Welcome to the a new edition of The Cheapskate's Corner: we've learnt our lesson and we're bringing this column on time. And not only is this issue on time, but also full with bundles past, present and future to satiate all your cheapest desires.
· Groupees' Be Mine 8 ended yesterday, after selling almost 35,000 bundles. While there's still no news about the Constant C Linux version, those who bought this bundle got Paranautical Activity and also Primordia if they payed more than $5. As we said in one of the updates to last weeks' column Primordia can be played natively using the Linux port of the AGS runtime,but since the game comes as a Windows binary installer there's no way to avoid using Wine, some VM software or even a PC with Windows installed to get the game assets needed to play.
UPDATE: An anonymous commenter informed us that AGS games are Inno Setup archives that can be easily extracted on Linux with innoextract. We've tried and can confirm it works like a charm. Thanks! ;)
· The Bitcoin Bundle also ended yesterday, after being extended by 5 days because Bitcoins bought at Coinbase took up to 5 days to arrive to the buyers. It didn't do very bad at all, but its final numbers were a little below the creators' expectations. You can read all about sells and income in this entry of their blog.
· Finally, Shinyloot's Key Indie Sale also ended during last week, after giving you the chance to get some (or a lot of) indie Linux games with a discount. We don't know the outcome of this experiment of theirs or whether they'll be doing it regularly, so we'll keep an eye on their webpage for any possible re-run.
Three bundles/massive sales ended, but there are three more that still resist!
As they usually do, the Humble Bundle guys added some more games to The Humble Indie Bundle 8 on its second week. This time around the bonus games are: Tiny & Big in Grandpa's Leftovers, Intrusion 2 (available DRM-free for Linux for the first time), English Country Tune (debuting on Linux) and Oil Rush (plus the tower defense map pack DLC). All these new games come with their corresponding original soundtracks.
So if you haven't got this awesome bundle by now, you can still do it during the next 6 days. Pay what you want ($1 min for the Steam keys) and get:
Or beat the average (currently around $5.75) and also get:
As usual, all the games are available as DRM-free downloads and as Steam keys (if you pay more than $1, of course).
After the last Cheapskate's Corner was published a new Bundle In A Box came out, and we duly (but also a little chaotically) reported it with a couple of updates. The Capsule Computers Indie Bundle will still be up for another 8 days, and today it's received a new addition, so let's sum up all this bundle has to offer us.
Pay what you want above the $1.99 minimum and get Hacker Evolution Untold (DRM-free + Desura key), The Blackwell Legacy, Blackwell Unbound, The Blackwell Convergence, The Blackwell Deception and the new addition, Lune (alpha) (DRM-free):
If you beat the average (currently around $4), you'll also get Hacker Evolution Duality (DRM-free + Steam key + Desura key) and Secret of the Magic Crystals (Steam key):
A few comments about some of the games on this bundle:
1) As was the case with Primordia, all the Blackwell saga games can be played natively in Linux using the AGS Linux port and the games original assets.But in order to extract those assets you'll need either a Windows-running PC or to make use of some emulation or virtualization software.
UPDATE: These assets can be extracted on Linux with the innoextract tool.
2) The Lune alpha has a downloadable DRM-free 32-bit native build, but when we try to play it all we get is a window displaying this. The game doesn't react to any key or mouse click. Is it just us, some incompatibility with 64-bit systems like ours or is it an outright bug?
UPDATE: Indeed it was the game's fault. Turns out it's all a matter to manually update the Unity3D configuration for this game. The kind guys from the Linux Game Cast tell you how to do it here.
3) In the pay-the-minimum tier there are also Super Tower Rush and Pixelry, which could be coming to Linux someday and become two unexpectedly unlocked games in the future.
Indiebundle.org's Perilous Puzzle Bundle is also still available, but with no new additions. So the deal is the same as it was last week: pay $5 and get Hairy Tales or pay $7 and also get Wyv and Keep:
And like we told you last week, the $5 level also includes Great Permutator, a game that is apparently being ported to Linux. So here's another potential unexpectedly unlocked game if you buy this bundle.
