PlayStation Store Sale (7/16 – 7/23)

What has become an almost annual and expected event has return.  Featured in today’s weekly PlayStation Store update we see some sale prices on a select few PSN titles.  Usually the sale consists of a handful of $10 games priced at 50% off, which is a heck of a deal if you were tight on money when the game originally came out.  It also allows us to remember some games we might have even forgotten.  Well low and behold for the next seven days you are given the opportunity to stock up on seven PSN titles you held off on originally.

They are:

• WipEout HD (was $19.99, now $14.99!)

• Flock! (was $14.99, now $7.49!)

• Savage Moon (was $9.99, now $4.99!)

• Crash Commando (was $9.99, $4.99!)

• PixelJunk Eden (was $9.99, now $4.99!)

• Brain Challenge (was $9.99, now $4.99!)

• 3 on 3 NHL Arcade (was $9.99, now $4.99!)

If you recall in my 3 on 3 NHL Arcade Review, I recommend to you folks to hold off until this very PSN sale.  Well now is the time to buy!  And not only NHL, but the biggest recommendation we can give from TripleChat is WipEout HD!  The game already is worth it at $20, now it’s just a given at $15.  It’s an incredible racer that has more depth than some current racers that retailed for the full $60.

The selection available may not be the strongest that one of these PSN sales have offered, but from what is on the list it’s not a bad day to be a PSN user.

To give you, the gamer, a better scoop on how to prioritize your buys read our list below, which ranks these games from 1 to 7; 1 being the game you should all buy and 7 being the game you should buy if your funds are available.  After all, in some states you are charged sales tax for PSN purchases (god bless you NY) so money could be tight for you.

(1) WipEout HD – as stated before, this is a given at a $5 discount.  It is the most expensive game in the sale but is the most worthwhile game.  It packs in a lot of content, infinite replay value, and has one of the hardest Platinum trophies to achieve.  With the Fury pack right around the corner, now is the time to buy if you want to buy the additional DLC down the road and save some cash.

(2) Pixeljunk Eden – this is the second title this game has been featured in a PSN sale, both times going for $4.99.  This time though DLC is available so after completing the game at $5, head on PSN and download the additional content afterwards.  This game has a variety of stages, and can be quite a challenge if you lack patience.  A lot of trial and error here; though some users will find it easier than others.  Its only flaw is that while the game supports custom soundtracks, you must first complete the game before unlocking the feature; though the soundtrack that comes with the game is not terrible but you will wish for your own tunes eventually.

(3) Crash Commando – this game is more appealed to the multiplayer crowd, but it does include a single player experience that is worth playing if you are looking for the occasional pick me up between playing full retail games.  There is no story mode; it’s all about killing each other.  While the game lacks a huge arsenal of weaponry, for $5 you can’t really do no wrong here – especially when there is still a solid online following that is sure to grow more with the game being on discount for the next week.

(4) 3 on 3 NHL Arcade – while this would have been better off as an additional mode to the upcoming NHL ‘10, or heck even DLC for NHL ‘09, the game is much more worthy of your money at 50% off.  All there is to offer is exhibition games, but when you are playing either with friends or against the AI you can have yourself a good ol’ time with all the power ups activated and time to spare.  The AI does get repetitive in nature, and you will eventually master all difficulties, but the online portion is solid for what it is.  And it’s not as glitch filled as the sim NHL franchise.

(5) Savage Moon – this is your basic tower defense game in a sci-fi setting.  It’s not for everybody, but if you are looking for a basic strategy game then you won’t fail yourself splurging the $5 for this game.  It’s simplistic, but is full of trial and error.  Sometimes there are areas you completely miss where the enemy can attack causing yourself having the replay levels over again.  For fans of these types of games it’s a no brainer to pick up.  The reason why we don’t recommend it higher is because it requires patience and this genre is not for everybody.

(6) Flock! – what once was a highly anticipated game from Capcom has completely washed off everybody’s radar since release.  Perhaps the biggest disappointment for us all was that we expected to see this game at the practical $9.99 price point, but instead it hit both consoles at $14.99.  $5 more may not seem like a lot, but for a PSN title it does raise more resistance to purchasing it.  Flock! received decent reviews, but most critics and myself agree that the price was not justified.  The game itself is simple, and can be a lot of fun.  It does feature some unique puzzles, a lot of interesting elements, and it has that cute appeal.  However even though it has 50+ stages to complete, it wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to complete them all and the multiplayer component was an obvious after thought.  At $7.49, it’s definitely more appealing in price but we would have rather seen it release at $9.99 and be on sale for $4.99 right now.

(7) Brain Challenge – to make this generic – the game does pack in some fun puzzles but for the most part it’s the same game we have seen before on DS and whichever other platforms it has released on.  While $5 is certainly an appealing price, this should have been the price it originally released at.  We wouldn’t expect it to be on sale for anything below $5, but it would have seem more worthy then if it didn’t release for $10.  Purchase only if you have funds to spare and what to tingle with your mind a little bit.  I would recommend just going on the internet and finding free brain teasers online.

So there you have it, what we recommend you buy first to last in this sale.  Remember, this sale is only until July 23, so buy now and play later is the motto here.  We only see about two PSN sales per year, we don’t expect another one until after the holidays.  For those who have already purchased some titles from this sale, what did you buy?  Was it worth it for you?  Heck if most of us buy one particular title, you might see a game night emerge…Crash Commando or WipEout anyone?

To find out what else came out this week on the PlayStation Store, get the full scoop over at the official PS Blog.

Don’t have a credit card to add funds your PSN Wallet?  Purchase a PSN card from Amazon below.  Just click on one of the images that represents the amount you wish to buy: