Amazon PCDD - Important Update New Community Manager Incoming!

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Hey CAGS,

I’ve got some news I’m both excited and sad to share with you at the same time. I’ll be leaving the Digital Video Games team in Mid-March to join the marketing team for Amazon.com’s Loyalty and Rewards program, Amazon Coins. My boss and I have talked extensively about how to maintain and continue our presence here and across the other communities we’ve created in the past couple of years. To that end I’d like to introduce you to Josh, who take over monitoring, updating, and responding to this thread. Josh will be ramping up over the next couple of weeks, he  will be posting shortly to introduce himself.

Now that the “what’s going on” part of the message is out of the way I want to tell you all how much I love CAG and the posters here. This was the first community I joined when I started this job (anyone still remember that first thread?) and all of you have had a huge hand in shaping how we think about and execute Community Development and Management here at Amazon, which has in turn shaped my career these last two and a half years.

I started to write out a section calling out the regular posters and realized the list would be both overly long and incomplete at the same time. Instead I’d like to thank you all again, you all have my deep and sincere gratitude. I’ll still be around and my gaming accounts aren’t going anywhere so feel free to hit me up anytime you want to chat. I’ll probably still hang out in the thread too :).

Thanks again everyone, let me or Josh know if you have any questions!

The Indie Store has launched!
Amazon.com is launching a storefront dedicated to supporting and promoting PC/Mac/Web-based Indie Games. Our Digital Video Games team is a small group of passionate gamers and we’re all really excited to help Indie developers reach more customers quickly by providing a quick and simple process for bringing their games to market. Additionally we’ll be supporting the Indie Store with a ton of promotions, both at and after launch. Many of these promotions are designed to give the developer the opportunity to maximize their revenue. For example, Amazon is forfeiting all royalties from bundle sales and passing them along directly to the developer, we’ve also created an “Indie Spotlight” program to help customers learn more about the games and developers they love. We view the Indie developers as some of the most creative in the industry and we want to help them continue to create new and innovative experience for customers.

Why we are doing this:

  • Allow customers to discover an entirely new category of games on Amazon.com
  • Help developers reach new customers quickly. Our onboarding process is straightforward and we want to sell every Indie game available
  • We want to leverage our strengths to support and help the developers who are driving forward innovation and creativity in the games industry
General Information

Hi CAGs,
I'll be posting deals we're running on Digital Games (PC/Mac, Free to Play, Sony/Microsoft Points/Subs).

I'm also here to answer questions you might have, get you closer to the developers by hosting Q&As, setting up podcasts, live streaming gameplay etc. If I don't respond to a question you have in thread please send me a PM. These ping my email address and make it more likely that I will see your question and respond more quickly.

Cheers,
Tony


FYI. EA Games sold by Amazon will not activate on Steam.
F.A.Q.S.:

1. Does the game I'm buying from Amazon Activate on Steam/Origin/Uplay? What DRM does the game use?

There are two places to identify DRM on a digital video game detail page:

At the top of the page, below the title:

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In the "Product Description" section:

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2. Note on Electronic Arts Games - For the most part, EA games sold on Amazon do not activate on Steam. Most activate on Origin.

3. Note on DRM with limited activations:

Our Policy



4. Sometimes I'll do giveaways.

5. I work with developers and publishers to get fun (or at least what I think is fun) content to share with you all. Here are some examples:

a. Check out the Pax Gameplay videos here: Xcom: Enemy Unknown I played Xcom with Jake, the Creative Director for the game, a few months before the game came out Also, on this page, check out the Q&A, also a community driven event.

b. Check out the interview on this page: Borderlands 2 we did this interview at E3 with Randy Pitchford this year.

c. We've partnered with the ++GoodGames Podcast to feature many of the games we carry. They talk to the developers about the game development process, how the games are conceptualized and managed, all kinds of fun stuff. I'm working on putting together full link list and will update when I have it.

What else do we sell?

Xbox Live Points and Subscriptions:

1600 Microsoft Live Points
4000 Microsoft Live Points
12 Month XBOX Live Subscription
3 Month XBOX Live Subscription]
12 Month + 1 XBOX Live Subscription

PSN+ Subscriptions and PSN Points:

$20 PSN Points
$50 PSN Points
12 Month PSN+ Subscription
3 Month PSN+ Subscription

We also have a Free-2-Play store supported by our GameConnect technology. Gameconnect allows you to link your Amazon.com account with free-2-play and MMO accounts so that you can buy things like in game currency, premium game time/subscriptions, in game items, etc. on Amazon.com using your Amazon.com payment options and have this content delivered directly into your game.

5. Price Matching notes: Generally we do not match international retailers (GMG, Gamersgate, etc) or physical retailers (Best Buy, Newegg.com, etc.)
To check out the Free-2-Play games we offer you can visit our storefront here: Free-2-Play Store

 
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Croq said:
Tony never said that the Digital Tribes pack would be part of the V-day sale, just that it would be $1.99 "real soon".
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That's 100% true. Usually when Tony says "soon", he means in the next few hours or less. A total assumption on my part.

