I’ve got $10, let’s go game shopping – March 2013

Hey, whoa. So much for this being a monthly feature! I mean, it’s not like I made that sweaty, lustful desire public knowledge in the initial $10 write-up back in November, but it existed somewhere in my head. So now you know. Now you know the shame.

I’ll have a fancy-pants uh, delayed ‘special edition’ that I set out on last month while in Japan (body pillow figma not included) which will act as a delightful form of torture porn. But for now, let’s hit up the local scene again. And just to go over the ground rules:

• Games must be purchased in brick and mortar stores.
• No absolute shit for the sake of it.
• Sports games of the yearly roster-updating, gender-swapping variety don’t count. It’s way too easy to stumble upon a stack of cheap, unwanted FIFA games from yesteryear.

Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection – $4

Found a trolley? Call that number for the prince of Nigeria to congratulate you on a job well done. “You have trained well in the way of Wally, please give me your shoes to store this cheque for sixty MILLION genuine United States Euro”.

This month is all about never trusting the sticker price. It’ll get you. At the end of your bed. If a store has self-scanning things, be sure to use them! Chances are you’ll find quite a few items which are cheaper than their price stickers suggest. In the case of Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection, I think Kmart just gave up. There’s a long history of price cuts on the front of this baby.

Now, usually I’d pass up a game like this, even at four bucks. Sudoku (and its friends Akari, Shikaku and Hashi) just isn’t my thing; it gives me a rash. But this? It has the honour of being the very last title developed by Hudson Soft to feature Bomberman. It’s quite depressing, but at the same time, fascinating!

So what does Bomberman actually do in this game? Oh. He sits around on a tiny little island. Angry, alone and playing a fucking banjo. Of course.

So yes! I don’t really have much to say about the actual contents of Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection. Sleepy kitty sums it up for me. It’s exactly what the title suggests. You get a few hundred logic puzzles wrapped in some bland-arse presentation. The very brief cameo moments, such as Bomberman and the main character dancing around from Milon’s Secret Castle aren’t even in 3D. Yet the title screen is. Excellent. It’s probably really quite good if you dig Sudoku.

Also yep, I bought MX vs ATV Reflex for the same price while at Kmart. It’s… okay! I was seriously craving a dirt bike game at the time. I’m pregnant, you see.

Dead Head Fred – $4

Pink stripes on the receipt means value. I was pretty coolsunniessmileyface.gif about finding this for six bucks, but to have it scan up at four is even better than a big bag of various smells. Who knows, your day could potentially be ruined by a bad one.

Dead Head Fred is a fun little game! That said, I’ve only put about an hour into it so far. You rip heads off enemies and use them as your own, most with their own special abilities. The camera is a bit wonky and the controls are sloppy, but the writing is pretty funny. You know when you find something amusing and do the nostril laugh? It’s not actual laughing – and presents a very real risk of accidently blowing out tiny fragments of snot – but still a positive sign that you’re enjoying yourself.

Apparently Dead Head Fred was going to get a HD port a few years back, but that obviously never happened. So here, an original IP from a Western developer, exclusive to the PSP. What a novelty!

We Dare – $1

Whoops, I just broke one of my own rules. ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌ However, I got $6 trade value for it at another store. Worthwhile video game, would buy and not play again. 10/10

Total money spent = $9