Are the Steam deals you pulled from Steam UK? I ask because, US Steam's weekend deal is Mount & Blade/Mount & Blade: Warband games for 80% off. Or Mount & Blade Complete for 60% off.

Just mentioning it, because the prices you listed for Gary's Mod and Vice City are the normal, non-discounted prices. Very strange that you would choose to highlight those over something that's 80% off...

@ Chris Antista

I appreciate what you tried to do here. I've got to agree with a lot of the other comments, though, and say that your article missed the mark. I get it that Dan's your buddy and you don't want to burn him at the stake, or don't feel it's warranted, but YOU DID PUSSY-FOOT AROUND THE CORE ISSUES.

Go back and re-read your own article with a critical eye. You failed to mention almost all of the reasons gamers actually hate on Activision. It sure as hell isn't because they're the 'biggest kid on the block-BS'. That's a corporate scape-goat that Activision themselves created to try and get some positive PR spin just a few weeks ago. Don't feed us their crap, hit Dan with some actual hard questions and call him to the carpet with some specific scenarios in Activision's recent past. They've mis-handled plenty of things, by admission from multiple developers recently. So let's ask them to de-bunk those 'myths'.

Is Activision really that bad? Nope, probably not. They're a business and have to do what they feel is right for their bottom line. I would guess their biggest sin is probably just doing a terrible job on the PR side and not locking Bobby Kotick's mouth behind sound-proof glass, as soon as he started saying things that pissed off gamers.

You as a journalist have to do a bit more, though. I normally come to GR because, 1) you guys are funny and 2) because you normally cut right through this kind of BS to get to the heart of the issue. Please take this as constructive criticism: I really feel you could've done a lot better on this one.

@KevlarTurban

You are so right. My jaw hit the floor seeing that section where you're running through street following your AI teammate. The guy actually looks like he's running! Uncanny valley destroyed!

@db1331

Agreed, it looks far better than Killzone in every respect.

Now, if only we could marry the character animations of BF3 with the facial animations of LA Noire -and BAMMMMM, the next generation is upon us!

@ nragedTortoise1

Mandatory combat should NEVER have been in Mirror's Edge design, seeing as how the game wasn't really made for it and didn't handle it well. The sign-posting was so poor and the level design so convoluted in some areas, however, that you had no choice but to go commando on everyone just to get through.

And yes, the sign-posting in Mirror's Edge was pretty poor in a lot of the levels, despite the color coding. I can't count the number of times I blind leaped off a building to my death because I thought I was going the right way. It also didn't help that the color coding only showed up when it felt like it.

@garnsr - The first two didn't sell really highly, but sold well enough that they were actually able to release the third one, which is when they changed everything and really became a household name. Had they not been able to release the first one, then they never would've gotten to the third one in the first place.

Additionally, I don't think anyone gives them enough credit for the first two GTAs. They were ground breaking games, they just weren't as ground breaking as GTA 3.

Here's hoping that GTA 5 comes soon!

Yes, as AxiamWolfe said, you could've made it a lot easier on yourselves if you just said 'multiplayer is almost exactly like frontline: fuels of war'. Maybe the previewer failed to realize that it was the same studio making Homefront as Frontlines, or more likely he just never played Frontlines...

Wow, those are impressive. Some serious talent on display there. Doing the skins is one thing, but the special moves are a stroke of genius.

The Bloodstone one made me laugh so hard I was crying, must've missed it on 4chan...

Sorry videos = not so good. I can't have sound at my work desk.

LOL @ Brett Elston's. You sir, have made my day.

"Many consumers who have studied the numbers have pointed out what they say is a "surprising" correlation between the popularity of a game and its sales, and have expressed their concerns with comments such as, "WTF CoD sux," and, "lol just dance 2 rlly?!"

- I almost got fired I was laughing so hard. Way to start my Friday. Love you GR!

I know everyone's enjoying hating on EA's CEO, because after all he is their CEO (all CEOs are evil). That being said, he IS right about mirror's edge. Re-read what he said, he's pretty much spot on. The game was fun and good when it was firing on all cylinders, but that was the exception in Mirror's Edge, as other lame caveats kept bringing the experience down. Lame story, mandatory combat in WAY too many areas for a game that's based on avoiding combat, the indoor environments (almost all of them were terrible), and the utter lack of replay value. The time trials were fun for a little while, but there was nothing else to come back for after that.

I loved Mirror's Edge in spite of it's flaws, which is a testament to how strong the core concept was, but it was very flawed. What the CEO is saying here, though, is that they should've done more. They should've gone all out and put everything they could into these IPs rather than just 'dipping their toes in the water' to see if they could make money. I agree with him. With a little more polish and a better story, Mirror's Edge could've been the 'next big thing' rather than another cult game.

As Tylerwildesbloodalcohollevels and garnsr pointed out, these are PROFIT losses -not actual losses. This means Nintendo is making LESS of a shit-ton of money, not that they aren't still making a absolute crap load of money.

The Wii is still kicking the PS3's ass in sales every month. It has lost to the 360 a few times, but even when it does does lose to the 360, it tends to lose by less than 50,000 units. So even if the 360 was beating it in sales by 100,000 units a month, it would take A LONG ASS TIME for the 360 to narrow that 30 million+ unit gap between it and the Wii.

