Tag: stop the presses

Dead Space 3’s Workbench Will Have Microtransactions

dead space 3 microstransactions

Dead Space 3 will be hitting our screens very soon, but some news about the game dropped this week that may sour your anticipation. According to Eurogamer, Dead Space 3’s new workbench, where you can custom-make your weaponry, will include a microtransaction store for buying some additional resources.

While players will still be able to scavenge the materials for themselves or use scavenger bots to gather crafting resources in-game, real-world money can always be used to circumvent the collection process. This doesn’t mean that eager players can drop a ton of cash at the beginning of the game and get all the top-tier weaponry; they still have to wait for those guns to be unlocked as part of the narrative progression.

Even though this is the first instance of microtransactions in Dead Space, giving quick boosts for cash is nothing new in EA titles. Mass Effect 3 had this, as did Battlefield 3 and I wouldn’t be surprised if SimCity has something similar. What do you guys think about this? Is this a harmless addition for those of us flush with cash but strapped for time? Is it a foul on EA’s part to try and get their mitts into your wallet after you’ve already bought the game?

Source – Eurogamer

Star Wars: The Old Republic Confines Same-Sex Romance to One Planet

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The hits just keep on coming for BioWare and EA’s ill-fated Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic. After a less-than stellar launch and a much maligned move to free-to-play, the game is getting its first major expansion in the form of the Rise of the Hutt Cartel, which will feature, of all things, a planet where same-sex romances are permitted.

This might not seem too strange to people who haven’t played The Old Republic, but Makeb, as the planet is called, is the only place in the entire game where player characters can engage in same-sex romances with NPCs. This doesn’t turn previous companions into romance options, or even add new companions with this feature (because that would be “too difficult” according to the developers), but rather places new characters exclusively on Makeb.

As if that wasn’t strange enough, making this part of the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion means that same-sex romances are available only after paying for it. Putting SGR (same-gender romance as the TOR forums call it) on a single planet behind a paywall just smacks of not only laziness, but a lack of respect for customers looking for that kind of content. Continue reading Star Wars: The Old Republic Confines Same-Sex Romance to One Planet

Dead Island Riptide’s Zombie Bait Bust Flop

dead-island-riptide-zombie-bait-edition-statue

Welcome to “Stop the Presses” Thursday here on GamerSushi where we collect the biggest news stories of this week so you can give us your thoughts on them. Let’s get to it, shall we?

Just when you think the game industry couldn’t dig themselves any further into a misogynistic hole, out comes Deep Silver with their Zombie Bait Edition of Dead Island Riptide, boasting a bust of a zombified woman in a bikini. When I say bust, I mean bust: this is just a woman’s torso with no head or arms, and a Union flag-emblazoned bikini barely covering her breasts.

Special editions of games are no strangers to large, tacky statues, but I can’t think of anyone with half of a social life who would want to proudly display a severed torso in their living room. The bust is 31cm high, which means that this is one prominent piece of tawdry memorabilia. According to Deep Silver’s press release, the statue is meant to call to mind a grotesque version of a classic Roman torso sculpture. Continue reading Dead Island Riptide’s Zombie Bait Bust Flop