Tekken Fans Start Requesting a Tekken Tag Tournament 2 PC Port - And That's a Good Thing

 

The Tekken franchise has been dominating the world of fighting games for 28 years and counting, and there have been 7 mainline games with 3 proper spin-offs thus far. Of course, that's excluding all the unique editions, handheld ports, and side projects that we have seen on a large variety of platforms over time, such as Death by Degrees and Tekken Card on smartphones.

However, as surprising as it may be, despite the fact that the PC is such a major gaming platform as of today - we have only had one official Tekken release to date. That is Tekken 7, which is the most recent game in the series so far.

Normally, that might not be the most surprising thing since the latest fighting game installment is often a replacement for everything before it - if fans accept the game. And with Tekken 7's success, it can be said that the game has satisfied most fans. 

But in the case of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, things are a bit different. That is because the Tag series is a spin-off of the main Tekken games and features a unique battle system in which each character selects two fighters each from the large roster. Not only that, but these games contain every single character from the series that have been added to the franchise up to the time of release.

And it's not just the tag aspect that's different, Tag 2 has no Rage Arts (which some prefer) and the gameplay mechanics are quite different in general. The game has lengthier combos and there are many unique things that you can do with your tag partner, which adds a whole new layer of things that you can do. 

Not only that, but even smaller details like how characters interact with each other (neutral, friends, rivals) is a lot of fun to see. And other things like legacy stages, having dirt stick to your body, and so on - it's just a very fun game that is filled with an insane amount of fun and feels like a love-letter to longtime fans of the series.

Naturally, fans have been hoping for a PC port of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for ages and assumed it might get released as part of a random collection at some point. But with remasters becoming so common and fighting games doing better than they were a bit earlier, it feels like the perfect time for fans to ask for Tekken Tag 2 on PC while they patiently wait for the titular release of Tekken 8 soon.

After all, it's only the second-last game in the series right now and is wildly different to Tekken 8 - so it's the perfect game to port over right now. Sure, you can emulate it on PC, but as the official subreddit for this movement stated, it's not as perfect as an actual port with proper netcode.

A post detailing the issues with playing on emulation as compared to an official port

The people behind this movement raise very good points and it's just a no-brainer for Namco to invest in a good port of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on PC with stable netplay. And of course, if they have the resources, bringing the game to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S would be a great idea too. 

Tag 2 is one of the few games in the series that are still stuck on the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U era of consoles and it's about time we bring it back to life, especially since it's such an underrated game that deserved to sell more.

You can visit the official subreddit for this by clicking 'here', and the Twitter account 'here'. 

The numbers of the movement at the moment are low, but it's just a matter of exposure as thousands do want the re-release but no one has tried to gather those fans in one place before. With time, it will undoubtedly spread. With all of that said, we sincerely hope this port does happen because I would love for that game to exit the 7th generation curse. #Tag2forPC

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Revisiting The Max Payne Trilogy; An Overview

Max Payne is one of the most popular franchises in the video game industry. It is loved for its gritty neo-noir setting and explosive action that's like straight out of a John Woo action flick, and featuring a great storyline, while being the game that popularized bullet-time into video games and set a new bar for third-person shooters.

If you’re guilty of not having played the Max Payne franchise for all those years, then this should get you convinced to give it a go.

Starting out with the original, Max Payne is a third-person shooter action video game that was developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in 2001 for Microsoft Windows(PC). Later it was ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, as well as a separately developed version for the Gameboy Advance, which were published by Rockstar Games. There was also a Mac OS port in the next year and years later, found its way to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as Android and iOS.

Max Payne definitely set its own bar of standard when it came out and redefined action third-person shooter games, mainly with its inclusion of and popularizing the bullet-time mechanic, which basically lets you play all those cool action flicks with slow-motion shoot-outs, while featuring a good amount of weapons that are all useful and work out very well, and will have you strategizing your way through the levels and using the weapon most suitable for the situation. The gameplay is very fluid and fun, consisting of endless shooting. There are no melee attacks, the only non-firearm weapon in the game would be a bat. There is a good variety of weapons in the game, ranging from mild to heavy, short range to long range, grenades and finally, the sniper. All guns have proper sounds and have a good use, no weapon is useless(besides the bat, you'll only be using it when you're forced to through story).

To make things even cooler, throughout the game you can collect pain killers, which you use to replenish some of your lost health.

