PowerA PS3 Batarang Controller $19 at Groupon

Want a really kick-ass PS3 controller for only $19?

Groupon's got this PowerA PS3 Batarang Controller for that price.  The deal's lasting a little over a day.  The list price is $50, so this is a 62% savings!

And it looks awesome.  I mean, really.

You'll have to sign up with Groupon to get the deal.  There are plenty more deals on the site so you won't regret it!

[EXPIRED] Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Subscription $34.99 at Amazon

If you missed the Best Buy deal I posted about a few weeks ago (no longer available), you can get an Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Subscription for $34.99 again, this time through Amazon!  Also, you get FREE Super Saver Shipping.

Don't pass this up if you want Gold!  This is normally $59.99, so this is almost half off, and is MUCH cheaper than paying month-to-month.  Amazon prices can change in a flash, so go for it!

Pokemon X and Y Announced! Hopes and Speculation

I wasn't going to post anything new until I revamped the layout and look of the site--but I was too excited about this to wait!  I wanted to post earlier (my boyfriend and I were two of the first to watch the video) but I've been on the go all day.

This morning Satoru Iwata announced Gen VI of the Pokemon Games: X and Y.  Going away from colors, we see...


But more importantly, the games are exclusive for the 3DS and are in 3D!  Finally, a 3D look at pokemon.  The trailer, obviously, is enough to make a Slaking excited.

Although there is a lot of speculation going on, including talk about the legendaries shown and what the "third" game will be called (Z?  W?), my friends and I have our own speculations and hopes.

• Please, for the love of Pikachu, do not make the fire starter a humanoid fire/fighting type when it evolves.  Please!  However, upon relooking at the trailer, a few of my friends pointed out that Fennekin appears to be using a psychic move.  Fire/psychic?  Hell yeah!
• We're hoping Chespin is grass/fighting.
• Froakie should be water/ice.  They have done water/ground too much!  Looks like it might use an electric attack, though...
• It looks like the game, since it is 3D, will involve more than just walking/running from place to place.  Watching the trailer, it appears there will be some elements of a platform game (swinging on vines, the rope bridge, the spider web).
• I'm hoping they add something compelling for replayability that I, personally, would be interested in.  I know plenty of people who log hours upon hours with the Pokemon games (my boyfriend included) but I lose interest after beating the Pokemon League.  I hope they add in something to make it more likely for me to keep playing (although the fact it's in 3D might be it!).
• We predict that the next Pokemon movie ("Extremespeed Genesect") will spoil a new Pokemon from Gen VI, and we think it's an Eveelution in the short "Pikachu and Eevee Friends".  There was already speculation that there might be a new Eveelution in the movie, so the fact that there is a new Generation makes that more likely.  We hope it's Ghost or Poison!

Well, that's it for my thoughts and the speculation of my friends and me.  Will it come true?  I don't know.  I just can't wait until October now!

[EXPIRED] Xbox LIVE 12-Month Gold Membership $39.99 + Free Shipping

Update:  Expired now!  Hope you grabbed it when you could!

Here's a post-holiday deal for you!

Right now Best Buy has 12-Month Xbox LIVE Gold Memberships for $39.99 (edit: no longer available, sorry!) (regularly $59.99) and is also boasting free shipping.
That breaks down to $3.33 a month, which is an awesome deal!

Shop through Ebates to get 2.5% cash back at Best Buy, too!

J!NX Clothing: New League of Legends Swag - Gift Ideas for Him or for Her

Finally, J!nx has added a veritable selection of League of Legends clothing, accessories, and plushies... just in time for the holidays, of course!

Whether you want to pick something up for yourself or for the PC gamer in your life, J!nx is a great place to go.  I've reviewed them before and have always loved the designs they offer.  Although I am openly not a fan of LOL, I know many of my friends spend way too much time playing and would love walking around sporting this:

And even I can appreciate how cute that Rammus plushie is (and he talks)! 

If you order by December 11, it will get there before Christmas.  Added bonus:  Some of the LOL designs are on sale, and you can use code "MYPRECIOUS" to save 5% off an order of $75+ or 10% off an order over $100!  So hurry if you want to gift your LOL gamer something fresh!

Plus, sign up as a member of the site to earn EXP and Gold on your purchase! (Basically, EXP earns you status and occasional gifts; Gold is cash back to use on future purchases!)

League of Legends: I Hate You

Have you ever been in one of those awkward situations where your whole group of friends went to see a movie/concert/event of some sort, and you were the only one left out of the loop? 
That’s my life every day right now.
My entire group of friends have been consumed with League of Legends, an MMO Battle Arena (MMOBA) PC game.  This is all fine and dandy with me; it’s happened before, so not a big life-shaking deal, right? 
Wrong. 

League of Legends happens to be a pretty spectacular game (this is my opinion, based on watching my boyfriend and a few friends play and their opinions on the game).  What makes the game increasingly interesting and addictive is the sheer number of possibilities it holds.  First of all, it’s totally free.  Can’t beat that.  In the game, you are a summoner, and you control a champion (character) in the game.  As you level up, you build your base abilities.  Each game, you can pick a different champion to control, and you spend the game leveling up and building their abilities. There are also dozens of characters to choose from.  And the graphics aren’t too shabby, either.  Though normally, I dislike battle arena games, this one is very enticing and potentially exciting.

