We're living in a strange time for video games. The days of going to the store to get your video game fix are long over, so that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm referring to is the battle for your downloadable gaming dollar. I've mentioned in some previous posts that the games and downloadable content on XBox Live have skirted the line between worth and not worth my money for the amount of entertainment that you actually get. As I write this, I have still not gotten either of the two $15 map packs for Modern Warfare 2, and it's looking more and more likely that I simply may not.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have the much maligned Steam. What started as means by which to get Valve games conveniently has turned into one of the largest providers of PC games out there. These days there are few games that aren't available from Steam, from casual games like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, to the hardest of core games like the before-mentioned Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age. Every day it seems that Steam not only has more games available, but they also have a constant list of items for sale. Want Deus Ex and all its expansions? That'll be about $20. All of the id games? That'll run you around $35. Older games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or BioShock? That's $5 or less. One of my friends suggested that they're simply assigning a small reasonable value to an item, like an old game, that's basically worthless. Maybe so, but it is nice to be able to pick up an old title and re-live some video game nostalgia.
So these days we have the premium services on two ends of the price spectrum. Is one "better" than the other? Is it "good" to have cheap games at your fingertips, or "bad" to charge $30 for a few maps or $2 for one song on Rock Band? It's a tough questions, and while I hate to sound like I'm taking a cop-out, I have to believe that the answer is up to the gamer. Cheap games are good, but the nostalgia can fade really fast. It's also stupid to pay for half the game again just to get a few multiplayer maps. $5 is fine, $10 is pushing it, and $15 for maps is out of the question. On the other hand, services like XBox Live and especially Steam are giving smaller game publishers an opportunity to get their game out to the masses. Games like Braid and Gratuitous Space Battles are neat gaming gems that would've never gotten to me had it not been for XBox Live or Steam.
So it's obvious that I like Gratuitous Space Battles. It's really cool, and perfectly fits my style of gaming right now. I don't need to set aside an hour or two in order to play through a campaign or series of missions. The battles, while part of a bigger war, are fairly discrete and it's very easy to sit down, play a battle or two, then move on to something else. GSB is not an Real-Time Strategy game so after you assign your ships, give your orders, and hit Fight you can sit back and watch the action unfold. The battle commences on a 2-D map, but the effects, backgrounds, and ships are rendered beautifully. If that wasn't enough, there's also the ability to design your own ships and download new races and campaigns.
Gratuitous Space Battles is currently on sale for $10 and this is a great price. The normal $20 cost is just a little too high for this one, so I'd recommend picking up while it's on sale. It's great fun, and a good value. Also lots of stuff blows up real nice, so that's a big plus.
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