Games

[icycalm]

Still playing GTA5, which is definitely getting an in-depth review eventually, but I am so bored by it that every couple of missions I go on Xbox.com and look up what other games I could be buying and playing instead. So here's the thing: I'll post a list of titles that I'd be willing to try out, if people were to buy them for me. I don't guarantee in-depth reviews, because most games do not deserve them, but I do promise to let you know what I think in the thread's game with as many posts and as much detail as necessary. Whether I also write an in-depth review, or perhaps a mini-review, eventually is another matter, but you will have my initial impressions within hours of buying me the game, and further impressions later on as I keep playing it. So here are the games I am currently interested in, all of them from XBL's US Games on Demand store:

Lost Planet 3 $39.99
Diablo III $59.99 (If you buy me this you have to play it with me)

If you want to buy me one of these games, or contribute some money towards buying one, send the amount (in US dollars) to sales@culture.vg and then post here to let everyone know how much money you've sent, and towards what game. Once the required amount has been reached for a game I'll buy it and remove it from the list. As for PayPal's fees, I'll cover those. (That is to say, if you send $20 for say Lost Planet 3, and PayPal skims a couple of bucks off that, it will still count as $20 for our purposes and I'll simply cover the difference when I purchase the game).

Notes

1. Some games on the US XBL are IP-locked and cannot be downloaded outside the US, but you cannot know if a game is locked before you try to buy it. If I try to buy a game and it turns out to be locked, the person(s) who paid for it will pick another title of equal or lower value from the list, and any remaining money will go towards another title of his choice.

2. Banned users cannot post in this thread, but if they buy me an entire game by themselves I will unban them. Just send the money and when I see it in my account I will unban you -- no need to email me. Note that this is different from reactivating a deactivated account -- for which you'll need to buy me four games, as explained here: http://culture.vg/forum/topic?t=4519. (But deactivated users can't read this thread anyway, so I am sure no one will get confused.)

3. I will eventually be adding to the list games from more platforms/download services, but for the time being the US XBL is all I have access to.


The point for this thread is that I'd be willing to play and write about a lot more games if I didn't have to pay for them and wait for them to be sent over from the US or Japan. Download services make getting a game a matter of hours, if not minutes, but I am not willing to spend my own money on the digital version of game that has a retail version. I've done it for a few games, most recently for GTA5 and Killer is Dead, and I always feel like an idiot about it. But if it's someone else's money I don't care, and will gladly try the game out on their dime and tell people what I thought. This doesn't change my gaming habits one bit: I will still only finish 5- and 4-star games, and muddle through the rest for as long, or as little, as I am enjoying myself. The only thing this scheme does is widen the variety of games that I have access to for the purposes of trying them out, and determining which deserve to be played more, and which don't.

And now back to GTA5. Hopefully some people will pitch in to rescue me from it :)


Edit: Games purchased:
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance $39.99
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen $39.99
Deadly Premonition $19.99

[Turnus]

Sent $40 for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Enjoy!

[icycalm]

Awesome, dude. Downloading now. Check back in a few hours and I'll have some impressions for you. I've already played a bit of the demo, but didn't bother finishing it so as not to spoil the game too much for me.

[icycalm]

jeffrobot sent me the money for Dark Arisen. I tried buying it, but it turns out it's one of the IP-locked titles, so I can't. So we have two options. You can either wait for a day or two for me to get my PS3 set up and see if I can download the game from the US PSN (it's the same price), or you can post here now and pick another title. It's up to you. You are unbanned now so you can post and let me know. And by the way, since I see you in the forum quite regularly, be sure to contribute to the News forum on occasion, please. And thanks for the game, whichever one you end up choosing.

[jeffrobot494]

I'd really like to hear about Dragon's Dogma, so let's wait for your PS3. If that one doesn't work, go for Lost Planet 3.

[icycalm]

Turns out Dark Arisen just became part of PlayStation Plus, so I spent $10 more and got a subscription to that instead. I'll try downloading it over the weekend, and if all goes well I'll report also about using the US PS+ outside the US in the PS+ thread [ > ].

[icycalm]

Via email:

Void (from the forums) here, sending money for Deadly Premonition. I just played through it, and was looking forward to rereading the review on your site, but it seems to have disappeared... Anyway, enjoy!

The review is here: http://culture.vg/reviews/in-depth/red- ... 0-ps3.html

I just haven't updated the index in a long time. There will likely be a new one anyway when I finish the game. Thanks for buying it for me, and your account is now unbanned.

By the way, Deadly Premonition is IP-locked on Live, so I got the super duper Director's Cut from PSN for a little extra. I'll post about it after I've posted about Dragon's Dogma. Haven't played anything in weeks, but I am about to rectify this.


P.S. Your username is void, not Void. Can't think of a bigger giveaway for stupidity than someone who can't even figure out his own username. You'd be surprised how many of those we have here.