21st May 2013 Alan Wake Sale

Major Nelson recently announced the new wave of sales heading to XBOX360 in the next few days. The list includes some familar names such as Alan Wake's American Nightmare, The Signal DLC pack and The Writer DLC Pack. The Alan Wake sale will run from 21st - 27th May.

Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Was 800 Microsoft Points
Now 320 Microsoft Points

The Signal DLC
Was 560 Microsoft Points
Now 280 Microsoft Points

The Writer DLC
Was 560 Microsoft Points
Now 280 Microsoft Points

Be aware that Microsoft tends to only offer special savings to those on the Gold membership.


Source: Major Nelson


The full list of discounted games from the website:

Xbox LIVE Arcade	Release Date	MS Points
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger	22-May	1200
Hunters Trophy 2 – Australia	29-May	800
Game Add-ons	Release Date	MS Points
Injustice: Gods Among Us Character #2: Batgirl	21-May	400
Need for Speed Most Wanted Complete DLC Bundle	21-May	2400
Deal of the Week	Discount Dates	Price
D3	21-May to 27-May
Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury		400 (50% off)
Jeremy McGrath		400 (50% off)
Karateka		400 (50% off)
Mad Tracks		400 (50% off)
Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond		400 (50% off)
Pid		400 (50% off)
Puzzle Quest 2		400 (50% off)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords		400 (50% off)
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix		600 (50% off)
RocketBowl		200 (50% off)
Texas Cheat’em		400 (50% off)
Ghost Recon Future Soldier GonD	28-May to 3-June	varies
Ghost Recon Future Soldier Khyber Strike		320 (60% off)
Ghost Recon Future Soldier Raven Strike		400 (67% off)
Ghost Recon Future Soldier Arctic Strike		320 (60% off)
Darkstalkers Resurrection		800 (33% off)
Dark Souls GonD		varies
Dark Souls Artorias of the Abyss		600 (50% off)
Sales  & Specials	Discount Date	Price
Alan Wake Sale	21-May to 27-May	Up to 83% off
Kinect Central: Mini Ninjas Adventures	21-May to 27-May	320 (60% off)
Kinect Central: Kinect Sports: Season Two	28-May to 3-June	varies
NBA 2K13 Sale	28-May to 3-June	Up to 50% off
Dance Central Catalog Sale	28-May to 3-June	varies
Games on Demand	Release Date
Crysis 3	21-May
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance	28-May
DmC Devil May Cry	28-May

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3rd June 2012 Gaikai Allow Gamers to Play Alan Wake on Facebook

Gamers can now play a number of AAA titles, including Alan Wake, via Facebook.

Gaikai is a new company which allow games to be streamed online via cloud gaming. You can also try a trial version online with the Alan Wake's 30min Demo - CLICK HERE

The company not only focuses on games being available on Facebook, but it also allows Gamers to play titles through any Internet connected device. Its ability to bring games to social media websites is what stands it out from the competition.

Other games which are available through this company are Dead Space 2, Dead Rising 2, and the second and third instalments of the Mass Effect franchise.

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14th December 2011 PC Version of Alan Wake Announced

Remedy recently announced via the Alan Wake Forums that the game is due to be released early next year for PC. (Press Release Below)

The game was originally planned to be released on both XBOX360 and PC, but due to Microsoft's eagerness to get a platform exclusive title, the PC version was dropped. For the past several months it was hinted and it's presence referred to in several interviews. In an interview with Sam Lake (lead writer), he admitted that the PC version was still on Remedy's hard-drive. The PC theory was later reinforced when Steam had an option for the game in it's directory.

CLICK HERE to read more (Alan Wake Forums)

There's also an interesting interview with Aki Järvilehto (Executive Vice President at Remedy) at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. CLICK HERE for the interview


PRESS RELEASE
Remedy Entertainment is proud to announce the PC release of Alan Wake. Coming in early 2012, the game will give PC gamers the Alan Wake experience they have been patiently waiting for. Remedy is a developer with deep roots in the PC space (Death Rally and Max Payne 1 and 2), so the game will have the high resolution polish that longtime fans will expect.

The PC version of the game will also include The Signal and The Writer downloadable content.

