Nightfall for the iOS

I haven't heard much about Playdek's Nightfall game until just recently, but the idea appeals to me as a big fan off collectible card games.  I got my start with real ones like Magic: The Gathering, Legend of the Five Rings and Marvel: Overpower but have enjoyed many of the video game iterations as well. 

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Indie Gala - similar to Humble Bundle - cheap PC games

I just stumbled onto this deal a little bit ago, but very similar to the Humble Bundle, I found the Indie Gala advertised.  The deal's only got about a day left on it, but includes games like Future Wars and Trapped Dead, and if you pay more than the average, you get additional titles as well such as Grotesque Tactcis and Twin Sector - all but Gear Grinder is redeemable on Steam.  IndieGala3 can be found here.

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Mass Effect 3: Resurgence Pack

Yup, going to continue going strong on this whole Mass Effect theme.  Any why not?  On the heels of the announcement for extended ending DLC (for free, despite much of the cynacism out there that EA would charge for it) - well apparently there will now be another free DLC out there.  Here is the press release information for it.

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Mass Effect 3 Collector's Edition - Xbox 360 Review

Mass Effect 3 is probably one of the most anticipated titles to come out in some time.  Like Diablo III will be in a couple of months, Mass Effect 3 has certain expectations that will be almost impossible to meet for some people.  In truth, I feel the expectations are higher here then for Diablo 3.  Certainly the wait has been shorter, but Bioware did something incredible when they brought choices made from the first Mass Effect into Mass Effect 2, changing certain parts of the storyline to add continuity to the storyline you crafted.

As a result, Mass Effect 3 has become a title that not only has expectations due to being part of a popular series, but because players have already become greatly invested in the storyline to date.  Along the way there have been books and iPhone games to help tide gamers over, but none of those things compare to the primary three games in the series.  There were a lot of design choices that people questioned along the way such as the addition of multiplayer and the ending of the game.  I would have loved to have rushed out a rapid review on this game so it could be just a bit more timely, but my personal policy of playing through a game until I am done with it/beaten it once would not allow me to do so.  Here are my thoughts on it.

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Gaming Thoughts... A couple of last Mass Effect 3 tidbits

I'm planning to post my Mass Effect 3 full review tomorrow.  It's lengthy, but I hope you enjoy it.

Moving on - I find that the number of EA crossovers over the last few years sort of odd, but generally I have liked them.  Bonuses for playing Dragon Age on Facebook that show up in Dragon Age II?  That works.  The odd Dead Space armor swaps?  Odd, but it generally looks cool.  Tying in Blood Dragon Armor from Dragon Age into Mass Effect?  Sure, why not - that was my primary armor used in ME 3 truth be told.  They're all under the EA wheelhouse though, so I found the Mass Effect 3 armor showing up in Final Fantasy XIII-2 a bit odd.  I don't plan to pick it up, but maybe others will?  It seems like Square Enix has Final Fantasy XIII characters crossing over quite a bit more as they explore the DLC world.  I saw a rather odd article on IGN yesterday about them modeling Prada clothing too. 

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Fallout Free on Good Old Games for the next 48ish hours

I really enjoy Good Old Games, as they bring a lot of older titles to the PC in a way that newer machines can generally run them easily enough.  Well, GoG has a nice freebie for the next couple of days - the original Fallout is free.  You can find it here if you are interested.

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Gaming Thoughts... Mass Effect 3 - Favorite Scenes

And now, to talk about my favorite scenes from Mass Effect 3 before making the review live tomorrow.  For starters, I enjoyed this game a great deal and for several reasons.  Seeing so many places where prior choices made could impact the final story makes me want to play it again, though I am going to give it a bit of time to breathe first I think.

In case you are interest, I visited my top 5 from Mass Effect 1 here.  I did the same sort of top 5 list for Mass Effect 2 as well.

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Gaming Thoughts... Mass Effect 2 - most memorable moments

Mass Effect completely surprised me when it came out.  At first I was not a huge fan of it, but then it quickly became one of my favorite games ever.  Here I listed my top 5 moments from the first Mass Effect.  This time I was much better prepared - and much more anxious - for Mass Effect 2 when it came out.  I did a top five from the original Mass Effect, and I plan to do the same here.  This is a quick list of my five favorite scenes and features from Mass Effect 2.  Spoilers aplenty for this game follow.

