Warps Web

Amazon is now allowing you to trade in your used video games and receive an Amazon gift card in return. The games must be in good condition and you must trade in at least $10 worth of games. They also supply you with a shipping label so you pay nothing to ship those games in. Comparing prices, it looks like they are giving a little more trade in value then Gamestop/EB does. As someone who trades in a lot of games, this is definitely good news. It seems most of the time I go into my local gamestop there’s some idiot ahead of me in line arguing over the fact that they cant get a full refund on a game they bought 6 months ago or asking a million questions about every game on the shelf. From what I have seen so far, the only thing you cant trade in is the consoles themselves or the accessories such as controllers, memory cards, etc. That could all change though depending upon the demand. Click the link below for details. Enjoy!

Amazon.com video games trade-in

DoW2 has been released! If you havent picked up your copy yet, I would highly recommend you do. Even if you didnt enjoy the original DoW (yes there might be some people that crazy), you should still give DoW2 a try. The campaign, thus far, is extremely enjoyable and the multiplayer is fast paced and intense. Relic is all ready planning on adding some additional maps within the first week or so, and im sure much more content will be rolling out in the weeks and months ahead. See the official press release below. Enjoy!

Warhammer(R) 40,000(TM): Dawn of War(R) II Ships for Windows PC

THQ and Relic Entertainment’s Highly Anticipated Sequel Redefines Real Time Strategy (RTS) Genre with Intimate, Tactical Gameplay and Stunning Cinematic Visuals

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 19, 2009– THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War® II, sequel to Relic Entertainment’s critically acclaimed Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War®, has shipped for Windows PC. Set in the 41st Millennium amidst the chaos of relentless warfare, Dawn of War II offers innovative, tactical gameplay, stunning visuals and destructible environments throughout a non-linear single-player experience and features a fully cooperative multiplayer campaign via Microsoft’s free Games for Windows® – LIVE service. Based on the popular Warhammer 40,000 Games Workshop table-top war game, Dawn of War II is now available at retail and online outlets in the US for the suggested retail price of $49.99.

“Relic Entertainment is a premiere RTS developer and a driving force for innovation in the genre,” said Kevin Kraff, vice president of global brand management, THQ. “With Dawn of War II, the studio has once again redefined the core foundations of the genre, replacing base building and massive armies with intimate, tactical gameplay and a customization-driven single-player experience.”

“Dawn of War II offers a unique single-player experience with branching storylines, unit customization and deep tactical gameplay,” said Tarrnie Williams, general manager, Relic Entertainment. “It also offers all new multiplayer and co-op modes that take the tactical gameplay to an all new level. Once gamers play Dawn of War II, it might be hard to go back to the old model.”

While I havent played AoC in a while, it appears there is a massive server merge is under way. The US servers will go from 24 servers down to 6… Ouch… I would love to come back and play the game but I dunno if it would be worth the money or time to come back. I will wait untill the server mergers are complete and then see what happens. Who knows, maybe they fixed the problem that was causing me and a lot of other people to crash instead of blaming us for the problem… Anyways, heres a link to the official post along with what servers are being merged. Enjoy!

AoC Server Merges

The fine folks at Bioware have released their first video for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The gameplay footage they show looks pretty awesome and if what they said about how it will have more content then all other Bioware games combined. Heres the article and a link to the video. Enjoy!

Get your first look at gameplay footage! BioWare™ and LucasArts™ share the vision for Star Wars: The Old Republic in our first video documentary, complete with new concepts, new screenshots, and real-time pre-production gameplay video. Hear about the approach to storytelling straight from James Ohlen, Creative Director and Lead Designer, and Daniel Erickson, Principal Lead Writer, and watch Jeff Dobson, Art Director, discuss the aesthetic appeal of stylized realism. As a community member, you’re one of the first to hear about this new feature on the website, so don’t delay! Watch the latest video documentary and experience the “look and feel” of Star Wars: The Old Republic!

SWTOR Video Documentary #1

According to a article at GI, Atari has aquired Crptic Studio.  While some may disagree, I see this as being good news as it will give Cryptic the financial backing they need to make sure both Champions and Star Trek Online will get published.  You can read the full article at the link below. Enjoy!

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/atari-acquires-cryptic-studios

And here is the official news release from Cryptic.

http://www.crypticstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=244&Itemid=31