The game has a fair length, spawning 10 hours on an average play for a usual gamer, and lacks replay value besides harder difficulties which are unlocked as you beat it over and over. Thankfully, you will not be forced to play through a boringly easy mode to unlock the harder ones, as the easiest mode is rather challenging for its name anyways. The hardest difficulty would have you don a personification of Sam Lake’s constipated grin that stays on Max Payne’s model in the game even if he’s burning to death. Beating the game on different difficulties also unlocks slightly different modes to replay the game, such as ‘New York Minute’, which forces you to complete each chapter in a limited time, and ‘The Last Challenge’, in which you have a fight with perpetual bullet time against a certain kind of enemy from the game.

The story is one of the best stories you'll find in a third-person shooter action game of its kind, which is thrilling, containing some suspense and allowing the game to be long enough to give you a satisfactory experience. While it appears cliche at first, the way it plays out and its characters are distinctive, and provide one hell of a ride.

The game starts with a story that is nothing new for a typical revenge flick, starting in New York City, 1998, with a detective coming home to find his loving wife and baby murdered, and thus embarking on a revenge in the worst blizzard of New York. What makes it special is the way it is presented, and its characters that are rather unique and distinctive in an otherwise cliche revenge story. The story is not that cliche anyway, as it starts off as one but eventually expands to a conspiracy and larger picture, not being limited to crime dons and the mafia, but also having high profile characters such as governmental and corporate individuals. Even the generic characters such as the mafia, are portrayed a bit differently than the usual and have fun personalities to follow, and the game has a lot of humor here and there, featuring Max Payne as a very sarcastic individual himself, while other characters can be funny as well, and even regular henchmen are given a bit of personality by having them talk to each other at certain points of the game.

Instead of long cut-scenes explaining the story, Max Payne has graphic novel panels with sound effects, music and good voice acting to explain and progress the story, with the characters played by real people, and Max Payne played by the writer Sam Lake himself. The casual in-game cut-scenes remain for shorter scenes. On the other hand, story is narrated by the voice of James G. McCaffrey as Max Payne, as Max narrates the story whether it's a graphic novel, a cut-scene or within gameplay.

If all that did not convince you to give it a go, the game has a few other elements to make itself stand out amongst the other countless action games, such as a special ‘nightmare’ sequence which plays out a bit differently than the normal game, and taking a little break from all the killing in the form of televisions throughout the game in which you can watch fictional TV shows such as 'Address Unknown' and 'Lords and Ladies', which are funny short shows that, although have no animation, have changing pictures much like the game's own cutscenes.

While the soundtrack is nothing groundbreaking, it fits in very well with the game and does a nice job of keeping you into the atmosphere, featuring one of the best video game themes. The voice acting is pretty decent in itself, and you’ll definitely love James G. McCaffrey’s narration as Max Payne.

In a final verdict, Max Payne is a 9 out of 10.


It is an excellent action third-person shooter that features stylish and fun gameplay that can be challenging, as well as an interesting way of progressing story through the graphic novels, with a good story and gritty design, while also keeping you giggling throughout the whole ride with its humor and sarcastic nature. The game's overall length is around 10-12 hours, which may seem short from some perspectives, but given the fact that the average games of such type are roughly 6-8 hours long, this is good enough. And while it lacks multiplayer or replayability in any form, the unlockable difficulty levels are a good way to enjoy the adventure all over again, but harder and more challenging the next time. The game is out on so many platforms by now, you can’t even make an excuse that you lack a device to play it on, so I hope you stopped reading this halfway through and went to the closest physical or online store to get the game.

After being done with the first game, you’ll instantly look for more. Lucky for you, Max Payne 2 lives up to the standard set by the first game, and features an even improved gameplay experience, alongside other aspects of the game.

Max Payne 2 was developed by Remedy Entertainment and published Rockstar Games in 2003 for Microsoft Windows(PC), PlayStation 2 and the Xbox platforms.

The game picks up where the first one left off, and not just in terms of story and setting but in gameplay as well. Taking everything from the first game, and improving on it, Max Payne 2 proves to be an experience even more solid than the previous title. The gameplay is now more fluid, and allows you to use bullet time without having to necessarily lunge around the place, while also still keeping that. The game is still difficult, and will have you strategize your load-out and methods to get through the area, although the Easy of this one is more forgiving than the first, while the other difficulties fill in for the hardened gamers. Among the new improvements, Max can now carry an extra weapon for instant use rather than having to select it before, such as grenades, a melee attack and you will also be playing as Mona for a segment in the game, which was a fun addition. The other things that made the first game unique also make a return, such as taking breaks from the usual gameplay and including a nightmare sequence, a gripping plot altogether with interesting characters, and having fictional TV shows for you to watch throughout the levels.

Max Payne this time is played by Timothy Gibbs, while James G. McCaffrey continues to be the voice of Max Payne. And speaking of changes in the face, Max Payne now has multiple facial expressions(constipation does wear off)!

