Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was officially launch in Singapore yesterday. Pre-ordered my copy of it last week at Funan’s challenger. Showed them my copy of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and got straight SGD$15 off the retail price of SGD$69.90, end up paying only SGD$54.90.

I love those goodies that come with the pre-order. In this case, it is 2x free t-shirts, 1x Tote bag and 1x 3D cover art. The full soundtrack and bonus mission are all digital download.

Box – Front

Box – Back

Read More (12 More Words, 7 More Images)

YES LAH! Time to get a new Mac! My favorite part in bold!

Leading Gaming Service Expands to Mac Platform

Valve announced today it will bring Steam, Valve’s gaming service, and Source, Valve’s gaming engine, to the Mac.

Steam and Valve’s library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.

“As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. “The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services.”

“Our Steam partners, who are delivering over a thousand games to 25 million Steam clients, are very excited about adding support for the Mac,” said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve. “Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge. For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play.”

“We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation,” said John Cook, Director of Steam Development. “The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward. We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360. Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients. The first Mac Steam client will be the new generation currently in beta testing on Windows.”

Portal 2 will be Valve’s first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows. “Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step,” said Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead. “We’re always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac.”

Support for the Mac in Source and Steamworks is available to third parties immediately

Press Release: Valve to Deliver Steam & Source on the Mac

Christmas came early for me on Friday! I received 3 parcels altogether! One is for the Nokia Technophobe Challenge #2, the second one was Wii Birthday Party Bash game from 2K Play and the third and last parcel was two netbook cases from Gear Zap / Mobile Fun.

This post is about the Wii Birthday Party Bash. I am going to review this game when my friends come over my house on the 1st August 2009 for a Wii party, we called it the Games Day! The packaging is excellent, this is no doubt the best packaging I have seen for a Wii game.

Here is a snippet from the press release

Birthday Party Bash provides a unique and entertaining way to host a child’s birthday celebration, offering state-of-the-art party games that can be enjoyed by up to 12 children at a time on the Wii. By modernising classics like Pin The Tail On The Donkey, Sack Race, Musical Chairs and 19 other traditional birthday games, it’s the perfect way to host a memorable and fun birthday party – without breaking the bank. The birthday boy or girl can also choose from ten party theme rooms for an unforgettable experience, from “Pirates,” complete with sword and treasure chest, to “Princess,” with a royal castle and magical unicorn.

The Invitation Card (Front)

The Invitation Card (Back)

The Mysterious Box

The Mysterious Box Opened

What Is The Game About? (Front)

What Is The Game About? (Back)

Wii Birthday Party Bash (Front)

Wii Birthday Party Bash (Back)

Wii Birthday Party Bash (Inside)

I would like to thank Fiona from Take 2 Asia for the game!

Official Site: Birthday Party Bash
Gamespot: Birthday Party Bash

Command & Conquer 4 has been announced by EA and it will ship sometime next year.

Behold disciples of Nod, the end is soon upon us. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that, after almost 15 years and 30 million games sold, EALA is bringing the award-winning Tiberium series to an epic conclusion with Command & Conquer 4. Shipping in 2010, Command & Conquer 4 will introduce a multitude of innovations to the to the classic fast and fluid Command & Conquer gameplay while retaining the core compulsions that fans have come to love over the series’ history. Introducing new class-based gameplay, mobile bases and persistent player progression throughout all game modes, Command & Conquer 4 offers players new, innovative and compelling strategic depth.

…

The story of Command & Conquer 4 takes place after the events of the critically acclaimed Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. The year is 2062 and humanity is at the brink of extinction. With only six years left until the mysterious crystalline structure Tiberium renders the earth entirely uninhabitable, the two opposing factions – Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod – inevitably find themselves in desperation for the same cause: to stop Tiberium from extinguishing mankind. The unthinkable becomes reality and Nod’s enigmatic leader Kane takes off for GDI headquarters. What is Kane planning in the heart of his enemies’ base? Command & Conquer 4 draws the epic conclusion to the beloved Tiberium universe, where fans will learn the fate of Earth, Nod, Tiberium, GDI and most importantly, Kane’s motivations behind his decade-long plan.

In addition to the two campaigns on the epic battles of GDI and Nod, which players will get to conquer alone or in a cooperative mode, Command & Conquer 4 will also feature a new 5v5 objective-based multiplayer mode, promoting teamwork and cooperation and delivering a social real-time-strategy experience never seen before in a Command & Conquer 4 game.

View: Press Release
Official Site: Command & Conquer 4

Video Games Live Singapore will take place on the 19th June 2009 (this Friday) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium at 8.30pm. There is a pre-show event happening right before the event at 6.30pm. It will be a 2 hour long concert. Ticket are priced at SGD$55, SGD$70, SGD$85 and SGD$115 and you can get them from SISTIC

What is Video Games Live?
Video Games Live – the biggest and most popular video game concert in the world debuts in Singapore!
This is a concert event put on by the video game industry to help encourage and support the culture and art that video games have become. Video Games Live (VGL) bridges a gap for entertainment by exposing new generations of music lovers and fans to the symphonic orchestral experience while also providing a completely new and unique experience for families and/or non-gamers. The show is heralded and enjoyed by the entire family. It’s the power & emotion of a symphony orchestra mixed with the excitement and energy of a rock concert and the technology and interactivity of a video game all completely synchronized to amazing cutting edge video screen visuals, state-of-the-art lighting and special on-stage interactive segments with the audience.

VGL quickly became the biggest and most popular game concert in the world. The debut performance was launched on 6 July 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic. Over 11,000 people attended making it the biggest video game concert in the world. Most of the game music played (Halo, Sonic, Metal Gear Solid, Mario, Zelda, Warcraft, Tomb Raider, Myst, Kingdom Hearts, Tron, God of War, EverQuest II, Medal of Honor, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil, Advent Rising, etc.) had never been performed live.