Besides the three still-running bundles, we also have three brand new ones to tell you about, although don't expect anything über-spectacular.
After one bundle with no Linux content, IndieRoyale has released The Hammerhead Bundle featuring Primordia and Potatoman Seeks the Troof (recently released on Desura:
The bundle also includes Richard & Alice, a game built with AGS and therefore likely to be natively playable with the AGS Linux port. However, nobody has reported it so far, so get it at your own risk. Or better still, you can try it with the game demo as they suggest here. If any of you suceeds in trying it, or has already played the game this way, please tell us and we'll update this bundle info including Richard & Alice as a full-fledged member.
Needless to say, Primordia needs to be played with the Linux port of AGS, as we've repeatedly stated before.
Hurry up to snatch this bundle as it ends in less than 2 days! As usual, you have to beat the minimum (which is currently €4.28) to get it.
UPDATE: Too late! This bundle is no longer active. However, we won't have to wait too much till the next one as they are already promoting it.
Despite being advertised as a Windows & Mac bundle, the fact is that the Race Against Time Gamer Bundle includes a Linux game, Dungeon Hearts:
Strictly speaking the bundle also contains another Linux game, Waveform, although here it's only available as a Win/Mac DRM-free download. Anyway you can get Dungeon Hearts for as little as $1, so it's still a good deal. And you can think it over for quite a long time, as the bundle will last for more than 18 days.
And finally the last of this week's new deals is the 8th Bundle Stars bundle, called Atomic Indie. It contains no less than 10 games but, as was the case of the previous bundle, this one also only includes one Linux game, SpaceChem (Steam key):
The bundle is sold for about €4.60 so that would equate roughly to a 54% discount from SpaceChem's Steam €9.99 retail price (prices and discount percentage may vary depending on from where you're reading this).
UPDATE: If you're only interested in Spacechem from this bundle, it might be a good idea to previously check this new Amazon deal, as it may be cheaper depending on the currency conversion rates.
We won't leave before taking a quick peek to what could be happening in the next few days regarding Linux games:
1) The current Humble Weekly Sale will be ending in about 24 hours. Will they go back to offer Linux games in the next one, or will the weekly sales become a "Linux-hostile" environment forever? You sure bet we hope on the former!
UPDATE: "Habemus sale novam!" And it does include a Linux title -Serious Sam 3: BFE-, but it's certainly not enough. It's on the Beat Average level and it's been on sale many times recently, so we don't really see hordes of Linux gamers rushing to get it.
2) Rumour says that a new Groupees bundle, of the Build a Bundle sort, will be launched next week. No idea about its contents, but Groupees' bundles usually include a couple of Linux games. Besides, given their nature, a Build-a-Bundle is the ideal type of bundle for us since they allow us to pick on what we really want.
And that was all we had that could interest to a bunch of cheapskates like you are. Keep coming back as we'll be updating this column with whatever new information we can gather about the bundles we presented you or any new one that could pop up out of the blue. And as we always say, remember to check the sales page in this website to keep up to date with the current sales on Linux games. See you!
Amazin'! Boy, did this one really come out of the blue! (At least for us, maybe it was announced a week ago and everybody already knew :P) Amazon.com has just created an Indie Games section and they are celebrating with wholesale discounts and a couple of interesting bundles as well.
The first one is called Indie Quintet and includes The Cave, Little Inferno and Stealth Bastard Deluxe:
This bundle also includes Strike Suit Zero, a game that is coming to Linux for sure. It costs $9.99 which equals to about a 70% discount, only counting the 3 current Linux games.
The second bundle is called Oh So Fine and Dandy Bundle and it's like a re-run of the recent Humble Double Fine Bundle, only that this one also includes The Cave besides Costume Quest, Stacking, Psychonauts and Brütal Legend:
This other bundle also costs $9.99 or what's the same, more than 85% off the listed prices on Amazon. How crazy is that?
