Gamer's Source 3-31-2014

Welcome to the Gamer's Source, your place for daily news. Surfing the web to gather all the corners of gaming media, I have gathered here today's (and this weekends) top news stories. From Humble Indie Bundle scams to EA's Origin shifting demographics, there's so much to talk about. So without further ado, the news:



NUMBER One!

EA is shifting it's Origin service to downloadable games only. Starting this weekend, EA will only be releasing PC in digital format. "Digital is fast and convenient. Origin's focus is to give gamers the best experience, and going all-digital will make that happen," says the blog post on Origin's blog.

This won't be a huge shift for PC gamers, as a majority of them purchase games digitally through services like Origin and Steam. There will be a small contingent of hold outs who will have to switch over, but this was pretty inevitable. Steam is already online only and the service is the leading service for PC gaming. It'll be interesting to see how many companies follow suit after such a large company switching over.   

NUMBER Two!!

Humble Indie Bundle keys have been found being resold on other websites. Developer Ed Key, one of the two developers behind Proteus, found this out over the weekend by comparing a key bought on the site Fast2Play with the keys issued to HIB. Humble Indie Bundle is a service that sells indie games for cheap to help support both indie developers and charity events that gain some of the proceeds. According to GameInformer, after the debacle 7 Entertainment, the company behind Fast2Play and other sites that allow gamers to sell game keys, has changed policies to keep buyers from reselling product keys.

Thank God 7 Entertainment has changed these terms of service. Humble Indie Bundle is an excellent way for indie developers to get some lime light, charities to earn money and gamers to get some great games for pretty cheap. Taking advantage of this system only hurts the developers and the charities. People can be selfish and ignorant sometimes.   

Number THREE!!!

There are over 1000 developers self publishing on PlayStation platforms, according to the PS Blog. Announced on Friday, the post highlights a few new games coming out soon, including N++ and Octodad.

This is not too surprising, but exciting none the less. Sony is leading the charge with the self publishing and indie development, and hearing about more games coming is never a bad thing, especially post console launch PS4, which is in need of some games.

Number FOUR!!!!

Microsoft says it's trying to meet fan expectations with Games with Gold. Speaking to IGN last week during GDC, Microsoft Game Studio Vice President Phil Spencer says "we haven't announced a plan, but people should understand that we understand the expectation that people have around what Xbox One Gold should be." He goes on to say that the service will be changing for the better and will not "look like it has in the past." 

This is great news. PS Plus is killing Games with Gold, and though Microsoft may not want to recognize it, players are making the comparison. PS Plus is $50 a year, is only required on PS4 to play online, and changes the games every month, usually 6 games a month. Plus, the service is on PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. Games with Gold is two games a month: one for the first half and one the second half. If Microsoft wants to make the service really competitive with Sony's, the service needs to step it up.  

NUMBER FIVE!!!!!

The new Head of Xbox has been announced, and it is Phil Spencer. No surprise to those who follow Microsoft and Xbox, Spencer will now oversee everything Xbox, from Microsoft Studios to Xbox Live to the Xbox services (Xbox Music, Xbox Video, etc.). 

This is pretty great for Xbox gamers. Spencer has done an excellent job overseeing Microsoft Studios and creating a public image for himself and for Xbox. This may be Microsoft's answer to Shuhei Yoshida for Sony and Reggie Fils-Aime for Nintendo, both of whom are immensely popular public figures for their respective companies.

And here are some smaller articles that are interesting enough to talk about:

• PS3 Minecraft has been updated with skins from franchises like Heavy Rain and Killzone.
• Corpse Party is entering the 3D world on PS Vita in Japan this summer (I really hope it comes Stateside).
• The Predator will be the next focus of the next Call of Duty DLC
• Games with Gold gets an amazing update for April 
• April Fools pranks are poking their heads up.

And that's all for today! Don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments below so we can talk back and forth. Share this site with your friends and family and, as always, please keep the conversation going.