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This weeks gaming deals at a glance

Another week, another Wednesday and another slew of deals out there.  I will post my top five moments form Mass Effect 2 a bit later in the day as well today, so if you're interested in those, keep an eye out for that. 

So this week in Xbox Live Gold land we have a shooter and fighter mix.  All games are half off their normal prices.  We have some fighters and shooters in this mix with:

- King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match
- King of Fighters 2002 Ultimate Match
- King of Fighters Sky Stage
- Metal Slug 3
- Metal Slug XX
- Trouble Witches Neo.

All of these are usually 800, now at 400 Microsoft Points except Metal Slug XX, which is normally 1200 and is currently 600 for this week.

Steam's Midweek Madness is the entire X series for 50% off.  Their current daily deal is Capsized for 75% off.  That will be good for about five more hours.

Over at Gamersgate they have Supreme Ruler Cold War for 75% off, Serious Sam 3: BFE for 60% off and Patrician IV Gold Edition for 75% off.  They are also flying a banner for Serious Sam games in general as being 60% off this week. 

Amazon's got a smattering of deals.  Their daily game one is Jewel Link Chronicles: Mountains of Madness for the DS for $14.99, and their deals of the eek range from $10 off on Mass Effect 3, to $20 off for the Syndicate and Soul Calibur V, $40 off the HORI Soul Calibur V Arcade Stick, $20 off of King of Fighters XIII, $70 off the Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige Edition for the 360, $10 off of Twisted Metal and up to 75% off of THQ game downloads.

Lastly, the PlayStation stuff.  It's a pretty solid week to be a PlayStation Plus user:

• Canabalt (Mini, Free)
• Farm Frenzy 2 (Mini, Free)
• Mortal Kombat (DLC, Discount)
• Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection (PSN, Discount)
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Retail, Discount)
• Shank 2 (PSN, Free)
• Shift 2 Unleashed (Retail, Free)
• Silent Hill (PSone, Free)
• Wheels of Destruction: World Tour (PSN, Discount)

And here's the general discounts this week as well:

• Mortal Kombat (DLC)
• Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection (PSN)
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Retail)
• MotorStorm RC (DLC)
• Prototype (Retail)

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Gaming Thoughts ...Favorite Mass Effect Moments

Obviously there is no single video game out there that is 'for everyone' - but it is impossible to deny the large critical and commercial appeal of the Mass Effect series.  Say what you will about the changes in combat, the addition of multiplayer, whether the characters got worse or better with each release and the ending - but what got players excited about the journey were the 'moments' along the way. 

I don't usually do lists or countdowns on here, but after investing so many hours into these three titles (I'm excluding the iPad ones because quite frankly, they were not very good in my opinion and did not spark anywhere near the response from me than the primary three titles did).  Huge spoilers ahead (something else I don't know if I've done before on here) - so read at your own risk! (though the titles have been out long enough that odds are if you have played the games, you have encountered these for yourself).

Five favorite moments from the original Mass Effect.

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Mass Effect Infiltrator - iPad Review

Just as Mass Effect Galaxy tried to tell a non-Shepard story wedged between the primary console releases of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, Electronic Arts brings us Mass Effect Infiltrator just before the Mass Effect 3 release. 

As I noted in my earlier review, I was not very happy with Mass Effect Galaxy.  It was a major departure from the series both in form and function.  With this in mind, I went into Mass Effect Infiltrator hopeful, but wary.  It turns out that both of those feelings had merit to them.

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What have I been up to on Otaku Gaming?

I'm so glad you asked! (even though I know you really didn't!)

I think one of the more interesting finds I had was about Guardian Cross, an iOS (and according to the Facebook page dedicated to the game - Android soon as well) collectible card game that is both free, and by Sqaure Enix.

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Release information for The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav

The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav is a title I have been following for a while now.  The visual style caught my attention and it will be a Steam release when it comes out.  The new release date is set for June 22, 2012.

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