But that's not all! For any indie game purchase (and there are quite a few to choose from) you make between June 6-10 you'll get 3 games for free: Dynasty of Dusk as a Windows-only download, The Curse of Nordic Cove unfortunately also as a Windows/Mac download, and a Steam key for Huntsman: The Orphanage, a game that will eventually be available for Linux (see the comment from March 27 on their Greenlight page).
And yet another unexpected deal to reach our doors! Charlie from Charlie's Games has put almost his entire catalogue into Charlie's Games MegaBundle Pack. Pay what you want ($1 min) and get Irukandji, Bullet Candy (2013 update) and Bullet Candy Perfect:
Alternatively, pay $9.99 or more and also get Scoregasm (registers on Steam):
We don't know for how long will this deal be available, so if you ever fancied some of Charlie's games don't think it twice and go grab this pack! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
· Groupees' Be Mine 8 ended yesterday, after selling almost 35,000 bundles. While there's still no news about the Constant C Linux version, those who bought this bundle got Paranautical Activity and also Primordia if they payed more than $5. As we said in one of the updates to last weeks' column Primordia can be played natively using the Linux port of the AGS runtime,
UPDATE: An anonymous commenter informed us that AGS games are Inno Setup archives that can be easily extracted on Linux with innoextract. We've tried and can confirm it works like a charm. Thanks! ;)
· The Bitcoin Bundle also ended yesterday, after being extended by 5 days because Bitcoins bought at Coinbase took up to 5 days to arrive to the buyers. It didn't do very bad at all, but its final numbers were a little below the creators' expectations. You can read all about sells and income in this entry of their blog.
· Finally, Shinyloot's Key Indie Sale also ended during last week, after giving you the chance to get some (or a lot of) indie Linux games with a discount. We don't know the outcome of this experiment of theirs or whether they'll be doing it regularly, so we'll keep an eye on their webpage for any possible re-run.
Three bundles/massive sales ended, but there are three more that still resist!
As they usually do, the Humble Bundle guys added some more games to The Humble Indie Bundle 8 on its second week. This time around the bonus games are: Tiny & Big in Grandpa's Leftovers, Intrusion 2 (available DRM-free for Linux for the first time), English Country Tune (debuting on Linux) and Oil Rush (plus the tower defense map pack DLC). All these new games come with their corresponding original soundtracks.
So if you haven't got this awesome bundle by now, you can still do it during the next 6 days. Pay what you want ($1 min for the Steam keys) and get:
Or beat the average (currently around $5.75) and also get:
As usual, all the games are available as DRM-free downloads and as Steam keys (if you pay more than $1, of course).
After the last Cheapskate's Corner was published a new Bundle In A Box came out, and we duly (but also a little chaotically) reported it with a couple of updates. The Capsule Computers Indie Bundle will still be up for another 8 days, and today it's received a new addition, so let's sum up all this bundle has to offer us.
Pay what you want above the $1.99 minimum and get Hacker Evolution Untold (DRM-free + Desura key), The Blackwell Legacy, Blackwell Unbound, The Blackwell Convergence, The Blackwell Deception and the new addition, Lune (alpha) (DRM-free):
If you beat the average (currently around $4), you'll also get Hacker Evolution Duality (DRM-free + Steam key + Desura key) and Secret of the Magic Crystals (Steam key):
A few comments about some of the games on this bundle:
1) As was the case with Primordia, all the Blackwell saga games can be played natively in Linux using the AGS Linux port and the games original assets.
UPDATE: These assets can be extracted on Linux with the innoextract tool.
2) The Lune alpha has a downloadable DRM-free 32-bit native build, but when we try to play it all we get is a window displaying this. The game doesn't react to any key or mouse click. Is it just us, some incompatibility with 64-bit systems like ours or is it an outright bug?
