| GameBump |

Amazon Launches Casual Games Download Service

Zach Lott — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:55:19 -0600

Amazon.com has launched a digital distribution service for casual games, according to Shacknews.

There are over 500 titles available for download at the new "Game Downloads" section of the site, all priced in the $6.99 to $9.99 range. Also, for a limited time, Jewel Quest II, Build-a-lot, and The Scruffs, are being offered for free. There are also plans to expand the selection past casual games at some point.

"We always want to offer the widest selection possible, just like we've done with our boxed games over the past two years," Amazon VP of video games and software Greg Hart told Kotaku.

Each game will have a trial version and will be acquirable through the Amazon Games & Software Downloader, a small 3MB download. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Space Ace To Release for Blu-Ray, HD DVD

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:12:20 -0600

Digital Leisure, a company that makes casual DVD-player games, has announced the upcoming release of Space Ace on Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats on April 8th. Similar to Dragon's Lair, Space Ace is a sort of interactive movie. Fully animated (hand-drawn animated lead by Don Bluth, of An American Tail and The Land Before Time fame) sequences are controlled by the player/viewer at certain junctures in the story, sort of like those "chose your fate" novels of yesteryear, except they're movies, or games.

The gamemovie...moviegame will have special features shot in 1080i, with an exclusive "Head 2 Head" online multiplayer type thing on compatible HD DVD players.

Thanks for sending in the tip, Robert!

EA Pushing For Free, Ad-Supported Games. Announces Battlefield Heroes

Aaron Dunlap — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:03:59 -0600

In Asian gaming markets like Korea and, to a lesser extent, Japan, there is an entirely distinct business model for video game releasing that's never been tried here in the US at any broad scale or with any success: free games, supported by ads and micro-transactions.

Certain games, like EA's FIFA and a few titles from NC Soft are released for free to download in Korea but give players the option to purchase in-game objects and upgrades. EA's FIFA, for instance, lets you pay a few bucks for customized jersies as well as limited upgrades to a player's stats. Most people just play with what they can get for free, but enough people buy the extras that, combined with revenue from ads placed inside the games (be it actually within gameplay itself or just ads that appear within the interface) for the game to turn a profit.

EA's new chief executive, John Riccitiello, and Gerhard Florin, EA's executive vice president, aim to bring that model to the US starting with a brand new game just announced: Battlefield Heroes.

Not to be confused with Medal of Honor: Heroes, Company of Heroes, Bionacle Heroes, Sonic Heroes, City of Heroes, Heroes of the Pacific, Heroes of Might and Magic, or the TV show Heroes, Battlefield Heroes is a "dumbed-down", cartooned-up entry to the Battlefield franchise aimed at slightly more casual gamers.

The existing Battlefield games are fairly deep; you have to be pretty good or youll die pretty quick, Gerhard Florin told the New York Times. Now weve toned down the difficulty, shortened each game session to 10 or 15 minutes and made the visual style more cartoony.

He says that if this is a success, other EA library titles could be given the ad-supported treatment. Worth noting is that these are only PC titles we're talking about here, there's been no mention of applying this model to the console realm.

Here's to goofing off at work and not having to pay for it.

Now You're Playing With Peggles

Aaron Dunlap — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:47:30 -0600

This might not be news to everybody, but it's news to me: you can download a free 10-level demo of Peggle Deluxe via Steam.

This version of the crazy-addictive PopCap game features several Half Life 2 elements and backgrounds and also includes many puzzles that make use of portals just like in Portal. Fun times.