I’m not really a fan of Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. The arcade-ish fighter sim (I know, simulator + arcade don’t go down too well together) just rubs me the wrong way. But hey, don’t let my comment prevent you from forming your own opinions on that game, not especially when it’s on sale at half price!

Yup, Play-Asia has the game (Xbox 360, plays on all regions) in the spotlight as its weekly bargain item and at USD 24.90, it’s pretty much a steal for those who love Ace Combat type of games. Hurry on now, before stocks run out. Click here for details.

You have now less than 16 hours to take advantage of the last day of Play-Asia’s Lucky Spring Sale. While some video game titles and toys have been sold out (or reverted to their normal prices by virtue of being new stock), there are plenty of video games, toys, collectible items and even music CDs and movie DVDs at hard to resist prices.

Here’s Nine Over Ten’s guide on what to pick up in the following categories on this last day of sales:

• Nintendo DS – Look out for bargains on accessories such as cases, stylus, and also screen protectors for your NDSL/NDSi. Click here to start shopping
• Gameboy – Be on the look out for Gameboy Advance titles such as the bit Generations series which can provide hours upon hours of fun for really cheap prices. Also, the soon-to-be-rare Famicom Mini games are the ones to snag here. Don’t miss this chance. Click here to check out the Gameboy section
• Xbox 360 – There are plenty of Asian region (in English) games on sale below USD 20, and some of them even run on NTSC-U or even PAL consoles. Click here to start shopping for Xbox 360 games
• Toys and Collectibles – Figurines, gashapons, and even trading card games are up for sale in this section. Looking to start your shooting game ship gashapon collection? Or build your killer Magic: The Gathering deck for less than USD 5 a theme deck? Start cheap at Play-Asia during this last day of sales! Click here to start your toy hunt.
• Music - Soundtracks for video game franchises such as Final Fantasy are going for cheap here, couple this with free international shipping (to certain countries) and you’ll be hard pressed to find better bargains elsewhere. Click here to start shopping for stereo goodies.
• Retro Games – Looking for a particular piece of nostalgia? The Lucky Spring Sale is bargains galore for retro consoles, accessories and that rare copy of an oldie but goldie game you are looking for. Click here and let the antique, I mean, retro buying begin!

And FYI, you are automatically entered into a lucky draw competition (with consoles as prizes) by virtue of buying on-sale items. Click here for further details.

You know what, these bargains make me feel like packing up the PS3, sell it and get myself a brand new spanking Xbox 360, 3ROD be damned. Having Fallout 3 DLCs does help in pushing that idea, but hey, more on the bargains first:

• Lost Odyssey (English, NTSC-J/PAL) ~ USD 19.90 – Click here for details.
• Mass Effect (English, Region-Free) ~ USD 19.90 – Click here for details.
• Too Human (English, Region-Free) ~ USD 14.90 – Click here for details.
• The Simpsons Game (English, NTSC-J) ~ USD 19.90 – Click here for details.
• Need for Speed: Carbon (Collector’s Edition) (English, NTSC-J) ~ USD 19.90 – Click here for details.
• Skate (English, NTSC-J) ~ USD 19.90 – Click here for details.
• Tom Clancy’s End War (English, Region-Free) ~ USD 19.90 – Click here for details.
• Warhammer Battle March (English, Region-Free) ~ USD 19.90 – Click here for details.
• Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box (English, Region-Free) ~ USD 24.90 – Click here for details.
• Universe at War (English, Region Free) ~ USD 18.90. Click here for details.

Don’t forget that the sale is until the end of March 2009. Clicking on any of the links mentioned earlier will bring you to Play-Asia, where the sale is going on.!

Most of the time, if someone were to mention a video game bundle, it usually means a video game title bundled with a console. However, when it comes to the people at Konami, they take the notion of bundle differently, but still charge the ridiculous price normally associated with this sort of thing.