But I can’t play it.  I am stuck with an HP Netbook that has trouble loading YouTube videos.  Getting this computer was not my choice; my awesome laptop broke right before the end of summer and frankly, I needed something for my classes.  Until I can scrounge up the money, I can only play PC games by mooching off my boyfriend.  In addition, between doing homework, working, and maintaining this blog, I’m not left with much time to game (especially since when I play video games, I tend to play for hours without realizing it). 
I would like to play League of Legends with all my friends.  I really would.
Until then, I will continue to abhor this game for all it’s worth.  
Whenever I see my friends, after the pleasantries of “How’s your day going?” and things like that, the conversation inevitably gets torn out of my hands and plopped right in the center of League of Legends.  Suddenly, everyone is talking about MF-ing Cho’Gath!, how they totally whooped Annie Bot, builds for Olaf, and a bunch of other things I’m completely oblivious to.  Any sort of strategy on my end to try and lead the conversation back to something I can at least attempt to do more than smile and nod at fail.  Eventually, I end up spouting something totally untrue (or...not?) and inappropriate like “Man! My pubes itch!” or “I hit children with my car last night!”  Unfortunately, after brief confused stares, League of Legends dominates again.
None of this is even mentioning the fact that I get continually spurned by my boyfriend, because he’d like to play a “short game or two” that end up lasting 2 hours...or all night.
Oh, League of Legends...I hate you.

Cheap Geek: Saving on Video Games

One of the banes of being a gamer is the high cost of buying new games to play.  No one loves shoveling out $60 or more every time an interesting game is released (especially me!).  The good news is, just like almost everything else in life, there are multiple ways to save money on video games!  Many people will tell simply tell you to buy games used instead of new.  While there is no problem with that, there are others that frankly just prefer new games.  There are many, many ways to buy a game brand new and still save tons of money (sometimes more than buying used!)
Here are some of the better ways:

• Preorder
• “What? I can save money by preordering games?  Don’t I have to pay full price?”  Yes! You can save lots of money by preordering the games you want and getting them before all your friends!  And yes, this will also require you to pay full price (or near full price)--up front, anyway.  One of the best ways to save money on video games, especially new releases, is preordering.  Many websites--Wal-mart, Amazon, Newegg--often offer gift card deals when you preorder.  For example, at the writing of this post, Amazon is offering $20 credit when you preorder Portal 2.  Plus, you get $5 off.  How sweet is that?  You pay full price, but with the gift card coming back to you, it’s as if you paid $35.99, or 30% off.  The best way to use these deals is to continue preordering.  Take that $20 credit you got from your first preorder, and use it to preorder another game that offers $20 back.  Make sense?  You continually get $20 (30%) off the game before it even hits shelves.

• Wait.  Just Wait.
  • Not too long!  While browsing the net for video game deals, I’ve noticed something.  Usually, two or three weeks after a game is released, stores start lowering prices to compete with other stores.  Many times, the price of a just-released game ($59.99) will be dropped down to $39.99, a savings of 30%!  All from simply waiting after the game was released. If you want to take this route, I suggest doing a lot of shopping around.  Don’t just go to one store.  Check Target, Best Buy, Wal-mart, Amazon, Newegg, or any other you can think of to see which ones have the lowest price that week.  Granted, you can always wait for a much longer period of time and watch the game’s price slowly fall throughout stores.

• Gamefly
• Gamefly is the Netflix of video games.  Once you have a subscription, you receive games in the mail, play them as much as you’d like and send them back when you’re done.  Just like Netflix, you can choose to have one, two, three, or four games out at a time.  After you send one back, the next game in your queue (as long as it’s available) is sent to you. 
• Having a Gamefly subscription can really save you money if you’re the type of gamer who likes to play through new games quickly and move on to the next one.  Instead of purchasing each game, get it in the mail and send it back once it’s finished.  My boyfriend and I like to use Gamefly to try out new games before actually purchasing them.  We can try out just-released games and send them back if we’re not impressed.  No money wasted on buying the game!  If you do end up wanting to keep a game, Gamefly gives you the option of buying a game you have out, usually at a discounted price.  And the longer you stay a member, the better discounts you get for buying games.  If interested, you can sign up for Gamefly and get a one month free trial right here.

• Buy.  And Sell.
  • I’m not a fan of this method, mostly because I like to keep the games I like, but some people swear by it.  Basically, buy a game, play through it, and when you’re done head to one of the many stores that purchases games like Gamestop or Best Buy and sell it back.  Alternatively, some online stores like Amazon give you store credit for your games, or rewards sites like Swagbucks will give you points for trading in your used games. 
  • I guess, used with a method from above, like preorder deals or buying the game new at a discount, you could potentially get profit from selling games back.  But, I can’t be sure about that, since I’ve never sold a game back.

Readers: What do you think about my money-saving methods? Did I miss something? How do you save money on video games?