Prince of Persia has only been out since December 5th and it’s already been vastly reduced in price. The state of the economy has led many retail outlets to drastically lower the prices of products that usually wouldn’t be so cheap. Furthermore, the January sales will now contribute to a further reduction in prices. All these sales mean that it’s now the time to pick up that relatively new game that you’ve been wanting but couldn’t afford and, while you’re at it, why not make the new Prince of Persia game one of those purchases?

Once again you take on the role of the Prince (although, sadly, he has now been Americanised) who comes across a girl named Elika whilst looking for his donkey. Elika’s father than releases the God Ahriman, and so begins the journey of the Prince and Elika to try and imprison Ahriman again. You’ll do this by travelling around beautiful cell-shaded environments in order to heal fertile grounds that have become corrupted following Ahriman’s escape. This means that the dark tendrils of corruption will always be near, snapping at your heals as you carry out death defying leaps.

Elika herself plays a key part in the gameplay, as it’s technically impossible to die. While the Prince is able to perform a variety of acrobatic moves (as per usual) - such as climbing walls, wall running and jumping from wall to wall - he will need Elika to provide acrobatic support. For example, if there’s a platform that the player wants to reach but it is too far away to jump then Elika can provide a boost to help you leap further. If you still manage to fall then Elika will always jump down and save you, regardless of how far you fell or how impossible a rescue situation looks. While it does make the game easier it’s also a little disappointing that Ubisoft took away the ability to reverse time, something that I felt was a great feature. It’s not like they’ve replaced it with something more innovating either, but at least you’re going to have a less frustrating time with the game.

Prince of Persia is far less of a puzzle and more of a simple platformer than previous iterations, but it does have it’s moments. It makes you wonder if the future of games is always going to be about making them easier for the casual crowd, and it makes it even more frustrating for fans of an already well established series. Still, this doesn’t make it a bad game at all, it just means that you’re probably not going to get as many hours of it as you might have with one of the other instalments in the series. When you can get it for less than £20 though - only a few weeks after release - then you’ve got a decent enough game that is fun while it lasts, even if it’s not that terribly long (which is a bit like Fable II).

This is part of the Bargain Bin series, which is dedicated to bringing you excellent games for mere peanuts. Got a bargain you know of? Hit me an email!

I was always amazed that Rockstar managed to fit fully fledged GTA’s onto the PSP, as it’s a testament to just how far the power of handhelds have come. So, imagine my surprise when Rockstar Leeds President Gordon Hall tells Nintendo Power this;

“Chinatown Wars is much bigger than anything we have ever done before [in terms of scope]: more odd jobs, deeper missions, and more moments of over-the-top action,” Hall explained in an interview with Nintendo Power. “We have a huge interaction with the Rockstar Social Club, a massive [narcotics trafficking] game that would stand alone on its own. The list goes on and on; this thing is huge. We are very proud of all of the PSP games we have made, especially the two GTA games, but this game is far bigger.” - 1up.com

So, it’s not just bigger in terms of the map (apparently it’s just as big as GTA IV’s map, minus Alderney) but also bigger in terms of how much playtime you’re going to get out of it and, hopefully, fun. The surprising thing about all this is that it’s coming out on the DS, a handheld not known for epic scale games. Although the game is in top-down format rather than the PSP GTA’s full 3D; it’s nothing short of a miracle that Rockstar have managed to fit such a package on the humble-yet-delightful Nintendo DS.

Let’s just hope that it’s all worth it and the game actually turns out good. Personally I can’t wait to play more stories from the most fully-realised virtual city that we’ve ever seen. It’s also a game that just may revive my interest in the DS, as I’ve found absolutely no reason to pick mine up lately (save from checking on my Animal Crossing: Wild World town from time to time).

Related Posts:

Rockstar Makes the Wait for GTA: Chinatown Wars Even Longer
New GTA Game Courts Controversy with Drug-Dealing Minigame

The sales are already in full swing, so I’ve lined up a few games that you can pick up for cheap right now. Some are new games that have slashed prices, while others are older games that are so good and so cheap that you really have no excuse not to own them.

