No Steam Flash Sales
First up, Valve announced this week that there will be no flash sales during the Autumn or Winter Sale periods on Steam.
The Steam Autumn Sale will run from Wednesday 25th November at 6pm UK till Tuesday 1st December at 6pm, again UK time.
These dates come from ShackNews, who also believe that games on sale will only get one sale price during the sale period, and these prices will not vary.
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| All praise Lord Gaben? |
confirming speculation.
"We'll still be highlighting your top games on the front page for 24-48 hour spans, but those products will stay at their most competitive discount, before and after being featured," Valve wrote.
"It's not a major change, but it does make the sale a lot more valuable for customers, and it allows us to build sale features that recommend your product all sale long, instead of just during its front page feature.
"For a brand new release, if you can't get approval for your best discount for the full length of the sale, that's OK and we can work on a plan for that game. But the vast majority of your catalog should be running its best discount for the duration of the sale."
So it looks like we can expect two upcoming Steam sales then, which is always good. The lack of flash deals and such is kind of a disappointment though. I like logging onto Steam during the sale and seeing a game I already own for much cheaper than I originally bought it for. Makes me feel real good...
No, but really, I like Steam Sales, they're great. My bank balance on the other hand may not agree with me though!
Ahead of Black Ops' release a few weeks ago, Activision promised players that pre-ordered Black Ops 3 from GAME and Amazon would get Nuketown as a pre-order bonus. However, upon Black Ops' release, only players who pre-ordered the game from GAME were the ones who received Nuketown, even though Amazon were listed as a retailer who would be providing Nuketown to players.
Many players checked the Call of Duty website to ensure that Amazon were in fact a participating retailer in the Nuketown offer, originally, Amazon was listed as a participating retailer, however, shortly after the games release, the wording was changed on the site, removing Amazon as a participating retailer.
After all this, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has had to issue a response on the matter after they were contacted by a number of Black Ops 3 owners who were unaware that the offer had been changed and they had not received Nuketown.
"They [Activision] admitted that they did not intend for Amazon to appear as a choice of retailer on the website [that advertised the offer] and recognised that this could have caused some confusion among consumers for which they apologise."
"Having been made aware of the issues, Activision confirmed that they amended the UK ad on their website to remove references to the Nuketown offer and that they reviewed all online/social media messaging. They also said they'd been in contact with Amazon and asked that they redirect any consumer complaints to them."
"They assured us that they have reinforced their internal processes with a view to ensure the clarity of future offers of this nature."
Users affected by this have said that they have had success obtaining the map if they missed out by contacting Activision directly and making them aware of the problem. So, if you missed out on Nuketown due to the Activision blunder, go talk to them! They should give you the map you deserve!
Nuketown Advertising Issues
Next up, Activision has admitted that mistakes were made in the handling of the Nuketown pre-order bonus for Black Ops 3.Ahead of Black Ops' release a few weeks ago, Activision promised players that pre-ordered Black Ops 3 from GAME and Amazon would get Nuketown as a pre-order bonus. However, upon Black Ops' release, only players who pre-ordered the game from GAME were the ones who received Nuketown, even though Amazon were listed as a retailer who would be providing Nuketown to players.
Many players checked the Call of Duty website to ensure that Amazon were in fact a participating retailer in the Nuketown offer, originally, Amazon was listed as a participating retailer, however, shortly after the games release, the wording was changed on the site, removing Amazon as a participating retailer.
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| Did you miss out? |
"They [Activision] admitted that they did not intend for Amazon to appear as a choice of retailer on the website [that advertised the offer] and recognised that this could have caused some confusion among consumers for which they apologise."
"Having been made aware of the issues, Activision confirmed that they amended the UK ad on their website to remove references to the Nuketown offer and that they reviewed all online/social media messaging. They also said they'd been in contact with Amazon and asked that they redirect any consumer complaints to them."
"They assured us that they have reinforced their internal processes with a view to ensure the clarity of future offers of this nature."
Users affected by this have said that they have had success obtaining the map if they missed out by contacting Activision directly and making them aware of the problem. So, if you missed out on Nuketown due to the Activision blunder, go talk to them! They should give you the map you deserve!
PS2 Emulation
Finally, Sony announced earlier this week that they are working on an 'emulation technology' that can bring games from the classic Playstation 2 to the PS4.
Sony emailed WIRED early in the week and said that “We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation."
Currently, there are a few classic PS2 games already out on the PS4 using this emulation software. The original Star Wars Battlefront and a selection of Star Wars mini-games is being included in a bundle with a PS4 console.
Emulation is the process in which a specific computing environment is replicated, allowing older software to function on newer hardware.
So simply, this emulation software creates an environment similar to the Playstation 2 so the game can function properly. The PS4 then handles upscaling the graphics and resolution, so the game looks and runs better than it would have on it's original console. Simple stuff right?
The Playstation 2 was unarguably the best console of it's generation, bringing us classics such as
God of War, Ratchet & Clank, Gran Turismo, etc, etc. I think Sony trying to bring these games back from the dead is move to counter the Xbox One's recent backwards compatability update, allowing owners to download select Xbox 360 titles onto the Xbox One's.
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| Did you own a PS2? |
If Sony manage to successfully emulate all those PS2 classics, it would not only increase the library of games available on PS4, it could also give them a slight edge over Microsoft. I mean, being able to play the classics all over again at a higher resolution is cool! Right?
Just don't get your hopes up yet. We have only heard what Sony has told us, and nothing more. We haven't had any details, like when it'll be available to the public, the pricing of the service, etc, etc. For all w know, it may not even come out at all. Don't hold your breathes!
Annnnnd that's it for this week! What video gaming news stood out for you this week? Are you disappointed that there will be no flash sales during the Autumn and Winter Steam sales? Did you miss out on Nuketown? Are you looking forward to seeing this emulation technology?
Let me know in the comments down below!
As always, thanks for reading!
Connor :)
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