Best Buy Black Friday: Revelations for $35, Batman, Gears 3, BF3 for $30

by Jessica Conditt on Nov 12th 2011 1:30PM

We're really pleased we don't work at Best Buy during the holiday season. We're sure it's a wonderful company to work for in general, but its Black Friday sales are almost as legendary as Wal-Mart's, though thankfully not as lethal (yet, fingers crossed).

This year Best Buy is offering deals on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and 3DS swag, including 360 and PS3 console-and-game bundles for $200, three months of Xbox Live Gold for $8, Assassin's Creed: Revelations for $35 and a bevy of major new titles for $30. You can even snag X-Men: Destiny for $30 in a special "pay more than it's worth" sale. If you're not brave enough to go to the store (we don't blame you), Best Buy is offering free shipping on everything from now until Dec. 27 on its website.

Click below for the complete list of Best Buy Black Friday deals, and before you get in line, remember, don't wear a blue polo or tan pants that day. Unless, you know, you want to.

Xbox 360

Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Bundle w/ Fable III & Halo Reach & 3 Month Xbox LIVE - $199.99Xbox 360 Kinect - $99.99Xbox LIVE 3 Month Gold Membership - $7.99Xbox 360 Wireless Controller - $39.99Turtle Beach X12 Wired Headset - $39.99Battlefield 3 - $29.99Rage - $29.99Gears of War 3 - $29.99Disney Universe - $29.99Assassin's Creed Revelations - $34.99Batman Arkham City - $29.99Madden NFL 12 - $29.99Need for Speed The Run - $29.99Call of Duty Black Ops - $29.99Disney Universe - $29.99FIFA Soccer - $34.99NBA 2K12 - $34.99Forza 4 - $34.99Gears of War - $7.99Toy Story 3 - $7.99Call of Duty World at War - $7.99Homefront - $14.99Dirt 3 - $14.99Final Fantasy XIII - $14.99Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions - $14.99Just Dance 3 - $24.99Dance Central 2 - $24.99Kinect Sports Season 2 - $24.99Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster - $24.99Wipeout In The Zone Kinect - $24.99UFC Personal Trainer - $24.99The Sims 3 Pets - $24.99Rabids Alive and Kicking - $24.99X-Men Destiny - $29.99

PS3

Playstation 3 160GB Console Bundle w/ LittleBigPlanet 2 & Ratchet & Clank - $199.99Battlefield 3 - $29.99Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception - $29.99Rage - $29.99Disney Universe - $29.99Assassin's Creed Revelations - $34.99Batman Arkham City - $29.99Madden NFL 12 - $29.99Need for Speed The Run - $29.99Call of Duty Black Ops - $29.99Disney Universe - $29.99FIFA Soccer - $34.99NBA 2K12 - $34.99Toy Story 3 - $7.99Call of Duty World at War - $7.99Homefront - $14.99Final Fantasy XIII - $14.99Dirt 3 - $14.99Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions - $14.99Kinect Sports Season 2 - $24.99The Sims 3 Pets - $24.99X-Men Destiny - $29.99

Nintendo Wii

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Mega Pack - $79.99Animal Crossing City Folk - $14.99Go Vacation - $14.99Pac Man Party - $7.99Tetris Party Deluxe - $7.99Jeopardy - $7.99Survival Shadows of Katmai - $29.99Cabelas Big Game Hunter 2012 - $29.99

Nintendo 3DS/DS

Flame Red 3DS Bundle w/ Super Mario 3D Land - $179.99Cosmo Black 3DS Bundle w/ Zelda - $179.99Ultimate Starter Kit for 3DS - $9.99Scribblenauts (DS) - $7.99Madden NFL Football - $14.99The Sims 3 - $14.99

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Zelda concert series comes to Dallas January 10

in Dallas

Dallas Symphony Orchestra to Play 'Symphony of the Goddesses' on Jan. 10

CORRECTION...by Nintendo
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First graph, fourth sentence of release should read: Tickets for the Dallas performance are now available direct from the Dallas Symphony and range in price from $19 to $115. (sted Tickets for the Dallas performance are now available at Ticketmaster and range in price from $19 to $115.)

