I was browsing Facebook and came across a deal too good not to share. For the next 14 hours or so you can save 50% on select PNY memory (micro SD, SD and USB sticks) on Amazon. I’m really tempted to pick up a 128GB thumb drive for $29.99.
I noticed yesterday that Amazon was selling a bundle that includes Civilization: Beyond Earth and Sid Meier’s Starships for $29.99, which was tempting. I had been wanting to check out Beyond Earth since its release last October, but the mixed reviews made it sound disappointing. I had also thought about buying Starships on the iPad several times, however the reviews of it also kept me from making the plunge.
I absolutely love Civ V and Revolution 2, however I don’t often find the time required to play them. I’ve put a little more than 20 hours into Civ V and probably at least 8-10 into Revolution 2, however between the two games I’ve actually only finished maybe four or five games (against AI). Combined with the fact that I’m trying to replay through the Fallout games on PC and still have Witcher 3, FIFA and Halo to occupy my time on the Xbox One, I’m not quite sure I’d be able to give Beyond Earth the time it deserves.
$30 for both games certainly seems like a steal (considering they’d total $65 together at their normal retail prices), but I don’t feel an immediate need to own Beyond Earth either.
Steam is making my decision even more difficult as it has the same bundle available for $26.99 which almost seems too good to pass up. But do I really need these games? Do you recommend checking them out?
Surge (the late 90’s to early 2000’s soft drink) has been back since the Fall of 2014, but it’s only today that I’ve managed to get my hands on some. For quite awhile when I’ve checked Amazon the stock was low and the prices were skyrocketing (as much as $40 for a 12 pack) which kept me from ever ordering any. However, now that I have Amazon Prime, I was able to order two cases and throw them in a Prime Pantry for around $30.
Prime Pantry is a service that charges a flat $5.99 shipping fee for whatever you can fit in the box (for example, the 12-pack of Surge takes up 30% of a 45 pound box).
This was the first time I’ve used Prime Pantry and it was incredibly easy and pretty convenient. The box shipped quickly and arrived within a week of placing my order. The box was packed neatly and everything arrived intact.
So, just how was it to taste Surge for the first time in over 10 years? It was nostalgic, that’s for sure. From the instant I cracked open the can I was brought back to the days of all night Goldeneye sessions on the N64, stacking an unhealthy amount of cans as the nights wore on.
I’m glad Surge is back. Maybe someday we’ll see the return of my all time favorite soda, Pepsi Blue or heck, let’s bring back Vault (the red variety!) while we’re at it!
Cheers!
I just found out about an awesome discount on Amazon Prime, effective today (24 January) only! To celebrate Amazon’s series Transparent winning two Golden Globes they’ve discounted the price of an Amazon Prime subscription to $72 from the usual $99. This $27 discount is a great deal for an incredible service.
I usually sign up for free trials of Prime when I can (especially around Christmas), however this marks the first time I’ve committed to an entire year of the service. The free two day shipping is awesome (and addictive!) but you also get access to Amazon’s video and music streaming services, which are pretty cool as well.
Head over to Amazon to take advantage of this discount while it lasts!
I was looking for a new laptop bag and ended up buying this one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031Q8U9S/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It was hard to get an idea of what it was like just from the one picture on the page so I figured I’d record a video and hopefully give people a better idea of what the bag is like. Personally I love it. It feels much better to carry around and I like the style much better than my old, simple black laptop bag.
So as part of the recent Steam sale and current Amazon sale I picked up quite a few games between the two. I got Borderlands 2 for $13.59 on Steam (it’s no longer on sale on Steam but will be that price on Amazon until the 31st!), LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 for $5, Civilization V GOLD, Civilization IV Complete and XCOM: Enemy Unknown for $19.99, Age of Empires III Complete for $9.99, Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY and Arkham City GOTY for $12 and lastly FIFA 13 for $16 (on Origin).