It was available (at a higher price) and then suddenly unavailable at all. Often when that happens there's a switch that doesn't get flipped. I don't even want the pack. I just don't want Tony's deal to fizzle out due to technical issues.

 
Sir_Fragalot said:
I heard The Bureau wasn't that good. With that said, I couldn't pass it up for $5 for the potential fun laughing at it.
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It's actually pretty good if you know what you're getting into and play it the right way. I think it caught everyone off guard by not being what was expected at release. But people playing lately without the wrong preconceptions as to what it is seem to rate it as pretty OK. You've just got to go back through this very thread. Everyone suggesting it's bad has, like you, never played it and is going off its rep. Those that have played it recently actually seem to like it.

 
targetbsp said:
It's actually pretty good if you know what you're getting into and play it the right way. I think it caught everyone off guard by not being what was expected at release. But people playing lately without the wrong preconceptions as to what it is seem to rate it as pretty OK. You've just got to go back through this very thread. Everyone suggesting it's bad has, like you, never played it and is going off its rep. Those that have played it recently actually seem to like it.
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This! People with no firsthand experience all seem to be parroting "it sux" and everyone who's played it thinks it's at least decent.

 
hal said:
It was available (at a higher price) and then suddenly unavailable at all. Often when that happens there's a switch that doesn't get flipped. I don't even want the pack. I just don't want Tony's deal to fizzle out due to technical issues.
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I was unaware of that being the case, flipping wise. My main question right now (other than what is "real soon") is the same as yours and others, regarding which titles will actually have Steam and which won't. Needless to say, I think the majority of us interested in it would like it all to be on Steam.

 
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I got a copy of XCOM EU for $5 if anyone is interested. I have copies of Batman Arkham Asylum Goty, Batman Arkham City GOTY, Dead Space 3 and Tomb Raider for cheaper as well.

Thanks for the sales Tony picking up Lego Marvel and Scribblenauts Unmasked so far.

 
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targetbsp said:
Why would you suspect that? Because you can't related to the fact that people might have a different opinion to you?
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Which part of your original post is an opinion?

targetbsp said:
Everyone suggesting it's bad has, like you, never played it and is going off its rep. Those that have played it recently actually seem to like it.
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Everyone = does NOT qualify as an opinion, that's a blanket statement.

targetbsp said:
I guess you'd see a lot of people being a wrong a lot of the time in that case.
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Good news though, at least you got part of your drivel correct so there's still hope for you.

 
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targetbsp said:
It's actually pretty good if you know what you're getting into and play it the right way. I think it caught everyone off guard by not being what was expected at release. But people playing lately without the wrong preconceptions as to what it is seem to rate it as pretty OK. You've just got to go back through this very thread. Everyone suggesting it's bad has, like you, never played it and is going off its rep. Those that have played it recently actually seem to like it.
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Oh wow, that's actually good. I knew what it is getting into it (thus why I bought it), but reviews I seen generally thought it was meh. I am kinda excited now since it's actually something I wanted to play.

 
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Gedemer said:
Crysis 3 worth it for $5?
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I think it is. I picked it up during the Jan ec coupon for $5 and only got it for the sp. The shooting mechanics were solid and the bow was awesome, but I never played the official mp. I tried the open beta mp and didn't like it.

 
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r333k0 said:
Tony, you might want to check the DRM on the pack, since it says it is Steam, but some of the individual games Store page show them being DRM-free, or don't mention Steam, which 99% of the time mean DRM-free.
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The page shows "DRM: Mixed" now, so it would seem that we are going to wind up with some Steam and some non-Steam titles.

 
Last page. Where it adds sales tax.

Also, after I bought the Bureau, I went to order the EU+EW pack and got $5 off there as well. Haven't tried a non-2k game yet.
 
Gedemer said:
Crysis 3 worth it for $5?
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I think so - hell yes!

It's a combo of many of the things people liked about:

Crysis 1 (bigger wide-open spaces for shootouts, jungles)

and Crysis 2 (vertical areas + shootouts, C3 runs on a better version of this engine).

Plus, C3 can be played much stealthier now, since we now have a BOW always in your inventory.

Though, Crysis 3's story and characters still are a major far cry from anything actually worthwhile. Story and characters are just there to get you to the next incredible shootout and to keep you drooling at the incredible technical graphical eye-candy.

 
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Sepioth said:
I love the Lego games and I'm almost .... well I'm not a kid .. :)

They just get better with each game. Really fun games .. more fun if you can play co-op with someone.

TT Games and Lego just keep getting better and better at making these games. While typically I hate when companies "rehash" games over and over again .. each Lego games seems new and fresh even though it is typically the same mechanics and gameplay.