Alan Wake tells the story of a best-selling writer suffering from writer’s block. He goes on vacation to the small town of Bright Falls with his wife, Alice, to gain back his creative flow. Shortly upon arrival, Wake finds himself trapped in a nightmare when his wife mysteriously goes missing. He keeps finding pages of a manuscript he apparently wrote, but can’t remember writing. The manuscript is coming true. An involving psychological action thriller, Alan Wake raises the bar in storytelling and creating a suspenseful cinematic experience.

To get a sneak peak at Alan Wake for PC, please check out the first screenshot:

http://www.sandboxstrat.com/Alan_Wake_PC_Screen.zip (2MB)

Release window sound familiar? That’s because Alan Wake’s American Nightmare for Xbox Live Arcade will also be available in the first quarter of 2012! For more information and updates, please visit Facebook www.facebook.com/alanwake and Twitter @Remedygames.

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12th Novemeber 2012 Alan Wake Arcade Game - Announcement Trailer

The first trailer for the upcoming installment in the Alan Wake franchise has been released. The video teases the game's full announcement at this year's VGA on the 10th December.

So far not a lot of information has been released about the game. It's rumored to be called Alan Wake's Night Springs and is planned to be released on the XBOXLIVE Arcade. It's going to be a full game consisting of separate levels/episodes. It's not Alan Wake 2, but neither is it DLC. The character finds himself (at least for one of the episodes) in/close to Night Springs. In the full game, Night Springs was the television show which Alan wrote as a writer.

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26th October 2011 Alan Wake (Full Game) Price Drop

If you haven't bought the full Alan Wake game yet, then you will be happy to know that recently the price has lowered from £24.99 to £18.49 on XBOXLive.


To purchase your copy, you can do it either online or through XBOXLIVE:

Online:

1. Go to the XBOX website.
2. Sign in to your profile
3. Search for "Alan Wake"
4. Click on the first option.
5. Click the button under "£18.49"  marked "Download To XBOX" 

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24th October 2011 Blistered Thumbs's Alan Wake Essay

Austin at Blistered Thumbs recently posted a detailed in-depth essay about the themes, inspirations and symbolism in Alan Wake. The article is spread across three pages and well worth the read with a series of interesting responses. There are spoilers in the text so if you haven't completed the game, I would advise you to read it after.

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9th September 2011 Scary Game Findings: A Study Of Horror Games And Their Players

Gamasutra recently posted an article in which usability studio, Vertical Slice, monitored player's reaction to four scary games to discover the different reactions casual gamers had compared to hardcore gamers.

The selected games were Alan Wake, Resident Evil 5, Dead Space 2 and Condemned. Other games, such as Left 4 Dead 2, Gears of War 2, Condemned 2, FEAR 1 & 2, Dead Space 1, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Alone in the Dark and Mass Effect 2 were considered, but ultimately disregarded.

It's an interesting study, and well worth reading. It's fascinating to see how players found Alan Wake compared to other horror games.

CLICK HERE for the study.

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28th August 2011 Tour of Remedy (Community Manager Visit)

Earlier this month Remedy's Community Manager, Peter Papadopoulos, visited the Remedy's offices and posted his visit with photos at the Remedy Forums:

Hey guys I promised I would post up the pictures of my recent trip to the Remedy offices. I also promised I would post up a video tour of the offices.

I can, unfortunately, only deliver on one of those promises. I know! I'm a terrible, terrible person.

We had some issues with the video tour and my spare time is extremely limited at the moment as I'm working on some really cool things that you all will hopefully see soon. So it really is just a structuring of priorities and I hope that in the future we can release the video, but we're talking months - at least. I'll actually fill this post with screen caps from the video of some areas I didn't take pictures of, so it's not a complete loss.

In any case I can deliver on the photos and so I hope you all enjoy them. I'll write up a bit about each photo so you can get a bit of background on what you're actually looking at!

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25th August 2011 Old Gods of Asgard Songs Now Available Through POTF's Digistore

Update #1: The band's Digistore has now closed. You can purchase the band's albums as well as "Balance Slays the Demon" via iTunes. At the present moment, both "The Poet and the Muse" as well as "Children of the Elder God" are not available. I will keep you updated if this changes! 