Unlike the first game which had a pretty decent length for an action game, a bad aspect of Max Payne 2 is that it’s shorter, spawning only 6 hours of gameplay. The first difficulty adapts to the player, if they are good it will remain fairly difficult, but if they keep dying, the enemy AI becomes weaker and more pain killers can be found. The game lacks replayablity, and the closest thing like the first game, is extra difficulties and modes. After beating the game, ‘New York Minute’ and ‘Dead Man Walking’ are unlocked. The first one is the game with a timer, where you are given score based on how quickly you finish it, and the second one is kind of a survival arena with five scenarios, Max must fight endlessly spawning enemies until he dies. But something that the first game lacked; finishing Max Payne 2 on the hardest difficulty will unlock an alternate ending to the game.

Like the first game the story is one of the best aspects of Max Payne 2. It picks up two years after the first game, and Max Payne is again a detective in the NYPD. While investigating murders by a group of hitmen, he eventually runs into Mona Sax who was presumed dead after the first game. Max Payne and Mona eventually have to join forces to figure out a bigger conspiracy which is full of betrayal and deaths. The story this time is less cliché than the first one, and is basically a noir-love story, in a way. The main characters mostly return from the first game, while some new ones join the cast, and while the game continues to be grim, it also incorporates humor at the right moments to keep the essence of Max Payne intact.

The game still uses graphic novel panels with sound effects to progress the story instead 
of cut-scenes, and the voice acting remains just as decent. The sound of the game, like the first game, is good and fits the atmosphere well, but nothing special besides the main theme, which is great. The sound effects are also pretty well-made, and every gun has proper sounds and enemies have more dialogue between themselves.

In a final verdict, Max Payne 2 is an 8.5 out of 10.

Max Payne 2 is an amazing action game that keeps up the stylishly fun gameplay and improves on it, while offering a story even better than the first one that will keep you engaged to find out what comes next, while maintaining chunks of humor in the gritty design of the game. The length of the game is criminally short but that is the only downside to this great game and the extra modes, while not much, should keep you occupied for a while to test yourself with hardcore conditions of the game’s difficulties. The alternate ending unlocked through the hardest difficulty is also a nice touch to have you come back to it, and playing as Mona for a part of the game was certainly a plus.

Max Payne 3 was developed by Rockstar Studios and published by Rockstar Games in 2012, for the first time not being developed by Remedy Games, nor written by Sam Lake. The game was released for Microsoft Windows(PC), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X.

Max Payne 3, like the previous games in the franchise, is a third-person-shooter action video game, and the gameplay is similar as well. However, as to be expected with the gap of a generation between Max Payne 3 and the previous games, the game is significantly different.

Keeping the kick-ass shooter experience intact, except even more fluid this time around, Max Payne 3 is a solid game that lives up to the standard of the franchise and makes it even more fun to shoot your way through heaps of bad guys, taking you through the skyscrapers and the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The game finally adds a cover system which allows you to take cover behind objects to avoid taking damage, as well as other new additions to the gameplay such as being able to continue shooting even after falling down from a dodge(rather than having to wait until you get up), and ‘Last Stand’, in which if you have a pain killer left, if you run out of health entirely, you have a few seconds in bullet time to shoot the exact enemy who shot you down. If you manage to do that, Max will get back up using the remaining pain killer – whereas failure would mean Max dies. Other additions include proper melee attacks; if you get close to an enemy and attack, you enter a stylish take-down animation where you kill the enemy. The game also adds auto-aim for those that cannot properly kill enemies in free-aim, making it easier for new gamers. There’s also a nice range of weapons in the game, but for some reason there are no useable grenades in the game, only a grenade launcher that can be picked up occasionally. You also cannot have one weapon each of all the kinds of weapons in the game like the previous installments, making it limited and causing you to strategize your load-out.

The game is slightly longer than Max Payne 2, but still relatively short in itself, spawning around 8 hours of gameplay for an average gamer. The game has extra difficulties which you can play for a challenge, but extra modes for single player are initially not there. Through the last DLC released for the game, you can obtain a mode called ‘New York Minute Arcade Challenge’, which is pretty much the same as mode of the same name in Max Payne 2. Speaking of DLC, Max Payne 3 becomes the first game in the series to have DLC, with most of the content being multiplayer-only, only New York Minute Arcade Challenge and extra skins for Max being single-player content. AND speaking of multiplayer, Max Payne 3 finally becomes the one to introduce multiplayer to the franchise, which means you’d be playing the game for quite a while, contrary to the poor replayability of the previous titles(even in 2016, there’s some people available in the multiplayer community of the game). The multiplayer is also very well executed, as to be expected from Rockstar’s standards, and features tons of weapons, modes and skins(although some being DLC) and also includes grenades as a weapon; something missing from the single-player game. You can also carry over your crew from Max Payne 3 to Grand Theft Auto V. The game continues the tradition of including TVs around the game where you can catch an episode of a fictional TV show.

