Dwell On It » Steam

Play it now — Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale

Tateru Nino — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 07:49:08 +0000

Once upon a time there was a girl and a fairy.

The girl, Recette Lemongrass, lived on her own because her father had gone adventuring and not returned.

The fairy, Tear, worked for the Terme Finance company, and Recette’s father’s debts were about to come due.

Reasoning that getting the money back was better than taking Recette’s house and auctioning it at a loss, Tear helped Recette set up a small item shop on the main street of the town. Just the sort of thing to cater to locals, and the hordes of hopeful adventurers and treasure-seekers needing supplies.

Working off your debt retailing doesn’t sound very exciting, but Recette and Tear’s adventure is only just beginning.

The used-games market

Tateru Nino — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:12:24 +0000

Games publishers have been making increasing amounts of noise about the used market for games. So, let’s look at another industry example.


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Games For Windows Live is a blight

Tateru Nino — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 02:39:21 +0000

So, a little while ago I had my first experience with a Games For Windows Live game, that being Red Faction: Guerrilla which I’d gotten as a part of a bundle.

About three hours into that process, I realized that Games For Windows Live (GFWL) is a blight on the face of PC gaming.

Dear Steam/Valve Software

Tateru Nino — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:33:18 +0000

Dear Steam team and folks at Valve Software generally,

Firstly, thanks for all the nifty sales over the holiday season. That was really quite nifty, even though there were obviously some problems arising from the large number of units sold.

There’s one special present that you could give us all, however, even though it seems like a very, very, very minor thing.


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Play it now – The Witcher

Tateru Nino — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:54:35 +0000

I’ve already spoken well of The Witcher, but without going into much in the way of detail. It’s time to remedy that.

The world of The Witcher, created by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, has been widely translated into numerous languages and adapted, into film, television, graphic novels, and a video game. It’s the video game that concerns us here.

Play it now – S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Tateru Nino — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:40:17 +0000

I’ve written about this particular game before, but I’m actually going to go back and revisit this one since I’ve put a bit more time on it.

I think I’ll start with the phrase “magnificently flawed.”

Lame searches: cheat codes to get your account unbanned

Tateru Nino — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:32:44 +0000

Something I rummage through periodically are the search results that people use to get to this site. A lot of people come here through the site appearing in amongst this or that search result. Some of them are obvious, some of them are weird.

A few are lurid, and then there’s one commonly recurring set that is particularly lame.


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Play it now – F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

Tateru Nino — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:27:25 +0000

This is Alma. Say hello.

As you can see, Alma’s situation is a little bit abnormal, but then… so is she.


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Well, finally!

Tateru Nino — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:58:52 +0000

After what seems like a significant fraction of forever 2007 video game, Mass Effect has finally got an update which allows it to run on nvidia/geforce systems without requiring an increasingly archaic and unsupported version of the video drivers to prevent the game from crashing (or from crashing your whole system).

Play it now – Penumbra: Overture, Black Plague and Requiem

Tateru Nino — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:21:10 +0000

I’m crouching in the dark. I have a flashlight, but I dare not turn it on. I’m trying to keep quiet, and huddle close to my inadequate cover. I can hear the creature growl softly as it gets closer. Will it see me? I don’t dare look, because I know I’ll panic and it will be on me in an instant. I steal quick glances at it, then huddle behind the crate to calm down, like a kid hiding under a blanket from the monster under the bed.

Is it a dog? It’s might be some kind of a dog. I dare not face it. Maybe it was a dog … once. I don’t know what it is now.

I don’t dare move. The sound of its feet stops. It sniffs the air and growls softly, a bit like a dog, but something is very… wrong about the sound. It snuffles and I think I hear it move away. I steal a terrified glance. It’s moving away from me now. I creep as fast as I dare into a cross tunnel, and head for where I think the store-rooms are. Anywhere is better than here, right?

Wrong.

Play it now – 2K Huge Games Pack

Tateru Nino — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:55:47 +0000

If the Meridian4 games pack doesn’t turn you on (and face it, it might not), Steam’s got the 2K Huge Games Pack.

That’s Sid Meier’s Civilization® IV, Sid Meier’s Civilization® III Complete, Sid Meier’s Pirates!, Shattered Union, Prey, CivCity: Rome, Civilization IV®: Warlords, Sid Meier’s Railroads!, Railroad Tycoon 3, Railroad Tycoon II Platinum, X-COM: Terror From the Deep, X-COM: Apocalypse, BioShock™, X-COM: Interceptor, X-COM: UFO Defense, X-COM: Enforcer, Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, Freedom Force, Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich, and Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization.

Play it now – Meridian4 pack

Tateru Nino — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:24:31 +0000

Steam is having a sale at the moment on Meridian4 games, offering the complete Meridian4 pack for US$25.

That’s 14 Read more ...

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How to: Five tips for cheaper digital downloads

Tateru Nino — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:09:43 +0000

Odds are you don’t have a ton of cash to throw around. I know that I don’t. So, let’s talk about stretching your Windows gaming dollar a bit further.

There’s actually quite a number of ways, but let’s look at a simple set of tips for cheaper digital downloads.

Play It Now – The Path

Tateru Nino — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:46:23 +0000

Six girls from nine to nineteen. One forest. One errand.

A dual mandate.

Go to grandmother’s house. Stay on the path.

It’s about growing up. It’s about horror. It’s about obedience and disobedience. It’s about the wolf, who rarely goes on four legs.

It’s about terrible things.


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Letting out the Steam

Tateru Nino — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:47:30 +0000

Digital downloads are certainly a big thing at the moment. There’s Valve’s Steam, there’s Stardock’s Impulse, there’s Gametap (“Yours if you can ever get it to work” – Judge Dredd), there’s gog.com and more.

These are generally good things, however I’m going to pick on Steam for a few minutes. Actually, not quite on Steam itself, but on a couple publishers using it, who need a bit of a spanking.

Steam now on Steam

Tateru Nino — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Let me run up at that phrase again. A steampunk machines/cogs/steam/puzzle game on Valve’s Steam for Windows. There’s also a demo. Tricky, kinda cool, steampunk and relatively cheap. What’s not to lik Read more ...


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