SCEA: "PS3 Is Open For the Ad Business"

Sony Computer Entertainment of America and Europe announced a partnership with in-game ad company Double Fusion today, saying that the Playstation 3 is open for the ad business.

Weird, I thought they were open for the ad business last month when they announced their deal with Double Fusion rival IGA.

Either way, I don't see adding in-game ads as something they or any company should be bragging about. Until I see a dip in game prices or service costs, it doesn't give me anything but an opportunity to help an international company rake in more dough.

Amazon's Gold Box Kick Off With Super Cheap SSBB [Updated]

Amazon deals! No, no, no Amazon Nintendo deals! Today's Amazon Goldbox has kicked off with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, originally priced at US$49.99, but now going for $25.99. Whadda steal. Throughout the day, Amazon will be cutting prices on nine — yes, NINE — Nintendo titles. Expected games and times are:

Current - Super Smash Brothers: Brawl (Wii)

6:00 AM PDT - Yoshi's Island DS

8:00 AM PDT - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS)

10:00 AM PDT - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

12:00 PM PDT - The New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS)

2:00 PM PDT - Mario Kart Wii

4:00 PM PDT - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii, presumably, though possibly Gamecube)

6:00 PM PDT - Mario Party DS

8:00 PM PDT - Pokemon Diamond and/or Pearl (Nintendo DS)

Check Amazon during the day to see if these predictions are true — and more importantly, just how low the deals go.

Eds Note: Slight correction: Mario Kart DS, NOT Mario Kart Wii and Pokemon Diamond confirmed, not Pearl as a choice.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Amazon Thanks, FitzRhapsody!]

Wal-Mart Offers $100 Gift Card on All PS3 Purchases This Week

Just a quick reminder to those of you who didn't see the ads, or the announcements earlier this month, Wal-Mart is offering a $100 store gift card to anyone who buys a Blu-ray player from them between June 8 and June 14.

Yes, that includes any Playstation 3 they have in stock (including the Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle) and yes a "similar offer" is also available on WalMart.com.

As a side note, the chain will also be selling a number of Blu-ray movies for $15 a pop this week, while supplies last.

Wal-Mart Boosts Volume of Blu-ray and Hi Def Among More New Electronics Enhancements [Wal-Mart, thanks Kevin]

For the five of you that haven't purchased Halo 3 yet (if you like that sort of thing that is) be sure to check out this week's Best Buy circular. From today until February 3 they are offering the hugely popular FPS for $37.99 which is a $22 savings off of the regular listed price of $59.99.

Circuit City's weekly ad offers a $10 gift card with a pre-order of Devil May Cry 4 for either the Xbox 360 version or the PS3 version. A $10 gift card is also available for pre-orders of the 360 and PS3 versions of Turok. For a full rundown of all the weekly ad deals, check out CheapAssGamer.com.

This week's Best Buy Ad lists two of the biggest titles of last year BioShock and Assassin's Creed each for $39.99. Also avialable is Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for $19.99 and an online only deal that will net you two games priced $19.99 each for $30. Some of the titles offered in that deal include COD 2, Viva Pinata, LEGO: Star Wars II, Red Steel and a ton of PS2 titles. The weekly ad deals last until next Saturday but the online offer has no stated ending date. If you want cash in on the hidden gems though, I would jump on it ASAP.

Best of the Sunday Ad Video Game Deals (1/20 - 1/26) [CheapAssGamer]

AOL is giving away a 40GB Playstation 3 with a copy of Ratchet and Clank Future and a wireless Sixaxis controller to customers who sign a two-year contract for AOL Broadband Wireless Plus.

The 24-month contract also requires you to sign up for AOL Talk call plan (not sure what that is) and runs £19.99 a month. Once you stick around for 24 months you can keep your PS3 forever. The only catch, besides the ironclad two-year contract, is that you have to pay a deliver charge of £14.99 for the console, controller and game. Not a bad Christmas present, especially since it comes with Ratchet and Clank.

Judging by the price and location of the source, I suspect this is a UK only deal.