The story takes place several years after Max Payne 2, with Max Payne being addicted to alcohol and pain killers, and being very depressed and cynical with the world. No longer a cop in the NYPD, he moves to Sao Paulo and works as a bodyguard for a wealthy businessman. Hoping for a new start, Max Payne is instead thrown into a plot of conspiracy, corruption, betrayal and death, desperately trying to protect people, find the truth and a way out. The story is not that new, but it’s executed very well. The characters are decent, and while you may be able to predict some plots of the game, it can still surprise you with turns of events. Max Payne is as witty as ever, and continues to be voiced by James G. McCaffrey, again narrating the game, while the character is no longer modelled after Timothy Gibbs. Instead of progressing the story through the visual novel panels, it actually uses cut-scenes this time. While serious in tone generally, Max Payne 3 still mixes in moments of humor to keep the essence of the series alive, with Max back to making jokes unlike the second game, where his statements were more poetic.

The cut-scenes are well rendered and are quite a welcome change, the downside being the fact it takes away an important aspect of the atmosphere of the original games. Another issue with the cut-scenes is the fact they have an annoying effect that keeps shaking the screen with colors and highlights words on the screen, possibly trying to throwback to the graphic novel panels. But unless you have some sort of a condition, this shouldn’t really be an issue and the rest of the thing is fine. The voice acting is very decent, and the soundtrack of the game is also pretty good(although it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, as it is performed by HEALTH and caters to the specific atmosphere of the game). So something all 3 games share; we can all agree the theme is yet again the best part of the soundtrack, and this time there’s around 5 variations to it(hooray!). The rest of the sound effects are great as well, the pill popping, environmental damage, guns and yelling, all are done decently.

In a final verdict, Max Payne 3 is an 8 out of 10.

Max Payne 3 is a worthy addition to the franchise and is one of the best action games you’d be playing that came out in the past few years. The game is extremely fluid, the gameplay is very fun and it is accompanied by a good story to keep you hooked. The length of the game may not be that long, but it is still a satisfying experience, and to add up to the replayability, we have the multiplayer mode which is a very fun addition to the game, and a welcome addition as a whole to the franchise. If you enjoyed the first two games, or just enjoy TPS games as a whole, Max Payne 3 is certainly a game you should give a go. Max Payne 3 could be the last game in the series, and if that is the case, the franchise definitely ended on a high note. Only thing that could've been better would had been an inclusion of segments such as nightmare sequences, which were one of the things with the first two that made them so special.

If you still haven’t started playing Max Payne games after reading all this, you’re honestly missing out on one of the best action video game franchises of all time, and I would really recommend you to give it a shot. You can send in thank you letters after you’re done!

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Mortal Kombat 'XL' Edition and Kombat Pack 2 Will NOT Be Coming To PC

After Ed Boon promised YouTuber Angry Joe that the PC port of Mortal Kombat X will be 'as good as the consoles', fans were hyped and waited eagerly for the game to come out.

However, as the game came to PC, it was filled with bugs, crashes, frame rate issues as well as some issues that made it unplayable for some. While it got some fixes, the game still exists with major issues that went unfixed, leaving Mortal Kombat fans on PC unsatisfied.

With the announcement of the 'Kombat Pack 2', which features Bo Rai Cho, Xenomorph from Alien, Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Tri-Borg, the 'Komplete Edition' of Mortal Kombat X was also announced, titled 'Mortal Kombat XL', which would be the complete edition of the game, featuring all the DLC into one package.

However, in an unexpected move, it has been announced that Mortal Kombat 'XL' and 'Kombat Pack 2' will NOT be coming to the PC. The reason has not been announced so far, but it is officially confirmed by NetherRealm Studios that MKXL and Kombat Pack 2 will only be coming out for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with no explanation for the lack of a PC release for the two items.

@sh_aza777 Mortal Kombat XL and Kombat Pack 2 will available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One only.

— NetherRealm Studios (@NetherRealm) January 20, 2016

This has, of course, caused an outrage among the fans of Mortal Kombat who had purchased the game on PC, and were waiting for the Kombat Pack 2 to come out, as well as some who knew the game would get a complete edition like it's predecessor did, and were waiting for it's arrival to purchase the game.

It is beyond the understanding of the fans as to why not even the 'Kombat Pack 2' will not be released on PC, which would had completed the game on PC anyways for those willing to buy everything in bits, even if 'XL' was not coming out as the one complete package.


