PSN Weekly Deals - 8/27: PAX Indie Sale, DJ Hero/2/GH Sale, Spelunky $11.99, Pinballistik is Free!, and Machinarium Vita Free for PS+!

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FriskyTanuki

FriskyTanuki

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Welcome to the best thread for all of the deals on games, add-ons, and other stuff in the PlayStation Store both on and off of PSN.

Index
Current Deals
Upcoming Deals & PlayStation Plus Schedule
Free Games
PlayStation Plus Preview
Persistent PlayStation Plus and Alternate Deals
Frequently Asked Questions
History of Free PlayStation Plus Games

Current Deals (Full Update Here) - Store Updates Every Tuesday, Usually Between 4-8 EST

Visit The Web PS Store Here

Key:
N - New This Week
X - Expires With Next Update
P - Permanent Price Drop
C - Cross Buy (Vita/PS3)
D - Demo or Full Game Trial Available

Pre-orders


Battlefield 4 - $59.99 - Ends 10/29 [customspoiler='Bonuses']China Rising Expansion & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
Battlefield 4 - Premium - $49.99 - Ends 10/29
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse - $14.99 X [customspoiler='Bonuses']Original Genesis game, Avatars, & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
Diablo III - $59.99 X [customspoiler='Bonuses']Infernal Helm DLC Pack & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
FIFA 14 - $59.99 - Out 9/24 [customspoiler='Bonuses']24 FUT Gold Packs & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]

Grand Theft Auto V - $59.99 - Out 9/17 [customspoiler='Bonuses']75% Discount on a Rockstar PSN Title, Atomic Blimp, & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]

NHL 14 - $59.99 - Ends 9/10 D [customspoiler='Bonuses']24 HUT Gold Packs & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
Rain - $14.99 - Ends 10/1 [customspoiler='Bonuses']Avatars, Dynamic and Static Themes, & Musical Montage[/customspoiler]
 
Bundles

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon & Call of Juarez Gunslinger Bundle - $24.99 - 17% Off ND

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 & 2 Bundle - $7.49 - 50% Off NX

Pinballistik + DLC Bundle - $4.99 - 38% Off NP

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype Complete Bundle - $5.99 - 54% Off - [customspoiler='Includes']Full Game + The Last Chapter Add-on[/customspoiler]

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype + Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer Bundle - $6.99 - 53% Off - [customspoiler='Does Not Include']Last Chapter Add-on for X2[/customspoiler]

PS3

Amy - $1.99 - 33% Off
Closure - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD
Dragon Fantasy Book I - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC

Dyad - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD

flOw - $5.59


Flower - $6.99 D



Journey - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD

Limbo - $7.49 - 50% Off NXCD

Madden NFL 13 - $29.99 - 25% Off NP
Need for Speed: Most Wanted - $29.99 - 25% Off NPD
Pinballistik - Free NP
Retro City Rampage - $4.99 - 66% Off NXC
Retro/Grade - $4.99 - 50% Off - Compatible with Guitar Controller NXD
Skullgirls - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD
Tokyo Jungle - $7.49 - 50% Off NX
Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer - $3.99 - 50% Off



Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype - $4.99 - 50% Off
Wicked Monsters Blast! HD - $4.99 - 50% Off- Move Compatible
Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC


 

PS2 Classics

Raiden III - $5.99 - 40% Off
Add-ons




DJ Hero - Jay-Z vs. Eminem Pack - $3.99 - 50% Off N
DJ Hero 2 - Hard Edge Mix Pack - $2.99 - 50% Off N
DJ Hero 2 - Ultra Mix Pack - $3.99 - 50% Off N

Dragon's Crown - Storyteller Voice Pack - Free X



Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Classic Rock Track Pack - $3.13 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Coldplay Track Pack - $3.13 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero 5 - Avenged Sevenfold Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero 5 - Rock 1 Track Pack - $5.49 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock - Linkin Park Track Pack - $5.99 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock - Rocky Horror Picture Show Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero World Tour - Classic Rock Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero World Tour - Queen Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Rocksmith - "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Keep Yourself Alive" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Killer Queen" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "My Sharona" by The Knack - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Stone Cold Crazy" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype - The Last Chapter - $2.49 - 50% Off

 

