Wha? There’s Reason to Step Foot in Kmart: FFXIII, Bayonetta, AvsP, MW2, Darksiders, Metro 2033 for $29.99 – Nier for $44.99

Ya, that store.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been inside of a Kmart in years, even though there is one right down the street from me. For whatever reason, it fades back in to a hazy fog in the shopping center, and I continually ignore it. Not today however!

The often overlooked department store put up a game sale yesterday, which runs from 5/4 – 5/10.  There are some pretty noteworthy games included, and discounts are valid both in-store as well as online. Check out the full list after the jump. Read more »

Celebrate V-Day With Flower – 50% Off PSN

Firstly, Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!

As the title suggests, Flower, developed by indie game devs ThatGameCompany, is on sale today for the lovely half price of $4.99. Unfortunately, it is a one day holiday sale, but there is still time left in the day! So I suggest jumping the PSN Store and grabbing it.

I went ahead and followed my own advice, making Flower my first PSN purchase to date. Took me long enough… I just haven’t really been sold on most downloadable titles.

The price was right though in this case, and I’d heard general good things about the game, including that it won the title of Best Indie Game at this year’s Spike Video Game Awards (wretched event that it is…).

Flower is a simplistic and beautiful work. More of an interactive visual experience than a traditional game, it utilizes the PS3 controller’s six-axis system allowing you to steer a colorful mass of petals through grassy landscapes, painting color and life across it as you go. I expected as much, but seeing it in action coupled with the quality musical accompaniment, Flower really shines as a super chill and relaxing diversion. It’s nice to just shut my brain off and coast along a colorful sea of flora. All that’s missing is someone spritzing Febreeze my way. One day smell-o-vision, one day.

If you want to see for yourself, check out  a nice extended gameplay video after the jump. Read more »

Final Fantasy XIV: New Screenshots and Updates

Square Enix has recently updated their Official Final Fantasy XIV site with new screenshots, additions to the story, and more information and images relating to the enhancements in character creation.

As is the trend nowadays, you will be able to adjust many features on your character including hair color and style, skin tone, eye color and shape, facial structure, as well as the addition of scars and tattoos.

This all comes after the opening of the application portal for the FFXIV BETA, which I have already taken a few moments to sign up for. I’m hoping I can get in to it, even though I was never very much impressed with the game’s predecessor. I gave FFXI a couple chances to make me a fan, but I could never really get in to the game or enjoy it. Maybe I was comparing it too much to WoW, which itself, like all MMOs has it’s bouts of tediousness, but I’m hoping FFXIV can finally win me over. I’ve read that FFXIV will attempt to be more user friendly and engaging, so that is good news. We’ll see when the BETA starts and more gameplay is fleshed out how true that really is and if Final Fantasy XIV turns out to be more than just a pretty face.

Speaking of, loads of new screenshots after the jump. Let the pretty begin! Read more »

Happy 15th Anniversary Playstation!

That’s right, 15 years ago today Sony joined the console war releasing the Playstation in Japan. Originally envisioned as a collaborative add-on to the SNES (“SNES-CD”), in 1993 Sony decided to rework it toward the new generation of hardware and software, taking on the Sega Saturn. And so the dynasty was born.

I came on to the Playstation scene fairly late in the game. My brother and I were more Nintendophiles at the time, and we were saving up to buy a Saturn.  We didn’t get a Playstation until the cute wittle PSone came around in 2000. I surely caught up in time though, now a firm fan and owner of a PSone, PS2, PS3, and PSP.

No one can deny the massive game libraries both the Playstation, and most notably the PS2, accrued over their lifespans. Hell, the PS2 is STILL getting games (though mostly ports), and it’s 9 years old!!! That means over half of the entirety of Sony’s gaming timeline has been the PS2.

If there is one thing Sony wants to be known for, it’s for putting out long lasting systems with classic game libraries, and I think (and hope) that will continue with the PS3… at least until (if it turns out as successful as the PS2) 2016.

Post-Turkey Day, Post-Black Friday Post: I <3 Steam Sales

Sorry no posts since Halloween. But we’re alive, and we’re at the close of the Thanksgiving weekend! So, Happy Post-Turkey Day!

I actually have been doing quite a bit of gaming over the weekend, and, thanks to Steam sales, I am a few games richer as well.

As you can tell by the pictures, I took a trip back in to Playstation Home. I haven’t really touched it in a long time, nor do I ever really feel the urge too, but I had yet to experience the features added during patch 3.1… aaaand it finally let me connect without timing out… so ya.

Once my avatar materialized in to the mall, I noticed the giant turkey monolith and abundance of virtual turkey’s gobbling about. So… of course! There had to be a turkey-themed mini-game! Much like the rest of the mini-games on Home, it wasn’t that interesting: chase a turkey, chase another turkey, chase a somewhat faster turkey. Not that cool, but I knew I had to win me a hideously deformed turkey suit… which hardly anyone was wearing, probably because it is just that ugly.

But the best part about this weekend, other than stuffing my face: Steam. They’ve been having a 5 day sale for select games (different crop each day), and I have to say it’s a nice way to pad your library. Of course, Steam has sales a lot anyway, but seeing a chunk-o-game for 50-75% off is awesome.

Check out my spoils after the jump. Read more »

Netflix Streams on PS3 Next Month!

Whoo hoo! The PS3′s getting Netflix!

In the past, I was kind of envious of the 360 (not having one of my own) for allowing users to insta-watch Netflix movies, but now it looks like come November the PS3 will be fitted with a similar launch application off of the XMB.  This comes a year after the partnership between Microsoft and Netflix made the feature available on the 360. Read more »

E3 2009 Impressions: Kojima Productions

This was a pretty big year for E3, and there is certainly a lot to respond to. However, I’m going to start out by granting my impressions on one of my favorite developers, and one that kinda stole the show for me personally.

As a major follower and fan of the Metal Gear franchise and Hideo Kojima, I must admit I was lending a keen eye as to what would be announced from Kojima Productions this E3. In traditional Kojima style, there was a somewhat quirky teaser build up prior to E3’s launch, which left many watching, waiting, counting down, and attempting to unscramble flashing images, numbers, and letters. Read more »