Who doesn’t love Memorial Day Weekend?  It’s the unofficial start to summer, a time to get out and hang at your favorite watering hole, and throw some hamburgers on the grill.  Of course, there’s also the benefit of discounts on your favorite Mac and PC games, which is exactly what you’ll get this Memorial Day Weekend at the GameAgent Store! Running through the end of the day Memorial Day, both the GameAgent Store and the Mac App Store will be offering an incredible selection of Aspyr’s Mac titles all for $10 off.  We’re talking primo games here, like Civilization V, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Rebublic!  There are tons more, though, including the Tycoon series (both RollerCoaster and Zoo varieties) and RPG classic NeverWinter Nights 2.  You can find all these games and more at the GameAgent Store by checking out our Memorial Day Weekend Sale page.  Hit the jump below to see the titles on Mac App. That’s not all, though!  For our PC gamers out there, we’re also offering ALL of our PC titles 50% off through the weekend!  You can find classics like 1701 A.D. and Men of War, among others, by browsing our selection here. So what are you waiting for?  Go grab that game you’ve been thinking about NOW before the promo expires! (more…)

I’ve been a fan of flash animation (I highly recommend checking out anything by Adam Phillips as he produces some awesomely animated flash products that are both interesting and original:  http://chluaid.newgrounds.com/) and games for many years, now.  I believe that flash is greatly significant to game development in a number of ways.  For one, Flash games have helped popularize various game genres and have gotten them significantly more attention.  They also give indie game developers a great opportunity to flesh out their game ideas without over committing their resources (time and money) to development.

The Tower Defense Genre

Old StarCraft Turret Defense games were always fun.

Speaking of popularizing game genres, I think flash (along with StarCraft, due to its many user-created maps) has been very instrumental with the tower defense line of games.  Tower defense games have been done and re-done to death in the world of flash, making it harder to sift through the trash and find quality entries.  The fact that Square Enix has published their own takes on the genre (Crystals Guardians, Crystal Defenders, etc) is proof of just how popular these games have become.  I myself have been quite a fan of these games since the days of StarCraft, where it seems there were new mini-games coming out daily that were somehow slightly different from the offerings of the day before.

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Today Amazon launched a brand new Mac Download Store, “a one-stop shop where customers can get the most popular games andsoftware products for Mac like Call of Duty and Microsoft Office on the site.”

Included in Amazon’s selection of downloadable Mac software are a handful of Aspyr games, such as:

• Civilization V
• Civilization IV
• Civilization IV: Warlords expansion
• Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword expansion
• Civilization IV: Colonization
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Call of Duty 2
• Call of Duty: Deluxe Edition

Amazon’s also offering a collection of other Mac titles from various publishers and is even offering a FREE download of Airport Mania to all customers through the first week of the download store’s opening.  Also being offered during the first week?  The chance to save $5 with the coupon code SAVE5MAC. You can check out the full store here (or here just for games).  We’ll be adding new titles to the store in the future, so keep up with us on the blog or via Facebook and Twitter to stay in the know!  Find Amazon’s announcement after the jump.

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For this Classic Review, we’re looking over at our friends from one of the premiere Mac gaming sites, Inside Mac Games.  Franklin Pride reviews Civilization V, and, not to give anything away, but we think he likes it.

So, for all the Civilization fans out there, should you buy this? Heck yeah! The core gameplay remains the same, combat is more interesting than ever before, culture provides a large number of major new options, and it’s easily the best Civilization release to date.

You can check out the full review over at the Inside Mac Games website.

Good news, everyone! Today we’re releasing not one, but TWO new pieces of DLC for Civilization V Mac, plus a brand new patch!

Starting today, Civilization V Mac players will be able to download and play two new pieces of DLC:

Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark and the Vikings - The Denmark Civilization and Scenario Pack brings you both the Denmark Civilization and the new Scenario, 1066: Year of Viking Destiny, to further enhance your Civilization V experience. Rule the world as Harald Bluetooth, with your powerful Berserker warriors and Ski Infantry!

In 1066: Year of Viking Destiny, the throne of England is up for grabs. Take the role of one of four leaders and seize control of the British Isles! Special rules for the scenario ensure that the only way to win is by the cunning use of force. Can you complete the Domesday Book and secure legal rule before your rivals? Use unique units for each faction in the scenario to claim the throne and stand the test of time!

Harald Bluetooth (920 – 986 AD) was King of Denmark for nearly 30 years. During his reign, he united the earls of Denmark and Norway and defended his people from invasion from Sweden and Germany. Today he is viewed as a just and wise king of Denmark.

Explorer’s Map Pack - Ten fantastic single-player maps make up the Explorer’s Map Pack designed by Firaxis Games. Five of the maps are based on real-world locations, chosen for their historical interest and gameplay possibilities. The remaining five are scripted map environments. These maps will change from game to game, but will focus on an exciting gameplay theme. From the arid Sandstorm to the lush Amazon, and from the Caribbean to the Bering Strait, these maps will give skillful Civilization V players new lands to conquer!