So yeah... proclaiming the Wii's death is, as always, very premature.

Let's not even mention that despite the DS's sales drop it still sells more than all the other consoles combined EVERY month. As Nintendo themselves said, their only real competitor that they have to worry about these days is Apple.

Yes, for those who played DK1 or 2 this sounds almost exactly like them -which is AWESOME!!!!! I've been waiting years for another game in this mold (haven't had anything close since Evil Genius). Day 1 purchase for me. Woot!

Also, add Dungeon Keeper to the list. I haven't seen another game like it since Evil Genius -which was largely overlooked.

RC PRO AM! Whoa, this whole sentence = RPM, Rock n’ Roll Racing, Super Off-Road, Micro Machines. I loved them all and had all but forgotten about all of them until this article. I can't believe no one has done a modern update of these classics. They were universally fun and the best ones were tightly balanced. They even allowed upgrades to your ride -perfect template for a modern update. Nice job GR!

Also, I'll second Colony Wars and Tie Fighter, or any space combat game with a plot. They all seemed to die out in the 90s, which is shame when you think what they could do with a Freespace or a Wing Commander now.

Lastly, I'd point out that Trine is kind of a spiritual successor to Lost Vikings. Trine is more combat-y and isn't nearly as hard, but it's the same kind of idea. Just saying...

@Gamesradar Mark Raby - Since no one else has called you on your bullshit, I suppose I will. How the hell do you expect the PC version to show up in the top twenty if THEY DON'T EVEN POST A TOP 20 FOR PC GAME SALES. You sir are either mis-informed, or don't have a clue, as the NPD stopped reporting PC sales over 2 years ago because it was 'too hard track'. They don't show up next to console game sales for that reason and that reason only.

@jmcgrotty - You're just trolling bro, as you obviously have no idea how many games are sold digitally for PCs (hint = the majority).

My only problem with all of this, is how stupidly obtuse an argument it is that Capcom is using, and how Gamesradar is eating it up. I never figured you guys for sheep, so think about it for a second here and follow along with me:

A) Here is the sentence = 'but even so it has sold admirably since it was released earlier this year' That means that Capcom is pleased with the sales of SF4 on PC, which means that it's either selling well or that it has sold well enough that they've made a good amount of profit.

B) Next = During the interview, he said the PC version of Street Fighter IV was "number one in piracy." -This is fairly common and sad, but the best and most popular games on the PC are the ones that are the most pirated.

So, if we take point A + point B then we get (from Capcom) = Don't make games for the PC because they sell well/make a profit and because they are popular they will also be pirated. Is everyone else reading this or am I crazy? Seriously, how can a video game be selling well/making a profit and yet be a bad decision? The only reason I can firgure is that Capcom is counting piracy as LOSSES. Which is absolutely ridiculous. It's like counting all of the used game sales as losses -oh wait, the video game companies do that too....

Like others have mentioned, scripted moments within a free-form game (or at least a game that makes you think it's free-form) seem to be the pinnacle for me.

Others have mentioned RDRedemption, but I also look at Portal as a good example. Glados is going to do/say the same thing no matter what, but you're still free to tackle the puzzles however you see fit and at your own pace. it's not truely open and free, but it makes you FEEL like it is -which is the important part.

Yes, as many have already said, the fundamental flaw with them is that most gamers don't have the will-power to follow through. We're like crack addicts that can't keep away no matter what we tell ourselves.

MW2 is the most telling example. If core PC users had truly boycotted the game, Activision would have felt it in the lack of sales. That didn't happen, though, in fact one statistic I read put PC copies purchased through retail at over 20% of the total sales. That doesn't even count Steam, which has had MW2 firmly slotted in it's top 10 sales list every week since it was released.

In other words, almost none of the 'MW2 boycotters' actually boycotted the game. What good is a boycott if you only threaten to do it? Activision called their bluff and proved that they were full of crap.

On a happy side note, as someone already pointed out, it did still have an impact -as one of the first announcements for COD Black Ops was dedicated servers.

Wow, a lot of mixed views on the issue. Throwing in my two cents:

1) There's nothing wrong with the way Japan does things with their game design, but IT DOES NEED TO EVOLVE. Their quirkiness is part of the appeal, just like their art style being wholely unique, but that doesn't mean they can keep doing the same things over and over again and expect to get away with it.

2) JRPGs are stale at the moment. Just look at the plot of almost every major JRPG in the last 5 years! GR obviously sees it too, which is why you guys did a feature asking 'are JRPGs dead?'. Btw - convenient that you 'forgot' to link the article, eh Houghton?

3) Change/evolution is not necessarily equal to 'more gritty'. No one said that the japanese games industry needs to start making Halo clones and Gears of War clones to survive (some studios seem to think this is the answer, though, ...cough...cough.. Vanquish). Instead, evolution may just mean they need to alter a few design elements, a few plot areas, and axe a few annoying stereo-type characters.

Hopefully they can pull it off, because if they don't, Western audiences will stop buying their games. If that happens, then they'll stop importing/localizing them -which will be a sad day for all of us.