GameFly
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GameFly expanding to Seattle, Washington [update]
Word of a new GameFly distribution center in Seattle, Washington, comes by way of a Monster.com ad seeking an "operations manager." In what has sort of become tradition around here regarding how this news breaks, the job ad looks legit and is similar to those posted on the website before, leading to the openings of the Austin and Tampa distribution centers.We've contacted GameFly for confirmation of the ad's legitimacy and to find out a timetable on the new site's opening. If tradition holds, the company will tell us: "GameFly is definitely looking at a variety of locations for an additional distribution center, but we don't have anything firm to announce just yet." But, who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky.Update: We got lucky! Gamefly's official statement: "Yes, we are planning to open our fifth distribution center in Seattle,Washington. The new center is scheduled to open during the first half of 2009 and we will provide additional details as soon as they are finalized."[Thanks, Anonymous (not his/her/its real name)]
SOE dispels rumors: The Agency isn't canceled
SUBMITTED FOR YOUR APPROVALOn November 18th, PS3 Fanboy HQ received a tip that the PS3/PC online spy game, The Agency, had been reportedly canceled. GameFly listed the project as dead, but we doubted such an ambitious game would be killed by SOE. We did some further investigating.According to SOE's Katie Hanson, there's no reason to believe that The Agency is canceled. Why GameFly would list the project as canceled is beyond. Perhaps ... there's foul play involved?! (cue dramatic music)Evidence is presented, after the break.Update: Yet another official statement: "Sony Online Entertainment's game, The Agency™, is still in development for release on both the PLAYSTATION®3 and PC platforms. The game sku has been reinstated to GameFly's website. Feel free to add The Agency to your GameQ!"
The Agency 'canceled' according to GameFly notice [update]
We've received several tips alleging that game rental service GameFly has sent out e-mails, claiming that Sony Online Entertainment's The Agency has been canceled. According to the notice from GameFly, the title has been removed from the service because the game has been "cancelled by its publisher" (yes, apparently written by a Brit). The full GameFly email can be found after the break.We've contacted both GameFly and SOE for clarification. GameFly only carries console games, so, if it holds up, the cancellation may only affect the PS3 version. We'll update as soon as we hear anything. Update 2: SOE's official quote to Joystiq: "Sony Online Entertainment's game, The Agency, is still in development for release on both the PlayStation 3 and PC platforms. The game sku has been reinstated to GameFly's website. Feel free to add The Agency to your GameQ!"Update: SOE has confirmed with PS3 Fanboy that The Agency is not canceled. GameFly has yet to issue an explanation. GameFly has now reinstated the title -- feel free to add it (back) to your GameQ.[Thanks to Tracy, Vagabond99 & Nut Man]
Ten for under twenty at Gamefly's sale
In these belt-tightening, penny-pinching times, it literally pays to have a nose for the bargains. That's where we, or rather Gamefly, comes in. The game rental outfit has a broad selection of used Wii software for low, world banking crisis-friendly prices, and we chose ten of the best sub-$20 games to tempt you. Thar be bargains ahead! Baroque for $12.99 Battalion Wars 2 for $17.99 Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy for $9.99 Dewy's Adventure for $13.99 Geometry Wars: Galaxies for $16.99 Mercury: Meltdown Revolution for $15.99 NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for $12.99 No More Heroes for $17.99 Sega Superstars Tennis for $9.99 Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure for $17.99 There's actually a ton more we could have mentioned, including Super Mario Galaxy for $32.99, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for $30.99, and Metroid Prime 3 for $26.99. Sadly, "One hundred and fifty-eight for under forty-two" just doesn't work as a headline. Hit up the "Source" link for the full set. %Gallery-3283% [Thanks, William!]
Deal: GameFly's game sale returns (and a few more items)
It's that time of the year again, folks. GameFly is getting rid of some of its used games, and it's doing so in a brilliantly affordable fashion. As usual, these games include the box and manual and are generally in pretty good condition. Army of Two - $18.99 Assassin's Creed - $17.99 Clive Barker's Jericho - $12.99 The Club - $12.99 Condemned 2 - $17.99 Devil May Cry 4 - $17.99 Grand Theft Auto IV - $32.99 Haze - $9.99 Lost: Via Domus - $12.99 Lost Planet - $12.99 Major League Baseball 2K8 - $12.99 NBA Ballers: Chosen One - $12.99 Need for Speed: ProStreet - $17.99 Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - $14.99 Unreal Tournament III - $16.99 Visit CAG to see a list of games for all the other platforms.Also: Get Dark Sector from Newegg.com for only $12.99, shipped.Plus: Torgo and Mark from the PS Nation Podcast need you to buy Buzz, so they can challenge you. Pick it up at Newegg.com for only $47.
