WinterWolves is offering a discount code that gives players 30% off any single.As the code has no expiration date, customers can take their time to check out the available demos before making a final decision on WinterWolves game site. Not sure what to try, I recently contacted the owner of WinterWolves, Celso Riva, to ask him about WinterWolves and his games…

For the next few days, Japanese import site J-List (aka J-Box for those younger than 18) has a buy-two-get-one-free offer.

From now until December 31, 2009, purchase any two games through the J-List website and you’ll automatically receive the adult dating sim game Snow Sakura (Windows, $29.95) free. If you’ve already purchased the game and buy two new games, you’ll receive a $15 store coupon instead. It appears the coupon will be good for any J-List or J-Box products.

JAST USA has also announced that the V-Mate authorization system for downloaded products has been eliminated…

Text in videogames is a tricky thing. It can either help enrich the experience or slow the game to an agonizing pace. Sure, back in the days of Zork, a text-based adventure was actually a genre, but now it’s often an overlooked element of a larger game.

I’m not talking about MUDs here – I’m talking about the more standard graphic-based games that rely on conversations to progress the game. Forget the talking heads where you button mash to get to the next bit of action. I’m talking about games where text plays a crucial role in the action.

In reviewing Mass Effect for an upcoming CiN Weely column, I realized that there is a rather unexplainable difference between the way American games treat text-based interactions versus most Japanese games. Well, at least the DS and PC dating sim (aka bishoujo) games I’ve played.

In the games Mass Effect as well as Knight of the Old Republic, text-based conversations involve a…