AOL Broadband now offering a free Sony PlayStation 3 [Think Broadband]

Circuit City Game Deals

KB Toys Black Friday Deal

A little less than a week to go and the Black Friday deals are rolling in. This one from KB Toys. According to their circular, they are offering Buy One Get One Free on their entire stock of video games. The offer excludes hardware and bundles with a limit of four fee games per customer. I find it a bit odd that there are no next-gen games in the photo, but the ad clearly states "entire stock." If there is a KB in your area, you might want to give a call or stop by this week to see what the selection is like before you head over there at 6am only to find yourself faced with some crappy GBA games.

Assorted Video Games (Buy 1, Get 1 Free) at KB Toys [Black Friday Ads]
[Thanks, Darkwormer]

Wal-Mart's Awesome Black Friday 360

Ah, Black Friday. I prepare for the day by scouring countless websites for information, mapping out local retail outlets to make sure I can be in line when each store opens its doors. Then come Friday morning I realize that the gaming deals on Black Friday completely suck and wind up sleeping in, but still. Ah, Black Friday. Take Wal-Mart's big gamer incentive for the shopping holiday. You can get an Xbox Arcade system with five bonus games for the low low price of $279.92! That's a savings of $.08! Take back what I said, that's a steal! It even comes with five bonus games! Of course, said bonus games are the XBLA titles that come bundled with the package in the first place, but you throw the word bonus in there and parents go crazy buckets all over the place, not knowing how inherently Black Friday sucks for gamers. Thanks Wal-Mart!

Wal-Mart's Black Friday deals [CNN Money - Thanks Doug!]

When I am shopping for video game consoles, Dell isn't just the last place I would look - it simply isn't. Laptops, sure, but consoles? Well if you're in the market for a PS3 this Christmas, you'd be doing yourself a grave disservice by not checking out the deal Dell is running on the new 40GB system. Not only do you get the console itself along with the Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray disc, but they've sweetened the deal with a Startech 6 ft HDMI cable, perfect for a system that has an HDMI port but still ships with a standard AV cable in the box. What's that you say? A cable isn't good enough for you? Elitist jerk. Well they're also throwing in a copy of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, the single-best reason to own the PlayStation 3 at the moment. That's a value of somewhere around a gajillion dollars ($488 in real money), all for the low Dell price of $399.99. If you're in the market, or have a loved one who has their heart set on the PS3, this is an excellent way to make Christmas your bitch.

PS3 Playstation 3 40GB Console Bundle [Dell via Gizmodo]

A nice little present for Call of Duty fans. In Circuit City's weekly ad, they are advertising an offer of a free copy of Call of Duty 3 when you purchase a copy of Call of Duty 4. Also included in the deal is a Call of Duty 4 poster. Great opportunity to fill out your collection if you missed out on the last title or need something to hang over that hole in your wall where you punched it. (I'm looking at YOU, Crecente)

Circuit City weekly ad [Circuit City]
[Thanks, Islandkiwi]

Amazon Deal Of The Day: The Warriors

Toys "R" Us Offers $25 Gift Card With Super Mario Galaxy Purchase

That buy a Blu-ray player or Playstation 3 and get five free Blu-ray movie offer that ended last month has just been reupped. The new offer runs from Oct. 1 through Jan. 31 and includes a new selection of movies. I wonder why the HD-DVD folks aren't doing this. Maybe there isn't a single company invested deeply enough to warrant the expense.

Blue-ray Savings

Empire at War Gold Pack Hits Shelves

INTERGALACTIC SAVINGS!! Star Wars: Empire at War is now bundled in a Gold Pack along with the Forces of Corruption expansion! That's two great games, one great box! But that's not all! Because customers who call in the next 5 minutes will also receive the Prima Games hint book ABSOLUTELY FREE!! That's a, I dunno, like $60 $600 value!!

But you get two great games, Games for Windows support and all the bonus material from the original Empire at War Collector's Edition for the low, low, low price of $29.99. Now that's savings.

Product Page

Costco Offers Wii Bundles

Costco is currently selling Wii bundles that include the Wii, an extra Wii remote and a copy of Mario Party 8 for $329. If you're still looking to get a Wii and you have a Costco membership, this might be the perfect opportunity for you although you'll probably be wanting to pick up an extra nunchuk as well. The savings is minuscule at only $10, but it's better than nothing I suppose. Look at it this way, you'll finally have your long sought after Wii and while you're there you can use that extra ten bucks to buy a giant tub of Gummi Worms and a case of Mountain Dew. Let the good times roll!

Coscto Wii/Mario Party 8 bundles [GoNintendo]