"The tour will be something both fans of the franchise and music enthusiasts alike won't want to miss."
The corrected release reads:

NINTENDO'S 2012 CONCERT SERIES FOR THE LEGEND OF ZELDA WILL KICK OFF IN DALLAS

Dallas Symphony Orchestra to Play 'Symphony of the Goddesses' on Jan. 10

Video game fans in the Lone Star State will soon be able to experience Nintendo's musical tribute to The Legend of Zelda™ video game series. On Jan. 10, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will perform orchestral arrangements of music from the game's 25-year history accompanied by video content from the games themselves. This new concert series will go on tour across the United States in 2012 as The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. Tickets for the Dallas performance are now available direct from the Dallas Symphony and range in price from $19 to $115. Through Nov. 30, tickets are available to Club Nintendo™ members at a 15 percent discount.

Nintendo has teamed up with Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. to provide video game fans with the ultimate musical experience for The Legend of Zelda. The highlight of this new musical program is a full four-movement symphony that will guide fans through a musical retelling of key chapters from The Legend of Zelda franchise. The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concerts will be conducted by Irish-born conductor Eimear Noone, and the multimedia show will pair iconic music and gorgeous visuals from classic Zelda titles, including the newest game in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii™ console.

"The love that fans feel for The Legend of Zelda series cannot be overstated," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "In 2012, we want to give people across the country a chance to come together and enjoy the music from the games that mean so much to so many."

"The Legend of Zelda is as close to our hearts as it is for the fans," said Jeron Moore, producer for Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc. "The tour will be something both fans of the franchise and music enthusiasts alike won't want to miss."

Additional performance dates will be announced in the future. For more information about the concerts, visit http://www.zelda-symphony.com. For more information about the ticket discount available to Club Nintendo members, please visit http://club.nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.8 billion video games and more than 610 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company's website at http://www.nintendo.com.

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Hey Japan, stop making me save the world

by Jason Schreier on Nov 4th 2011 4:00PM

This is a column by Jason Schreier dedicated to the analysis (and occasional mocking) of his favorite genre, the Japanese role-playing game. Whether it's because they're too antiquated or just too niche, he believes JRPGs don't get enough attention in the gaming industry today. It's time to change that. You've seen this play before. Some ragtag heroes are standing at the edge of some interdimensional space portal or subterranean crystal labyrinth or evil god's castle. They're holding powerful weapons -- acquired after hours of tedious mini-games -- and staring down some nasty monster or deity or demon squirrel.

Their goal? Save the universe from imminent doom.

If you're anything like me, you're probably already yawning. The go-forth-and-save-the-world trope is so worn out in video games by now that it's hard to muster up even an iota of compassion for all of the artificial people that need rescuing. Japanese role-playing games are the worst offenders of all, spitting out bombastic villains and supernatural events with reckless abandon and little regard for reality. Games like Tales of Vesperia and Lost Odyssey might start you off with small tasks and adventures, but at the end of the day, you know you're going to have to prevent the apocalypse.

On some level this makes sense: It's cool to feel like you're the man. It is cathartic to start off as a weakling and grow stronger and stronger as your journey progresses -- and you have to be pretty damn strong to save the world. (Or worlds, as the case may be. Japan is crazy.)

The problem with this method of story-telling is that it gets very old very fast. While traditional JRPGs like Dragon Quest can be as comforting as a familiar blanket or a warm cup of tea, they can also have trouble convincing us to stay emotionally invested. It's hard to care about saving the world when you do it every weekend.

So what does make us care about stories? Simple: the people driving them. If we connect with fictional characters' desires and flaws, if we believe that they are real human beings with real motivations, it's easy to empathize with their journeys.

Unfortunately, many JRPG developers have subscribed to the idea that a protagonist doesn't need to be believable. The main character wants to save the world because he wants to be a hero. Maybe he just likes protecting people. Or he's just sick of killing sewer rats.

How do you make people relate to your character? Film school teachers will offer a single piece of advice: "Raise the stakes." Add more conflict. Make things worse for your protagonist. Give him more obstacles to overcome. Allow us to connect to his struggles.

But that doesn't mean you have to raise the stakes for the whole damned world. Take Inception, one of the most critically-acclaimed films of 2010. It's filled with villains, explosions, and plenty of conflicts. It's also about a single person's journey -- in some way or another, every moment of the film is dedicated to protagonist Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his attempts to get back home to his family. We are invested because the stakes are high for him. The world won't be destroyed if he fails -- but his personal world might be.

It's not just Hollywood. Gaming's most powerful narratives are not about massive conflicts; they are about individual journeys. John Marston's harrowing path to salvation in Red Dead Redemption is far more interesting than some gang of silent warriors trying to defeat a god. We are invested in the world of Planescape: Torment because of its hero's fascinating quest to discover his own identity. Both of those games throw endless hurdles at their protagonists, forcing us to feel both admiration and empathy as we guide them through the sorrow of survival.