PS1 Classics - All of these are compatible with PS3 and PSP unless otherwise noted. Check this thread for Vita compatibility.
N/A

 
Minis - All of these are compatible with PS3 and PSP unless otherwise noted. Check this thread for Vita compatibility.
1000 Tiny Claws - $1.75 - 50% Off
Blimp: The Flying Adventures - $1.49
Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess - $2.49 - 50% Off

Who's That Flying?! - $2.49 - 50% Off

 
PSP Games - Check this thread for Vita Compatibility
N/A
 

Vita Games

Dragon Fantasy Book I - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC

Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable - $19.99 - 50% Off N

Limbo - $7.49 - 50% Off NXCD

Need for Speed: Most Wanted - $19.99 - 33% Off NP

Retro City Rampage - $4.99 - 66% Off NXCD

Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC
Vita Add-ons

Dragon's Crown - Storyteller Voice Pack - Free X
 
PlayStation Plus

PS3 Deals



Closure - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD
Dragon Fantasy Book I - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC

Dyad - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD




Grid 2 - $53.99 - 10% Off X



Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds Complete Collection - $19.99 - 20% Off - Move Compatible
Journey - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD

Limbo - $5.99 - 60% Off NXCD
Ms. Germinator - $7.99 - 20% Off XC
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 & 2 Bundle - $3.75 - 75% Off NX
Retro City Rampage - $3.74 - 75% Off NXC
Retro/Grade - $2.50 - 75% Off - Compatible with Guitar Controller NXD
Skullgirls - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD

Spelunky - $11.99 - 20% Off NXC
Tokyo Jungle - $3.75 - 75% Off NX
Wicked Monsters Blast! HD - $1.00 - 90% Off - Move Compatible
Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC

Vita Deals

Dragon Fantasy Book I - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC
Draw Slasher - $3.00 - 50% Off N
Limbo - $5.99 - 60% Off NXCD
Ms. Germinator - $7.99 - 20% Off XC

Muramasa Rebirth - $20.99 - 30% Off X

Retro City Rampage - $3.74 - 75% Off NXCD

Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC
 
Add-on Deals
Bit.Trip Presents…Runner2: Future Legend Of Rhythm Alien - Good Friends Character Pack - $2.39 - 20% Off
Subscriptions

Music Unlimited Premium One Year Subscription - $41.99

Free Games (Don't Argue About This, Please)

Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - 769 MB

Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower - PSP/Vita - 657 MB

Gravity Rush - Vita - 1.4 GB

Hitman: Absolution - 16.1 GB X - [customspoiler='Includes']Full Game, Deus Ex Disguise DLC, Deus Ex Zenith Handgun, and Discount on Sleeping Dogs[/customspoiler]

Jet Set Radio - 1.1 GB
Knytt Underground - PS3/Vita - 857 MB

LittleBigPlanet Karting - 7 GB

LittleBigPlanet Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves - Requires Move
Machinarium - 183 MB

Machinarium - Vita - 329 MB N

Metal Slug XX - PSP/Vita - 166 MB
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee - 1.2 GB
Pinball Arcade - PS3/Vita - 115 MB
Saints Row The Third - 7.2 GB - Free CheapyD Pack
Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Vita - 2.9 GB
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - 30 GB
Wipeout 2048 - Vita - 1.6 GB

XCOM: Enemy Unknown - 7.6 GB

Zen Pinball 2 - Star Wars Pinball - PS3/Vita - 783 MB N [customspoiler='Includes']Standalone Star Wars Pinball game[/customspoiler]

Themes
[customspoiler=PS+ Themes]Abstract Art - Dynamic
Assassin's Creed Revelations - Dynamic
Cuckoo - Dynamic
Daytona USA
Double Dragon Neon - Dynamic
Dragon - Dynamic
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit - Dynamic
The House of the Dead III - Dynamic
The House of the Dead 4 - Dynamic
I Am Alive - Dynamic
Infamous Festival of Blood - Dynamic
Jet Set Radio - Dynamic
Leap Year - Dynamic
Mesh - Dynamic
Mexican Skulls - Dynamic
PlayStation Plus - Dynamic
Robot - Dynamic
Samurai - Dynamic
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 - Dynamic
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - Dynamic
Stripe Shift Part 2 - Dynamic
Tales from Space: About a Blob
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown - Dynamic[/customspoiler]