First up is de Blog, an extremely original Wii game that I included in my Wii Christmas Buying Guide. It is often said that the Wii doesn’t have enough original games that would interest the ‘core’ gamer, as shovelware seems to be the aim of the game with most Wii developers. Blue Tongue’s game, however, will interest both crowds. It’s easy enough for anyone to pick up and play, plus you’ll have a tonne of fun while playing it.

Admittedly there’s not a lot of variety to the game, as it mostly consists of moving de Blob around the level and painting everything in sight. However, there are missions to complete (such as painting a building a certain colour) and hazards to deal with. The main draw I found playing it is the addictive quality of the painting, as you tend to try and paint everything you can see (you only need a certain score to proceed to the next level, but it’s hard to leave things unpainted). So, in that sense, it’s a completists dream.

de Blob is the kind of game that you know will achieve cult status, and it certainly deserves it due to the incredible passion and attention to detail that the developers have poured into it. It’s literally a gem in the rough, as there’s so many poor games out there for the Wii that anything as original as de Blob is literally a god send for bored Wii gamers.

According to PriceGrabber you can pick it up for as low as £17.91 - and I heartily recommend you do so!

This is part of the Bargain Bin series, which is dedicated to bringing you excellent games for mere peanuts. Got a bargain you know of? Hit me an email!

It’s only one day a year, and we spend so much money on it that we wonder why we bother, but how can anyone hate Christmas? I know that I’ll always love the presents, the mountains of food, the lashings of alcohol and ‘good’ TV. Of course, I’m hoping that I’ll also get a good video game or two and I’m sure you lot are as well!

The sales started early this year, but they’ll continue on into January; so be sure to check out ButtonSmasher and Pricegrabber in the New Year for the latest bargains, feature articles and gaming news. I can’t really suggest any game for you today as you should have all your presents sorted by now(and if you haven’t then I suggest you go and hide in a cave until it all blows over), but I hope that you get everything you want and you’re enjoying a game in-between the turkey and mince pies.

I’ll be back in a day or two, but until then have a great Christmas!

P.S If Santa hasn’t arrived at your house yet you can check his current location in the world through this handy tracker.

Ok, so I hesitate to use the word ‘game’ here as it’s not interactive, but it comes under the Xbox 360’s XNA Community Games anyway. Basically the Fireplace ‘game’ does exactly what it says on the tin, and that means that it’s nothing more than a virtual fireplace.

Here’s a handy trailer for you:

UPDATE: For some reason the video won’t embed, but you can watch it here.

Now, if we’re going to be totally honest here, that’s hardly a trailer as that’s pretty much it. Yes, the full ‘game’ will look better on a shiny new HD TV (or flatscreen PC monitor if you include people like me) but is it really worth it? What’s the point if you don’t get any actual warmth (yes, I did think about the Xbox 360 jokes here, har de har!)?

To add even more bafflement to the mix it’s not free. Nope, ladies and gentlemen, someone actually expects you to pay 400 MS Points for this. In these harsh times you can bask in the ‘warmth’ of a fake fireplace, instead of saving a few pounds to spend on your heating bill. Screw the credit crunch, eh?

XNA User Creates Ultimate 360 Fireplace - Kotaku

If you still haven’t finished your Christmas shopping then I’ve got another excellent game idea for you. Make sure you hurry up though, as you haven’t got all that long left!

The Nintendo DS has given rise to a fair number of innovating ideas due to its touch screen (it has also churned out a lot of poor quality titles, some of which shove in tacky uses for the touch screen where it’s not really needed in that particular game), but none go to the extent that developer 5th Cell does. Their latest title, Drawn to Life, uses the touch screen to allow the player to draw. The unique part of this is that the player has to draw the hero they’ll be playing as throughout the game. That’s not all though; as the player also needs to draw the vehicles, weapons and platform elements that make up each level.

While its colourful artsy charm and relatively simplistic gameplay will appeal mostly to kids, it’s also a great game for us creative types. I have spent ages trying to create the perfect character and weapon, and then smiling with pure glee when I see my creation walk around the game. The character does have a cardboard cut-out feel to it, and does walk around a little wonky, but I say that it only adds to the overall charm. You will also discover that the game is mostly about drawing, which is why I say the game is perfect for kids at an age that they should be expressing their creativity. They won’t find the gameplay too hard, and they’ll have great fun creating the missing parts of the game.

