NewNews - Deus Ex HR PC does not come with OnLive code at Gamestop

Deus Ex Human Revolution was released yesterday and word was that the PC retail version came with a free copy of an OnLive Code to the game.  The first thing that crossed my mind was "why in the world would someone need an OnLive code if they're buying the PC version?"  It is an obvious promotion for the OnLive service and most people are going to just sell it off on eBay since they'll be playing it on the PC anyways with the CD/DVD they get.  OnLive is a videogame streaming service.  Much like NetFlix, players can buy games from the OnLive service and the game will stream as a video to the player so that players can play at the highest graphics settings and still be able to play through their PC monitors or TV.

Source: Youtube Channel OnliveFansCom

Anyways, what happened was that those who bought the PC retail version of Deus Ex HR from Gamestop ended up not having the OnLive codes inside. What happened was upper management in GameStop told every store to open up the box and take out the code as it's a promotion of their competitors and that it was implemented without their prior knowledge.  It makes sense that GameStop doesn't want to help a company that could lead to their ultimate downfall, but it seems that it has caused an uproar in the community for selling a game as "new" after it was open.  It's true that if a game is pre-ordered or brand new and they have a stack of the games, they'll keep it under wraps and sell it brand new.  But most of the games I buy new are already several months old and so they'll have taken off the plastic wrap and taken out the game and put it behind the desk while putting up the box.  I never liked the idea since the boxes get extremely dirty from everyone touching it, the booklets get bent and wrinkled, and an ugly yellow or white sticker gets stuck onto the front and side of the box.  I take good care of my games and their boxes, so it pains me to see all that adhesive on the box when I try to take off the sticker (sometimes I don't even bother taking it off so I don't leave adhesive on their).  But this was all done to prevent further theft of games which often happened in the past (and to prevent little kids from touch the bottom of the discs and scratching them up.  So GameStop's decision to open up all the boxes, take out the OnLive code, and sell the game as new is no surprise to me.  Yes it does suck since a lot of people are paying full price for an open boxed product, but at least GameStop will know that this act has hurt its reputation within the community.  I miss having Play N Trade and Game Crazy around my neighborhood, but GameStop is the only store that has specific games that I'm looking for.  Once in a while, I'll find a good deal at Amazon, Target, or Best Buy (more so on Amazon than anywhere else).  For Deus Ex Human Revolution, I think I'll be waiting for a Steam Sale before I get it.

Sources:
-Gamasutra: GameStop Removing OnLive Vouchers From PC Human Revolution Boxes 
-Joystiq: GameStop intentionally removing Deus Ex OnLive coupons from retail PC copies 
-Kotaku: GameStop Policy: Open Your Games, Steal Your Codes, Sell Game Like New 

GameLight - Deus Ex Human Revolution (Available Now!)

Official Site: http://deusex.com/
Buy it on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/28050/

It's been 8 months since I posted my first thoughts on Deus Ex Human Revolution, and a lot has been revealed and the perspectives of people's opinions on the game has changed.

Source: Youtube Channel machinima

Unfortunately, I never finished playing through the first one.  I'm still working on it and I've accumulated so many other games because of sales and discounts.  With Deus Ex HR out now, I am more determined to finish the first one AND start on the 2nd one (invisible war).  So I talked with some more friends about the original two and apparently, the 2nd one wasn't as bad as so many fans have claimed so.  It probably disappointed fans of the first one in changes in aspects of the gameplay, but it seemed to have been a good game nonetheless.  With actual footages of Deus Ex HR, it seems a lot of fans of the first are extremely excited for this one and has high hopes for it compared to invisible war.  It definitely seems to be much more action orientated, which I don't really mind, but it still retains much of its open-ended gameplay and RPG aspects.

It seems the newest complaint on this game isn't from the fans of the original, fans of Mass Effect.  I was very confused as to why people were complaining about Deus Ex HR being a rip-off of Mass Effect.  With that one line, a huge flame war began.  It's nothing new to see people on the internet argue who know more, who's more faithful to their favorite publishers; the typical fanboy seems to dwell on public chat quite often to troll and flame.  Those who know the history of both games correct many people saying that the multiple choice dialogues, open-world gameplay, and Action/RPG hybrid aspects was already in the original Deus Ex which released 7 years before the first Mass Effect game.  True, there are similarities in its formula, but you can't say that either one are rip-offs of each other.  Even before Mass Effect, Bioware has adopted many aspects of past RPGs into games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Bulder's Gate.  Even before all these RPGs, the dialogue choice system has been around since early 1980's adventure games (and even before videogames, there were "choose your own path novels.").  The open-world aspects was also seen in early adventure games as well if not the NES days with The Legend of Zelda.  And the Action-RPG genre seemed to have been around longer than I thought with games such as the first "The Elder Scroll: Arena" game  dating back to 1994.  It very much reminds me of today's comic on Nerf Now:

Source: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/image/565

They say that "ignorance is bliss", but to not know the history of the games you love so much when you're a gamer while making very bad claims in the gaming community.  It seems that in the gaming world "ignorance is arrogance" with fanboys and elitist believing that they know everything and that all others are wrong.  With such thinking, many other great games will be void of their experiences.  Deus Ex Human Revolution should be a great game for both fans of the original and to those new to the series as long as they give it a chance.  I will be buying mines once I see a good sale for it (no rush to play it yet).

GameLight - Deus Ex Human Revolution

So I saw this on Nerf Now!!!'s comic just now:

Source: http://nerfnow.com/

and I feel bad because I can't really sympathize with all the gamers that played the first two Deus Ex games.  I've been told numerous times of how Deus Ex is one of the most finely developed, intricately written, and well designed gamed of all time but never found the chance to play it.  Well, I got it earlier this year and have slowly worked on finishing the game and I can see why it is so highly praised.  Open ended gameplay, immersive story, continuous statistics (health, injuries, skills, items, everything stays with you throughout the game), memorable tracks, challenging level designs, etc.  The game may be old, but it has a lot of innovations that current day publishers would be so freaked out to even mention such open-ended gameplay.  Then there's the fact that I haven't tried or seen "invisible war" which is the sequel that did not serve justice to the first game.  I'll eventually play it to find out what was so bad about it, but when I found out about Deus Ex 3 (when it wasn't fully named yet) and told people who played the first two, they just groaned and said "oh great, another disappointment".

Source: Youtube Channel Machinma

After a few trailers released, I'm (sorta) convinced that this next Deus Ex will be incredible in its own rights.  Will it be compared to the first one by other players?  HECK YEAH!  People are already talking about how it's all action and how implausible the technology looks more advanced than the first one when it was set at a time sooner than the first one.  I don't care, I don't want to compare games or put it down before it even comes out.  I wouldn't be able to enjoy a game and judge it fairly if I already have all these preconceptions laid out.  Then again, I'm already expecting varieties of flashy weapons, open-ended city exploring, and futuristic gadget utilization.  Hopefully it'll be a great game.