The Otomedius Gorgeous + Hyper Stick Pro Otomedius Gorgeous Version (Konamistyle Limited Edition) is a video game bundle like no other. Featuring Otomedius Gorgeous, a shmup featuring pretty girls for the Xbox 360 and a control stick designed to emulate the arcade version (it even comes with a touch screen!), the bundle was previously priced at a crazy USD 389.90.

You can actually purchase this for a slightly saner USD 299.90 in a limited time offer. Click here for details

There’s little information regarding developing WiiWare games, and the little information I garnered include:

• Development Tool: WiiWare SDK costs around USD 2000
• Point of Entry: Developers must be licensed and approved by Nintendo
• Pricing: Nintendo controls pricing of Wiiware games

Now, compare this to Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Community Games, whereby you get to create games, submit it online and have people buy the games from Xbox LIVE. The prerequisites are, well, much lower than what would you expect from a platform which has a way better online marketplace experience compared to the Wii (Microsoft could have charged higher for that):

• Development Tool: XNA Framework and Visual Studio Express Development Tools are FREE OF CHARGE
• Point of Entry: Developers pay USD 99 a year for access to XNA Creators Club to submit games for peer review. Once passed, game will be listed on Xbox Live!
• Pricing: Developers sets price between 200 to 800 Points. and get 70% of the total revenue from their game sales.

It’s pretty to see which one is the more accessible and developer friendly, not to mention cheaper option. Nintendo’s coverage on Wiiware development is ridiculously scant, with all my information garnered from sites like IGN and Wikipedia. What’s the point of having an innovative controller in the form of a Wiimote when the point of entry for developers is set very high? And Nintendo’s approach pretty much sidelines homebrew developers.

I don’t know bout you, but I can actually dismiss the following statement made by Tom Prata, senior director of project development with NoA, as hubris:

Basically we’re giving the tools to any developer to make the games that they want to make, and all the dreams and passions that they have and bring them to Wii. We’re trying to encourage the philosophy that a big idea can succeed without a big budget. They decide the content, while we provide the lowest barrier of entry into development as we can for them.

the RANDOM LoL is a website for video game reviews and Internet culture. Aside from pretty cool articles  written by a posse of enthusiastic writers and funny stick man Flash Animation/art, the site also allows for user posted topics, nice!

To top it up, the site is giving away Fable II Collector’s Edition for the Xbox 360 in a contest that ends on the 28th of February 2008 and it’s open to all members of the RANDOM LoL. So hurry, sign up now! Click here to visit the RANDOM LoL.

While Bethesda has expressed lessons learnt from the whole Fallout 3 end-game debacle, (link:here) and that there are expansion packs coming the way of the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game to alleviate this problem, there’s still no news on whether the PS3 version will be seeing the same expansion packs.

Come on Bethesda….some PS3 loving please?

On another note, Gametap’s brilliant sounding service is not available outside the U.S and Canada. So no unlimited play for pennies for me. On the other hand I still can buy and download the Fallout Trilogy (Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics) for a one time payment of USD 14.99. Hmm hmm. Sounds like a good idea.

Why buy individual 19 cm Gears of War Series 2 figurines while you can purchase the entire set featuring Marcus Fenix, Damon Baird, Dominic Santiago and Theron Guard at a discounted price. Yup, the Neca’s Gears of War Series 2 Action Figure Box Set has now entered the bargain bin at a super price of USD 39.90 (down from USD 54.90).

Don’t miss out on this box set, all you collectors and fans of the video game. Check it out here.

Hitting the bargain bin this week is Limited Edition of Need for Speed: Pro Street for the Xbox 360. Going for a super price of USD 24.90, it comes with not only the game (NTSC-J), but also several goodies: neckstrap, keychain, clock and coin purse.

Check it out over here.

I was just checking out some previews for Prototype, an upcoming game from Radical Entertainment for the PS3 and Xbox 360, when I realized something. Doesn’t the main character look like Altair, the main character from Assassin’s Creed?

Wassup with all the hoodie get-up these days?