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Madden NFL 15 kicks off Xbox One digital pre-loading feature
EA's Madden NFL 15 is the first Xbox One game to offer digital pre-loading options for early buyers in advance of its launch, Game Informer reports. Starting this week, players who purchase Madden NFL 15 via the Xbox One's dashboard or Xbox.com will have the game downloaded and primed for play as soon as it premieres on August 26. Microsoft announced at Gamescom last week that Forza Horizon 2 and FIFA 15 will also feature digital pre-loading, and Sony will offer similar options for future PlayStation 4 releases. EA Access subscribers can spend up to six hours with the full version of Madden NFL 15 before its public launch next week. [Image: EA Sports]
Dropbox joins arms with Sony Ericsson and Softbank, looks to expand elsewhere
By Dropbox's own numbers, its base has grown from five million to 25 million users in the last year, and now claims paying customers in 175 countries. Not content with this explosion, however, the company is establishing partnerships in the mobile arena to kick its growth into hyperdrive. Sony Ericsson is the first willing participant, and several of its phones (including the Arc and Play) will ship preloaded with the software throughout ten European countries. On the mobile carrier side, Tokyo-based Softbank will soon include the blue box on a handful of its Android devices, and Verizon is being courted by Dropbox, too -- nothing definite between these two, however. Good first steps, but if the company really wants to get rolling, it might want to pair up with a phone that has world domination in mind. Just a thought.
Left 4 Dead 2 pre-loading now available through Steam
It was bad enough when Valve enabled pre-loading of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, forcing potential zombicidal maniacs to stare at the game they have and yet don't for an entire madness-inspiring weekend. Now, the developer has begun allowing pre-loading of the full version of Left 4 Dead 2 through Steam. If you've pre-purchased the game through Valve's digital distribution platform (which still nets you a 10 percent discount off the price of the title), you can now put it on your computer, and just ... let it sit there until it finally unlocks on November 17. In the immortal words of Tom Petty, the waiting truly is the hardest part. Except for the zombie apocalypse. We suppose that part is pretty difficult as well. [Via Big Download]
Left 4 Dead 2 demo pre-loading available, madness to follow soon after
Valve recently began offering pre-loading of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo which pre-orderers will be able to play this coming Tuesday, October 27. This sounds like a sweet gift, but in reality, it's a double-edged sword on which you probably be impaled. See, if you'd like, you can download it now -- but you won't be able to play it until Tuesday, giving you three days to fester in your impatience, all the while gazing at the demo which you have and yet you don't. Sounds to us like a recipe for a slow-boiling sort of madness. However, the alternative is that you don't pre-load the demo, and waste precious time downloading the game on Tuesday -- time which could be spent hitting the walking dead with sports paraphernalia and gas-powered agricultural implements. This fact alone could send you down an inescapable spiral of depression. So, what's it going to be? Madness, or depression? Sure, neither are extraordinarily pleasant -- but hey, you get to play Left 4 Dead 2 early. We don't want to hear your complaining.
Dell pre-loading music mixes, CinemaNow movies, world again asks "Why?"
When Dell started pre-loading digital copies of Iron Man in new systems for $19, we didn't think that was very enticing, but at least it was a pretty good movie, right? Quite possibly encouraged by thousands of accidental purchases (we kid, sort of), Dell's announced two new content pre-loading partnerships -- Universal Music Group and CinemaNow. The music comes in 50 and 100 song bundles starting at $25, but at least it's DRM-free, so if you don't mind a mega mix chosen entirely by Dell it's not all evil. CinemaNow, though, offers $25 and up bundles including (among other flicks) world-renown classics like The Fast and the Furious and the Matrix sequels. Fear.Read - Universal Music GroupRead - CinemaNow