Avatars
[customspoiler=PS+ Avatars]Armageddon Riders (3)
Cool Cat
Daytona USA (5)
Dead Cloud
Double Dragon Neon (7)
Fat Princess (2)
God of War: Ascension
Green Hamster
Hell Yeah! (4)
The House of the Dead III (3)
The House of the Dead 4 (3)
Jet Set Radio (6)
LittleBigPlanet (2)
Mutant Skull
Pink Hamster
PlayStation B-boy (1, 2, 3)
Resident Evil 5
Section 8: Prejudice Bundle
Squirrel
Stick Up Kid
Street Fighter X Tekken
Street Fighter 2
Tank Commander
Top Dawg
Under Siege
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (20)[/customspoiler]

Feel free to provide feedback for ways to improve this thread. Thanks.



 
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@FIF said:
Polygon can suck a D. They gave the only bad review to Last of Us. They crapped on Dragon's Crown because of the art direction--which is surely something that should factor into a review, but its not like Crown has texture pop in, low res textures or some genuine technical/critical failing. Subjectively scoring the entire game because they don't like the witch's breasts and ignoring how it plays, how well its designed, whether it succeeds at its goals is ridiculous.

I can see how DuckTales would be divisive. But no one should put any stock in Polygon's evaluation of a game.
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I don't care for Polygon either. I actually really enjoyed both McElroy's on Joystiq, but yeah, I've had questions about 2 or 3 of their reviews now. I try to avoid their site as much as possible.

affa said:
Polygon got a massive infusion of cash from Microsoft. Something like $750k. While it's remotely possible they are 'fair'... it's also remotely possible it affects their overall judgement concerned playstation exclusives. even given a completely legit reviewer, an editor can still subtly influence scores simply by deciding who reviews what, etc. you also wouldn't need to target every exclusive, just certain ones (like those with a lot of positive word of mouth, like DC and TLOU).

i obviously don't know if anything untoward is going on. But... $750k is a lot of money. Tons and tons of it.
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Never heard about that. Yuck.

 
SJD said:
I've always liked Polygon. But this is unsettling. http://realitypales.org/2013/06/06/polygon-is-silencing-the-playstation-community/
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See, this is why people should have realized years ago when IGN started blatantly selling scores that you can't be blindly loyal to one site. These are businesses who have to find a way to make money in an increasingly competitive environment with a product that they're giving away for free. It's not journalism any more than chicken nuggets are chicken; both resemble something real and market themselves as genuine but are so heavily processed and reshaped that they're only the same in the name given to them.

Remember, all of these sites, and their writers, get benefits from these publishers. Whether it's review copies of games, advertising, swag, invitations to events, etc. these are all things that they get specifically because of what they do. When these publishers get angry with a site and want to make a point they don't pull their ads, they stop giving them preview access and inviting them to events because that hurts the site more than losing the ads.

 
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biledriver said:
You do realize that these sites don't just carry reviews all by the same person, right? You can never condemn a website based of one person's reviews. The only bad review in my eyes is one that is decided beforehand by someone's attitude about the game(which I believe their Dragon's Crown review was by the way) or one that puts personal opinion way above detailing the actual gameplay and other factors.

I mean, I think Last of Us is melodramatic SoS quite frankly. So I would agree with a review that doesn't glow about it. The only real importance of a review is getting a feel for what the game is like, potential bugs/issues and one person's opinion on it. Which is why it's pretty crazy that game designers are getting pay based off reviews of all things. Such an incredibly subjective thing. But no website can be bashed as a whole for their reviewers individual scores being not what you want.

Except maybe when you read their review on a website fully covered in ads for that game. That's more when you should be suspicious than because someone didn't like what you like.
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I don't know how reviews work on a lot of the big sites, but as far as Polygon is concerned, the review is written, then the author and a team of senior editors decide on the score to give based on the review. Personally, I find that to be a terrible way to score games, as I feel the score should represent a simpler form of the author's overall opinion, rather than an interpretation of it. This method can also increase the potential of seperation between the review and the score, which can cause problems when you get into things like metacritic.

