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Just a very quick late night post to tell you that Steam has another sale on at http://store.steampowered.com

At the time of writing they are flogging Grand Theft Auto IV for only £4.99 which is a bit of a bargain if you have a PC that can handle it.

Keep that page bookmarked too as the offers are changing every day.

It seems like an eternity since this game was released but now I have the perfect excuse to go back to it as the Playstation 3 trophy patch has finally been released.

They’ve also added in some alternative difficulty options which are very welcome. (This isn’t an easy game by anyone’s standards!)

But, no, you still can’t jump!

Piracy and games aren’t always a bad combination!

I’ve been silently campaigning (hoping even) for a new Monkey Island game for years now and Telltale Games almost sneaked one out with a completely new story without me noticing.

It’s now calling itself the Tales of Monkey Island and it is being released in five episodes:

The first chapter is out now and you can download a playable demo at http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland

And yes! It’s good, it’s very good! The writing is classic Monkey Island and they’ve even got the voice talent of the original Guybrush Threepwood himself – Dominic Armato. The guy with a name that sounds like tomato!

If you are a fan you won’t be disappointed.

Insult: “You fight like a dairy farmer.”
Comeback: “How appropriate. You fight like a cow.”

Sony unexpectedly announced the availablity of Final Fantasy VII on the US Playstation Store during E3.

Then, like an internet “Mexican Wave”, European users started demanding it too… AND… We’ve got it just a day after the US release (today)!

No one will know if it was planned to come out in Europe in the same week or whether SCEE were listening and rushed to get it to us early. The Playstation Store update was about a couple of hours later than usual tonight so it’s a possibility.

You can download it from the PS Store for £7.99/9.99 euros (1.3GB download) which is very reasonable considering it’ll cost you much more than that to get hold of pre-owned FFVII discs from eBay.

Small request: Please consider giving Metal Gear Solid the same treatment and we’ll all be even happier!

UPDATE 05/06/2009: I must have read someone’s mind! Konami has JUST confirmed Metal Gear Solid is going to be released on the US Playstation Store on 18th June. Hopefully it will hit Europe at the same time.

When you’ve been a train man as long as I have, you see a lot of people meeting, parting, joy, sadness… After a while, it doesn’t even get to you anymore. I wonder how long it’s been… There’s an invisible rail between me and the passengers. I could never live their lives. I’m just a train man plain and simple. It’s easier that way. That’s not to say that the crossing gate of my heart doesn’t hurt now and again. Back during the war, I remember there was a lot of painful scenes then. But, that’s a story for another day.
Train man, Sector 7, Final Fantasy VII

When I first posted about Radio 1’s Big Gaming Weekend last bank holiday I admit I was a little cynical about the whole thing. But I am pleased to be completely wrong! It wasn’t too bad at all.

Call of Duty 4 won the best game of all time poll and Final Fantasy VII (my own choice!) came in at a very respectable third place.

The best part of the entire weekend was hidden right at the end of bank holiday monday and was a two hour gaming soundtrack mash-up mix by Jaguar Skills.

Featuring hip hop remixed as chiptunes, adverts from the Grand Theft Auto radio stations, Pacman, Mario, Outrun and Street Fighter 2 mash-ups AND even the Ulysses 31 theme!

Fortunately, if you missed it live you can still listen to the mix on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/biggamesweekend/feature/jaguarskills.shtml. The full tracklisting is also on the same page.

(If you want an mp3 version of the mix, there are a few copies floating around on rapidshare. Google it!)