Words about games
Fallout: New Vegas – Review
Fallout: New Vegas, PC – £22.99, or if you don’t care when you get it, The Hut have it for £22.44 when you use a 10% off voucher.
PC version review by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)
The days leading up to the release of New Vegas were something of an emotional roller-coaster for me. My anxiety was painfully high, having read the numerous terrifying accounts of it being a hilariously broken game from the onset. Had I squandered my pennies on nothing more than a broken mod? Not only that, but I received my disc copy (having decided the Steam servers were too much for my already-frayed nerves) excruciatingly early. Normally, this is an excellent thing, but the game being tethered to Steam’s unlock countdown meant I was in for a gruelling wait, and the box smiling down at me served only as a teasing reminder of that fact. When I was finally presented with the game’s splash-screen, I had no idea what to expect. Twenty-something hours in, here’s what I think.
13HMV Xbox live misprice cancellation
I just got an email from HMV saying that they aren’t going to be honouring the misprice on 12 months of Xbox Live.
I was going to copy and paste the email they sent out in it’s entirety, but I thought it might be more fun to heavily doctor it first.
We are very sorry, but it has come to our attention that BLAH BLAH BLAH incorrect price of £2.99, instead of the more PROFITABLE FOR US price of £35.16. We trust that you CAN’T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
We very much regret NOT BEING ABLE TO KEEP YOUR MONEY. No doubt you will be wondering what your rights may be in this matter, but, as we trust our terms and conditions governing our online sales make clear, YOU CAN’T DO SHIT BOY. As you may be aware, hmv has not yet taken payment from you for the goods listed above nor, indeed, taken the final step of confirming the shipment of your order to you by email (please see point b. in the section entitled ‘WE OWN YOUR ASS’ on the first page of our Terms and Conditions). So we trust you will therefore appreciate that there is not a legal requirement to make this item available at the PRICE THAT WE LISTED ON OUT WEB SITE FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
Once again, we really are very sorry about having to take this course of action resulting from what is a genuine error on our part, and whilst we do, of course, very much value you as a customer we hope that you will also understand our position and that you will be kind enough to accept our most sincere apologies AND NOTHING ELSE.
If you’re still after and Xbox live subscription, Amazon have got 12 months for £32.99, or if you don’t care when you get it, The Hut will have them for £30.36 when you use a 10% off voucher.
Edit: I guess I was in a bit of a foul mood when I got this, and I didn’t like the tone of the email at all. Sorry, I will try to not let things like this get to me.
16A new thing I am doing
Every Monday, you can catch my new column over at VG247, where I’ll be doing a roundup of the best deals across all formats each week. It’s mostly going to be stuff that has been posted on SavyGamer already, but it’ll be good for if you want to see the best offers all in once place, make sure you haven’t missed anything, or just read more of my sexy sexy words.
Hope you like it.
6Civ5 for £2.35 update: You're outta luck
I’ve just had a chat with someone from Coolshop‘s very helpful customer service department, and they have confirmed that the Civ5 for £2.35 deal was indeed a pricing mistake, and the reason their system stopped giving out keys was because they had ran out.
They are in the process of issuing everyone who did not get the game a full refund, and in addition to this they are giving everyone 3 coolpoints as compensation. These will get you £3 off your next order with them.
They’ll be sending out an email with the details and an apology shortly. [Update: Check your emails, some people have already received this]
It’s a shame for those that didn’t manage to get a key, but no loss in the long run, and you can save some money another game in the future.
Cheers Coolshop.
Here are a selection of decent deals they have on at the minute for you to consider using your 3 coolpoints on. The prices I’ve quoted are including the £3 off.
Xbox 360
Rock Band 3 – £31.99 delivered
Rock Band 3 + Rock Band 1 drums – £36.99 delivered
Pure & LEGO Batman – £5.99 delivered
PS3
Rock Band 3 – £31.99 delivered
Wii
Sonic Colours – £22.99 delivered
Rock Band 3 – £19.99 delivered
DS
Professor Layton and the Lost Future – £22.99 delivered
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West – £21.77 delivered
PC
CODBLOPS – £28.77 delivered
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – £20.49 delivered
RUSE – £18.99 delivered
HAWX 2 – £18.77 delivered
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days – £10.49 delivered
Edit: Content of the email if you’ve not got it yet/are just an interested bystander:
43Hello
We write to you because you have made a purchase of our Civilization 5 Download game. Unfortunately there was a price error on this product causing it to be shown at an obviously faulty price. The company that supplies us with the download games only supply a certain number of codes. Unfortunately this means we are unable to cover all the orders with the supply of cdkeys we can get from the supplier. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and will naturally issue you a full refund. Furthermore we will give you 3 Coolshop points (a value of £3) as compensation.We thank you for your custom, and look forward to seeing you in our shop again.
