You know what my personal beef with used game sales is? Giving up beautiful box art for a sheet of paper with the game's name stenciled across it.
News Blips:
Fable 3 developer Lionhead believes PC piracy pales in comparison to pre-owned Xbox 360 game sales. Combat Designer Mike West told Eurogamer that while piracy poses a perpetual problem for the PC platform, there's "not much you can do about it. The pirates, whatever you do on whatever system, they will crack it. It might take no time…I think the longest it's taken to happen is two days. Someone will crack it somewhere." West admitted that Lionhead already recouped development costs with sales of Fable 3 on the Xbox 360 but maintained that "second-hand sales cost us more in the long run than piracy these days."
Are you a high-school, college, or university student? Going to blow $700 or more of your "book fund" on a new Windows PC? If so, Microsoft will hook you up with a free 4GB Xbox 360. Students can hit up participating retailers such as Dell, HP, or MS itself starting on May 22 to nab their boxy distraction. You need to have a valid .edu email address or student ID to qualify, so showing up at a store with textbooks that have complex names like "Recursive Quantum Repeater Networks" won't fly. Check out more details on the offer here.
Hellgate returns to America as a free-to-play MMORPG. Korean game companies T3 Entertainment, Redbana, and HanbitSoft announced that the dark fantasy title will launch later in the year, with a closed beta taking place from June 3-5. The original Hellgate: London, developed by the now-defunct Flagship Studios in 2007, pitted players against a demonic invasion and represented a treasure hunter's dream come true with plenty of randomized weapon and armor items. Publisher Namco Bandai dropped U.S. server support in 2009 after Flagship's closure.
Bohemia Interactive reveals the development of Arma 3. The third entry in the hyper-realistic military shooter series charts a lone Special Forces soldier's fight for survival on a fictional island. Expect more massive zones, vehicles, and of course, realistic bullet behavior to frustrate even the most patient sniper. Bohemia pegged 2012 for the game's release but didn't go into specifics.
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