Personally I think they are pretty good games.
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hal said:
They aren't hard, but they also aren't geared specifically towards kids. In fact, some of them might be too hard for younger children. They are action/adventure games in which puzzle solving is the focus. Chances are if you like that type of game and whatever license is attached, then you'll enjoy.

All characters are unlocked through gameplay. New characters mean new abilities, and once you get a few you can return to a previously beaten level and use the new abilities to access alternate pathways or hidden stuff. No idea about Deadpool though, as LEGO Marvel is one of the few I have yet to play.
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Thanks for the input guys. Sounds like it would still be a fun game for an older guy like me, especially being a Marvel fan. $10 seems like a fair price, so I think I am going to go ahead and bite on this one.

 
targetbsp said:
It's actually pretty good if you know what you're getting into and play it the right way. I think it caught everyone off guard by not being what was expected at release. But people playing lately without the wrong preconceptions as to what it is seem to rate it as pretty OK. You've just got to go back through this very thread. Everyone suggesting it's bad has, like you, never played it and is going off its rep. Those that have played it recently actually seem to like it.
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Yeah, I liked The Bureau - even despite my complaints w/ it.

Its combat is pretty good, if you like Mass Effect 2+3 & want something w/ more tactical shooting than the ME series & you actually enjoy micro-managing every move for your party members. I played on Squaddie, BTW - and I still had a tough time w/ it, at times. Lots of reloading saves, my party dying, and even sometimes I'd survive a mission but a squad-mate died (when squaddies die, they get perma-death'ed).

I just wish the story and character development was better. Seriously - until the last 1/4th of the game, it often felt in those departments predictable, cliche, lacking, and/or what should've been the "pay-off" moment in a scene just wasn't executed well at all. I wish story-wise, the 1st 3/4th's of the game was as interesting & intriguing as well-executed as the last 1/4th of the game.

Overall - solid game, but nothing special.

EDIT:

asheskitty said:
This! People with no firsthand experience all seem to be parroting "it sux" and everyone who's played it thinks it's at least decent.
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I still think people see the words XCOM in the sub-title and then say, "This isn't the XCOM that I know and love, so this sucks!"

 
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Alexcalibur said:
Thanks for the input guys. Sounds like it would still be a fun game for an older guy like me, especially being a Marvel fan. $10 seems like a fair price, so I think I am going to go ahead and bite on this one.
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I bought it for my spare/daughter's account because I know she'll like it. (Plus, I can play it too when she's gone to bed =P)

 
Relysis said:
North Carolina?
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Yeah, I was so pissed about this when I found out, there is really no reason for them to tax NC either, I have researched it and cannot find an official reason that they decided in Jan of this year that they would start taxing us beginning in Feb. I mean, they have fought the state and won in 2010 and they still don't have a physical presence in the state. I'm even considering canceling my prime sub, as I will be ordering significantly less from Amazon now. Really disappointed, thought we were safe at least until after 2016.
 
Tony,

Didn't see it mentioned anywhere, any chance on getting the steam versions of Yesterday and the Next Big Thing on the Focus Adventure Bundle since they are available individually on amazon for Steamworks and the fact the other three games in the bundle are steam keys?

 
lassiterb said:
Yeah, I was so pissed about this when I found out, there is really no reason for them to tax NC either, I have researched it and cannot find an official reason that they decided in Jan of this year that they would start taxing us beginning in Feb. I mean, they have fought the state and won in 2010 and they still don't have a physical presence in the state. I'm even considering canceling my prime sub, as I will be ordering significantly less from Amazon now. Really disappointed, thought we were safe at least until after 2016.
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It was the same with MA and the tax ... they "technically" have a presence here but it is not shops or stores .. they have a research office in Cambridge and bought robotics company Kiva System in Woburn so this was the "loophole" the state used to get them to start charging tax ...

Whatever even with the tax it is still typically cheaper to get stuff online.

 
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Same in Tennessee - started taxing here too in 2014.  I suspect Amazon feels they no longer need the tax-free status to keep sales up, so they're stopping the fight.  It will probably start taxing in most states over the next few years.

 
Correlli said:
Same in Tennessee - started taxing here too in 2014. I suspect Amazon feels they no longer need the tax-free status to keep sales up, so they're stopping the fight. It will probably start taxing in most states over the next few years.
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Amazon has a fulfillment center in Tennessee. That's likely why they have to charge tax there.

 
Just to clarify, this isn't Amazon deciding to be big meanies to CAGs all of a sudden by collecting taxes.  They are being forced to do this in many/most cases by the state itself.  Blame your local government if you're going to point any fingers.

Amazon tax

 
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PixelJunk Shooter - 70242-NTLD0-?M?IA

The ?? are for the year of one of the most famous "Vaporware" games that took 15 years to finally come out :)

 
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