 

The latest patch (1.0.1.275a) is also now available and should automatically download and install through Steam. The patch brings some changes to the AI, gameplay, and UI, as well as fixes some crashing issues.  A full rundown of the patch notes can be found after the jump.

Update 5/31: Currently Steam is facing technical issues that are impeding purchases of the DLC through the Steam platform.  However, we have gotten reports that purchasing a DLC code from a third party store, like the GameAgent Store, helps in side-stepping the issue.  If you purchase a DLC code from GameAgent.com and still have issues accessing the DLC, please contact our support team–they can help guide you through the code redemption process and troubleshoot any problems you may be having.

Update 6/1: Latest reports indicate that both pieces of DLC are (finally) available for purchase through Steam.  We hope everyone enjoys them!

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I, like many other FPS veterans, have been long awaiting the release of Brink.  Following many of the trailers for Brink, I felt as if it was going to be an FPS that finally had conquered the idea of free movement in an environment.  This concept would add significantly more depth to the FPS genre and would really be the first game of its kind.  After several hours of playing the game, I’m happy to report that, for the most part, the game works really well. Though I’d rather start off by mentioning what doesn’t work at all:  single player, and multiplayer games with bots.  Brink’s AI is pretty depressing and doesn’t do well to represent what playing against real people is like.  I could feasibly see someone playing the game in single player mode, and basically quitting/giving up on the game before attempting much more, as it is that bad.  Honestly, though, Brink is a team oriented game and meant to be played online, with people.  That’s the way it was created to function correctly and that is the reality of where the best gaming experience is.  In short, if you’re not into online gaming, it’s really not going to be a game for you.  Otherwise, I believe it to be a rewarding experience.  I also think the only proper place to play this game is on the PC, as I would imagine the game to be incredibly cumbersome with a console controller (like most other FPS games tend to be). (more…)

In our final Art of War installment, we’re looking at how important terrain can be when going on both the offensive and defensive; how diplomacy can be used as a military support; and how best to utilize your spies to wreak havoc in your enemies’ cities!

Part 3: Terrain, Diplomacy and Spies

 

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Terrain

In combat the terrain in which the battle is fought is of utmost importance. In modern warfare the soldier is taught to be able to successfully battle in many terrains, switching from urban warfare to mountain combat in days or sometimes hours. Selecting the terrain in which to strike your foe or defend against the blow of the same is a vital tactic for the commander in the field. We touched on the nature of defensive fortifications in a previous column, and the information comes back here, except nature is providing our defense for us. In the real world, high ground with limited access and either good dirt to dig into or rocky terrain that can provide natural fortification and force the enemy into tight locations can make it easier for them to be engaged by your troops. This is similar to the tactics used by King Leonidas of Sparta during the famous battle of the 300. Obviously the tactical advantages and disadvantages are a little simplified in Civilization V, but it’s a video game and a high level strategy game, not a lower level tactics game where the exact placement of individual troops can affect your outcome. You move whole units instead. Choose your battlegrounds so that your troops are attacking from terrain that gives them a defensive bonus, or if the troops in question are veteran troops, try to tailor the terrain to the upgrades they have, such as rough or clear terrain bonuses. Use every bit of combat power to your advantage to give yourself a decisive victory in the field.

Diplomacy

One can never have enough friends, especially friends who help you get rid of more powerful enemies. Diplomacy is a vital tool in your box as a general and leader. You might covet the land, resources and cities of your neighbor, but why not wait to engage them in open warfare until you’re ready? Indeed, lulling the enemy in to a false sense of safety, letting them get complacent, or focusing on other things while you position your forces to strike with blinding speed and ferocity is just the kind of deception that results in you taking the momentum and never having to give it back. In Civilization V, of course, diplomacy can also allow you to gain strategic resources such as horses and iron without the need to engage in military combat with your neighbors. It will also give you a strategic advantage over your closer neighbors if they happen to be in the same boat as you with regards to certain strategic resources. For example, in the open parts of the last Civ V round I played, I was near Germany. Neither of our states had horses, but I had a good supply of luxury goods. My relationship with the Germans was already strained, so I arranged to trade gemstones for horses with the Egyptians, who I had a good relationship with. When it finally came time do deal with the problem directly and attack the Germans, I had the advantage of a mobile, well-armed force of cavalry and infantry instead of just the basic infantry units possessed by my foe. The route of the enemy was quick and clean, thanks to proper use of diplomacy.

Spies

As I said in the section on scouting, there’s no such thing as too much intelligence–the more you can see and the more you know about the conditions of the enemy, the better you can attack him and derail his own strategy. As the game progresses and you gain the use of actual spies, a whole number of tactics opens up to you that will allow you to sow chaos in the cities of the enemy you seek to attack. Poison, propaganda, dissent and out right rebellion all work in your favor as your army begins to march across the lands of your foe. With proper preparation and propaganda sown by your faithful spies, not only will you know where and how to attack, but when you do, the enemy’s own people will welcome you with open arms for casting down the tyrant who once ruled them.   I hope you’ve all enjoyed this special set of articles on strategy tactics for Civilization V. Glory to your allies and a pox on your foe!  

