Microsoft seems to be in quite the giving mood lately. Yesterday we reported that the company was once again starting up their initiative to give free Xbox 360′s to college students who buy a new computer. The deal today isn’t quite as good, but it could shave off almost half the price of a new game.

Halo 4 is making its way to stores this fall, and Microsoft wants you to buy it directly from them. They aren’t offering up gimmicky DLC or silly costumes. Rather, they’re going to give you some cold hard….store credit. If you pre-order the game from the Microsoft Store, you’ll get a code for $25 off of your next purchase.

The offer is good until November 5th, though the earlier you do it, the better. Sometimes these deals disappear if you don’t jump on them. The code will be emailed to you within 10 days after the game is released, and you’ll have until December 31st to redeem it. Sounds like a good way to get a cheap Christmas present for someone, if you ask me.

Remember last year when Microsoft started offering free Xbox 360′s to students who purchased a new computer? Well it looks like the promotion was a success, because the company has decided to bring back the deal this year.

The promotion is already in full swing, and allows anyone in the US purchasing a computer (desktop or laptop) valued at $699 or more to get a free 4GB Xbox 360. Our friends to the north can also get the same deal, but they need only spend $599 to earn their free console. You’ll need to buy your PC at a participating retailer, such as Best Buy, Dell, Fry’s Electronics, HPDirect, Microsoft Stores, and NewEgg.

Microsoft hasn’t specified a cutoff date for the deal, but last year it ended on September 3rd. Regardless of the cutoff date, you’ll want to get in on this sooner, rather than later. The company always reserves the right to end the promotion when supplies are exhausted.

If you’re anything like me, you like getting free games. Even if you’re not sure that you’ll ever have a desire to play it, you still grab them every chance you get. After all, you never know when you’ll be trapped in a room and forced to do nothing but play video games (it could happen, right?). So what game can you get for free right now? Midnight Club II.

The necessary hoops you need to jump through are pretty simple. First, you need to have a Steam account. That one’s easy, because almost every PC gamer has one. Next, you’ll need to go over and join the Official Rockstar Games Community on Steam. Finally, you wait.

You’ll need to join the Rockstar Community by May 15th to be eligible. Unfortunately you won’t be getting the game right away. It should show up in your account by May 29th. Waiting a few weeks is a small price to pay for a game.

I know most game sales aren’t exactly notable for posting, but this week I’ve got one that just needs to be announced. Right now on Amazon you can pick up Deus Ex: Human Revolution on the PC for a huge discount via their digital download service. Normally the game would run you $30, but you can grab the standard edition now for just $6.99. If you’re feeling fancy you can grab the Augmented Edition, which comes with an art book and soundtrack for just a dollar more.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an amazing game, and reviews for it shot straight through the roof. You play as Adam Jensen, a security guard who has a catastrophic bad day on the job, resulting in him having about 90 percent of his body reconstructed using cybernetic implants. Underneath what seems like a devastating terrorist attack is a carefully-weaved plot that will captivate and astonish you.

Grabbing the game for just 7 bucks is a steal, and there’s more where that came from. If you’re a fan of top-down RPGs, you can pick up Dungeon Siege III as well for just $4.99. There are savings to be had everywhere here! I’ll just let you mosey on over to Amazon and spend that hard-earned cash you’ve been saving. It’s a good day to be a bargain gamer.

We are all here right now because we like games. After you get over the “duh” factor of that statement, you can likely agree that we also like to help out where we can. If you could combine games and helping people and/or the planet, surely that would be a worthy cause, right?

If you haven’t come across it already, there’s a pretty snazzy Humble Bundle out at the moment which has some pretty exciting games and short movies attached to it. Seeing as Botanicula is having its world wide debut here, it will get the spotlight. You can follow some seedy characters around their natural habitat as they try and protect their environment. This is much in the same way that the World Land Trust is trying to protect the Rainforest. Seeing as a portion of what you spend on the bundle will also be going to save the trees as well, this seems to be a worthy cause indeed.

Other treats that you will get for buying this bundle is Machinarium, which follows a little robot as he tries to save his town from mechanical mischief. In Samorost 2, you will be following your beloved dog to an alien planet where he is being held captive. Should you pay more than the average price, which is currently under $9, you will also receive a short film called Kooky, and a rather interesting looking game called Windowsill. These games will be available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you do decide to partake of this humble bundle, you might want to do it quick, as there are only eight days left to do it! (Keep in mind that these games would cost you about $53 bucks if you bought them separately)

GameStop sent out a press release today saying that they’ve expanded their digital game section for the PC. At this time, over 1,500 downloadable PC games are available throughout their 4,400 US stores and their website. This brings Impulse, which was purchased by GameStop, on par with Steam, which is known as the industry leader in the digitally distributed gaming field.

