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The most wonderful time of the year

by Nathan Grayson (October 29th, 2010 at 4:29 am) WITH SPECIAL GUEST STARS

It’s nearly Halloween, and you know what that means, right? Well, do you? We actually didn’t know it meant this: iThing game sales. Like, an almost comical number of them. But hey, back in my day, Halloween meant choking down candy dispensed by creepy neighbors and praying it wasn’t laced with poison or – worse – raisins, so I’m actually pretty all right with the holiday’s desperate ploy to appeal to a new generation.

Anyway, onto the gruesome price tag dismemberment! First up, there’s Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1, which is only a few seconds old in App Store years, but has been chopped from £5.99/€7,99/$9.99 to £3.99/€5,49/$6.99. Our very own Pod Lord Stu – in between lashes of his cruel whip because we weren’t thanking him hard enough for whipping us – said it’s “pretty much what you’d expect.” Do you like predictability? Does it make you feel safe? Then you should probably buy this game.

These games are cheap, but my undying respect is… entirely conditional. Hit the “continue” button or I’ll hate you.

If anthropomorphic blue hedgehog creatures are too normal for you, you might consider giving i Love Katamari a try. It’s about rolling everything from thumbtacks to skyscrapers into a giant ball for your drunken absentee father who happens to be king of the universe. It is, unsurprisingly, the only game in its genre, and you can get it now for £1.79/€2,39/$2.99.

Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man are also getting in on the action (59p/€0,79/99¢), and since there are ghosts involved, it’s sort of like Halloween. However, they also occasionally eat keys, so it’s exactly like Halloween.

Meanwhile, EA’s feeling especially generous this year, bringing The Sims 3 and The Sims 3 Ambitions down to 59p/€0,79/99¢ and £1.79/€2,39/$2.99, respectively. But then, I suppose EA can afford to be a bit reckless with its price-slashing, seeing as there are only three people in the entire world who don’t already own a Sims game.

Last but not least, Sega’s got a mountain – or at least a pretty big pile – of classics for you to climb, with Ecco The Dolpin, Streets Of Rage, and Shining Force all hearkening  back to simpler (Yeah, a dolphin’s beating up other fish to save the future. What’s not to get?) times by dropping down to 59p/€0,79/99¢.

So yeah, that’s a lot of stuff, but for not a lot of money. I think you know what needs to be done.

Judge this