Kind regards
Coolshop
Pretend you are an IGF judge 2011: Part 2
Here’s out second compilation of links for publicly playable games from the Independent Games Festival 2011. Here you’ll find, conveniently all in one place, links to IGF games that are available either commercially, freeware, web, beta, or just as a demo. If I’ve missed any, or got any details incorrect, please let me know. You can see part 1 here, and keep your computer tuned into SavyGamer for part 3 & 4 in the next week or so.
0ONE MILLION
Update:
Gosh you lot are quick.
That’s all the prizes gone now. Sorry to any last minute entries.
Yes, I just now hit 1,000,000 visitors on SavyGamer. Years ago, in the early days of the internet, I once clicked on an image much like the one you can see here, and it turned out I didn’t get a prize.
I was terribly disappointed, so I decided that one day I would have my own web site, and on that web site, when I’d had one million visitors, I would do the same thing, but actually give out prizes.
Thanks for all the support guys.
16Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Review
Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Wii – £13.99 delivered
Batman: The Brave and the Bold, DS – £13.99 delivered
Review by Lewie Procter
You can punch dinosaurs as Batman.
4Pretend you are an IGF judge 2011: Part 1
The Independent Games Festival nominees are up again, that means it’s time for me to compile a list of all of the featured games that are currently playable by mere mortals like you and me. This is a list of all of the games taking part in the IGF that are publicly available either commercially, freeware, web, beta, or just as a demo. This is part 1, and I’ll be publishing the rest over the coming weeks. I’ve looked at every entry, but not all have any form of publicly available playable build. If I’ve missed any, or got any details incorrect, please let me know.
4Zavvi (and presumably The Hut) coupon update
I have just received this email from Zavvi:
Thanks for placing your order with zavvi, order number :
Our sales team have been reviewing the orders that you have recently placed on our site. They have found that over the last few orders you have been abusing our discount codes and publishing this over the internet to other potential customers. It does state on our terms and conditions that only 1 discount code can be used and that we retain the right to cancel any orders, therefore we have taken the decision to temporarily place a hold on your account.
Many thanks
Zavvi.com
I can’t log in to my account, so I’m not sure which orders they are referring too, I have a few orders from them active at the minute and depending on their definition of abuse, I’m not sure what counts and what doesn’t.
Perhaps instead of blaming me for noticing ways to use their coupons, they should direct their efforts into having a more competent ordering system that isn’t so gapingly open to abuse.
Let me know if you hear anything from them, or have any orders cancelled. My account at The Hut still seems to be active, I wonder if they’ll sell me New Vegas…
23Super Meat Boy – Review
Super Meat Boy, XBLA – 1,200 MS Points (800 MS Points at release, til November)
4,200 MS points – £25.98 delivered
Spend 2,400 points in October, and get 800 points back.
Review by Lewie Procter
Every single time I died in Super Meat Boy, it was my fault.
That’s not strictly true, there is one boss that bucks the trend, but every other death in Super Meat Boy was entirely my fault. I misjudged the jump, I ran into the spinning death saw, I fell into the lava pit and I got impaled on the spikes. 4,260 deaths I’m up to now, and I’m only part way into the post game, there’s plenty of marrow to suck from this game yet. With all those failed attempts, it’s a bloody good job that Team Meat have stitched some kind of amnesia educing witchcraft into the fabric of the game. My overriding memory is that one time I beat that one difficult level, not the thousands of other times I didn’t make it. I kick ass at Super Meat Boy. I kick ass at video games. Nothing can stop me.
8A sad thing
Back in the days of SavyGamer 1.0, a guy who went by the name of The Rev Owen wrote a couple of reviews for SavyGamer. I’ve since moved them to the new site (here and here).
I just heard news that out of the blue, he has sadly died of what appears to have been a heart attack.
I’ve internet known him for a while, and he was a top bloke. He has also left behind his wife/significant other, who I didn’t really know. She currently has no income, but there is a fund for her here, and if you could spare a donation, that would help her out a lot. The money is paying to get her Mum and brother to England, and then help her out with other costs.