The 'Mortal Kombat XL' will be getting released digitally and in retail on 1st March, 2016, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. 


UPDATE:

Mortal Kombat X has had a lot of issues with it's online Multiplayer mode, so NetherRealm studios recently launched an 'Enhanced Online Beta', which would feature new net code and improve the online. However, just like Mortal Kombat XL and Kombat Pack 2, even the improved online is only for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. PC is not getting the improved net code.

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Free Video Game Giveaways of The Week! - 10/21/2015

It doesn't matter whether you buy games or not, or even if you have all the money in the world, free games are always a treat!

Whether it's a gift, a bundle or a giveaway, we all absolutely love free games and run to redeem them as soon as we can before the offer runs out, or all keys are redeemed.

From now on Entertainment Ghost will be sharing some free games with you all, so redeem them as soon as possible!

If that did not sound good enough, there's more! Some games come up later days in the week, while some expire eventually, so this post will be updated regularly throughout the week adding new games if they are available while writing of those that got expired that were earlier in the list.

Please note:
This article will show free games available this week, but they do not necessarily have to be entirely new because not everyone has read the previous post, so a game or two may be repeated.


Steam:

X-Blades

DLH.NET is giving away keys of X-Blades for absolutely free!

All you have to do is to head over to their site by clicking 'here', and make an account. Once you're done, you will be emailed your password and the login will be your email that you used to register, and then you will have the games when you click on the 'Profile/Game Keys' tab, looking like this:

Pirates of Black Cove, Enclave and Commander - Conquest of The Americas

DLH.NET is giving away keys of Pirates of Black Cove, Commander - Conquest of The Americas, and Enclave absolutely free.

Pirates of Black Cove and Commander - Conquest of The Americas keys can be instantly claimed. While Enclave's keys are randomly given out in a small amount at random times of the day, so you will have to constantly check in for the free games.

All you have to do is to head over to their site by clicking 'here', and make an account. Once you're done, you will be emailed your password and the login will be your email that you used to register, and then you will have the games when you click on the 'Profile/Game Keys' tab, looking like this:

Humanity Asset

Humanity Asset is currently a being given out on Indie Gala. Simply follow their steps and claim the game!

You can get it by clicking 'here', it is located a bit below and you can find it easily, here's a screenshot how it looks like:

Relic Hunters Zero

Relic Hunters Zero is absolutely free right now on 'nuuvem'. All you have to do is to go to their site 'here', then sign up for a new account. Then after you have verified your account from the Email, simply go to the game's page 'here' and click on the 'Add' button which has a checkout icon.

After that, a pop-up will come up on the page that will look like this:

Then simply click on the 'Checkout' button and it will take you into the checkout page. Then on the lower right there will be another 'Checkout' button. Click on that and the game will be added to your account. Click on 'My Games' and click on the game's picture, it will give you the Steam Key.

Origin:

Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™

EA's Origin gives free games every now an then, having even once gave out the highly acclaimed Battlefield 3 for free.

Currently they are giving out Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge for absolutely free, all you need is an Origin account, and the client installed, then just log in and claim the game and it will stay in your account forever! You can get Origin from 'here'.

Theme Hospital

EA is giving away Theme Hospital on Origin for absolutely free, all you need is an Origin account, and the client installed, then just log in and claim the game and it will stay in your account forever! 

You can get Origin from 'here'.

That's all for this week, folks! But I will be checking for new games everyday and whether one of them expired or not, so keep coming back to this post! Then next week a new post will be made with all new games!

Leave your comments, opinions, feedback and issues in the comments below! Also feel free to ask for any help in redeeming the games.

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[UPDATED WITH NEW GAMES] Free Video Game Giveaways of The Week! - 10/11/2015

PLEASE NOTE:

THIS IS AN OLDER POST. THE GAMES FEATURED IN THIS MAY OR MAY HAVE NOT BEEN EXPIRED. PLEASE SEE THE NEXT POST 'HERE' TO SEE WHAT GAMES ARE FREE CURRENTLY.


It doesn't matter whether you buy games or not, or even if you have all the money in the world, free games are always a treat!

Whether it's a gift, a bundle or a giveaway, we all absolutely love free games and run to redeem them as soon as we can before the offer runs out, or all keys are redeemed.

From now on Entertainment Ghost will be sharing some free games with you all, so redeem them as soon as possible!

If that did not sound good enough, there's more! Some games come up later days in the week, while some expire eventually, so this post will be updated regularly throughout the week adding new games if they are available while writing of those that got expired that were earlier in the list.