 
See, this is why people should have realized years ago when IGN started blatantly selling scores that you can't be blindly loyal to one site. These are businesses who have to find a way to make money in an increasingly competitive environment with a product that they're giving away for free. It's not journalism any more than chicken nuggets are chicken; both resemble something real and market themselves as genuine but are so heavily processed and reshaped that they're only the same in the name given to them.



Best. Analogy. Ever.
 
handsomepete said:
Is it weird that I'd never even heard of Polygon until the DC review? I stick to CAG feedback for my reviews/opinions on games, for better or worse.
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I had heard the name in passing a few times but it was only when they started getting involved in all sorts of controversy that it actually ever registered.

 
handsomepete said:
Is it weird that I'd never even heard of Polygon until the DC review? I stick to CAG feedback for my reviews/opinions on games, for better or worse.
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i only heard about them recently; they've been quoted on tv commercials and other media lately; and they've been getting lots of press in part because they seem to consistently give controversially low scores to beloved playstation exclusives. it's been great for getting clicks, bad for their rep. and it's sad, because i want to like their site. they cover a wide range of stuff. but i don't trust them.

 
EldritchOnRye said:
See, this is why people should have realized years ago when IGN started blatantly selling scores that you can't be blindly loyal to one site. These are businesses who have to find a way to make money in an increasingly competitive environment with a product that they're giving away for free. It's not journalism any more than chicken nuggets are chicken; both resemble something real and market themselves as genuine but are so heavily processed and reshaped that they're only the same in the name given to them.

Remember, all of these sites, and their writers, get benefits from these publishers. Whether it's review copies of games, advertising, swag, invitations to events, etc. these are all things that they get specifically because of what they do. When these publishers get angry with a site and want to make a point they don't pull their ads, they stop giving them preview access and inviting them to events because that hurts the site more than losing the ads.
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Yeah, gaming journalism is indeed very cozy with the industry. I'm still not convinced there's some nefarious scheme to profit off of misleading coverage and reviews, though, lol.

KrebStar said:
I don't know how reviews work on a lot of the big sites, but as far as Polygon is concerned, the review is written, then the author and a team of senior editors decide on the score to give based on the review. Personally, I find that to be a terrible way to score games, as I feel the score should represent a simpler form of the author's overall opinion, rather than an interpretation of it. This method can also increase the potential of seperation between the review and the score, which can cause problems when you get into things like metacritic.
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Ha. If that's true it would explain why there seems to be a disconnect. But again, if you actually read their reviews there's nothing amiss about them. Discordant with popular consensus, maybe, but not enough to warrant these dubious claims MS is paying them off. Seems they need to adjust their scoring system or not use it all.

 
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Count me in as never having heard of Polygon.  Nearly a million from Microsoft, while chump change (like a half a penny to them) for Microsoft cant do anything but create bias.  I havent played Last of Us, but having seen across the board 9s anything under a 7 raises a lot of suspicion.  If nothing more than Polygon trying to generate traffic to their site.

 
affa said:
i only heard about them recently; they've been quoted on tv commercials and other media lately; and they've been getting lots of press in part because they seem to consistently give controversially low scores to beloved playstation exclusives. it's been great for getting clicks, bad for their rep. and it's sad, because i want to like their site. they cover a wide range of stuff. but i don't trust them.
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Here's the thing though, no one in the game community really trusts someone like IGN anymore. It's an easy target and I don't mean to pick on them but hear me out. If there's a game box, print ad, TV commercial, whatever with quotes from the media it's almost certainly going to have one from IGN. So after years of earning bad rep for questionable integrity and writing controversial revues they're still one of the single biggest names in the industry and even though gamers, should, know better than to rely on them they still get all the traffic from having that public mind share.

Polygon's been around for all of 9 months and clearly has ambitions of becoming the next IGN/Gamespot/Kotaku. If you can get a consistent place on those box quotes you've now earned yourself a huge piece of public perception that will get you consistent traffic regardless of your rep. I think that's why Polygon is really getting under some peoples' skin because they claimed to be starting a new breed of site and then have gone and taken the most direct route to getting clicks and buzz at any cost.

breakfuss said:
Yeah, gaming journalism is indeed very cozy with the industry. I'm still not convinced there's some nefarious scheme to profit off of misleading coverage and reviews, though, lol.
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Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that everyone's corrupt and you can't trust anyone but it's a co-dependent relationship.

