If you buy a Nintendo DS [preloaded with 5 bonus applications] for $169.99, you get a free $20 Target giftcard.

If you buy Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Assassin’s Creed II, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Mario and Sonic or Nerf: N-Strike Elite for $59.99 or less, you’ll get a $10 Target giftcard with each game you buy.

Buy a 120GB Xbox 360 Elite Bundle with Pure and Lego Batman and you get a $50 Target giftcard. Buy the Call of Duty Super Elite Xbox 360 bundle for $399.99 and you also get a $50 Target giftcard.

I love Target and the giftcards are a smart move for Target to make. They give consumers an incentive to shop at their store instead of Best Buy or Toys “R” Us and they’re assured of repeat business since consumers now have Target giftcards to spend.

Images|Black-Friday.net

Post from: EveryJoe

Target Black Friday Gaming Deals

Have you been to your favorite stores and mapped out your routes for Black Friday? You must have a game plan. Don’t expect to just waltz in there and get the games and systems you’ve been pining for. You’ll end up leaving empty handed.

The two Black Friday ads that I’ve found thus far are for Best Buy and Toys “R” Us and the deals are pretty freakin’ hot. I’m sure Target ads will be leaked soon and when I find it, I’ll do a new post with those deals.

Here’s what looks good from Best Buy:

• Xbox 360 Elite 120GB system that includes Pure and Lego Batman in box PLUS Sonic the Hedgehog, Spiderman Web of Shadows, Wall-E and Ghost Recon 2 for $299.99
• 120 GB PS3 with Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and Little Big Planet Game of the Year Edition for $299.99
• Madden 10, FIFA Soccer 10, NBA Live 10, NHL 10, Need for Speed Shift, Dragon Age: Origins, Brutal Legend, and Left 4 Dead 2 for Xbox 360 or PS3 for $34.99 each

Here’s the deals for Toys “R” Us:

• Spore Hero and Dead space for the Wii for $24.99
• Wii Fit Accessories between $9.99 and $19.99
• Need for Speed shift, Halo 3: ODST and Forza Motorsport 3 for $34.99 each
• Hannah Montana Guitar video game for $24.99
• Tons of Wii and DS games for $9.99 each
• FREE EVA Sleave Kit and DSi Car Adapter when you buy any DSi Holiday Bundle
• Xbox 360 Arcade System, Xbox 360 Carry Case and 3 games for $229.95

More deals will be posted as I find them since I’m sure more will be coming in the next few days.

Images|Black Friday 2009

Post from: EveryJoe

Black Friday Gaming Deals

Fact correction time: Yesterday, I said that the Killzone 2 demo would be coming to the PSN. Unfortunately, I had my facts mixed up and the demo isn’t actually hitting the network for two weeks, when the game is released. That is, unless you pre-ordered. Or live in Europe. Anyways, here are today’s headlines:

• There’s a new God of War III trailer out, and it looks just as bloody and violent as the last two.
• A demo for Wanted: Weapons of Fate is coming to the PSN on March 5.
• Black Rock Studio, the same team that brought us the incredible ATV racer Pure, has released a teaser for what its next project will be.
• Today Sony announced that the PSP has sold an incredible 50 million units worldwide since it launched.

Post from: EveryJoe

Today in PlayStation: February 13, 2009

5. Pure

With all of the great racing games on the PS3, you’d be forgiven for missing out on Pure. After all, MotorStorm does an excellent job of fulfilling your off-road racing needs. But if you love high-flying ATV action then you really should pick up a copy of Pure. The heights are dizzying, the tricks are crazy, and the speed is intense.

4. Alone in the Dark: Inferno

The early versions of Alone in the Dark were critically panned, and with good reason: the game was a frustrating mess. And though it still isn’t perfect, the much delayed PS3 version is much improved. The game has some truly epic moments, which almost make up for the more frustrating ones. Add in some beautiful graphics and you have a title that is worth at least a rental.

3. Siren: Blood Curse

If there is one thing the PS3 needs more of, it’s good horror games. Fortunately, Siren: Blood Curse fits the bill perfectly with a creepy atmosphere and tense battles. Unfortunately, the game was often overlooked due to its delivery method. You can’t buy Siren on a Blu Ray disc, instead it is only available as a series of episodic downloads. The process is time consuming, and all together the episodes are the most expensive thing on the PlayStation Network. But if you’re a horror fan, there really isn’t much to compare it to on the PS3.

2. SingStar

With all of the peripheral heavy music games dominating the charts, the SingStar series is often forgotten. But for fans of drunken (or non-drunken) karaoke singing, there really is nothing else. The game is remarkably well put together and features a great mix of different types of songs, which can of course be beefed up by downloading new songs from the SingStore.