VGL is not just a concert, but a celebration of the entire video game industry that people of all ages will adore. Created and produced by Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico, Guinness Record holder for prolificacy in video game composing, VGL is a tribute to video games culture over the last three decades. The concert will stage music and footage from the most popular video games from past to present, including Mario, Halo, Final Fantasy, WarCraft, Sonic, Metal Gear Solid, Interactive Space Invaders, Diablo III, Metroid, Pac-Man, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, Zelda and many more.

Do check out Sheylara, Hillary, Nicole and Nicholas blog post about Video Games Live as well.

Official Site: Video Games Live Singapore
Buy Tickets: SISTIC

My exams ended on the 6th May 2009 and immediately after that, went for some retail therapy and bought a Nintendo Wii from Qisahn.com located at 545 Orchard Road #05-07, Far East Shopping Centre. It was kinda of a last minute decision to buy Wii which happens on the day before while studying for my Statistics & Probability (ST2334) paper.

The 3 of us, myself, Suqin and Kelvin (for his girlfriend’s birthday) bought the Wii together. We thought that buying 3 Wii together there would be discount, but unfortunately that is not the case. I spent a total of SGD$390 on this while Suqin and Kelvin each spend SGD$378 because they did not get the 3rd party component cable. Hong Jun also helped to inject some money into the economy by buying Wii Fit (that will be my next buy) and Weiquan bought some board games.

Price Breakdown

• Wii Korean Set (English): SGD$309
• Wii Nunchuck: SGD$26
• Wii Wiimote: SGD$48
• 3rd Party Wii Component Cable: SGD$12
• Discount of SGD$5
• Total: SGD$390

Box

Extra Wiimote/Nunchuck

3rd Party Wii Component Cable

Love The “Layers” Numbering

Layer 1

Layer 2

Nintendo Wii Contents

Received two Xbox 360 games via courier today from 2K Games which is part of Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two does Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, Civilization, Bioshock, Major League Baseball, NBA, NHL, etc.

Bioshock For Xbox 360

Civilization Revolution For Xbox 360

Bioshock 2 will be released sometime in September 2009 and it will be on the cover page on April’s issue of Game Informer.

I would like to thank Fiona from 2K Games for the games she sent me (I know she does read my blog). THANK YOU Fiona! Catch up sometime soon!

Links:

• Official Site: Take 2 Games
• Official Site: Bioshock
• Official Site: Civilization Revolution

If you bought Street Fighter IV for Xbox360, you are entitled to an exclusively free Street Fighter IV Calendar. You can redeem it from Challenger at Funan or Best Denki at VivoCity from 12th February 2009 to 28th February 2009.

Remember to bring along the receipt together with the game. I did not bring because it was not stated and that was a wasted trip!

Original State

Front

Back

Inside

Pre-ordered my Street Fighter IV for my Xbox 360 a couple of weeks ago at Mega Multimedia. Mega Multimedia have 2 shops at Jurong Point, 1 at JP1 and 1 at JP2 as well as at Century Square. The guy told me that if I pre-order now I can get SGD$5 off the retail price. I thought it must be quite a good deal. Yesterday I was there at Jurong Point and I went to ask when Street Fighter IV is coming, the same guy (I remembered his face) told me that it has been delayed till next week. I was like WTF? I know that SF4 will be launching on the 12th February 2009 because my friend in Microsoft told me about it and it is unlikely to be delayed.

At night, my good friend Paranoia aka Benjamin MSN me saying that the shop he pre-ordered from, Game Score which is located in Funan, has already called him asking him to come down and collect it today. I was quite pissed off with Mega Multimedia after that and I intended to call them in the morning to clarify. But before I could call them, they called me this morning and asked me to collect my pre-ordered SF4 as it is already in the store and told me over the phone that the price is SGD$85. So I thought on top of that, I will get another SGD$5 discount which makes it SGD$80, but the guy say SGD$85 is already the discounted price.

In the afternoon, Benjamin text me saying he also bought it at SGD$85 and told me that it is the standard retail price for those who pre-ordered. Mega Multimedia should not have told me that if I pre-order I will get a SGD$5 discount but instead should say that the pre-order price is SGD$85!

I went down to Jurong Point before my class and collected my SF4, the price was correct which is SGD$85. I will never buy anything from Mega Multimedia from today onwards, that will be my first and last purchase from them.

Front

Back

CD

Manual

PS: If you got the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter IV, just bring that down to either Funan’s Challenger or VivoCity’s Best Denki (11am till 6pm) and show them the game and you will get a free calendar, while stock last.

Got my hands on the standalone Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Premier Edition from The Software Boutique for SGD$79.90. There is also another version of the Premier Edition which is SGD$89.90 and it is bundled with a T-Shirt and a 2GB Thumbdrive.

The default bundles is really lousy!

SGD$119 for the Officer’s pack which includes the Premier Edition and the Dicota Bag.

SGD$219 for the Commander’s Pack which includes the Dicota Bag, Premier Edition, Microsoft SideWinder X6 Gaming Keyboard and Red Alert 3 Garskin custom keyboard decals.

EA, please listen to this! Nobody wants all those stupid bundles judging from the posts in Hardware Zone Forums. People just want the standalone Premier Edition, nothing else.

Pictures time!

Tint Box (Front)

Tint Box (Back)

Tint Box + Plastic Cover (Front)

Tint Box + Plastic Cover (Back)

Poster, Manual, Warhammer Online CD Key, C&C Future Beta CD Key

Music Disc

Bonus Disc + Game Disc