[Steam] Holiday Sale


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But for an extra fiver you can buy it from Play.com and have the physical disc. To me at least, that seems the better deal.

I don't really see how because with steam there tends to be a little more after sales support if you encounter errors you know with the whole community on hand to offer help. Unlike the 10s of 1000s of forum posts which differ with each incarnation many of which have no answers plus it's all easily transferable from one computer to the next.

Indigo prohpecy is lame, well for graphics wise. To switch resolutions, you have to go through all the resolutions (fail right here) and it doesn't support widescreen. Have fun hex editing it! I know I will.

Oh didn't know that. I played it when it came out and didn't have a widescreen monitor back then. I enjoyed the game though (apart from that annoying apartment level).

BTW everyone I'm not hating on Steam. But GTA4 is a bloody big download. Not everyone has uber fast and unlimited connections and for the sake of a few extra quid the retail package seems better value to me.

I wasn't thinking about the DRM side so much. For an extra fiver I'd rather have the box, disc and avoid the 13gb or whatever download. But that's me.

Good point. Sorry far too used to having an unlimited 20mb connection that doesn't have a fair usage policy causing the connection speed to be reduced.

I think i'm gonna get Ducati Racing for ?0.74 - thats my sort of price

Edit - maybe not - i've just read a review of it - sounds nasty

Edited by metallithrax
Is it worth a buy on the PC ? Remember reading it was a buggy performance nightmare.

At launch it was horrible, I've played it on my bro's pc though and it runs just as smooth as the 360 (prob better actually). He has the trainer and **** installed too so it still performs well with that running. He's a GTA nut though so he's prob tweaked it a hell of a lot to get it perfect as well.

But for an extra fiver you can buy it from Play.com and have the physical disc. To me at least, that seems the better deal.

I'm the other way, I like having all my PC games on Steam. I know people like owning the manual and the case, but seriously the days of "good manuals" are looooong gone. Most of them are filled with legal pages now more than anything to do with the game. Besides, I own the retail 360 version. This is an impulse buy as far as I'm concerned, albeit an awesome one.

I would like to buy some of these games, but I'm in Malaysia. Can I buy these games and what method should I use?

Scirwode

You could always paypal money to someone you trust and then have them gift the games to your steam account if you're not able to do it yourself.

Indigo prohpecy is lame, well for graphics wise. To switch resolutions, you have to go through all the resolutions (fail right here) and it doesn't support widescreen. Have fun hex editing it! I know I will.

Indigo Prophecy has an amazing story compared to the garbage that many popular games have such as Gears of War. Its specifications obviously won't manage widescreen resolutions but it's no reason for it be ridiculed as a bad game. It's a gem among the generic video games that require no intelligence and only ask you to point and shoot.

There is one huge flaw in this game and that's... quick time events. >_<

I would recommend Dreamfall: The Longest Journey as another fantastic adventure that has to be played by anyone who calls themselves a gamer.

Indigo Prophecy has an amazing story compared to the garbage that many popular games have such as Gears of War. Its specifications obviously won't manage widescreen resolutions but it's no reason for it be ridiculed as a bad game. It's a gem among the generic video games that require no intelligence and only ask you to point and shoot.

There is one huge flaw in this game and that's... quick time events. >_<

I would recommend Dreamfall: The Longest Journey as another fantastic adventure that has to be played by anyone who calls themselves a gamer.

The button-mashing minigames in Indigo Prophecy are much better than most of the ones I've seen in games. They have a pattern to them that actually makes them have a connection to the game. (Like the guitar playing...) :)

You could always paypal money to someone you trust and then have them gift the games to your steam account if you're not able to do it yourself.

He shouldn't need to do that, Steam has no region locking that I'm aware of. For example, there is no Australian Steam store but we can (and have too) buy from the US Store (in USD) and I've not encountered a game I wasn't able to buy (the only exception would probably be games that have been RCed, those probably are region locked for legal reasons obviously). The only thing is the pricing might be different depending on what store it defaults to and you'll need to take into account currency conversion (which is why I wait for the Aussie dollar to do well against the US dollar and then I can get me some bargains :) ), PayPal will obviously take care of that for you but it's always good to know how much your spending in your own currency too! :p

He shouldn't need to do that, Steam has no region locking that I'm aware of. For example, there is no Australian Steam store but we can (and have too) buy from the US Store (in USD) and I've not encountered a game I wasn't able to buy (the only exception would probably be games that have been RCed, those probably are region locked for legal reasons obviously). The only thing is the pricing might be different depending on what store it defaults to and you'll need to take into account currency conversion (which is why I wait for the Aussie dollar to do well against the US dollar and then I can get me some bargains :) ), PayPal will obviously take care of that for you but it's always good to know how much your spending in your own currency too! :p

I've just got myself Stalker with my Visa so I'm happy now :D ! The only problem is I want to get Prince of Persia but it's still too expensive at $15.00, in fact most games that I want is more than $5.00 that I set :( , I guess I just have wait until it goes down.

Scirwode

If you want to be sure you're saving as much money as possible, only buy the Deals of the Days, and if a game you really want still hasn't been a deal of the day, then buy it on the last day instead. That way you can be sure that you get your game as cheap as possible.

For instance, Assassins Creed already has a discount on it, but I'm going to wait and see if it has a further discount before I buy it.

Just a tip (if you hadn't worked it out from previous sales) ;)

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    • You literally have to do it on a desktop, which is incredibly annoying in our mobile-first world. What???
    • What part of "you can’t really depend on service providers to maintain features forever" is not clear enough?
    • Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
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