I don’t know what else to say other than he will be missed.
3Let me know what you want to buy this Christmas
We’re fast entering the Christmas buying season. All the retailers will be discounting different game related things over the next two months in the run up to Christmas morning, and as always I’ll be aiming to keep track of everything worth your attention.
Are there any items you’ve got on your Christmas list that you’d like me to pay particular attention to? I try to cover everything I can, but this is your chance to direct my gaze toward whatever you’re after.
Let me know in the comments, and I’ll compile a retail hitlist. Include details like platform, and if you have a rough budget.
55Medal of Honour Beta – Some Thoughts
by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)
Medal of Honour, PC – £23.99 delivered
When I first caught wind of the new Medal of Honour (yes, Honour) game, I was sceptical to say the least. Having being disillusioned to the frostbite engine during the course of Battlefield Bad Company 2, and seeing the inevitable resemblance to Modern Warfare from a mile off, I wasn’t sure what exactly this new title could bring to the table. Having played the beta, I can certainly say I’m feeling far more optimistic about it.
23Naughty trick: Unlimited Zavvi/The Hut 10% off codes
Update: Looks like you can’t get these free points any more, or at least you need to actually have a code from a Walkers packet. Previously received codes still seem to work fine. Cheers to Kelduum for the heads up.
Would you like unlimited (until they’re gone) single use 10% off anything (max spend £100) coupons for Zavvi/The Hut? Follow these instructions:
1. Click this link
2. Hit “register” and sign up with any details. Does not need to be a working email address or anything.
3. Hit “tell us more” to get 2 “savings points”. The infomation does not need to be accurate, and you do not need to give them your postcode. (This part seems to not be rendering correctly in Chrome for me. If you can’t get it to work either, try a different browser).
4. Then hit “Rainy day savings” at the top, and select the 10% off coupon from either Zavvi or The Hut.
5. Make a note of the code. Log out. Rinse and repeat as desired.
Don’t tell them you heard it from me.
21Stupid Gamestation reward card is stupid.
The latest attempt from The GAME group PLC to stave of it’s inevitable gradual slide into irrelevancy, and boost it’s falling profits. A reward card.
12Eurogamer Expo Megapodcast featuring me, Lewis Denby and Mike Rose
I’ve just got back from the Eurogamer Expo, and whilst I was there, me and a few other video game playing reprobates got together to record a podcast.
My partners in crime are Lewis Denby from Beefjack.com, and Mike Rose from IndieGames.com.
You can listen to it right here:
Eurogamer Expo 2010 MEGAPODCAST
Amnesia: The Descent, PC – Review
Review by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)
Fresh from the Penumbra series, I pre-ordered Amnesia: The Dark Descent with a spring in my step. Interested not only to see whether the formula had improved any, but whether my experience with Overture and Black Plague had made me any less of a coward, I launched into the grissly world of Brennenburg Castle. Was I still a pathetic craven? Was the game scary? And just what makes a survival horror horrific?
2Blade Kitten – Review
Blade Kitten, PC – £9.99
Also available on XBLA and PSN.
Review by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)
My first concern with Blade Kitten was the notion that two vastly different words could be juxtaposed in such a disconcerting way. A blade is a weapon of slashing and maiming, whereas I have it on good authority that a kitten is a device used only to a fluffy and endearing end. In what twisted world could the two drastically dissimilar nouns coexist in a single, shameless title? Surely not a world I would want to live in, and yet there I was. Linguistic emotional rollercoaster aside and images of murderous felines suppressed deep into my subconscious, my second concern was that I hadn’t even heard of the comic series on which the game was based. Not a good start at all, I’m sure you’ll agree, but this didn’t seem to matter once I got down to actually playing the thing. So, how was it?
1APB Steam refund update
If you bought APB from Steam, apparently EA are now offering a free game as a refund. Valve put up a brick wall, but EA are making up for the fact that customers who bought their game ended up with nothing to show for it.
If you contact them through this site, and tell them you’d like another game to replace APB, they will give you any game currently available on the EA Store. I don’t think that they will let you get preorders, but it’s worth a shot.
You can pick from the likes of Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Spore, The Saboteur, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and all sorts of other stuff.
Thanks to CHooligans for the heads up.