Of course, even save-the-world adventures can be touching -- so long as they don't expect us to care about saving the world. So long as they are personal journeys, journeys that take our protagonists through the rollercoaster of ups and downs that makes a great story. Journeys that raise the stakes.

Jason Schreier is a freelance writer/editor based out of NYC. He's a contributing writer for Wired.com and occasionally writes for a number of other sites and publications, including Edge Magazine, the Onion News Network and G4TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @jasonschreier.

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October NPD: 3DS rising, a good month for games with 'Bat' in the title (Update: BF3, Batman, RAGE numbers)

by JC Fletcher on Nov 11th 2011 6:50PM

Microsoft claims another month on top for the Xbox 360, with 393,000 units sold for the NPD's October sales period, 20% up year over year and, in the words of MS Chief of Staff for Interactive Entertainment Business Aaron Greenberg, the system's "biggest October ever." Following up is ... the 3DS, randomly bouncing back two months after its price drop, with "over 250,000" sold, according to Nintendo.

Try to look shocked when we tell you that Battlefield 3 topped the software chart. The top six games on NPD's sales chart are all October releases, with Batman: Arkham City, NBA 2K12, Rage, Just Dance 3, and -- believe it or not -- super-hardcore, unfriendly RPG Dark Souls all placing. Find the full top ten after the break.

Top 10 best-selling games (US) for October 2011: Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC) - ~2 MillionBatman: Arkham City (360, PS3) - 1.5 MillionNBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC)Rage (360, PS3, PC) - 550KJust Dance 3 (Wii, 360)Dark Souls (PS3, 360)Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP)Forza Motorsport 4 (360)Gears of War 3 (360)FIFA Soccer 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, 3DS)

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PSA: Do a (Google-enabled) Barrel Roll!

by David Hinkle on Nov 3rd 2011 8:30PM

The thing about barrel rolls is you must do them, but sometimes your environment doesn't permit it. Maybe you're in a meeting or maybe you're locked up in a jail cell -- hey, we're not here to judge. Well, if the cops didn't end up taking your smart phone or, more oddly, your laptop, you can do a barrel roll right now.

All you have to do is load up google and type in "do a barrel roll," sit back and enjoy the ride. And if you're looking for some more Google Easter Eggs, here's a few.

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Bittrip Complete Wii New Images

These are some new images of the Nintendo Wii game Bittrip Complete

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Ubisoft's 'Drawsome Tablet' coming to Wii on December 6

UBISOFT® INTRODUCES DRAWSOME TABLET

New Drawing Peripheral for Nintendo's Wii™ System Bundled with Two Games

SAN FRANCISCO - November 8, 2011 - Today, Ubisoft® announced the development of the DrawsomeTM Tablet, a new drawing peripheral for the Wii™. Set to release exclusively in the United States on December 6, 2011, the video game tablet allows the entire family to show off their artistic creativity through an intuitive and engaging device. The Drawsome Tablet comes with two games, DrawsomeTM Artist and Drawsome Sketch QuestTM. Both games encourage players to unleash their creativity as well as challenge players to embark on fun family-friendly gaming adventures.

"Ubisoft is always looking for new ways to marry quality family time with a quality gaming experience," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft North America. "With the Drawsome Tablet, Ubisoft is bringing to the market a peripheral that will allow families to sit down together and create their own unique works of art while participating in fun, creative adventures."

The Drawsome Tablet features a large 6.5x5-inch screen that allows for unrestricted drawing movements and features an innovative transparency layer that covers the drawing area, so players can trace their favorite images. The tablet comes with a wireless stylus which means players movements will not be limited by a tether; the size, shape, and feel of the pen also allows for a user-friendly experience for children. Everything drawn on the tablet will be displayed in real time on a home television. Using an SD card, users will be able to easily share their masterpieces with friends and family.

In Drawsome Artist, players can draw, paint and color by sketching on their own or learning advanced art techniques step by step. They even can interact with their favorite characters from The Smurfs, the world renowned animated brand, and learn how to draw and color them thanks to a huge gallery of predefined models. Also included is Drawsome Sketch Quest, in which players embark on an adventure to help a variety of cute animals race through their world by drawing bridges, trampolines and more. With 40 characters and 80 levels there is never a dull moment in either solo play or family-friendly four person co-op.

For more information on Drawsome, please visit: www.drawsometablet.com

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