 
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I'm probably in the minority, but I didn't enjoy Muramasa very much.  I honestly feel Vanillaware games are rather hit or miss, since the only one I truly loved was probably Odin Sphere.  Grim Grimoire's controls were way too imprecise for a real time strategy game, and I just felt Muramasa on Vita got repetitive rather quickly.  Without the incredible story and combined narratives like Odin Sphere, it couldn't hold my attention.  Dragon's Crown is faring much better, as there is no real pretense to story and the characters are unique enough for now...

That said, I'll probably grab a game or two from this sale... probably Katamari :)

 
I've only really heard of Polygon by name and not by visiting the site. I never really liked Gamespot because it seemed like they would intentionally rate games lower to get attention. As much as metacritic probably shouldn't be the end all be all it does help to weed out who these offenders are. I think even if you hated The Last Of Us you would have to at least give it somewhere around an 80 or higher since technically speaking it pushes beyond a whole lot of games. I love how a lot of excuses go with read the article before complaining but when you do and voice your opinion about it you get banned.

I also think the notion of super team of reviewers or whatever is really stupid. I don't think any of these reviewers opinions hold more worth than the next guy or even the average Joe who just plays games for fun. If you think about it these "reviews" shouldn't even be attached to a name.

I think the worst part is that Polygon is auto-magically holding weight on Metacritic. I think any site regardless of who is there should have to wait about a year of being an established site before showing up.

 
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I recently picked up P4Golden Digital. Likely getting Totori Plus since it's only digital....might get Muramasa as well but might just wait for better price for a physical copy. Pretty decent Vita sale though....too bad those memory cards are a huge ripoff in price. I paid but it hurts so much.

 
breakfuss said:
Yeah, gaming journalism is indeed very cozy with the industry. I'm still not convinced there's some nefarious scheme to profit off of misleading coverage and reviews, though, lol.
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i don't know that nefarious is the right word for it though. 'clickbait' is a well known thing on the ad funded internet... it's not so much a conspiracy theory as it is an established money making practice.

and there's plenty of evidence and actual scandals to indicate that the gaming media is capable of misleading coverage for money.

i don't think all gaming media is corrupt. but i don't trust the major ones. and i don't trust anyone given three quarters of a million dollars. Heck, I've run a media review site before (nothing to do with gaming) and back then even reviewers getting a free copy was seen as potentially causing bias. Now make their entire paycheck dependent on it... and it's easy to see the potential for abuse.

 
EldritchOnRye said:
Here's the thing though, no one in the game community really trusts someone like IGN anymore. It's an easy target and I don't mean to pick on them but hear me out. If there's a game box, print ad, TV commercial, whatever with quotes from the media it's almost certainly going to have one from IGN.
Click to expand...

I think with all sites you have a concern over the trustworthiness of their review. Big sites like IGN have the concern of potentially being paid-off, smaller sites like Polygon and Destructoid could be accused of being attention whores, and user reviews, well... I think we all know about user reviews.

So I mean, really, the entire field of gaming reviews could be tainted. From there you could try and aggregate the pros and cons from multiple reviews to inform your decision, or just "trust your own opinion" as people love to say, but personally I just don't have the time or interest for that, so I just sorta take a leap and trust in IGN's reviews. People talk about how their reviews are bought-out and such; I haven't actually seen anything about this but it could be true, all I know is that their reviews tend to focus on the elements that I look for in determining whether a game is worthwhile or not, and in the 10+ years I've been reading the site, I rarely find myself disagreeing with their assessments.

That's not to say I agree with everything. I think more than ever, IGN has had a problem with the whole "different reviewers have different opinions" excuse. I know some people see this as some sort of post-modern expression of unique opinions, and it's sort of an unavoidable truth, but personally I think it fucks with their consistency. I go to the well with this alot, but I think a great example is the contrast between their MoH Warfighter and Black OPs 2 reviews: one reviewer thought the tried-and-true gameplay was great while the other was sick and tired of it. I think it would help alot if certain reviewers tackled certain genres.