Update #2: It's been about five years sine I wrote this post, but there's a new update! A couple of days ago, Poets of the Fall released a new compilation album on iTunes. The collection features music from both Alan Wake and Rochard (by Recoil Games). All songs from Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Alan Wake and Alan Wake's American Nightmare are now on iTunes. 

Chances are that if you played Alan Wake the scene that sticks in your head the most is Alan's time at the Anderson Farm. The protagonist fought the Taken on stage with flares and flash-bangs while listening to an awesome rock song playing loudly through the speakers.

The band who created the song in the game was called Old Gods of Asgard, but in real life the talent behind the fictional band is Poets of the Fall who not only created "Children of the Elder God" but "Poet and the Muse" and also "War" which is heard a little later in the following episode. 

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25th August 2011 Alan Wake Included in New 250G XBOX360 Bundle (Canada Only - Released Today)

Alan Wake is one of five games which will be released today as part of a new game bundle which will include an XBOX360 250G. As well as AW there will also be Gears of War 2, Halo 3, Fable 3 and Halo Wars. The games will be already installed on the 360's hard drive which will take away 29.51G of the 250G.

The bundle will only be available in Canada for $299.99 and will be on sale for a limited time. Although there isn't a date so far of when the product stops going on sale.


Microsoft has also commented in an statement to Shack News that the bundle is not the special holiday pack but merely a way to get gamers who don't already own a 360 a chance to buy one with five games
already accompanying it.

Source: Shack News

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25th August 2011 Alan Wake Included in New 250G XBOX360 Bundle (Canada Only - Released Today)

Alan Wake is one of five games which will be released today as part of a new game bundle which will include an XBOX360 250G. As well as AW there will also be Gears of War 2, Halo 3, Fable 3 and Halo Wars. The games will be already installed on the 360's hard drive which will take away 29.51G of the 250G.

The bundle will only be available in Canada for $299.99 and will be on sale for a limited time. Although there isn't a date so far of when the product stops going on sale.


Microsoft has also commented in an statement to Shack News that the bundle is not the special holiday pack but merely a way to get gamers who don't already own a 360 a chance to buy one with five games
already accompanying it.

Source: Shack News

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Alan Wake (2010) Versions

XBOX 360 VERSION

-- STANDARD EDITION  --                                - The Game - Game Manual - DLC: The Signal

-- LIMITED EDITION  --                               - Game Disc          - Game Manual          - Soundtrack Disc          - Bonus Content Disc               - Trailers               - Concept Artwork               - Storyboards               - Ingame Commentary               - 3 Documentaries               - Avatar Unlockables           - Alan Wake Files (Hardback)           - DLC: The Signal

PC VERSION (PHYSICAL DISC)

--STANDARD EDITION  --                 - The Game - Game Manual - Soundtrack Disc - DLC: The Signal - DLC: The Writer - 1 Double-sided Poster - 7 Stickers

-- LIMITED EDITION  --                       - Game Disc   - Game Manual   - Soundtrack Disc   - Bonus Content Disc        - Trailers        - Concept Artwork        - Storyboards        - Ingame Commentary        - 3 Documentaries        - Old Gods of AsgardMusic Video   - Alan Wake Files (Paperback)   - DLC: The Signal   - DLC: The Writer   - 6 Postcards   - 1 Double-sided Poster   - 7 Stickers

PC VERSION (DIGITAL COPY)

--STANDARD EDITION  --                        - The Game - DLC: The Signal - DLC: The Writer

-- LIMITED EDITION  --                                   - The Game              - DLC: The Signal              - DLC: The Writer              - The Alan Wake Files (PDF)              - In Game Developer Commentary              - Soundtrack

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Alan Wake Inspirations

Literature 

• Stephen King's Books
     -   Christine
     -   Misery
     -   The Shining
• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
• Lunar Park by Brent Easton Ellis
• The Book of Illusion by Paul Auster

TV Shows

• Twilight Zone
• Twin Peaks
• Lost

Mythology 

• Norse 
• (Possibly) Arthurian
• Slavic Folklore 

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