FarmVille by Zynga

“Casual gamers are going to save the video game industry.”

I first suggested this idea to a hardcore gamer friend a few weeks ago. After snorting into his Coke, he quipped, “Right, Rachel. Your mom is going to save the industry.”

My mother actually doesn’t qualify as a “casual gamer,” despite her love for Angry Birds, World of Goo, and Solitaire. Casual gamers typically:

• Play games to pass the time
• Enjoy simple gameplay controls
• Do not invest time in increasing gaming skills
• Do not tend to define themselves as “gamers”

Mom enjoys her World of Warcraft raids and beating me at Civilization V far too much to be a “casual gamer.” However, my friend’s assumption was not entirely ungrounded: the average casual gamer is a woman in her 50’s. By 2013, casual gaming revenue will likely top $1 billion.

Does the video game industry need saving?

In short: yes. Just like almost every other industry, game companies are suffering in the recession. In fact, ex-Sony executive Chris Deering claims that 70% of all games lose money even though the gaming industry is growing at seven times the rate of the economy as a whole. Essentially, the production of “hardcore” or “core” games is not turning enough profit for the gaming industry. That’s where casual gaming comes in.

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It was a fantastic weekend for college football.  Most teams that were expected to win did, though there were definitely a handful of upsets.  Kansas bounced back after an embarrassing opening weekend loss to defeat the #15-ranked Georgia Tech Yellowjackets.  In addition, Virginia Tech lost again, this time to a team that practically everyone around country considered inferior.  It should be interesting to see how the loss affects the team that beat Virginia Tech in our opening CFB Game of the Week, Boise State!

Of course, the important game for GameAgent fans this weekend was the Ohio State-Miami (FL) match-up.  The game was played in Columbus, OH, giving the Buckeyes home field advantage.  Whether they needed it or not is debatable, as the Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Miami (FL) Hurricanes 36-24.  The Buckeyes’ quarterback Terrelle Pryor looked great, scoring 2 touchdowns, while the Hurricanes’ quarterback Jacory Harris finished the game with 4 interceptions.  You can find a full game recap here.

So, what does all this mean?  It means that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Mac) goes on sale at GameAgent.com for HALF OFF!  Between now and the end of the day (11:59pm CDT) Wednesday, September 15, you can get either the boxed or digital version of the game for only $15.  In addition, adding either version to your cart will take $5 off the cost of shipping for the entire order!  In order to get the game and shipping discounts, add the item(s) to your cart, and then put in the coupon code “#tOSUBuckeyes” at checkout.

Remember to check back later this week to see what our next Game of the Week will be and what games and discounts will be at stake!

Welcome back, college football fans!  We hope Week 1 was as exciting for you as it was for us, but more importantly, we hope you enjoyed the discounts that came with it!  After an exciting Week 1 that saw the Boise State Broncos send Sid Meier’s Civilization IV Gold (Mac) and the Civ IV expansions into discount land, we’re ready to launch Week 2 of our College Football Game of the Week!

For those of you new to the feature, each week we will feature a marquee match-up between two college football teams.  Each team will represent a specific game or set of games available at GameAgent.com and an associated discount for those games.  The game discount(s) associated with the winning team will then go into effect the following Monday or Tuesday after the game and last for 3 days.  In order to get the discounts, you must use the specific coupon code that is generated once the winner is decided!  Finally, commenting on the blog or our Facebook page about the marque match-up, your favorite team, or football in general is highly encouraged–participants may get special benefits!

The Discounts

This week we’re pitting two major Star Wars titles against one another.  On one side we’ve got the classic RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Mac), and on the other we’ve got the amazing RTS Star Wars: Empire at War (Mac)!  The potential discounts are as follows:

• If the team representing Knights of the Old Republic (Mac) wins, then you’ll see both the digital and boxed versions of KOTOR discounted by HALF!  In addition, ordering either will take $5 off the cost of shipping* for your entire order!
• If the team representing Empire at War (Mac) wins, then, similar to the KOTOR deal, you’ll see both the digital and boxed versions of Empire at War discounted by HALF!  Also like the KOTOR deal, ordering either version will take $5 off the cost of shipping* for your entire order!