 
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Anyway, back on topic I was really scared when I saw that list of Vita sale games at first.  The more I look at it the more I think that I might escape with only Soul Sacrifice and Katamari.  I'll have to look into Atelier Totori Plus a little more but I'm already so backlogged on RPGs.

 
htz said:
Touch My Katamari for $3.75. :D/
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Damn - I bought this when it was $9 or something. Oh well, at least I played it at the time.

breakfuss said:
I think it was @velo who gave bad impressions of Touch My Katamari? Can't remember. It's $4 regardless...and I do love katamari, but I think he said a lot of the levels were locked behind a paywall or something, lol.
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Not that I am aware of. The only issue with it is that it would be very, very time consuming and tedious to get all the trophies, which I could see Velo complaining about ;). But I don't think there was any DLC for it. It is pretty easy to unlock levels but you have to earn some ridiculous amount of in-game currency (I forget what it is) to buy all the collectables - which is only necessary to get all the trophies.

But otherwise, yeah, $3.75 is a no-brainer price for anyone who likes Katamari. I found the control scheme a little lacking on the Vita - my hands were hurting after playing and I never felt like I had the control that I do with a regular PS2/PS3 controller.

I'd get Atelier Totori Plus if it was a little cheaper ($20 with Plus is still too much for me).

 
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I believe some games deserve the hype they get. Games are not the medium to find the deepest writing and narrative. God knows. But a great story and decent mechanics deserve praise. I believe gaming mechanics are now a complement to a good story or equal. Games like The Walking Dead, Spec Ops: The Line and The Last of Us should be praised. They push the envelope in honest, believable ways. But, everyone has their opinion. And Polygon has a review system. The problem is that their actions go against their statement of what their website is about and receiving start up money that obligates them to be biased is bad.
 
ItsKayJayBee said:
Wow, great looking Vita sale.

Muramasa and Soul Sacrifice have my attention. Probably will only get one. How is Soul Sacrifice?
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Soul Sacrifice can be a bit dry and repetitive solo, but I think the multi is a lot of fun and reasonably bite sized. Very, very strong Monster Hunter influences.
 
Wow, all the Polygon hate is hilarious to me. I love Polygon. I hate how so many reviewers just churn out the same reviews as everybody else. When looking for reviews I always look for the dissenting voices such as Polygon or Quarter to Three. Even if I disagree with their opinions, hearing their criticism or praise gives me a better way of looking at the product than all the cookie cutter reviews out there.

Don't get me wrong I use the scores from all the other reviewers to get a general opinion of a product by looking at gamerankings.com; I would just never bother to read their actual reviews.

 
People, seriously, read the review, forget the score.

Also, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this Vita sale

So far I'm tempted not to buy:
Ridge Racer
Ragnorak Odyssey due to the better version and the demo not being that fun. Even then I'll probably buy it at that price.

Someone tell me what else NOT to buy.
 
I'm at least getting Katamari and probably UMvC3.  I'd pick up Muramasa, but I'll wait for a lower price.  Also I'll ditto everyone else recommendation to hold off on Ragnarok Odyssey and just pick up the "Ace" version coming later this year if you are interested in it.

Atelier Totori is pretty fun and looks good on the Vita.  It's part of a trilogy, yes, but you don't need to know much about the previous game (Rorona) to enjoy it.  I didn't enjoy Rorona very much but I did like Totori on the Vita.

I'm a big fan of Dynasty Warriors/ Samurai Warriors games, but I wasn't too hot on DW Next.  The more I played it, the less I liked it.  The touch screen mini-games during the fights are fun at first, but get really annoying, especially the one where you have to move the Vita to aim.  You can switch that to the sticks, but they are too sensitive and it's actually worse when you do.  However, there is a good amount of content for the price.

 
jkam said:
I've only really heard of Polygon by name and not by visiting the site. I never really liked Gamespot because it seemed like they would intentionally rate games lower to get attention. As much as metacritic probably shouldn't be the end all be all it does help to weed out who these offenders are. I think even if you hated The Last Of Us you would have to at least give it somewhere around an 80 or higher since technically speaking it pushes beyond a whole lot of games. I love how a lot of excuses go with read the article before complaining but when you do and voice your opinion about it you get banned.

I also think the notion of super team of reviewers or whatever is really stupid. I don't think any of these reviewers opinions hold more worth than the next guy or even the average Joe who just plays games for fun. If you think about it these "reviews" shouldn't even be attached to a name.