Steam:

Bionic Dues [EXPIRED]

Bionic Dues is a tactical mech game that is worth £6.99 / $9.99 on Steam, but thanks to PC Gamer and Bundle Stars, you can grab the game for absolutely free!

All you have to is to go to their site by clicking 'here', and following the steps given on the page. After you complete the few steps such as liking their page, you are given the key of the game.

Skyborn [EXPIRED]

Skyborn is an RPG with a twisting story and interesting gameplay, and is usually 14.99 on Steam, but thanks to PC Gamer and Bundle Stars, you can grab the game for absolutely free!

All you have to is to go to their site by clicking 'here', and following the steps given on the page. After you complete the few steps such as liking their page, you are given the key of the game.

8BitBoy [EXPIRED]

8BitBoy is a tribute to retro games such as Mario and features 56 levels and a bunch of secrets hidden throughout. The game usually costs but thanks to PC Gamer and Bundle Stars you can get it for absolutely free!

All you have to is to go to their site by clicking 'here', and following the steps given on the page. After you complete the few steps such as liking their page, you are given the key of the game.

Time Gentlemen, Please! and Ben There, Dan That! [EXPIRED]

Time Gentlemen, Please! & Ben There, Dan That! are actually two separate games, but are redeemed through one key. Both games are hilarious adventure games that, like all of the rest, normally cost, but thanks to PC Gamer and Bundle Stars, they are both free right now!

All you have to is to go to their site by clicking 'here', and following the steps given on the page. After you complete the few steps such as liking their page, you are given the key of the game.

Bloop [EXPIRED]

Bloop is currently a being given out on Indie Gala. Simply follow their steps and claim the game!

You can get it by clicking 'here', it is located a bit below and you can find it easily, here's a screenshot how it looks like:

Enclave, Commander: Conquest of The Americas, Earth 2150 - Lost Souls(EXPIRED), Pirates of The Black Cove

DLH.NET is giving away keys of 4 Steam games for absolutely free! The games include Enclave, Pirates of The Black Cove, Earth 2150: Lost Souls and Commander: Conquest of The Americas.

All you have to do is to head over to their site by clicking 'here', and make an account. Once you're done, you will be emailed your password and the login will be your email that you used to register, and then you will have the games when you click on the 'Profile/Game Keys' tab, looking like this:

Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi [ALL CLAIMED/EXPIRED]

Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is normally $9.99, but currently it's being given out for completely free by Razer! All you have to do is to head over to Razer's site, register and account and redeem the game from 'here'.

Origin:

Command & Conquer Red Alert™ 2 and Yuri’s Revenge™

EA's Origin gives free games every now an then, having even once gave out the highly acclaimed Battlefield 3 for free.

Currently they are giving out Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge for absolutely free, all you need is an Origin account, and the client installed, then just log in and claim the game and it will stay in your account forever! You can get Origin from 'here'.

[EXPIRED] STAR WARS Battlefront Beta

While not exactly a free game, the beta of STAR WARS: Battlefront is available for free and for anyone to play, not based on limited keys. You can go and grab the game right now and get right into the action until the full version is released(which, needless to say, wont be free)!

All you need is an Origin account, and the client installed, then just log in and download the game. You can get Origin from 'here'.

That's all for this week, folks! But I will be checking for new games everyday and whether one of them expired or not, so keep coming back to this post! Then next week a new post will be made with all new games!

Leave your comments, opinions, feedback and issues in the comments below! Also feel free to ask for any help in redeeming the games.

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Why I Believe That Video Game Piracy Is A Good Thing

Please Note:
~ This article is based on the personal opinion, experience and research of the author, and does not claim to be a 'fact' or the definitive opinion to the matter. ~


Piracy has always been a controversial matter. It is generally considered, by those who don't pirate, as a morally corrupt action and it has been mostly hated by game developers, which is, of course, very understandable.

But is piracy really as bad and destructive to the video gaming industry as believed? No. It's actually a good thing for video games. Why do I say so? I'll explain it.

Most individuals who pirate are not going to buy the video game even if piracy did not exist.

This is one of the most important things about pirates and piracy that people often ignore. Most pirates do it because they simply cannot afford a game. Lets face it, video games are not cheap. With the amount of money you can spend on buying video games, you can afford good food and clothes instead. When you are not financially good, no matter how much you love video games, it just does not take the priority over essential needs such as buying clothes, good food, paying your rent and bills, and helping out or supporting your family. If piracy did not exist, many pirates would not play games at all, they would instead spend their money on the other things I mentioned, as they do now.