1. Valkyria Chronicles

Unlike its predecessor, the PS3 has not seen a flood of Japanese role-playing games. Yet, when an excellent one comes along, like say Valkyria Chronicles, it sells extremely poorly. It may not be a traditional RPG, with its combination of real time and turn based strategy, but its a compelling game nonetheless. In addition to the unique combat, the game has a beautiful art style and a very compelling alternate history story. A must have for RPG fans.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Top 5 PS3 Games You Probably Missed

5. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

The pre-eminent racing sim out there, Gran Turismo leads the way when it comes to driving physics, visuals, and customization options. The fifth entry in the series ups the ante in all those aspects, and is one of the best looking games of the current generation. Unfortunately, the only edition available right now is the Prologue, which is essentially a glorified demo with less cars and tracks. But for GT fans, it’s a good, albeit expensive, way to kill time until the real GT5 comes out.

4. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift

Sometimes it’s fun to just hop in a monster truck, and run over things. Thank you Motor Storm: Pacific Rift. The sequel to the PS3 launch title introduces these massive vehicles, which join a cast full of bikes, ATVs, buggies, rally cars, big rigs, racing trucks, and mud pluggers. The new version also switches up the setting, throwing gamers onto a tropical island making the game much less brown then its predecessor. The new boost mechanic also adds a new level of strategy, as your vehicle can be cooled off by running through water.

3. Pure

But if you’re looking for a simpler, more accessible off-road racer make sure to check out Pure. Sure, it doesn’t have the vehicle selection of MotorStorm–you can only race ATVs in this one–but its simple control scheme and intense sense of scale make it one of the most entertaining racers in recent memory. Check out our review for more details.

2. WipEout HD

This PlayStation Network racer is probably the fastest thing available on the PS3. WipEout HD is the latest entry in the futuristic racing series, though in reality it’s just a much prettier version of the PSP games. Not that that’s a bad thing. In fact, WipEout HD is one the best PS3 games period. Not bad for a game that’s only $19.99.

1. Burnout Paradise

But if you can only buy one racer, it really should be Burnout. The game features an incredibly large city explore, full of tons of events and secrets to find. It also is good fun with a buddy or two, featuring hop-in/hop-out online multiplayer. But the best part of Paradise is the constant updates being made by developer Criterion. There has been a steady stream of compelling DLC released for the game, including the introduction of motorcycles, new cars, and several new gameplay modes. And there’s more to come, meaning that Burnout Paradise is a racer that could last you well into next year.

Don’t forget to check out last week’s Top 5, which looks at the best PlayStation Network palette cleaners.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Top 5 PS3 Racers

Like a lot of genres nowadays, racing games have become very complicated. Games like Gran Turismo and Forza feature all manner of tuning and customization options, as well as realistic driving physics. And while these features are all well and good–especially for the gearhead crowd–they do take away somewhat from the pick-up-and-play nature that many racing fans crave.

Those fans need look no further then Pure, an off-road ATV racer from none other then Disney Interactive. The game has a lot of appeal for the non-gearhead crowd, with its simple controls and heavy emphasis on tricks and boosting. But what makes the game so great is that while it is easy to pick up and get started, there is enough depth to give it some lasting appeal.

As said before, a big portion of the game is the trick system, and fortunately, it doesn’t require any convoluted or complicated combinations of button presses. Instead, it relies heavily on timing. The more tricks you complete, the higher level tricks you can perform. This means that at the outset you can’t do any crazy moves, instead you have to build up to that. As your trick meter increases you are able to pull of more complicated moves, which take more time to complete. Tricks have to be timed properly, as the higher level moves can only be completed when going off of massive jumps, otherwise you will crash.

And these jumps are another part of the appeal. These massive ramps provide an astounding sense of scale, helped in large part due to the sound. Once you leave the ground the music stops and all you can hear is the wind whistling around you. This not only creates a white knuckle feeling, it also helps to subtly point out which jumps are appropriate for high level tricks.

The incentive to doing tricks is that it fills up your turbo meter. The more moves you are able to pull off, the higher the meter goes, giving you longer bouts of enhanced speed. These boosts are crucial to winning races, giving you the leg-up on the competition. There are essentially two different kinds of races in Pure. There are 5 lap races, which feature much shorter circuits with fewer jumps, which makes landing tricks and using the boost especially important. And then there are the 3 lap races, which are much longer and feature more of the high-flying action described earlier. In addition to this there are “freestyle” courses that focus entirely on tricks.

Visually the game is wonderful, with lush forests and really gritty dirt and mud effects. As an off-road racer Pure sticks with a fairly consistent color palette, with lots of green and even more brown. But as good as it looks, the drab colors beg for more variety. Sure there are courses set in Italy, Thailand, and New Zealand, but eventually they all start to blend together, with only the architecture separating them.

There are, of course, a few other hiccups along the way. The lack of custom soundtracks is disappointing, as is the fairly complex vehicle customization options. Sure they add depth, but they seem very out of sync with the arcade style of racing found in the game. But these are just minor annoyances in what is otherwise a fantastic experience. Pure is a fun and simple arcade racer that provides some truly great moments of white knuckle tension and excitement.

Post from: EveryJoe

Mini-Review: Pure Arcade Racing Fun