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Friday, January 22, 2010

Game Download of the Day - Tradewinds Legends

Amazon's Game Download of the Day is a 99 cent download of Tradewinds Legends, in case you missed it when it was free a couple of weeks ago directly from Sandlot Games or just prefer to get your games from Amazon and let them do your backups.

Game Description
  • Trade And Battle With Legendary Heroes.
  • Choose A Character Or Create Your Own
  • Hundreds Of Special Items
  • 10 Amazing Ports To Visit
Get carried away in this latest installment in the acclaimed Tradewinds Series. Sail, trade and battle with legendary heroes such as Sinbad in the mythical Far East. Enter a world of danger and intrigue as you complete over 100 unique tasks. Build a flotilla of ships armed with weaponry, both man-made and magic. Sail into the sky to discover new ports and engage in aerial combat with other magical sky ships. Encounter a world of legend, play Tradewinds Legends today!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

New Games under $5

Several of the new game downloads at Amazon are marked down under $5 today, including one that normally sells for $20.

Vegas Make it Big ($19.99 $4.99)

Game Description
  • Fulfill The Needs Of 5000+ Individual Guests.
  • 10 Resort Styles, Inspired By Amazing Cultures And Themes
  • Fully Customizable- Adjust Goals, Competition, And Difficulty
  • 500+ Vehicles.
Customers on the living, breathing Las Vegas boulevard are notoriously hard to satisfy. Can you win the hearts and wallets of Vegas? Amazing real-time 3D graphics show off your resort to the max. Experience grand panoramic views, or get up close and personal to fine-tune the inside and outside of your perfect Vegas paradise.

Alpha Prime ($9.99 $4.99)

Game Description
  • 10 Levels Of Fast-paced, Unrelenting Action.
  • 8 Futuristic Weapons.
  • Bullet Time Allows Players To Temporarily Slow Down The Action.
  • Vehicles Can Be Used To Move To Different Locations Quickly.
Somewhere deep in space, on the lifeless asteroid Alpha Prime, something has gone terribly wrong... The miners were warned that the hubbardium they were mining was too dangerous, but the lure of unimaginable wealth was too strong. Now, something has happened to them and it's up to you to save them and face an unknown threat. Armed with an assortment of hi-tech weapons and the ability to hack into the station's own automated defenses, your mission is simple: Get in, Get 'em and Get out!

Al Emmo and The Lost Dutchman's Mine ($9.99 $4.95)

Game Description
  • Over 7000 Lines Of Unique And Humorous Commentary.
  • 15 To 20 Hours Of Gameplay.
  • Easy To Use, Point-And-Click Adventure.
  • Lip-Synched Voiceover And Narration.
Al Emmo is a witty western game with a healthy dose of adventure, that follows in the tradition of classic adventure gaming. Join Al, a middle-aged feeble Easterner on his journey into the heart of Wild-West in search of a suitable bride. Enjoy the quaint gold-rush town of Anozira; chat up highly flirtatious babes; cautiously evade warring Indian tribes; discover legends of lost gold; bask in the intense summer heat; encounter breathtaking landscapes; meet up with the occasional rabid prairie dog, and more!

Chains ($7.99 $4.99)

Game Description
  • 20 Levels Each Focusing on Action, Strategy Or Flow.
  • Physics-driven Gameplay.
  • 3 Difficulty Modes.
  • Unique Art Direction With Beautiful Vector Graphics.
Chains is a challenging puzzle game with a unique feel and distinctive vector graphics style. The object of the game is simple - to link adjacent bubbles of the same color into chains. As you progress through the physics-driven stages it becomes increasingly more challenging and players' speed, strategy and skill will be put to the test.

Vigil: Blood Bitterness ($5.99 $4.99)

Game Description
  • Easy Point-And-Click Playability.
  • Engrossing Story With Deeply Disturbed Complex Characters.
  • 3D Graphics with Revolutionary Black And White Art.
  • Challenging Puzzles To Solve.
Thrown into chaos, Vigil plunges you into the dark and disturbing story of an ancient civilization where you must reveal the secrets of your past and exact revenge on the Evil destroying your universe. Ritualistic killings and blood lust blur the line between your own kind and the Evil you seek to annihilate. Your ultimate goal is to free yourself from this tormenting place and understand the origin and the purpose of this never ending Evil.

Port Royale 2 ($4.99)

Game Description
  • Huge Game World With 4 Nations And 60 Towns.
  • 8 Special Scenarios For A Quick And Easy Start.
  • 16 Different Ship-Types.
  • Open Ended Game With Endless Detail And Game Depth.
The Caribbean in the 17th Century - You will trade with over 60 towns and create your own production facilities. Escort ships for your convoys are needed, or you can turn the tides and hunt for pirates or capture the military ships. You can also take on missions for merchants, diplomats and other characters.

Free Book (Smashwords) - Just Past Oysterville

Just Past Oysterville, by Perry P. Perkins, the first book in his Christian Fiction Shoalwater series, is free on Smashwords using coupon code SW22F. Originally offered as a 24 hour experiment, the coupon has been extended, but could end at any time.

Book Description
A child abandoned. A life destroyed. Two hearts, unable to forgive... After a drunk driver leaves young Cassie Belanger an orphan, a cryptic letter, found among her mother's belongings sends her on a desperate journey in hopes of finding the man who fathered her but chose not to be her father.