5th Cell is currently working on a new game, Scribblenauts, that sounds even more innovating than Drawn to Life. Apparently you can write the name of any object on the touch screen and it will spawn it. Check out my blog post for more on the game.

An earlier rumour that the next Metal Gear game would be for the iPhone has been confirmed by Konami. The game will - fittingly for the iPhone - be called Metal Gear Solid Touch.

Returning to the universe of Metal Gear Solid 4 the game will consist of 8 stages with the promise that more will be added at a later stage. The game will also take full advantage of the iPhone’s touch screen, employing the zoom-in text method for controlling the sniping function. Bonus points earned through the game will also allow you to unlock stuff such as iPhone wallpapers. It’s slated for a worldwide release in spring 2009.

Konami also revealed three more of their franchises that will be making the jump to iPhone; Silent Hill, DDR and Frogger.

With Konami on board the iPhone has gained yet more respect as a valuable new gaming platform. It has also given me yet another reason to try and save up the money to buy one.

Before I forget, you will be able to download Metal Gear Solid sackboys for LittleBigPlanet from December 18th (the dates have since been removed from the Hong Kong Playstation site, so we’ll just have to wait and see if this date still stands). These should put your mind off the next game for at least a week or two, plus they’re incredibly awesome.

The Spike VGA Awards were held in the US last night, and it had its fair share of exclusive trailers and information. Amongst them was the first trailer of Grand Theft Auto IV’s first downloadable content pack - The Lost and Damned. The story will follow Johnny Klebitz and his biker gang, The Lost, which previously featured in several GTA IV missions. Unfortunately there’s no word on pricing yet, but we’ll most likely know closer to the pack’s 17th February release date.

It was a good night for GTA IV at the awards; with the game picking up ‘Game of the Year’, ‘Best Action Game’ and ‘Best Male Voice’ went to Michael Hollick, who played Niko Bellic.

I personally can’t wait for more stories set in Liberty City, but we’ll soon see if other gamers feel the same way and justify Microsoft paying $50 million for the exclusive Xbox 360 content.

I’m starting to think that no other Final Fantasy game will ever come close to beating the experience I had with Final Fantasy VII. I adored every second of that, working through it slowly because I didn’t want it to end. Since then I’ve played every Final Fantasy game released (barring XI) and, while I’ve had fun, nothing has beaten those first steps into Midgar. Will Final Fantasy XIII change all this? I doubt it, but it sure looks awesome.

These two trailers were originally shown at DKΣ3713 during the summer, but Square Enix has finally decided to treat us. While, for the most part, these trailers may be pre-rendered they still look pretty amazing. I’m just thankful that I’ll be able to play the game on my trusty old Xbox 360 (did I really just say trusty?), even if the trailers still say Playstation 3. I suppose its half right, as Final Fantasy Versus XIII (below) will be an exclusive to Sony’s console. This may give me a reason to buy a Playstation 3, although my poor wallet won’t like it.

Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII are due for release sometime in 2009, but bear in mind that this is Japan; as there’s no word yet on a European/North American release yet.

The next instalment in the amazing Total War series – Empire: Total War – has been delayed. Originally scheduled for February 6th 2009 the game is now slated for early March. It’s only a delay of a few weeks, but any delay to The Creative Assembly’s popular franchise is sure to frustrate some fans.

Kieran Brigden, Studio Communications manager at the developer, told Kotaku that the day will allow them “to finalise and polish Empire, making it the most accomplished and epic of the Total War series.” Also, a new feature was announced.

“Significantly, the additional time will also allow The Creative Assembly to implement the underlying technology for a much desired feature: a multiplayer campaign mode. An opportunity to participate in the one versus one multiplayer campaign mode beta will be made available to all who purchase Empire: Total War post release.” – Kotaku

Seems like a nice change from your normal skirmish mode!

I’ve always been a big fan of the Total War series, so my anticipation for Empire is through the roof. The battle engine is so historically realistic and packed with tactical options that the BBC’s Time Commanders used the game’s engine to recreate famous historical battles. Empire: Total War is looking a thousand times better (if that’s even possible), with gorgeous graphics that allow you to zoom right down to the heart of a battle. Plus, there’s now naval combat.

You can pick up Rome: Total War for as low as £6.16 if you don’t already have it. I’d also recommend Medieval II: Total War, which further improves on Rome.