I think the worst part is that Polygon is auto-magically holding weight on Metacritic. I think any site regardless of who is there should have to wait about a year of being an established site before showing up.
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I say "read the review", irrespective of the score, because they're thoughtful and cogent pieces. I think we all agree their scoring is problematic. I've played and completed 2 of the games in question (TLoU & NNK), and while I do not agree with the final scores, the reviews are more than fair. It's perfectly possible to differentiate between the quality of a work and your personal enjoyment of it. It appears Polygon, to the dismay of a lot of people, expands the criteria by which it critiques games. Some view it as a covert initiative (financed my M$) to lower metascores on Sony exclusives, lol. I see it as an attempt to (borrowing your words) "push beyond" the same, tired notions of what make a great game. Maybe that's giving them too much credit, I don't know. Take Dragon's Crown for instance. A lot of people are pissed that they focused so intently on the grotesque art direction. Someone here even mentioned that it shouldn't have been considered given the game's technical polish. As if the two are mutually exclusive. Simply because the game is mechanically sound and fun to play we should rule out everything else? Now people want Polygon to "suck a dick" over the Ducktales score, lol?? Because, as they see it, the game should only be judged for its faithfulness to the original. And, that's fine if you want that in an "HD remake". I happen to side with Polygon in that if you want a refresher in 1989 gaming conventions, simply pull your NES out the attic. But, of course, that's just one perspective...financed by MS. bwahaha.

 
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I think I'm just gonna stick with Totori, that seems like the only game out of the ones that I want that won't get cheaper anytime soon or even hit that price again for a while.
 
That Vita sale is great. Shame I only have a 4gb card. 

Definitely getting Totori, Katamari, and thinking about NLKS. I bought the original Wii version for about $5 from Gamefly a few years back, and in true CAG fashion I never played it. 

I'd love to get Muramasa, but I want a physical copy of that. 

 
Someone used the word "clickbait" and I think that's exactly what Polygon does with their scores.  Reading that Dragon's Crown review, the only real negative the writer implied was about the usage and appearance of women in the game, and a little bit about having to replay some of the same levels multiple times.  The rest of the review seemed pretty accurate and full of praise, so 6.75 seemed like a very low score to me just based on what was written, it sounded like it could be a 7.5-8.  I'm not the type of person to care too much about a specific score, but it's the best way to raise controversy.  I definitely think Polygon has artificially lowered a few of their scores to attract attention and page views.

 
tylerh1701 said:
Someone used the word "clickbait" and I think that's exactly what Polygon does with their scores. Reading that Dragon's Crown review, the only real negative the writer implied was about the usage and appearance of women in the game, and a little bit about having to replay some of the same levels multiple times. The rest of the review seemed pretty accurate and full of praise, so 6.75 seemed like a very low score to me just based on what was written, it sounded like it could be a 7.5-8. I'm not the type of person to care too much about a specific score, but it's the best way to raise controversy. I definitely think Polygon has artificially lowered a few of their scores to attract attention and page views.
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That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Because you'd get a lot more clicks for a "Sorceress Gets Naughty With Tiki The Fairy" pictorial sponsored by Atlus than a poor review LoL

Like I mentioned, I believe the theme of that review showed that the reviewer was on their soapbox before they played it. they were ready to lower the score and attack the art from the get go. Then it taints your view. Just like it's hard to trust reviews from people who pay full retail for a game because they obviously wanted to play it enough to blow $60. It's hard to be brutally critical of your purchase at that point. Reviewing is hard to get right, I don't envy anyone doing it.

Another great example is Patricia Hernandez at Kotaku whose reviews are always more social commentary editorials than in depth gameplay reviews.

 
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Breakfuss: My point about the Polygon review of Dragon's Crown is that is wasn't something you'd see from a respected critic in another genre.

Take Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut as an example. There's imagery that will bother some--many--viewers, but film critics call that out for their readers while factoring in the scripting, pacing/delivery, cinematography, and the rest of the experience in the review and score. A Polygon review of Eyes Wide Shut would ignore all of the film's accomplishments and and give it 1* for being "too lusty."

Or Tropic Thunder. Its a hyper violent but solid sendup of war films that features an actor in blackface. Many will hate it and film critics made that clear, but most reviewed the work as a whole. Negative reviews of Thunder focused on the pacing and how effects drowned out the comedy bits. Polygon would just say "Ugh, blackface. 1* for you!"

