of course, and buy a Double Whopper with cash, but it'll bring you no reward except swollen ankles. This is IBM we're talking about; they've thought of everything. [Photo via Shutterstock]
SWTOR: Ten things you need to know about companions
For those of you who have never played a BioWare RPG before (or any single-player RPG, really), the concept of "companions" may initially strike you as strange. After all, in MMOs we're so used to jaunting off into the wilderness solo without some semi-intelligent NPC tagging along for the ride, so for a game to inform us that we not only will have them but will have to use them all the time may feel odd. If so, we're guessing you've never been into pet classes, either. Companions are one of the long-standing features of BioWare RPGs; they're both useful fighters who help keep you alive and persistent beings whom you get to know, develop relationships with, and affect in significant ways. In the past, BioWare companions have often been cited as the most memorable parts of the studio's games, from Baldur's Gate II's Minsc to Mass Effect 2's Mordin (to name two of my all-time favorites). Yet in MMOs, companion NPCs aren't that common, and if you're feeling a little bewildered at the thought of having one at your side at all times in Star Wars: The Old Republic, then we're here to lay out for you 10 reasons why companions are as useful as all get out -- and why you're going to love them like crazy before too long.
Need for Speed: The Run's PS3-exclusive supercars revealed
The PlayStation Blog unveiled the seven exclusive supercars offered in the PS3 version of Need for Speed: The Run. EA already informed us at E3 that the Bugatti Veyron would be one of the fancy cars you'd get out of and walk. The other six include the Lexus LFA, Porsche Carrera GT, Hennessey Venom GT, GUMPERT apollo s, Lamborghini Countach QV5000, and the Koenigsegg Agera R. The exotic (i.e. weird-sounding) quality of those names underscores their rarity and outrageous expense. Be careful not to scratch the paint!
Yakuza's Kazuma enters the Binary Domain
You'd think the team behind the awkward Yakuza: Of the End (coming here as Yakuza: Dead Souls) might want to hide its shooting pedigree in trying to market Binary Domain -- but we suppose the selling power of the charismatic Kazuma Kiryu outweighs gameplay concerns. Fans who buy the first pressing of the Japanese version of Binary Domain will get the option to play as the Yakuza protagonist, who has somehow warped 100 years into the future to shoot robots. If you play on the government side, Kazuma will wear his flashy white suit; if you choose the resistance side, he'll don a guerrilla getup, complete with headband.
Verizon to begin offering double the data for your buck tomorrow as a limited time promo
The blazing-fast speeds you get from LTE are absolutely wonderful, but the joyride you're relishing can be over rather quickly when you have a capped data plan. Verizon's reportedly offering new and existing 4G-wielding (read: 3G excluded) customers a nice holiday bonus beginning tomorrow: for the same monthly cost, Big Red will give you twice as much data. In other words, $30 will get you hooked up with 4GB, $50 delivers 10GB and $80 can land you a whopping 20GB of total LTE goodness; for everyone else, a 300MB plan should be available for $20. From the sound of it, the deal isn't going to be around for very long, you have to specifically request it via customer service or your online Verizon account and there's been no confirmation as to whether or not customers will be grandfathered into these plans as soon as they're gone. We're still awaiting word from Verizon on additional details, but the extra cap will go quite nicely with your brand-spankin' new RAZR or Galaxy Nexus, we'd say. VZW LTE FTW. Update: We just stumbled upon a leaked screenshot (shown below the break), courtesy of VZBuzz. If this is the real deal, it confirms that customers will be grandfathered into the promotional plans until they choose to move to a different feature. Update 2: And we got the official nod straight from Verizon: "Beginning tomorrow, Verizon Wireless will introduce a limited time promotion that offers customers the opportunity to receive double the amount of data for the same monthly fee for all Verizon Wireless 4G smartphones. For example, a customer who purchases the 2 GB plan for $30 will receive 4 GB for $30. The plans is available for new and existing customers. Existing customers need to request the change via customer service or through their My Verizon accounts --- the free portal where customers can view and pay their bill, make changes to their account and purchase new devices." Update 3: We got additional clarification from Verizon regarding what the company means by "existing customers." In their words: "existing customers who have upgraded their service or purchased a 4G smartphone within the last 14 days will be eligible for the double data plans." So existing customers can only get it if they upgrade, which means anyone who isn't eligible for a new device will unfortunately be left out in the cold.