25Tidalis – Review
Tidalis, PC/Mac – £7.68 (actually a little cheaper on Steam, but do them a solid and buy it direct from them)
Review by Ben Tyrer (Tumblr)
Tidalis. A vast, unexplored continent, shrouded in mystery and void of all life… But is it really?
6Gametail in a bit of a mess
New kid on the internet-games-retail block, Gametail, have encountered a bit of a problem.
They have issued a statement saying that Paypal have suspended their account pending an audit. Here’s the statement in full:
5Help me pay hosting please
Update: Target reached in exactly an hour and a half. You’re all wonderful. Hosting is now paid off, cheers.
Update2: A few last minute donations pushed me over the £70 target, so if anyone would like me to refund their donation let me know. Otherwise I’ll stick it in the hookers and blow fund.
I don’t really like to do this, but my bi-annual hosting invoice just arrived in my inbox and I didn’t quite realise it was due so soon. I’m a little skint at the minute too.
If you could spare me a bit of cash, I’d really appreciate it. I also promise that in return I will endeavour to make SavyGamer about 20-30% better than it currently is.
I need £70, and I will let you know if/when I have reached that target of donations.
I’m not going to go hungry or anything, and SavyGamer won’t go down even if I get no donations, but this would really help me out. Please only donate if you can easily afford it.
Edit: Just hit halfway, need another £35. Thanks so much to everyone who has donated, it’s all appreciated.
APB Refund? Speak to the retailer
If any of you have bought Realtime’s great folly, All Points Bulletin, you will probably now be aware that you own a none working game. If you would like a refund, you will have to speak to the retailer that you bought the game from.
Paul Dounis, joint administrator of Begbies Traynor gives this message to customers wanting their money back:
Customers should revert to the entity from which they bought the game in respect of their entitlement to any refund.
Let me know if any of you have any success with retailers or digital distribution outlets. I suggest you quote that at them.
Update:
Valve have posted this over at the Steam forums.
As with most software products, we do not offer refunds or exchanges for purchases made online as outlined in the software license.
So no refund from them.
Thanks for the tip CHooligans
Update2:
Unconfirmed reports from the comments that HMV will be offering refunds to buyers of APB
I work for HMV – we’ve been instructed to give refunds to anyone who bought it.
I’ll speak to HMV when I can.
15DJ Hero 2 misprice update
I’ve heard from a couple of sources that Tesco are intending on just shipping the software, not the Party pack that was advertised, and is in the email I got from them.
I haven’t received an email update from them at all, which is poor form.
If you want to argue your case, you are in the right and they are in the wrong, but it might not be worth the hassle.
6The Hut Coupon shenanigans extends to Zavvi
Regular SavyGamer readers will no doubt be familiar with the ongoing saga of The Hut’s policy on coupons.
Twice now I’ve caught them out bumping up the price of items to coincide with coupons. You can find the details here, here and here. The end result in most cases was that the increase in price resulted in it being the same price, or more often more expensive, than they were before the coupon was issued.
It appears that this practice is now extending to other retailers that are part of The Hut Group. Most recently Zavvi.
Vanquish has been £28.99 to preorder from them for a while, on both 360 and PS3. I first noticed that rather good price last Tuesday, and posted it here and here.
Then I realised that this offer could be improved by using the coupon “ZAVVIFIVE”, for £5 off a £50 spend (it was actually £50.01), that Zavvi had emailed to me and all their affiliates about previously. I posted it up here, with some other similar deals. My data suggests it was a pretty popular deal amongst you lot, not surprising after the fantastic demo (The problem with Vanquish is that it’s just a game about shooting robots and flying around really fast like a badass and then punching robots in the face).
Before the coupon had expired though, they bumped the price of it up to £32.95 on both platforms. I didn’t notice any other examples, but my all seeing bargain eye could have been diverted by discounts elsewhere. It’s entirely possible they did this for lots of items, not just this one popular game.
Like an idiot I didn’t record any evidence of the price bump…so uh, I guess you can either take my word or not. Now that the coupon has expired, it’s gone back to it’s pre-coupon price. Sadly google’s cache of it is before the price bump.
From now on I’ll keep a closer eye on all retailers that are part of The Hut group, and include a coupon disclaimed wherever applicable. The applicable retailers are:
Argos Entertainment
Asda Entertainment
SendIt.com
WHSmith Entertainment
Woolworths Entertainment
Zavvi
I think that’s the lot.
If anyone can suggest a way to find a record of the price bump, please let me know. The coupon expired on the 9th, so it should have been just before then.
6