I’ve played a lot of Borderlands 2 and have enjoyed it immensely. $13 is a steal with as much fun as you can have with this game. I recorded some video of me using my new favorite gun on one of my favorite quests from yesterday:
I have some more video but it hasn’t been processed and uploaded yet, so I might add it later.
FIFA 13 is great, as FIFA always is. I haven’t owned a FIFA game since 11 (I rented 12 but didn’t really like the feel of it) and I’ve never owned a FIFA game on the PC so this is a first for me. $16 was just too good to pass up (the console version is on sale through Gamestop this weekend for $40). It looks nice and plays well with a 360 controller so I’d definitely recommend you pick it up if you have any interest in FIFA. The only downside to playing on the PC is most of my friends play on the 360, but they’d just slaughter me anyway.
I love pretty much every video Chris Pirillo uploads to YouTube, but my all time favorites are his tech unboxing videos. Today he unboxed a Kindle Fire HD 7″ and 8.9″ live on YouTube and gave his first impressions. You can watch the recorded video below.
I’ve owned a 7″ Kindle Fire HD for about two months now and I absolutely love it. I use it to read books, magazines and newspapers, to watch movies and TV shows (especially Netflix and Hulu in bed), to browse the web, and lastly, to play games (such as Final Fantasy III or Angry Birds Star Wars). The screen looks amazing and the speakers are surprisingly loud compared to the original Kindle Fire (which I also owned, but sold to help purchase the Fire HD).
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Chris Pirillo is a long time tech journalist / personality and I’ve been a fan of him since he appeared on Call 4 Help back on TechTV. Today he runs LockerGnome.com where you’ll find all sorts of technology news and views, and he’s very active on YouTube (YouTube.com/lockergnome) with over 5,000 videos uploaded to date (with an accumulated 152,765,572 views) and several new videos a day.
Chris Pirillo on Call 4 Help (Sept. 21, 2001)
So I ended up making the $15.99 purchase of Final Fantasy III on the Kindle Fire HD and so far it’s been a blast to play. First of all it looks great on the 7″ HD display (I think it’s also available on the regular Fire, and presumable the 8.9″ Fire HD). It also sounds great on the improved stereo speakers on the Fire HD. The touch analog stick makes navigating the world a breeze. Basically you can touch the screen anywhere and an analog stick pops up allowing you to move your character. This is great because sometimes it’s more convenient to control the action with my left thumb, while at other times it’s better to do so with the right thumb. The menus are also easy to navigate by touch and picking options in the turn based combat is fast and easy.
I’m very impressed by the quality of the game so far and I’m only about an hour in so my adventure has just begun.
If you visit Amazon today you’ll see this on the front page:
I’ve had the 7″ Kindle Fire HD for a few weeks now and I’m in love with it, so I’ll have to agree with Amazon, the Fire HD is the better buy. Don’t believe me? Just check the specs Amazon points out. Sure for $130 more you’ll have a wider range of apps to choose from (the smaller selection of apps available for the Fire is its only downfall in my eyes), but just look at what you’ll be missing out on. The Fire HD’s screen is stunning. Don’t believe me? Just play with one in a store. Watch a movie, view pictures, read a magazine. It’s a downright amazing screen. The speakers on the Fire HD are even better. The sound quality is great, and it can actually get pretty loud which is a nice improvement over the original Fire.
Don’t think I’m just hating on Apple. I use (and love) a MacBook Pro and iPhone 4. I just think Amazon makes the best tablet for me.
My Kindle Fire HD (7″, 16gb) arrived today and unfortunately I have to head into work in a few minutes so I haven’t had enough time to play with it to write something more thorough. Instead I’ll share a few pictures below. I’ll post a more detailed look at the device in the near future. For now I can say it’s incredibly sexy, the screen is amazing and the device feels great in the hands. I also love the updated OS, and the new powerful speakers are much louder and sound great.
avideogamelife 