Most pirates are not rich individuals who like to spoil a game's sale, they are simply people who cannot afford it and decide to pirate the game instead so they could at least play it.  Most of them would still purchase games if they had enough money to spend on them and some even download pirated games, and then if they like it a lot, they end up purchasing the original game, as well as merchandise too, which actually ends up becoming a sale.

Pirates can be devoted fans to a franchise and while they usually do not purchase a game themselves, they advertise the game and boost it's sales by encouraging friends and others to buy the game.

Pirates can be VERY devoted fans and greatly support the video game they become the fan of; such as actually purchasing the original game if they can afford it at some point, and greatly advertising the game, encouraging their friends to buy it and getting the game more fans and boosting it's sales as much as they possibly can, as well as make fan sites and playthroughs of them so they can gather more interest into the video game. I've been encouraged into purchasing a video game by pirate friends MANY times and I was not the only person they got into the game either. Sometimes they pirate one copy and in return cause a 100 originals to be sold, which is a great, free advertisement that only helps the game, not ruin it.

Some individuals pirate the game to simply test if the game is worth it or not and if their PC can run it properly, and eventually buy the game if they are satisfied with it.

Some pirates actually just pirate the game to see if the game is worth it, as advertisements and trailers can be deceiving, and/or if the game runs properly on their PC or not. If they are satisfied with the game and the game runs on their PC properly, they uninstall the game and purchase the original game instead.

Some pirates are actually people who purchased the game, but due to forced DRM or a bad port in general, they are forced to use cracks or fixed repacks so that the game runs fine for them.

This actually happens. Some games force DRM on the player and/or are very bad ports, to the point that pirates actually fixed the game better than the original developer did, and people who actually purchased the game are often forced to use cracks or download pirated versions of the game to be able to run the game properly. A good example of this is the infamous Sim City DRM disaster.

Some individuals purchased the game on a different platform, and pirate it on another.

Some people buy a game on a different platform, and then pirate a copy of it to play on another. For example, a man purchased Max Payne on the PlayStation 2, which supported the game by the purchase, but he also wanted to have it on PC, a purchase he wouldn't make again as he already has the game; so he decides to pirate it on PC instead.

Many games are old or discontinued to the point the developers cannot earn money from it's sales by any means.

Many games are very old now and discontinued/all sold out. All that remains of the game in original copies is what the people now have and sell through eBay and other means. Purchasing the game from people who own it does not support the developers anymore, which means pirating the game does not affect the sales of the game anymore, and even the developer probably does not care about it anymore, unless they re-release it or make an HD remake/remaster of it.


Some individuals pirate because video games are unfairly over-priced in their country and/or they aren't available at all and the only way to do it is to spend a lot of money on ordering online which also brings a lot of tax in.

So they choose to pirate instead because it's not possible for them to play games otherwise besides spending a lot of money which they can use on other essential needs instead.

Piracy actually keeps old games alive that are no longer sold by developers and are discontinued.

As mentioned earlier, some games actually give no money to the original developer anymore as it's discontinued by them, and whether it's pirated or just the sold copies are sold around further, it makes no difference to the developer and no profit or loss.

Piracy actually keeps old games that are discontinued and nowhere to be found(or extremely rare) alive and in the access of anyone who wants to play them around the world, which are otherwise, not available to be played anymore and are lost in history. 

Some developers are actually fine with piracy and do not see it as a bad thing, and embrace it.

This could be hard to believe, but some developers are actually fine with piracy and embrace it, not seeing it as a bad thing at all. Some notable examples are the developers of Super Meat Boy, Hotline Miami, and Anodyne.

Team Meat on Piracy:

The team behind Super Meat Boy, which includes one of the developers of The Binding of Isaac, do not believe that piracy is a bad thing. Instead, they believe it's a good thing.

Edmund McMillen, one of the two developers of Super Meat Boy and also a developer of The Binding of Isaac, has stated that piracy is a good thing, saying that:

If the game gets pirated heavily, if it's a good game that people really like, they're going to either buy it eventually or they're going to tell other people about it. Either way it's just going to come back to a sale.

Edmund McMillen also went out to say that:

The dinosaurs of marketing are really upset by piracy. They think it's literally stealing. They're old. That's really the reason. They're old and their ideas are old. They don't understand where we are now. They don't understand the mentality of people who are pirating things. They see them as thieves, the same people who go and shoplift. I don't f*cking shoplift but I have pirated shit-loads of stuff. Like it's just not the same, it's not the same thing at all.

The second developer of the game, Tommy Refenes stated, continuing to Edmund's statements regarding the fact that DRM has been problematic for gamers and hurtful for developers:

They spend so much money trying to prevent it but they are wasting everyone's time. They are damaging their own businesses. Those gamers who got screwed by DRM problems? I guarantee those people are going to think twice before they buy another game from that publisher.

