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Wings Over Atreia: This little Daeva went to market...
Milk Bread Red Shell Potcrab Life Leaf Bulldozer... You all know the old adage "Never go grocery shopping while hungry," right? It is sound advice for avoiding filling your cart with impulse purchases that might decimate your budget (and your waistline). How many of you have also used the shopping list tactic to try to minimize said impulse purchases? Well, you just might want to put that skill into practice when visiting Aion's BlackCloud Marketplace. When the BlackCloud Marketplace launched last month, the inventory had pretty slim pickings for a game that needed to make all of its profit from the cash shop. Since all content in Aion is free, we knew more things would appear; it was just a matter of what and when. And even while there was still some trepidation about what items would be introduced over time (how many would play into the whole pay-to-win debate?), Daevas looked forward to new offerings and wondered what would be available next. Wonder no more! Those little Shugos came in last Wednesday and stocked the marketplace shelves with over 100 new items. Some items were expected, some were not, and some were even clamored for by the masses. To help you construct your shopping list before heading to the store, Wing Over Atreia has perused the aisles for you to find what's new, what's interesting, and what's on special.
The Daily Grind: How frugal are you in F2P games?
Those of you who shun free-to-play titles or are determined to never spend a single red cent in them are dismissed from today's discussion. But for those of you who do spend money in F2P MMOs -- and by all accounts, that's quite a few of you out there -- I'm curious just how frugal you are with the money you spend. I know that SOE players often hold back from registering Station Cash cards until the studio does a double- or triple-point day, and Turbine's frequently put its in-game stock on sale for both Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Around the holidays or during special anniversaries, players can also snag some good deals. So do you wait for certain items and unlocks to go on sale, or are you wealthy and/or impatient enough to simply go for it when you want them? Do you look for specials with an eagle eye? Jump on top of bonus in-game currency days? Clip coupons? Just how far do you stretch your gaming dollar? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Massively's big fat Black Friday roundup: 2011 edition
So apparently there's this thing called Black Friday. This is news to me because shopping isn't really my thing, see, especially if it involves looking for parking spaces, Christmas music, or entering a retail establishment of any sort (regardless of season). OK, I do occasionally make allowances for the grocery store. Anyway, when it comes to holiday consumerism, fortunately there's this place called the intarwebs, where savvy merchants have taken to selling all manner of whatever and delivering it directly to your front door with the bare minimum of fuss. I hear there are even a few deals and steals for the budget-conscious MMO fiend in this land of digital plenty, and you should head past the break for links to a few of the more noteworthy sales.
Get RIFT for $9.99 this weekend
Trion's got a couple of weekend deals in store for all you last-minute Father's Day shopping slackers, provided of course that the gaming dad in your family plays RIFT. First up is a $9.99 special that gives you the full game client. Gameplay time will cost you extra, though, so assuming you go with the standard monthly fee, you're looking at around 25 bucks for full access to Telara. Next up is the trial upgrade collector's edition special, which will set you back $16.99. You get the full client per above as well as a tartagon mount, a collector's satchel, and a bogling wastrel pet. Both deals are digital only, so if your dad, husband, or baby's daddy wants a box, you'll need to check out the brick and mortar or online retailers listed on Trion's website.
[Updated] Massively's big fat Black Friday roundup
Can you feel the love? The food comas? The day of sitting around napping while the kids sneak into the kitchen for another piece of pie? As you can see from the holiday e-card we've gotten, the gorging has already started in certain MMOs. However, for the rest of us who aren't virtual-demented-clown versions of Mr. Creosote, the promise of great deals looms once the turkey and pie are dispensed with. As we here at Massively are always on the lookout for a good deal, we've rounded up some MMO and hardware deals worth putting on your wish list. Join us behind the break for some of the best 100% frosting-covered-clown-free bargains we've found. Also, if you spot anything particularly tasty in terms of sale prices, be sure to let us all know in comments! [Updated] Switched the image out due to unintended offense, and adding more deals in as we find them!
TUAW Holiday Deals
You love the holidays and TUAW loves bringing you the deals. Here are some deals that have caught our eye recently: Buy any new iMac and get the new Miglia TVMini2 for £1!: This is an amazing price for a great European TV tuner. Save $35 on EyeTV Hybrid or Turbo.264 with free shipping: A good deal--although I bet the price will be even better during MacWorld. I bought my EyeTV hybrid during last MacWorld for $99. I absolutely love mine! Free Online Freeverse Games: Games include 3D Hearts, Chocolatier, Bejeweled 2, Ancient Spider Solitaire, etc. Update D'oh. Not all of these appear to be free! Only 3D Hearts. My bad!
Dojo update: Diddy's got a gun
The latest Dojo update seems to be an exercise in masochism; Diddy's wooden pea(nut) shooter is pretty cool and all, but you'd better be careful with it. Otherwise, you'll do a lot worse than shoot your eye out. Lesson: slow and steady wins the shooting race.In case you hadn't guessed, it's Diddy Kong all the way today, and the Dojo has offered up a look at his special moves, which include eating the occasional peanut from his gun. Hey, peanuts are nutritious and delicious! Also, they restore a little health, which is generally a good thing when getting your smash on. If peanut guns aren't your style, not to fret ... there's also a rocket jet pack attachment.%Gallery-6869%
Bleach's 33 characters of kicking butt
Bleach: Heat the Soul 3 came out in Japan a few weeks ago, and the import reviews are slowly trickling in. PSP411's KageNaruto had nearly nothing but praise for the fighter, praising the game's great cel-shaded graphics and excellent voice acting, ripped straight from the anime. It goes into almost nosebleed-inducing detail about the gameplay (2960 words!). Of particular note are the visually intense specials that all 33 characters have (featured above). I'm a pretty serious Bleach fan, and after watching that video, and reading this review, I feel like I have no choice but to import this game immediately. Hopefully, Sony will bring the games out here one day, especially once the show starts airing on Cartoon Network this September.
Basic PSN service to include online gaming
Could Krazy Ken Kutaragi's Playstation Network be "live," "4D" and largely "free" when it comes to online gaming? It looks that way according to this story (No, I'm not trying to turn this site into PS3 fanboy):...regarding the PlayStation Network Platform, [TeamXbox has] learned that the basic service will be free and include online gameplay, at least at launch; only specific titles like MMO games and premium services like online storage will require an additional fee.Microsoft is telling us not to expect big changes in their strategy no matter what Sony does, but the news that the PS3 may offer "free" online gaming at the base level has to affect people's opinion of Xbox Live. Sony is playing catch up in this area of the business and offering gamers more for less is one way to get our attention (It's certainly better than stupid buzzwords like "4D"). Then again, at a predicted price point well above the Xbox 360's, the PS3 isn't exactly going to be a bargain hunters dream. Maybe this is Sony's way of taking the edge off that Paris Hilton price tag. Or will all the good games end up charging their own fee anyway?This developement forces me to wonder if MS will eventually offer online gaming with XBL Silver, or just do away with membership levels altogether. Even if Sony is just using this as a short-term gimmick for the PS3 launch, it could lead to more "Free Gold Weekends"for 360 owners, like the promo coming up at the end of March.Do you think making PSN "4D and free" is a smart move on Sony's part? More importantly, does it require a response from MS? Do you think you are paying a fair price for XBL Gold?