Green Lantern Extended Cut Blu-Ray combo pack to include Batman: Arkham City Sinestro Corps skin [update]
Well, that's one way to boost Blu-Ray sales. A devastatingly handsome tipster has sent us pictures of the unreleased Green Lantern Extended Cut Blu-Ray combo pack due out on October 14, and wouldn't you know it, right there on the cover is a sticker proclaiming yet another Batman: Arkham City costume. For those unfamiliar with the Green Lantern mythos, the Sinestro Corps are a team of baddies lead by the ex-Green Lantern Corps member Sinestro (natch). The Sinestro Corps did, at one point, attempt to recruit Batman into their ranks, so we suppose this Sinestro Corps skin isn't entirely non-cannon. No word from our incredibly popular and good-looking tipster on whether or not the promotion is exclusive to a specific retailer, however it is exclusive to a specific console: Seeing as this is a Blu-Ray and all, the included code is a PSN code, and therefore only functional on PS3 copies of the game. Update 1: According to our source, the skin-packed copies of Green Lantern will be limited edition and exclusive to Best Buy, however there's a chance the costume will eventually be converted into DLC. Update 2: Best Buy exclusivity is, according to our source, no longer on the table. While they did not name specifics, "certain other stores" will also be receiving costumed copies.%Gallery-136091%
Gods and Heroes entices players with extended trial, lower cost and a new class
Gods & Heroes wants you to play it. Like, really, really bad. So much so, in fact, that the Roman-themed MMO is launching a multi-pronged campaign on potential players in an attempt to rope them into the game. The first prong of the campaign is an extended free trial. Starting today, players can check out the full game for a week by simply signing up on the site. "By extending the trial period from three to seven days, new players will have a chance to really dig into the heart of the game and we know they'll like what they find," Heatwave's Anthony Castoro said. The cost of Gods & Heroes is coming down as well, hitting a more reasonable $29.99 for both boxed and digital versions of the game. Castoro hopes that this will help interested parties get past any financial barriers and will widen the playerbase: "The community has spoken and our analytics confirm that players really enjoy Gods & Heroes once they've experienced it." Finally, Heatwave is adding a chunk of new content to the game, including the ranged Scout class and a free archer minion for loyal subscribers. The undead minion Batillus will be granted to players who subscribed prior to August 1st.
Pre-order Bit. Trip Saga from Gamestop, rock out with your chiptunes out
Pre-order Bit. Trip Saga online from Gamestop and show your eardrums some love with a free, 18-song soundtrack of hypnotic chiptune beatage. The Soundtrack Sampler includes three songs from each Bit. Trip game. The disc also comes free with the Wii version of Bit. Trip Complete, no pre-ordering necessary. The 3DS soundtrack deal is only valid with online pre-orders from Gamestop.com, so stay home, kick back, and rest your eyes and ears for a few weeks. If you jump on this deal, they'll need it.
DDO and LotRO prep bonus weekends for all
We're not even at the dog days of summer -- more like the puppy days -- and Turbine is already throwing players a bone with special bonus weekends in both Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online. And thus we hit our canine pun limit for the day. DDO is bumping the experience factor up by a respectable 25% across the board and throwing in a +1 loot bonus (meaning better loot in chests) for good measure. It's a great time to come back to the game, too, as players can enjoy the recently released Update 10. Meanwhile, LotRO is encouraging you to farm mobs like crazy, as monster kill XP is going up by 50% (which can stack with the 25% XP trinket from the Rise of Isengard pre-order). Currently, the game is hosting its annual Summer Festival. The four-day bonus weekend for both games runs from today through Sunday, June 26th.
Greece's Ocarina of Time pre-order bonuses are the best bonuses ever
Nintendo Greece has apparently decided that selling its customers a renovated, three-dimensional version of the best game ever made isn't a sweet enough treat. The official Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D page on Nintendo.gr has revealed that folks who pre-order the game through Nintendo will receive a plethora of bonuses, including a keychain, baseball cap, 3DS cover, an actual ocarina and -- get this -- a canister of Deku tree seeds. (We hear that if you plant them, actual sentient shrubs come out of the ground.) No pre-order bonuses for the U.S. have been announced, but needless to say, the bar's been set pretty high. If we don't get a pouch of replica rupees, or at the very least, a remote-controlled Bombchu, we're going to be extremely disappointed.
LA Noire trailer demos 'Slip of the Tongue' pre-order bonus case
There are plenty of similarities between LA Noire and Rockstar's other crime-centric franchise, Grand Theft Auto. Namely, the former contains a lot of grand theft auto. Check out the trailer for "A Slip of the Tongue," a case offered exclusively as a Walmart pre-order bonus, posted just below.
Battlefield Heroes bonuses are brought to you by the letters E, A, and the number 7
Battlefield Heroes, EA's free-to-play shooter, appears to be a success, with the company announcing that 7 million people have felt free to play the game so far. To celebrate those 7 million registered users, EA is offering a bunch of bonuses to players, all themed with the number 7. For seven days, today through March 15, Heroes players can download a free pack containing 77 bandages, 77 Battlefunds, and 77 wrenches. You can then reinvest those Battlefunds (and, uh, 700 more) into a special weeklong store deal containing seven-day boosts for VP, XP, and Sarge's stamina, along with 777 tonics. This deal doesn't just reward current players, it provides subtle motivation for those players to bring more in. Don't you want those 10-million-player bonuses?
LA Noire trailer opens investigation into 'The Naked City' DLC
Rockstar's L.A. Noire will be released with a plethora of retailer-specific pre-order bonuses. GameStop, however, may be offering the most compelling one of them all: "The Naked City" DLC has you investigating the apparent suicide of a fashion model, but in typical noir fashion, nothing is as it seems. While initially a GameStop pre-order exclusive, The Naked City bonus "vice case" will be available for digital purchase after the game's release. "All of the L.A. Noire pre-order content will be made available for purchase as DLC at some point after the game comes out," a Rockstar representative confirmed. "We have long planned to do this for all digital pre-order items." Check out The Naked City trailer after the break.