The Football Game

This week we’re featuring a revenge bout between the #2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and the #12-ranked Miami (FL) Hurricanes.  The last time these two football giants met was the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, where the Buckeyes upset the then-ranked #1 Hurricanes in double-overtime to win the National Championship.  The winner of this year’s game will be taking a huge step forwards to get back to the Fiesta Bowl for another shot at the national title.

• If the Ohio State Buckeyes win, then the Knights of the Old Republic deal will go into effect on Monday, September 13.
• If the Miami (FL) Hurricanes win, then the Empire at War deal will go into effect on Monday, September 13.

The game is currently scheduled to kick off at 3:40pm ET on ESPN/ESPN3.  Who will you be rooting for?

*Customers are NOT required to pay shipping for the digital versions of our games.  The shipping discount associated with the digital versions of either Knights of the Old Republic or Empire at War will only go into effect if you add a boxed item to your cart!

GameAgent Labor Day Sale

Hello, GameAgent fans, and welcome to the official unofficial end of summer!  It was a fun (and HOT) summer, but with Labor Day coming up on Monday, it’s time to move on to better and newer things–like new games!

In celebration of hard-working individuals everywhere, GameAgent has put together a fantastic BLOWOUT sale to put a cap on Summer 2010.  Between now and the end of the day (11:59pm CDT) Labor Day Monday, you’ll be able to get ALL of your favorite Mac and PC titles by Aspyr for 15% off at GameAgent.com!  This includes favorites like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Mac), The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (Mac), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Mac), and Civilization IV (Mac)!

But the best part of this deal?  It’s open to EVERYONE that can shop at GameAgent.com!  Just because Labor Day is a US holiday doesn’t mean everyone else can’t enjoy the discount love.

Facebook and Twitter Exclusives

Finally, in addition to the store-wide discount, we’ll also be giving out some exclusive coupon codes to our Facebook fans and Twitter followers all weekend long!  The coupon offers will be exclusive to each platform, meaning the coupons given out on Facebook will not be the same as those given out on Twitter; however, the coupons will be stackable (assuming you can use them before someone else does!), so be sure to follow GameAgent on both!  Here’s what you can expect:

• Facebook: We’ll be giving out 5 coupons per day, starting Friday and running through Monday.  Four coupons each day will be for HALF OFF shipping costs.  The fifth coupon will grant shoppers FREE SHIPPING.  However, these are one-time use coupons, so stay alert and use the coupon before anyone else!
• Twitter: Like Facebook, we’ll be giving out 5 coupons per day, starting Friday and running through Monday.  Each coupon will be good for $5 off your total order!  These coupons, too, are one-use only, so be quick to use them before they expire!

Fan us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep up with these deals and more!  Also, don’t forget to come back tomorrow to check out the opening match-up of our new “College Football Game of the Week” feature–we’ve got a great game picked out and some killer deals that could be yours!

On the heels of what we hope was a fantastic, game-filled weekend for everyone, today we’re announcing not one, but two, new deals on various PC and Mac Star Wars games, available only at GameAgent!

First off, we’re kicking a new program into gear that will net you $10 in savings on any boxed Star Wars game at GameAgent!  Starting today and moving well past the foreseeable future, any time you buy a boxed Star Wars game, you will then be eligible for $10 off any other boxed Star Wars game.  The list of eligible games includes:

• Star Wars®: Battlefront™ (Mac)
• Star Wars®: Empire at War™ (Mac)
• Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic® (Mac)
• Star Wars® Mac Pack (Mac) — Includes Empire at War™ and Knights of the Old Republic®
• Star Wars®: Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™ (Mac)
• Star Wars® Jedi Knight™ Gold Pack (Mac) — Includes Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™ and Jedi Knight® II: Jedi Outcast™
• Star Wars®The Force Unleashed™: Ultimate Sith Edition (Mac)
• Star Wars®The Force Unleashed™: Ultimate Sith Edition (PC)

Second, we’re going all multi-platform on you!  Any time you buy the boxed version of Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, you’ll be eligible to pick up the game on the opposite platform for only $1!  For example, when buying the game for the Mac, you can then also buy the game for PC for only $1!  This is great for gamers who want to play on both their Macs and PCs.

We hope these are the deals you are looking for, and may The Force be with you in your gaming endeavors!