UPDATE: Indeed it was the game's fault. Turns out it's all a matter to manually update the Unity3D configuration for this game. The kind guys from the Linux Game Cast tell you how to do it here.
3) In the pay-the-minimum tier there are also Super Tower Rush and Pixelry, which could be coming to Linux someday and become two unexpectedly unlocked games in the future.
Indiebundle.org's Perilous Puzzle Bundle is also still available, but with no new additions. So the deal is the same as it was last week: pay $5 and get Hairy Tales or pay $7 and also get Wyv and Keep:
And like we told you last week, the $5 level also includes Great Permutator, a game that is apparently being ported to Linux. So here's another potential unexpectedly unlocked game if you buy this bundle.
Besides the three still-running bundles, we also have three brand new ones to tell you about, although don't expect anything über-spectacular.
After one bundle with no Linux content, IndieRoyale has released The Hammerhead Bundle featuring Primordia and Potatoman Seeks the Troof (recently released on Desura:
The bundle also includes Richard & Alice, a game built with AGS and therefore likely to be natively playable with the AGS Linux port. However, nobody has reported it so far, so get it at your own risk. Or better still, you can try it with the game demo as they suggest here. If any of you suceeds in trying it, or has already played the game this way, please tell us and we'll update this bundle info including Richard & Alice as a full-fledged member.
Needless to say, Primordia needs to be played with the Linux port of AGS, as we've repeatedly stated before.
Hurry up to snatch this bundle as it ends in less than 2 days! As usual, you have to beat the minimum (which is currently €4.28) to get it.
UPDATE: Too late! This bundle is no longer active. However, we won't have to wait too much till the next one as they are already promoting it.
Despite being advertised as a Windows & Mac bundle, the fact is that the Race Against Time Gamer Bundle includes a Linux game, Dungeon Hearts:
Strictly speaking the bundle also contains another Linux game, Waveform, although here it's only available as a Win/Mac DRM-free download. Anyway you can get Dungeon Hearts for as little as $1, so it's still a good deal. And you can think it over for quite a long time, as the bundle will last for more than 18 days.
And finally the last of this week's new deals is the 8th Bundle Stars bundle, called Atomic Indie. It contains no less than 10 games but, as was the case of the previous bundle, this one also only includes one Linux game, SpaceChem (Steam key):
The bundle is sold for about €4.60 so that would equate roughly to a 54% discount from SpaceChem's Steam €9.99 retail price (prices and discount percentage may vary depending on from where you're reading this).
UPDATE: If you're only interested in Spacechem from this bundle, it might be a good idea to previously check this new Amazon deal, as it may be cheaper depending on the currency conversion rates.
We won't leave before taking a quick peek to what could be happening in the next few days regarding Linux games:
1) The current Humble Weekly Sale will be ending in about 24 hours. Will they go back to offer Linux games in the next one, or will the weekly sales become a "Linux-hostile" environment forever? You sure bet we hope on the former!
UPDATE: "Habemus sale novam!" And it does include a Linux title -Serious Sam 3: BFE-, but it's certainly not enough. It's on the Beat Average level and it's been on sale many times recently, so we don't really see hordes of Linux gamers rushing to get it.
2) Rumour says that a new Groupees bundle, of the Build a Bundle sort, will be launched next week. No idea about its contents, but Groupees' bundles usually include a couple of Linux games. Besides, given their nature, a Build-a-Bundle is the ideal type of bundle for us since they allow us to pick on what we really want.
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
And that was all we had that could interest to a bunch of cheapskates like you are. Keep coming back as we'll be updating this column with whatever new information we can gather about the bundles we presented you or any new one that could pop up out of the blue. And as we always say, remember to check the sales page in this website to keep up to date with the current sales on Linux games. See you!
