By Lorin Baumgarten

On this week’s episode of EpicBatleCry, the hosts talked quite a bit about game delays. As you know this is a favorite topic of mine and, therefore, you might be expecting me to write about it this week. Well, I will not. Although – I will say that I still can’t figure out why an industry that makes more money than the music industry and is creeping up on film still cannot seem to manage what the other two forms of entertainment mastered long ago: schedules. I mean, didn’t we all learn about schedules and managing expectations and fulfilling commitments in some intro class in high school? I mean seriously, gaming industry, get your sh*# together when it comes to…wait a minute, wait a minute. I said that I am not going to write about this topic this week, didn’t I?. Sorry. I got a little caught up there. What I dowant to discuss this week is a topic DK brought up on the show in the context of Mass Effect 2, but is an even more interesting question when extrapolated out to the industry in general. That question is: are games being dumbed down and/or diluted in order to appeal to the masses and , if so, are they losing quality and merit because of it?

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Around here at the ‘Axe we enjoy cleaving the fat from the gaming news of the day and we also enjoy cleaving some cost from your gaming budget when the opportunity arises. Well, we’ve teamed up with GoGamer.com to ensure you’re “in the know” about some serious deals taking place during the online retailers “48-Hour Madness” sales. What is “48-Hour Madness” you ask? Well, aside from the phrase often used to describe my wedding, it’s a two day period where gamers logging on to GoGamer.com can score some serious savings on existing or forthcoming games.

This week, folks looking forward to Mafia II can pre-order the game on the PS3 for $49.90 while those that missed out on Alan Wake can snag the Xbox 360 thriller for only $29 bucks. Also, PC gamers can pick up BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 for the ridiculous low price of $16.90 while wanna-be spies can sneak into the world of Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell: Conviction for $27.90. Lastly, Madden fans will soon get their chance to square off on the virtual gridiron and GoGamer.com’s punching your sideline seat for Madden NFL 11 with about a $7 savings off the regular retails price.

So, check out all of this week’s 48-Hour Madness sales and pre-order pricing specials right here and see if there’s anything you like.

Happy shopping!

By Lorin Baumgarten

I am back from my short-lived vacation and I am ready to grumble. While I was gone, I missed my weekly opportunity to discuss with you the relative merits of all things gaming. So it is with a full heart that I popped the Alan Wake soundtrack on to the old headphones and begun typing. The topic-du-jour is one that has come up in the past, and will likely not go away anytime soon. It was the main topic of this week’s episode of EpicBattleCry and one about which I have very strong feelings. I am betting that you do to. The topic discussed on EBC was whether or not current video game marketing, specifically Limited Editions, console-exclusive content, and pre-order bonuses is good for gamers. More to the point, however, is if this type of marketing is good for gaming.

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Sure, it’s a little late, but today Sumthing Else Music Works, through its licensing relationship with Microsoft Game Studios, announced that the Alan Wake Original Score featuring original music composed by Petri Alanko will be released on July 20th to retail outlets through Sumthing Else Music Works. The soundtrack will also be available for digital download on Sumthing Digital and iTunes.

“Scoring Alan Wake was all about finding the motives of the characters and what forces them onwards,” says composer Petri Alanko. “Composing a romantic score for a psychothriller might not seem obvious, but to me it was the right approach for the game – and I thank Remedy for believing in the decisions I made.”

So, how many of you plan on picking this up? Feel free to, uh, “sound off” below.

If you were still wondering how much you will have to shell out in order to continue the adventure of Mr. Wake, wonder no more. The dudes from Remedy broke word that each Alan Wake DLC pack will cost $7 (560 MS Points), and that the $10 price tag shown before was just a placeholder.

The first DLC pack, “The Signal”, is free to those who purchased the game new, and is due out July 27th. This pack is said to run at about 90 minutes of play time, which sounds pretty good to me.

“The Writer”, the second Alan Wake DLC pack will also run for $7 and is releasing later this year.

Does this price entice you to queue up these DLC packs day one? Creep down to the comment section and cry havoc!

