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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Thank you EC promo paranoia: I didn't buy Dust: An Elysian Tail in December because I expected it to be on the EC list... and now it's in the latest HIB. :D

 
DarkZero104 said:
So Irrational Games just shut down after finishing the last DLC for BioShock Infinite.
About those BioShock bundles and their respective DLC...

Not an issue on the publisher mind you, 2K still has that. More of a going away thing now that the studio's been killed.
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This just sucks.

IMHO, they make arguably the best game that I played in 2013 - and now in 2014, they're pretty much, more or less, closing their HUGE doors....shutting down to around 15 employees.

And they're likely going to focus on digital download games + narrative-driven games.

Bleh. :(

 
EA released a few new downloadable packages today on Origin, hopefully they'll be added to Amazon soon:

Crysis Trilogy ($49.99) includes:

  • Crysis
  • Crysis: Warhead
  • Crysis 2 Maximum Edition
  • Crysis 3 Digital Deluxe Edition
  • Crysis 3: Lost Island Expansion
Need for Speed™ Rivals Ferrari Edizioni Speciali Complete Pack ($5.99) includes:

  • Take down Racers, stay one step ahead of the cops and beat your Rivals with the Ferrari Edizioni Speciali bundle. Includes both Cop and Racer versions of these Extreme Machines - The Ferrari F40 and the Ferrari F50
Need for Speed™ Rivals Simply Jaguar Complete Pack ($5.99) includes:

  • Take down Racers, stay one step ahead of the cops and beat your Rivals with the Simply Jaguar bundle. Includes both Cop and Racer versions of the Jaguar C-X75, the most advanced Jaguar ever created and the Jaguar XJ220 the world’s first hypercar.
 
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Universe Sandbox - MTTCT-G?PZE-5?ZTZ --

?? = One great year in video gaming history. :)

Game releases-

  • Nintendo releases some great NES games. Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus.
  • Enix releases Dragon Quest/Warrior.
  • EA releases Starflight.
  • Sega releases Out Run.
  • Konami releases Akumajou Dracula (First in the Castlevania series).
  • Sierra releases Space Quest 1.
  • Taito releases Arkanoid and Bubble Bobble.

Console Releases -

  • Atari 7800 ("Re-Release" after getting shelved due to sale of the company. Was supposed to release two years prior)
  • Sega Master System

New Gaming Companies -

  • Acclaim
  • Majesco
  • Ubi Soft
  • Bethesda Softworks
Golden Joystick Awards GOTY -

  • Gauntlet (Arcade)


@MysterD .. Noticed on Steam you have Giana Sisters on your Wishlist .. I have a Humble Gift Link .. Let me know if you want it.

 
Motoki said:
On a semi-serious note, is this and the other Fable 3 DLC going away when GFWL goes down? I seem to vaguely recall having to redeem it there?
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Actually, Fable III has already been pulled from every digital storefront I can find. I doubt it will come back unless the GFWL issue is resolved. And I waited too long to pick it up, of course.

Edit: I take that back. The Fable bundle with DLC is still listed at Amazon for $48.93, even though Fable III itself is unavailable separately. The non-DLC bundle is $29.98.
 
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Sepioth said:
Universe Sandbox - MTTCT-G?PZE-5?ZTZ --

?? = One great year in video gaming history. :)

Game releases-

  • Nintendo releases some great NES games. Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus.
  • Enix releases Dragon Quest/Warrior.
  • EA releases Starflight.
  • Sega releases Out Run.
  • Konami releases Akumajou Dracula (First in the Castlevania series).
  • Sierra releases Space Quest 1.
  • Taito releases Arkanoid and Bubble Bobble.

Console Releases -

  • Atari 7800 ("Re-Release" after getting shelved due to sale of the company. Was supposed to release two years prior)
  • Sega Master System

New Gaming Companies -

  • Acclaim
  • Majesco
  • Ubi Soft
  • Bethesda Softworks
Golden Joystick Awards GOTY -

  • Gauntlet (Arcade)


@MysterD .. Noticed on Steam you have Giana Sisters on your Wishlist .. I have a Humble Gift Link .. Let me know if you want it.
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Appreciate the kind offer!

But, I made sure at $1, I already bought that HB for both Steam-keys and DRM-FREE.

 
 
Motoki said:
Wait, that's a bad thing? That doesn't sound so bad.
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Well, in a sense - no, it's not.