To celebrate their expansion, GameStop is having a big sale: “To help celebrate this new option for customers, GameStop will be offering up to 75 percent off top PC game downloads. Titles including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Civilization V, Age of Empires III, Deus Ex Human Revolution and Magicka Collection will be on sale effective today. Visit www.GameStop.com/pc for complete details. ”

Many people, including myself, will say that Steam is a better platform than Impulse. However, Impulse does have something over Steam: the ability to go into a GameStop and purchase a code to redeem games through Impulse, even if there is no physical copy of the game for you to pick up. While most gamers just use their credit and debit cards to pay for games through Steam, this method of paying for digital games in cash or store credit is perfect for the gamer who doesn’t have a credit or debit card. I only wish they had this kind of payment system in place when I was a kid!

After a rough few months, where publishers were abandoning ship faster than you could blink, it appears that the British store GAME is starting to see some new life under new owners OpCapita.  Last week Nintendo started selling titles at GAME with the launch of the Wii exclusive Pandora’s Tower.

GAME missed out on perhaps millions in revenue when it failed to launch Mass Effect 3 last month. Now, it might be able to make up on some lost revenue as they are selling the game through their online Gamestation for £25 and in the actual GAME stores for £30. FIFA Street is being sold for £35 at this time as well. Other EA titles being sold include Tiger Woods 2013 and The Sims 3 Showtime, neither of which were stocked during the month of March.

At this point, new CEO Martyn Gibbs is looking to get both customers and publishers into GAME. “We said two weeks ago that our first priority was to help our customers by putting more new releases and products in our stores and on our websites. Since then we’ve been very busy, and there is a lot happening this week at GAME and Gamestation.” Overall, it looks like things are finally looking up for GAME.
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If you order from Amazon, you’ll get the Bartoli custom pistol with a sight and silencer. Best Buy offers a Bronson 1928M SMG. For those people who are going with GameStop will get the Agency Kazo TRG sniper rifle. Finally, if you decide to pick up your copy of the game with your groceries at your local Walmart, you’ll also get the Krugermeier 2-2 Pistol with a silencer.

The other bonuses that you get with the Professional Edition are not store specific. You’ll get the hardcover art book, and a “making of” video. Included with the weapon you got from your retailer you’ll also get the Agency Jagd P22G pistol, the Agency HX UMP submachine gun, and the Agency SPS 12 semi-automatic shotgun. Though the release date has not been set yet, you’ll get all of these things for the price of $79.99, compared to the standard version’s cost of $59.99.

If you’re a big Resident Evil fan, and you want to get the ultimate edition of the next installment, Resident Evil 6, I’m afraid that you’ll need to head to Japan to get it. Be prepared to fork over some cash, as well, as the Platinum Edition will cost you the equivalent of $1,240.

However, when you hear what’s inside the package, you might think it’s worth it. Included in the Platinum Edition is the game, PS3 or Xbox 360 versions, and four phone cases, one each of Chris, Leon, Jake, and a special random “secret” case. Now, you might be asking yourself “how is that worth over a thousand bucks?” That answer is easy, because also included with those items, you’ll get a replica leather jacket based on what Leon wears in the game. It’s available in four sizes, from small to extra large.

Only 5,000 unit will be available through Capcom’s Japanese eStore, so you might want to order one now if you want to get this sweet looking jacket and game. Resident Evil 6 will be available for sale starting on October 2nd, 2012.

Have you reached one of those times when you have absolutely nothing to play? Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever get through my entire collection of games, mostly thanks to Steam sales. However, if you’re in desperate need of something to play, and don’t have a lot of cash, you can head over to GoG and pick up the original Fallout for absolutely nothing.

What’s the catch? I suppose the only real one is that you have to sign up for an account. It’s about as painless as possible, taking less than a minute to do, so that’s really no excuse. The other thing you’ll want to note is that it won’t be free forever. You’ll need to grab it before Saturday afternoon to get in on the deal.

Even if you aren’t in the mood to play this classic, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t login and add it to your account. Otherwise, you might kick yourself for it later.