Game of the Day - Tradewinds 2

Amazon's Game Download of the Day is a 99 cent download of Tradewinds 2. This looks to be a longer adventure than Tradewinds Legends, which was free direct from Sandlot a couple of weeks ago. I played that one for about 10 hours in story mode and finished all the tasks (which get more complicated as you play).

Game Description
  • Trade Goods And Fight Pirates.
  • Over 100 Swashbuckling Adventures
  • Customize Your Ship And Characters
  • Over 60 Hours Of Gameplay
Amass a fortune by buying and selling goods in this fantastic seafaring game of chance, skill and adventure! Earn enough gold to upgrade your ship and engage in land and sea battles. Trade magic weaponry and mysterious artifacts as you encounter a fascinating new world and discover uncharted ports. Two game modes and over sixty hours of gameplay await you in your quest to dominate the high seas!

Xbox 360 Gold Box Day

For anyone that picked up the Xbox 360/Gift Card Bundle or already has an Xbox, you'll want to check today's GoldBox and Lightning Deals at Amazon, as it's Xbox 360 Gold Box Day! There are already two deals up and there are new ones during the day, with the last to appear at midnight EST and every single one of them is on an XBox 360 game.

Free Audiobooks at Audible

Besides the free course in Haitian Creole and FREE: The Future of a Radical Price, by Chris Anderson, there are a few other interesting audiobooks amongst the current free offerings at Audible.

The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer, by Dean Baker, narrated by Sandra Swafford.

Book Description
In his new book, economist Dean Baker debunks the myth that conservatives favor the market over government intervention. In fact, conservatives rely on a range of "nanny state" policies that ensure the rich get richer while leaving most Americans worse off. It's time for the rules to change. Sound economic policy should harness the market in ways that produce desirable social outcomes: decent wages, good jobs, and affordable health care.

A Study in Emerald, by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Neil Gaiman is a short story.

Book Description
Alluding to both the Sherlock Holmes canon and the Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos, this Hugo Award-winning short story will delight fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and of course, Neil Gaiman.

A Study in Emerald draws listeners in through carefully revealed details as a consulting detective and his narrator friend solve the mystery of a murdered German noble. But with its subtle allusions and surprise ending, this mystery hints that the real fun in solving this case lies in imagining all the details that Gaiman doesn't reveal, and challenges listeners to be detectives themselves.


Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin, narrated by Seth Godin

Book Description
A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It's our nature.

Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they're enabling countless new tribes to be born - groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.

And so the key question: Who is going to lead us?

The Web can do amazing things, but it can't provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals - people just like you who have a passion about something. The explosion in tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at her fingertips.

If you think leadership is for other people, think again - leaders come in surprising packages. Consider Joel Spolsky and his international tribe of scary-smart software engineers. Or Gary Vaynerhuck, a wine expert with a devoted following of enthusiasts. Chris Sharma leads a tribe of rock climbers up impossible cliff faces, while Mich Mathews, a VP at Microsoft, runs her internal tribe of marketers from her cube in Seattle. All they have in common is the desire to change things, the ability to connect a tribe, and the willingness to lead.

If you ignore this opportunity, you risk turning into a "sheepwalker" - someone who fights to protect the status quo at all costs, never asking if obedience is doing you (or your organization) any good. Sheepwalkers don't do very well these days.

Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities in leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers....It's not easy, but it's easier than you think.


Millionaire Upgrade , by Richard Parkes Cordock, narrated by Nigel Acheson.

Book Description
Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes to become a millionaire?

Imagine finding yourself sitting next to a self-made millionaire for eight hours on a long-haul international flight. Imagine that person was prepared to share with you the secrets of their success. For one lucky person this actually happened. Inspired by a true story, Millionaire Upgrade is the tale of one very experienced entrepreneur and one very lucky passenger.

The story unfolds mid-air at 35,000 feet as Michael, the savvy self-made millionaire, shares his wisdom, eight-step approach, and magic ingredients for success with Tom, the aspiring entrepreneur. Their mid-air conversation contains all the secrets and practical insight you need to help you make your first million. It shows how you can turn your strengths and passions into an exciting, rewarding, and challenging enterprise.

Better than any in-flight movie, Millionaire Upgrade gets you inside the minds of successful entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires giving you the inside track on how they think and act.


Extraordinary Leadership, by Robin Sharma is a speech, rather than a book, but looked interesting.

Book Description
In a constantly changing, hyper-competitive world, leadership is more important than ever. Yet few people have what it takes to inspire, develop, and guide others. In this presentation, Robin Sharma shares the leadership lessons that he gives to clients such as Nike, Microsoft, and NASA.

Amazon Announces Kindle Development Kit

Don't like the way your Kindle works? You (or another developer) can change it, using the newly announced Kindle Development Kit.
Today, Amazon announced that it is inviting software developers to build and upload active content that will be available in the Kindle Store later this year. The new Kindle Development Kit gives developers access to programming interfaces, tools and documentation to build active content for Kindle...
There is already a waiting list to get access to the Kit, but it looks like games, interactive cookbooks and travel guides are already in the planning stages.

Click HERE for the full press release.