If they can put out great Indie-games, then...awesome. :D

I'm more unhappy at them "upward of 200 employees" going...God knows where. :(

Hopefully, they get jobs w/ other 2K divisions or somewhere else quickly.

People losing their jobs...that sucks.

Don't wanna see more people hit the unemployment line.

 
MysterD said:
Well, in a sense - no, it's not.

If they can put out great Indie-games, then...awesome. :D

I'm more unhappy at them "upward of 200 employees" going...God knows where. :(

Hopefully, they get jobs w/ other 2K divisions or somewhere else quickly.

People losing their jobs...that sucks.

Don't wanna see more people hit the unemployment line.
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Agree... I have a friend who works in the gaming industry .. he's worked for Rockstar New Englnd (they closed their testing division), Ubisoft and former Stainless Steel Studios in Cambridge (they got screwed by Midway games in 2006 causing them to have to close shop). His last job was with Ubisoft working on some online girls game.

But he was out of work for almost 2 years. Thankfully his mother in law was nice enough to give him a cheap place for him his wife and at the time 2 year old daughter to live. He recently just got a new job. :)

 
MysterD said:
This just sucks.

IMHO, they make arguably the best game that I played in 2013 - and now in 2014, they're pretty much, more or less, closing their HUGE doors....shutting down to around 15 employees.

And they're likely going to focus on digital download games + narrative-driven games.

Bleh. :(
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I haven't seen the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bioshock Infinite sold much better digitally than it did at retail. The term "digital download" is very broad; it can cover everything from Steam to consoles to mobile devices. All I'm taking from that is he's not interested in creating an arbitrary $60 disc; I'm sure the new studio's work will still be on Steam and similar services. Also, I think Levine's narrative work has been solid over the course of his many games, arguably the strongest component, so I look forward to his future endeavors.

It sucks horribly for the 100+ talented people at Irrational who are now out of a job. I hope they land on their feet and are able to be employed at another studio soon.

 
The Sifu said:
I haven't seen the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bioshock Infinite sold much better digitally than it did at retail. The term "digital download" is very broad; it can cover everything from Steam to consoles to mobile devices. All I'm taking from that is he's not interested in creating an arbitrary $60 disc; I'm sure the new studio's work will still be on Steam and similar services. Also, I think Levine's narrative work has been solid over the course of his many games, arguably the strongest component, so I look forward to his future endeavors.

It sucks horribly for the 100+ talented people at Irrational who are now out of a job. I hope they land on their feet and are able to be employed at another studio soon.
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Oh, I'm definitely looking forward to what Ken and his team comes up w/, in a smaller and likely Indie type of scene. No doubt about that.
It'll surely be interesting to see what kind of stuff they can put together.

I also hope since 2K now holds Bioshock IP, that the series doesn't drop in quality. I don't wanna see this milked yearly like CoD. Granted, 2 out of 3 Bioshock's were amazing, IMHO - that'd be Bioshock 1 + Infinite, all from Irrational.

I liked Bioshock 2 from that other closed 2K Studio (2K Marin) and thought it was good, but it just wasn't the other two games, IMHO. Though, Minerva's Den DLC that really shined and was great, actually.

BTW - sucks that 2K Marin's gone, as well.

Hope those from 2K have already or can get back on their feet.

No matter how you cut it - still sucks for the 200 or so employees at Irrational that are gone.

I wish all of the current and former Irrational employees the best in their future endeavors.

 
My job requires me to do a lot of writing and I've found that video game soundtracks are fantastic for listening to while writing. Now I almost exclusively listen to music without lyrics (like most video game OSTs) or music in a language I do not speak. I just bought the new Humble Bundle specifically for the music even though I owned every single game- I consider that $5 well spent.
 
RColaUAB said:
My job requires me to do a lot of writing and I've found that video game soundtracks are fantastic for listening to while writing. Now I almost exclusively listen to music without lyrics (like most video game OSTs) or music in a language I do not speak. I just bought the new Humble Bundle specifically for the music even though I owned every single game- I consider that $5 well spent.
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I highly recommend you listen to a little band called Faunts. Mostly instrumental, not a lot of singing, amazing stuff. Their song M4 Part II is used in the ending credits for Mass Effect 2; that's how I came across them. Very unique, very good.

 
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