To explain how it causes people to purchase the game eventually after pirating it, Edmund McMillen has stated that he gets a common type of eMail that says the pirate purchased the game due to feeling guilty for pirating it:

The majority of emails that we get that revolve around piracy are people saying, 'I just want to get this off my chest, I stole your game when it came out because I wasn't sure about it and I really, really, really love it and so I bought it because I feel really guilty.' This is a common email.

Tommy Refenes also stated that piracy saves them the effort of releasing a demo of a game, and that piracy is thier 'demo'. Edmund McMillen even went to the point that he said he felt 'depressed' that his game did not reach a higher number of top pirated games on The Pirate Bay, faring only on number '30':

I'll tell you a story that is true. When Meat Boy came out on PC and torrents started going up on Pirate Bay, I would check, I had a friend of mine who said, 'congratulations, I just saw your game in the top 50 on Pirate Bay for games,' and I checked and we were 30th and I was depressed because it wasn't higher, because that's a measure of success.

The creator of Hotline Miami on Piracy:

The creator of Hotline Miami and Hotline Miami 2, Jonatan Soderstrom, is perhaps well known for his statement of telling fans in Australia to 'pirate Hotline Miami 2' as the Australian board banned the game; saying "If it ends up not being released in Australia, just pirate it after release." and "No need to send us any money, just enjoy the game!".

But that's not the only time he associated with piracy(and kind of approved it), the other time he did it is...not only strange, but embraces piracy. He actually provided customer support to pirates. Literally.

Jonatan Soderstrom went on a The Pirate Bay thread of his own game's torrent and helped pirates out by offering guides to fix issues with their game(see picture below), under the name 'cactus69', stating:

Hey there! I'm Jonatan Soderstrom, me and my friend Dennis Wedin made this game. We're working on an update that hopefully will take care of any/all bugs, and we'll try to do some extra polish in the next few days. Would be great if you could update the torrent when the patch is out! It'd be great if people get to play it without any bugs popping up. Hope everyone will enjoy the game! For the "Error defining an external function." problem, try restarting your system and play again, it can pop up when your computer has been running for a while. We'll try to figure out if there's more to it than that.

It was also later confirmed that it was indeed Jonatan Soderstrom, not a poser.

Later he tweeted that he understands if people pirate his game, as he has been broke and being broke sucks, as well as stating that he wants people to experience the game and it doesn't matter if they pirate it to do that:

I don't really want people to pirate Hotline Miami, but I understand if they do. I've been broke the last couple of months. It sucks.

— Jonatan Söderström (@cactusquid) October 25, 2012

And I definitely want people to experience the game the way it's meant to be experienced. No matter how they got a hold of it.

— Jonatan Söderström (@cactusquid) October 25, 2012

One of the developers of Anodyne on Piracy:

Shortly after release, the video game Anodyne was pirated and it's torrent was put up on The Pirate Bay. One of the two developers of the game, Sean Hogan, embraced the opportunity and actually advertised his game to help it get Green Lit on Steam, as well as asking for feedback, and saying they'd love it if people bought the game, being the second person to comment on the torrent, saying:

Hi, I'm Sean! I'm one of the two guys who made Anodyne. It's neat that Anodyne's ehre and I'm glad that means more people can play it, though of course we'd love it if you bought the game! We're tryin' to get Greenlit on Steam so we'd really appreciate it if you and your friends gave us an upvote over at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92921739. Most importantly let us know what you think of the game and if you like it or if it fills you with burning rage! - we're on Twitter at @seagaia2 and @jonathankittaka.

Not only did he say all that, but also gave out free download codes in the same comment for his game to be redeemed on Desura.com and downloaded for playing.

After this happened, it immediately made it to Reddit and in the discussion about it, Sean Hogan jumped in and stated it's better to embrace piracy and it gives a lot of people who normally couldn't afford it the opportunity to play the game, stating:

Yeah, piracy is inevitable so it's better to embrace it – plus, it gives lots of people who couldn't normally afford the game the opportunity to play it – and I think when you're a small group of developers (only my friend Jon and I made Anodyne), it's better to have lots of people able to experience your game.

After all this; the torrent mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Whether it was a promotional stunt in the first place, or the uploader simply decided to remove the game, whether for an unknown reason or because he felt bad for pirating the game, is unknown.


So these are the reasons I believe that video game piracy is a good thing, not a bad one, and it makes me feel glad that even some indie developers understand it now. But I definitely understand those who believe it's a bad thing because the general idea of it and how it looks like from the outside(for someone who is not much familiar with how it works and does not personally know pirates), simply appears as theft.

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