Deal: Used games sale at GameFly
It's that time of the year again, folks. GameFly is getting rid of some of its used games, and it's doing so in a brilliantly affordable fashion. As usual, these games include the box and manual and are generally in pretty good condition. Army of Two - $24.99 Assassin's Creed - $19.99 Burnout Paradise - $22.99 The Club - $12.99 Condemned 2 - $19.99 Devil May Cry 4 - $17.99 Grand Theft Auto IV - $34.99 Haze - $17.99 Lost Planet - $14.99 Major League Baseball 2K8 - $14.99 NBA Ballers: Chosen One - $16.99 Need for Speed: ProStreet - $19.99 Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - $24.99 Visit CAG to see a list of games for all the other platforms.
First GameFly casting call in LA next Tuesday
GameFly's first open casting call for a future commercial will take place next Tuesday in LA. The event will be held at Hollywood and Highland Center, 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood between 12-6PM. Those trying out should be in full cosplay mode.For those who can't attend the LA, Chicago (Sept. 16) or NYC (Sept 23) events, there's always the option of submitting a 45 second video on GameFly's site. Best of luck to those who attend and try out!
Wii Music dated for US?
Yesterday, NCSX opened preorders for Japanese copies of Wii Music, which is officially coming out October 16. We haven't gotten an official US date beyond 'Holiday 2008,' but two retailers seem to have agreed upon a potential date: November 3. Both Amazon and GameStop are taking preorders for the multiplayer musical toy thing, to ship (as of now, anyway) on that projected release date. Gamefly says October 29, which is very strange: Gamefly's release dates tend to be behind the real date, not ahead of it.With the holiday season rapidly approaching, we're sure Nintendo will date or delay Wii Music soon, but for now, we can look forward to the shortages kicking off on November 3.%Gallery-27713%[Via OMGNintendo]
Go team Cosplay: GameFly holding open casting for next commercial
GameFly is holding an open casting call for its next commercial, inviting cosplayers to submit videos expressing why they love GameFly and why the character they're dressed up is their favorite. Admittedly, this could go horribly wrong, but considering GameFly's customer base is the gamer community, the company might actually handle the situation with some respect.The live casting calls will be held in LA, NY and Chicago (details after the break) during September, or people can submit their :45 second entry in a specific section of the GameFly site after Aug. 26. Voting for the favorite entry will begin in October and the winner will appear in GameFly's next commercial (no word if they'll actually appear as the character they dressed up as). We'll be sure to remind again of this contest as the casting calls approach, but this early notice should give ample time to make a good costume and practice packing as much geekitude into the time allotted.
Gamefly: Japanese and Chinese Coaches, Princess Debut this fall
According to Gamefly's list of upcoming games, Ubisoft is following up their excellent My French Coach and My Spanish Coach with something that is going to excite a lot of you: My Japanese Coach, with a tentative September 18 release date. Hopefully it's a language trainer and not a game about, say, a tennis coach who happens to be from Japan. It's being joined by My Chinese Coach, with a release date of August 28.In addition, Gamefly lists two unannounced titles from Natsume. Cave's Princess Debut is apparently being released on September 26, and on August 28, Natsume will release Hi! Hamtaro Ham-Ham Challenge, recently announced for Europe by 505 Games. These releases are unconfirmed, of course, but likely.
Gamefly sales continue to tempt us
Gamefly is having a sale on some of its used-but-in-great-condition games again, also offering free shipping to spice up the deal a bit. As always, we're passings these savings along to you, while picking out a few we think are worth highlighting for their respective prices: Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire for $12.99 Dewy's Adventure for $14.99 NiGHTS for $14.99 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law for $14.99 Manhunt 2 for $14.99 Victorious Boxers: Revolution for $15.99 Soulcalibur Legends for $15.99 Bleach: Shattered Blade for $17.99 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for $27.99 Super Mario Galaxy for $36.99 Click on the picture or "source" link to see the full list of Wii games, but keep in mind that you might be able to find some of them cheaper elsewhere.
GameFly used games sale features stellar deal on DMC4, more
GameFly's used games sale has some pretty enticing deals on PS3 games. Of most note is its sale price on Devil May Cry 4 -- only $20 when bought used! These games include the original boxes and manuals, free shipping and are guaranteed to work. The price on Unreal Tournament is an eye-opener as well. Devil May Cry 4 - $19.99 The Club - $19.99 Jericho - $19.99 Lost: Via Domus - $17.99 Unreal Tournament III - $17.99 [Via CAG]
Gamefly offers up special Xbox Live offer
For those about to jump into the Gamefly game rental waters, we've come across a promotional offer that'll sweeten the deal and make the entire jumping in process a little easier.Gamefly currently has a promotion running where they're offering all Xbox Live subscribers their first month of rentals for only $5.95 PLUS they're throwing in 400 Microsoft points for free. That's of course for one rental at a time, but you can up your rentals to two for $9.95 (again, only the first month) and still get the free MS points. Note that this offer is only good for new Gamefly accounts and the monthly fee will get jacked back up to a minimum of $15.95 a month. But, like we said, it's a good introductory offer if you were thinking about doing the whole Gamefly thing anyway.[Thanks, Adam L]
GameFly's Austin center 'officially' open, servicing seven states
Last month, GameFly was nice enough to drop us a line that it had opened a new distribution center in Austin, Texas. The by-mail rental service's new site wasn't fully operational at the time, but the company tells us the warehouse is now ready to cover seven states. The Austin site will initially service Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico. More Midwest states could be added in the future.Jeff Kawasugi, VP of logistics at GameFly, says the Austin site will allow "the quickest shipping times" to the members in the aforementioned states. Over the years we've seen our GameFly shipment times drop dramatically. Turnaround of two weeks (or more) was normal when the service first started, and now it's down to about five business days. The main issue with the service seems to have shifted from turnaround time to availability of titles as the company has increased its customer base.
