GameSpot and OnLive Partnership Announced

GameSpot has announced a new partnership with the game streaming service OnLive. GameSpot readers will now be able to play demos instantly from GameSpot reviews.

“For as long as video games have existed, consumers have sought out information that helps them make smart purchases and get the most out of their gaming experience,” said Simon Whitcombe, Vice President, Games, CBS Interactive. “Now, the next big innovation is here: merging the editorial with the experiential. By making demos available from our review pages, GameSpot is now the ultimate one-stop destination for gamers to read reviews, news, watch videos, and actually try out the latest games.”

“By integrating OnLive-powered instant game demos, GameSpot has deepened its user experience and further distinguished itself as a premiere gaming destination,” said OnLive Vice President of Games John Spinale. “We streamline the process of sampling a game, making it an integral part of discovery and evaluation by the GameSpot reader—not a disjointed one that forces the customer to go down to the store or wait several hours for something to download to their hard drive.”

The following games are now available for demo on GameSpot, via OnLive’s cloud gaming service:
· Homefront Large-Scale Warfare Multiplayer
· Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction
· FEAR 3 Multiplayer
· Duke Nukem Forever
· Borderlands
· Just Cause 2
· Batman: Arkham Asylum
· Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

OnLive will also incorporate GameSpot content such as reviews, interviews, previews, and more into their service.

"Gamestop is a Bag of Salty Dicks" [UPDATE: GameStop Pulling Deus Ex From Sale, Returns?]

UPDATE: GameStop has just decided to pull all PC copies of Deus Ex from sale.  Employees have been informed to accept all returns, and will still fulfill pre-orders.  Official message here. 

UPDATE 2: I have heard from a few people that even with that message, some GameStops have been ordered to refuse any returns. One of them called GameStop again and was then told that you should be able to return all copies and that the word must have not gotten to that gamestop yet, if you plan to return your copy, I would advise you to call ahead and make sure they are aware that they can take all returns.

Incase you haven't heard, GameStop "higher-ups" sent an email (viewable here) which instructed all GameStop employees to remove OnLive coupon codes from all PC copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution which gave the purchasers a free copy of the game on OnLive. Their official statement was: 

Regarding the Deus Ex: Human Revolution OnLive Codes: We don’t make a habit of promoting competitive services without a formal partnership. Square Enix packed the competitor’s coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull these coupons. While the new products may be opened, we fully guarantee the condition of the discs to be new. If you find this to not be the case, please contact the store where the game was purchased and they will further assist.

So essentially GameStop not only removed $50 of free content from the games, they also sold opened games with missing materials as "new", sounds pretty shady, if not illegal, and I will keep you update when we hear a statement from OnLive, lawsuit anyone?

PS: Thanks to Drilian for the great title of this article

OnLive 100th Game Celebration!

OnLive just hit their 100th game on the service!  How are they celebration?  With a boat-load of free stuff of course!  OnLive is currently running 2 different promotions for, conveniently, the next 100 hours.  The first is my favorite, which is if you spend $10 or more on an OnLive playpass, you get a 100% OFF coupon code useable on any game, or their microconsole, or one of their offical controllers.  So if you use the code on their console (Retails at $100) you pretty much save 100 bucks (besides shipping costs).  Or you could use it on a game and still save 30-40 dollars!  If you aren't sure what to spend those 10+ dollars on to get the coupon code, I'd recommend Metro 2033 or Mafia 2.  The other promotion is that they are giving away swag (from Hats and Shirts to Games and Microconsoles) to anyone playing onlive with spectator mode set to "Everyone".  So just play some games on OnLive for the next 5 days and try to get some free stuff!

Also, I bet you didn't know it was OnLive's birthday a couple days ago!  I'd like to personally wish them a happy first birthday, and hope the service gets even better by their second.  Some other news includes Homefront now being included in their month subscription playpack, facebook integration, and that OnLive is coming to the UK this fall.

Free OnLive Game! [UPDATE]

Update:  Said unamed game turned out to be Amnesia: The Dark Descent, you can now grab it for free on OnLive for the next 24 hours.  To get the game, enter OnLive and navigate to Amnesia's page in the marketplace.  Click on buy playpass and where it says "Promo Code" put "THANKYOU".

Tonight at ~9PM PST OnLive will release a code over at the OnLive forums which will allow you to get the newest game on the service (whatever that maybe) for free.  The code will go live over at www.onlivefans.com tonight and will only be avilable for 24 hours.  So grab a free game on OnLive tonight and enjoy!  The full email follows:

Dear OnLiveFans.com Members,

We have some awesome news for all the members of our http://OnLiveFans.com Forum!!

Today at 9:01 PM PT (12:01 AM ET) there will be a new game released for OnLive, and we will have a Promo Code for a Full PlayPass for all the members of our forum! The code will only be available for 24 hours after the release of the game, so make sure you check back later today!

It was the persistence from our members that has resulted in this publisher releasing the game free of charge for a 24 hour period. Stay Tuned to Our Forum Thread for your Full Playpass Promo Codes, and let us know what game you think it will be. This is certainly something you do not want to miss!!

We will be posting the Promo Code for the Full PlayPass, as well as announcing the game title in the following http://OnLiveFans.com forum thread at approximately 9:01 PM Pacific Time:

http://onlivefans.com/showthread.php?7749-New-OnLive-Game-Today-OnLiveFans.com-Members-get-a-Full-PlayPass!!

Be sure to check it out frequently, for more details, and let us know what game you think it will be! If you have friends on OnLive, or friends you think would like to know about this incredible deal, please send them the link.

Thanks
Eddie
OnLiveFans.com Admin 15645 Ocean Walk Circle Fort Myers FL, 33908 

OnLive adds PlayPack Game, Pre-Order Deals

Today's a pretty good day for OnLive, as there isn't just 1 piece of news about them, but 3!

First, Borderlands is joining over 50 games in OnLive's "PlayPack".  For those of you who don't know, the PlayPack is a service OnLive offers giving you access to over 50 games for a monthly subscription fee of $10.  With OnLive continuing to add games, it really is becoming a better and better deal.

They also unveiled two pre-order deals, one for Duke Nukem and one for Red Faction: Armageddon.  If you pre-order Duke Nukem for $45 on OnLive you get you're choice of either a free $100 microconsole (which is OnLive's gaming system allowing you to access the service on a TV, yet is only about as large as a game case) or a free game of your choosing.  If you pre-order Red Faction, you get a free microconsole aswell, AND, Red Faction: Guerilla for free.  So if you've been waiting for a good time to try OnLive, this is as good as any.  You could get Duke Nukem and Red Faction: Armaggedon for $45.