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ UPDATE $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
Amazin'! Boy, did this one really come out of the blue! (At least for us, maybe it was announced a week ago and everybody already knew :P) Amazon.com has just created an Indie Games section and they are celebrating with wholesale discounts and a couple of interesting bundles as well.
The first one is called Indie Quintet and includes The Cave, Little Inferno and Stealth Bastard Deluxe:
This bundle also includes Strike Suit Zero, a game that is coming to Linux for sure. It costs $9.99 which equals to about a 70% discount, only counting the 3 current Linux games.
The second bundle is called Oh So Fine and Dandy Bundle and it's like a re-run of the recent Humble Double Fine Bundle, only that this one also includes The Cave besides Costume Quest, Stacking, Psychonauts and Brütal Legend:
This other bundle also costs $9.99 or what's the same, more than 85% off the listed prices on Amazon. How crazy is that?
But that's not all! For any indie game purchase (and there are quite a few to choose from) you make between June 6-10 you'll get 3 games for free: Dynasty of Dusk as a Windows-only download, The Curse of Nordic Cove unfortunately also as a Windows/Mac download, and a Steam key for Huntsman: The Orphanage, a game that will eventually be available for Linux (see the comment from March 27 on their Greenlight page).
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ UPDATE $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
And yet another unexpected deal to reach our doors! Charlie from Charlie's Games has put almost his entire catalogue into Charlie's Games Mega
Alternatively, pay $9.99 or more and also get Scoregasm (registers on Steam):
We don't know for how long will this deal be available, so if you ever fancied some of Charlie's games don't think it twice and go grab this pack! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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You do not want to oversell your case there s_d; icculus was awesome long, long before Humble Bundle came along, and so was MojoSetup by the way. Much of what you pointed to there is still the result of Loki and their free tools from well over a decade ago. Even Edward Rudd was there cranking out Penumbra and Amnesia for us back in the day, a good time before he became Humble Bundles porting go-to guy. I am not disputing that HIB has done a lot for us in the past, but we do not need to change history to justify it.
Thanks for the tip! I've duly updated the article to include your advice.
And I've also added to the article the new Amazon.com Indie Games section and its inaugural discounts. Don't miss the opportunity to check them out!
WOW, dude, you're a hero! That's fantastic stuff, and I should be thanking you. Thank you!
Me? I'm a nobody. :)
There's absolutely nobody who should have ever heard of me, and when I did do something significant (I have my proud moments) I did so anonymously. Back then, while I was still at University, I just wanted to be another part of the mythical cloud of Linux community awesomeness, to help the tech world have this feeling that "if a thing could be done, one of those random Linux folks would go post it to Slashdot, or put a patch up at Sourceforge". Those were fun times!
In terms of gaming, I'm one of a number of folks that pre-ordered some RuneSoft stuff forever ago, supported all of the Linux games I could (including Loki!), and other assorted things. I've reported so many driver bugs to video adapter vendors...
Now, I'm trying to help make a niche of a niche be a solid as possible on Linux, but this game programming stuff is all new to me. It's different than other systems programming and has all sorts of weird constraints. It's interesting, though, and I'm learning a lot!
Yes, you're absolutely correct, and I see how what I wrote would be read that way. I, in no way, intended to credit HIB for the past accomplishments of their porting crew. I did identify them that way (as a group) because they work as a team and do assist each other from time to time. If I'm not mistaken, even their newest member, Ethan Lee, ported games before working with HIB (you may know better than I).
My point was that as awesome as each contributor was on their own, HIB was the first commercial entity in almost a decade to eagerly and consistently fund loads of great ports of third party titles, by seeking out the best porting experts as well as cool games with native ports ready to go. The increased exposure and credibility gained by our community was pretty dramatic. I suppose I should thank Transgaming and CrossOver, though I'm not really a fan of their methods... simply by staying in business they do show there is a market for paying customers of Linux & Mac games.
See, all you have to do is read the post exactly the way it was written in my brain, and then it all becomes clear, with history remaining intact! Easy, yes? :P