There can be legitimate disagreements about the merits of music, movies, games, anything. A critic's job is to identify things that could be flash points, to explain to potential consumers what works and doesnt work. It's not to let a single issue drive the review or scoring. Polygon essentially said that Dragon's Crown isn't worth buying because of the sprites. That's not game criticism. It's Metacritic user scoring. Or dude-who-plays-games-and-has-tumblr.
 
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GT said:
I don't know about Vita, but the PS3 version of that Ridge Racer game was absolutely horrid IMO.
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I highly recommend not buying the Vita version of Ridge Racers even at that price. I don't think we are allowed to post links here for IGN ( am I wrong?) but I suggest taking a look at their review. One thing they mention is there are only 3 tracks and 5 cars, which are all the same, except their appearance.

 
biledriver said:
Another great example is Patricia Hernandez at Kotaku whose reviews are always more social commentary editorials than in depth gameplay reviews.
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breakfuss said:
Yeah, gaming journalism is indeed very cozy with the industry. I'm still not convinced there's some nefarious scheme to profit off of misleading coverage and reviews, though, lol.

Ha. If that's true it would explain why there seems to be a disconnect. But again, if you actually read their reviews there's nothing amiss about them. Discordant with popular consensus, maybe, but not enough to warrant these dubious claims MS is paying them off. Seems they need to adjust their scoring system or not use it all.
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I haven't read any of their reviews in some time, as I've never been a fan of Polygon for my own reasons and there are more than enough alternatives out there. I wasn't really commenting on any reviews in particular, so much as their methods, which are clearly stated on their website for those interested. Honestly though, even if one believes 100% that the site is in Microsoft's pocket, it wouldn't hurt to read their reviews if you're interested in a game. If one bad review is able to scare you off or make you wait, you probably didn't want the game that bad to begin with.

For my money, the best reviews wouldn't use a scoring system at all, because more often than not it distracts from what matters, the review itself. I think one of the worst parts of review scores is that many use sites like metacritic to check a games average score, and then make their decisions based on that. This can not only result in a lot of uninformed purchases, but also a "rich get richer" sort of scenario when combined with the fact that so many people these days consider anything below an 8/10 to be garbage.

Anyway, Touch My Katamari is totally worth the sale price for anyone who enjoys those games, or those new to the series and wanting to try it out. There's no platinum, so the trophy crowd might not be as interested, but I paid $15 a while back and felt it was worth it. It's going to be hard to resist some of these Vita sales, as I've been eyeing Dynasty Warriors for some time now.

 
gettinmoney662 said:
I think I'm just gonna stick with Totori, that seems like the only game out of the ones that I want that won't get cheaper anytime soon or even hit that price again for a while.
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I was thinking about it but the CGR review of the PS3 version is dissuading me at that price.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_q0tcUsAjc

MooseTheCorgi said:
I highly recommend not buying the Vita version of Ridge Racers even at that price. I don't think we are allowed to post links here for IGN ( am I wrong?) but I suggest taking a look at their review. One thing they mention is there are only 3 tracks and 5 cars, which are all the same, except their appearance.
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Yeah, it looks to be a DLC fest regardless of how it actually plays. $27 additional dollars just for the courses and cars. Part of the fun of RR was always in getting a bunch of cars even if 90% of them were reskinned and marginally tweaked.

 
MooseTheCorgi said:
I highly recommend not buying the Vita version of Ridge Racers even at that price. I don't think we are allowed to post links here for IGN ( am I wrong?) but I suggest taking a look at their review. One thing they mention is there are only 3 tracks and 5 cars, which are all the same, except their appearance.
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You can post IGN links no problem. We're pretty much badmouthing all review sites at the moment, but you're welcome to post links from there.

I don't think ebay links are allowed (sometimes they auto break) and then ad scans aren't allowed, but that's all I can think of that wouldn't be allowed. I'm sure if you posted pornography that would probably be taken down as well. And then all that fun stuff about piracy and other exploitations.

Testing ebay link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Muramasa-Rebirth-for-Playstation-Vita-Brand-New-Factory-Sealed-/360712890361?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item53fc29e7f9

EDIT: Nope, it worked. I may be wrong about ebay links, I dunno.

 
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