You Like Free Games, Right?

Now's the time for all sorts of Summer sales in the videogame world, sales which usually have other stunts accompanying them like giveaways.

Below are some free game giveaways, and when they end (if applicable):

• Daggerfall: Free on GOG and Steam.
• Shantae and the Pirate's Curse: Free on GOG for another 16 hours after this post.
• Arena: Free on Steam.
• Ark: Survival Evolved: Free on Steam until the 19th (Pacific Time)
• Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory: Free on Steam.

In addition, GOG will have another giveaway tomorrow; check back there for what it is.

These are promotional stunts. Daggerfall/Arena are there to keep Elder Scrolls fans happen while waiting for Todd to get the sixth game out, preferably before the release of the Playstation 42, even though it feels like Godot will arrive before that happens. Ark is there to scoop up people and get them hyped to by into the sequel (complete with totally-not-bullshit gratutious Vin Diesal involvement), and the rest are either platform or publisher gimmes to keep up good public relations by letting aging gamers play old classics that they can't access anymore otherwise- and it's not worth charging them for it.

In short, there's no reason to give money to people that hate you.

You'll also have a more enjoyable experience, as the older games have all the features that filtered out Normies (especially "games journalists") due to not catering to their "don't go out of their way for jack shit" mentality. There are walkthroughs, wikis, and playthrough videoguides if you need them- especially if you're needing to reconfigure controls. You won't find them in the games themselves.

Learn from these classics. Indies in particular have no need to make their gameplay experience little more than an interactive movie with no real choice to be had, and these old games feel more like today's indies than AAA- and Shantae proves it (being the youngest in the list, less than 10 years old).

Make the player think. Make the player pay full attention; let him suffer if he doesn't read the text, listen to the sounds, or otherwise misses information due to his lack of diligence and discipline. This makes videogames of all sorts far closer to the wargames and sports (which are themselves rooted in war) they derive from than the narrative media too many wrongly think that they are.

In short, don't be afraid to filter out those that are not gamers. All things are not for everyone; let only those willing and able to prove their worth receive the rewards.