Tornado might blow over to North America
The comparisons between Tornado and Katamari Damacy are extremely evident, but there's one major difference: Katamari Damacy games are available outside of Japan, whereas Success's title has yet to accomplish that.In fact, Tornado hasn't even released in Japan yet. It was originally scheduled to come out last year, but later become delayed indefinitely. Oddly enough, though, GameFly has a listing for a DS game called Tornado. Can it be the same game? Perhaps -- we hope so, at least. We wouldn't mind having a portable Katamari-like game release in North America for our favorite handheld.Whatever this game is, it's being published by Ignition Entertainment and has a GameFly release date of September '08.[Via Siliconera]
GameFly launches GamePie social network application for Facebook
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/GameFly_launches_GamePie_social_network_application_for_Face'; GameFly, the by-mail game rental service, is testing different waters with its new GamePie social networking application launching today for Facebook. GamePie is designed to become the gaming community's plebeian version of Metacritic, giving users the ability to rate, review and recommend titles to friends. OK, great, but why would GameFly develop this application, and more importantly, where's the cash in it for the company?"We've done a really good job over the last six years of getting gamers the games they want. And we've done well on the content side, but we haven't done a good job on the community side. Whether its around the franchise or the platform, so this is a great way to take the lead," GameFly co-founder Sean Spector told us during a very Web 2.0 walkthough of the GamePie program. "We've got a good brand with GameFly, but this is about socialization of games, not about buying games or renting. So, currently we're just trying to make a killer social app."%Gallery-23352%
Potential release dates for arcade classics and real classics
Gamefly's "Coming Soon" list has once again been updated, revealing titles and release dates that are probably true and definitely noteworthy. We've been waiting since GDC for an official release date for the Wii version of SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, since SNK told us at the show that it had been pushed into Q4. The press release from SNK about the PS2 and PSP versions mentions that Arcade Classics is expected in October. Gamefly now says it's coming July 30th, which is in a much sooner Q! We're inclined to go with SNK's word, but release dates change!If you envy the WiiWare Yakuman Mahjongg game, you may be interested in Crave's Solitaire & Mahjong, which is apparently coming out on September 19th. It's on a disc, but it is at least (kind of) announced for U.S. release.
Gamefly lists new Elebits 2 title, possible Dragon Quest IV date
The rumors of a DS Elebits sequel, fueled by an "Elebits 2" Gamefly listing, have gotten a lot more plausible with a revision to that same listing. The title for the supposed sequel is now Elebits 2: Adventures of Kai & Zero, and the release date has been moved up two weeks to August 14.If this is real, we expect to hear about it very soon, since a Konami Gamer's Day took place yesterday. If it's fake, we expect to feel surprised.In other Gamefly news, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen has an August 30 release date on the rental service's web page. No idea if it's accurate, but if it is, this is the summer of Square Enix "IV" remakes!
Cheap prices are buzzing around GameFly
If you're one of the cool kids that visits Wii Fanboy often, you probably know that we love bargains. Even more so, we love sharing them with you. We thought we'd tell you, then, that aside from Circuit City having some sweet deals this week, GameFly is also looking to take money out of our pockets. From today to the 19th, GameFly is having a storewide sale, which means cheap games galore. The catch is that they're used, but that's not a big deterrent since the game conditions are usually tip-top.Some highlights include: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law -- $14.99 NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams -- $17.99 Battalion Wars 2 -- $27.99 Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles -- $29.99 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption -- $29.99 We also found some other nice sales over there, so it's worth checking them out if you're craving a new (yet used) Wii game.
GameFly offers cheap games for the thrifty
Every once in a while, GameFly throws a storewide sale our way. Fortunately, now is one of those times -- until May 19th, at least -- so it's worth checking out the used games that the site has to offer. Whether you're looking for something fun to play during Game Night or just want to pick up a cartridge that you don't already own, there are a lot of noteworthy titles available. Here are some that we found intriguing, either because they're awesome games or they're just too cheap to resist (or some combination thereof): LifeSigns: Surgical Unit -- $13.99 Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles -- $14.99 Jam Sessions -- $16.99 Worms: Open Warfare -- $16.99 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney -- $19.99 Advance Wars: Days of Ruin -- $23.99 Those are just the ones that stuck out to us, though. Let us know in the comments if you see any others worth a mention.