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

 

Hey, Civ fans, we’ve worked through some of the kinks and have finally come up with our Civilization V Gameplay Competition! Without further ado, here are the rules:

• The competition starts today and runs through Monday, May 30.
• All contestants must play on the Mac version and use the provided save game file as their starting point.  You can download the save game file HERE. (Update 5/18: A new save game file has been uploaded. Any played games that do not use the new save game file as a starting point will not be counted. We apologize for the initial mistake that required all DLC to be installed.)
• Here are the parameters of the game:
  • Leader/Civilization: America
  • Map: Earth
  • Map size: Small
  • Difficulty: Emperor
  • Game pace: Standard
  • Victory Conditions: Conquest only
  • Barbarians enabled
• Saving and reloading mid-game in order to try for a better outcome from a certain action is highly discouraged and not allowed.
  • However, contestants may play through a game multiple times (from start to finish) and submit multiple entries.  Only the top entry will be considered.
• Important: To submit an entry, email a copy of your completed save game file to gameagent@aspyr.com with the subject header “GOTM: Civilization V Competition Submission.”  In the email, please include your name, the number of turns you took, and your score.  You may provide a screenshot of your Hall of Fame screen if you wish, but it is not required.  It is essential that you follow these directions–any entries that are missing any piece of required information WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. (Update 5/24: Hoo, boy. It has come to our attention that the game actually does not end after capturing all cities and that a Conquest victory may actually be technically impossible. To compensate, please save your game just before the final city on the map is taken and submit that file for our review. We apologize (again) for the mix-up. We promise the next competition will run much more smoothly!).

The goal of the competition is to beat the game by conquest in as few turns as possible.  In the event of a tie, final scores will be used as a tie-breaker.  Obviously, some points of the competition (particularly whether or not you use multiple saves and reloads) cannot be monitored, so we ask all contestants to be on their best behavior and act like benevolent rulers to maintain the integrity of the competition. We will review the entries and announce the winners (plural!) on Tuesday, May 31.  The runner-up will receive a GameAgent Store coupon good for 50% off any product. The winner will receive a GameAgent Store coupon good for 50% off any product, a Civ Anonymous t-shirt, and a super secret (and SUPER AWESOME) mystery prize! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.  Otherwise, good luck to everyone! *Don’t forget, if you still need to pick up a copy of Civilization V, you can save 10% at GameAgent.com when you use the coupon code GOTMCivV! Update 5/31: Congratulations to Jim M. who successfully followed the guidelines of the competition and completed his global conquest in the fewest number of turns!  Jim has won a GameAgent Store coupon (good for 50% off any product), a Civ Anonymous t-shirt, and that super secret mystery prize–a Sid Meier-signed copy of the Civilization V Special Edition!  We also want to recognize both Mark G. and Pablo R., both of whom are runners-up.  Finally, a big thanks to everyone that competed and helped us putting this competition together!

Along with going to E3 last year, the 2008 GDC has been one of my favorite memories of the video game industry.  Before I went to the GDC, I wasn’t incredibly familiar with what it was or all the opportunities and events centered around it.  One of my professors had mentioned it and noted that anyone who has the ability to attend should definitely do so since it’s a good experience.  Taking his word for it (he was one of my favorite professors, after all), I went ahead and spent the ~$1,500 on the all access pass for the conference, and promptly purchased my plane ticket to San Francisco.

The trip all together ended up being quite costly, and was the only real downside.  By the time I had purchased my conference pass, most of the hotels around the area had also been booked.  Luckily, there were rooms available at the Palomar hotel, which was just a few blocks from the Moscone Center, where the conference is held.  Not so luckily, this hotel was exorbitantly expensive, fitting with the trend of seemingly everything in San Fran.  Protip for attending conferences:  plan far in advance.  The first two days of the conference were designated as “tutorial sessions,” while the following three were filled with various speakers and presentations on a plethora of subjects.

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In part two of our Art of War series, we look at the importance of momentum, defense, and naval support. You can check out the previous installment here.

Part 2: Basic Offensive and Defensive tactics

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Momentum

Referred to as the “flow of battle,” he who has decisive control over the flow of combat will win, this is certain. You must make your enemy react to you, catch him off balance and weak, strike him with strong blows, and change your tactics, forcing him to react to you. You should never have to react to his weakened counter offensives, because you’ve anticipated him, cut him off and crushed that option even as he thinks of it. Once you gain the momentum, never give it up. In reference to games like Call of Duty in multiplayer, at a certain point in the match, or at a certain skill level/tactics level for the other team, you’ll notice the losing team is just reacting to the movements and attacks of the other team. You can also see this in professional team sports: the losing side has lost the momentum to the other team and, without a drastic maneuver to regain that momentum and get back on an aggressive footing, will be defeated. It’s merely a matter of time at that point. (more…)