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Well, there seems to have been a misunderstanding in regards to an alleged third DLC pack for Alan Wake. I posted up an article a few days ago that mentioned a third DLC pack, but the dudes at Remedy posted in the Alan Wake official forums that a third pack was not what they were referencing, but instead they were just mentioning the second DLC pack, “The Writer”, that comes out later this year.

However, Remedy also stated that this doesn’t mean a third DLC can’t come in the future, but as of now they only have two. Check below for the official response from Remedy, and my sincere apologies for the misinformation.

Remedy:

Hey guys,

Of course, it’s not inconceivable that there could be more than just two — that’ll probably have a lot to do with how the first two do, among other things — but let me reiterate we’re not working on anything like that right now. It’s just a simple misunderstanding!

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Alan Wake is a game that has a nice setup for future story telling, and that is made obvious by the downloadable content plans Remedy has for it. We already know about two DLC packs for Alan Wake, “The Signal” and “The Writer”, the first of which drops July 27.

However, the guys and girls at Remedy revealed they have more up their sleeve, with Managing Director Matias Myllyrinne telling MTV that they’ll “have a future pack coming later this year.”

Not bad I must say, since now Alan Wake players can savor the horror even longer. Are you man (or woman) enough to continue battling the darkness in the DLC packs? Let us know your thoughts below.

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Rejoice for on the morrow…BATTLE! Its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry and this week we check out the next pack of DLC headed to 360 for Modern Warfare 2, mark the date for Alan Wake’s downloadable episode, peruse the resume of Shank’s writer, lament no new space-buddies in Mass Effect 2’s Overload DLC, and welcome Onslaught mode to the console versions of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

This week we’re all about taking on EA’s Online Pass: pit-fighter style! With the announcement that EA will begin charging gamers who pick up a used copy of Tiger Wood’s PGA Tour 11 (and other titles moving forward) ten bucks to get access to online play, we weigh in on the motives, the money, and what this will ultimately mean for gamers.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to Call of Duty: Black Ops, Portal on Mac, Fable III, and User Generated Content getting some love with MMO’s
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If Alan Wake is supposed to be the Xbox 360 exclusive to rival the PS3’s Heavy Rain, Microsoft is in for a shitstorm. Alan Wake is set for US release May 18, but it was released last week in the UK to a rather half-arsed response. The psychological action thriller lost the top selling spot to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, a rival that probably wouldn’t have posed a threat in the soccer-apathetic US. As an Xbox 360 exclusive title, Mr. Wake’s poor showing is a detrimental blow, especially if US response follows suit.

In a recent Destructiod interview with Alan Wake writer Mikko Rautalahti, he stressed the importance of narrative in such an atmosphere-heavy game. Mr. Wake is, after all, a successful writer and much of the gameplay features chunks of his own manuscripts. As someone who enjoys a good story and who has personally watched gameplay from Alan Wake, I have to say that I wasn’t impressed with the writing at all. The heavy action scenes are fine, but when the narrative reads like an epileptic third grader wrote it in the middle of a rave, I find it difficult to immerse myself in the scene. Even Twin Peaks wasn’t this campy.

So what do you guys think? Is narrative important in your games or does it all depend on the action? Are you at all discouraged by Alan Wake’s UK release? Talk it out!

According to a tweet from Daniel Maher, a UK Xbox LIVE Editor, the first piece of DLC for Remedy’s upcoming psychological action-thriller Alan Wake is set to drop on July 28th.

Although the DLC hasn’t been priced yet, we do know that it will be free for all of those who purchase the game new. No word on what the content will be, though it will no doubt be a complete “episode”, following the structure of the game.

Also, if you haven’t checked out the webisode series, Bright Falls, do it! The six-part live-action prequel to the game can be found right here and it’s worth your time. Frankly, if they made it into a TV series, I’d watch it!

Bright Falls should be just enough to keep you busy until the game’s release, which is tomorrow in Europe and next Tuesday, May 18th, in the US.

UPDATE: Apparently, the content is actually being released on July 27th as the ADM of the game’s official forum just posted the following:

Hold on to your Alan Wake token card found inside each new copy of Alan Wake to receive the first add-on episode. The episode titled “The Signal” will be available July 27, 2010 on Xbox LIVE. Please hold on to your token card to redeem the content at that time and stay tuned for more details soon.