Nintendo Wii Fanboy

For an indeterminate period, Gamefly has marked the price of used copies of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams down to $22.99. If you were ever curious about trying out Sega's flying adventure, now seems like as good a time as any!

Unlike the sticker-marred, printed-instructions-bundled nightmare of buying rentals from Blockbuster or a local video store (as someone who spent hours at a previous job cleaning rental sticker residue off of NES cartridges: thanks, local video stores) buying from Gamefly is surprisingly okay. You get the original case and instructions in perfect condition, since Gamefly files them away immediately upon receiving their copies, and the discs are guaranteed.

A few NeoGAFfers are reporting that their local Target stores have started clearing out the excellent Ghost Squad for around ten bucks. That's terrible news for Sega, and awesome news for you. To put it bluntly: holy crap go buy the game. You can use the (ridiculous) savings to build your own Zapper/Perfect Shot/shark gun bundle.

A word of warning, though: Target's clearances are rather tricky. Not all stores participate, and sometimes it's quite a battle to actually convince the employees that the game is on sale. Sometimes their clearanced games are removed from the system, meaning that you have to convince the employees that it's an item Target sells.

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane, breakin' you off something proper. The old saint has brought in a trio of video game deals from Amazon, and not crap games, either. Hang your stockings and take out your credit cards because these bargains can be pulled at any moment.

• Ghost Squad - $19.99
• Puzzle Quest - $14.99
• Trauma Center: New Blood - $39.99

Speaking of Santa, have you kids heard that new Ludacris song, "Ludacrismas," from the Fred Claus soundtrack? It is all the way live. Fill your hearts with Christmas cheer and join us past the break for a listen.

[Update: Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - $34.99 -- grab it while it lasts!]

Star Trek: Conquest didn't fare too well in our last metareview, partly due to its lack of options, and partly because its retail price of $30 is double that of the near-identical PS2 version. There isn't anything short of a time-travel episode that can be done about that first complaint considering that the game is already out in the market, and, unfortunately, we used up our one time-travel episode for the season when we visited Nickelodeon's studios in 1996 to stop them from canceling the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? series. We regret to report that we weren't able to complete that important mission due to interference by the Romulans.

Amazon has addressed that second criticism, though, cutting the strategy/shooter title's price by a third and selling it now for only $19.99! This deal ends today, so pick it up now if you're interested, but just keep in mind the 19th Rule of Acquisition: "Satisfaction is not guaranteed."

[Via CAG]

It's rare to see a quality game receive such a drastic discount only three weeks after its release, so we advise you to take advantage of this particular bargain now -- Trauma Center: New Blood for $29.99 at Amazon (free shipping). This deal expires at the end of the day, but the online shop's stock probably won't last that long. If you are at all interested in this sequel to Atlus' surgery sim or just want a fun co-op experience, snatch it now, as we don't expect the game to deviate much from its usual $49.99 price again for months.

[Via CAG]

Whenever accessory manufacturer Thrustmaster comes up in conversation -- and it often does -- we can't help but imagine the Simpsons' Duff Man character stabbing the air with his pelvis. So, if you hear us suddenly yell out, "Oh yeah!" now you understand what provoked our involuntary impulse.

Despite the distracting nature of its company name, Thrustmaster successfully put together an acceptable alternative to Nintendo's Classic Controller and WaveBird with several advantages over its first-party competition:

1. Togglable rumble via switch
2. Doesn't depend on a Wii remote hookup for wireless functionality, using a GameCube port dongle instead
   
3. Xbox-like shoulder button layout
4. Turbo and slow modes
5. Mappable buttons

Best of all, Dell's online shop is currently selling Thrustmaster's T-Wireless NW Gamepad for only $13.59 ($19.99 MSRP) until December 13th! Check out more photos from IGN's favorable review past the break. Oh yeah!

Whether you love to play them or just plan on giving them as gifts, there's always a reason to buy more video games. Fortunately, there are a few times in the year when our wallets feel some slight relief, and now is one of those times, as Toys "R" Us is currently holding a sale that will let you buy two Wii games and get one free. Now, normally you probably would have better luck finding good games in a brick and mortar store rather than online, since many of the better games online go out of stock quickly. Yet, before you run to your nearest Toys "R" Us store, you might want to know that a Super Smash Bros. Brawl preorder is eligible for the buy two, get one free deal.

Also of note, a preorder of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams works with the sale, too. Normally Toys "R" Us doesn't include preoders in their deals, so either they made a mistake or are feeling extra generous for the holidays. Whatever the case, this might be the smartest way to pick up Brawl if you can find two other games that strike your (or someone else's, it is the holidays after all!) fancy. The sale ends Wednesday, so you'd best hurry if you want to take advantage of this offer.

One last thing: it seems that Toys "R" Us didn't get the memo about Brawl's delay, as they have the game listed for release in December. If you do preorder, don't expect your game to come until February!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

If you had plans to buy Super Mario Galaxy at any other store besides Toys "R" Us, it looks like you're going to have to change them; this deal is too good to pass up. An upcoming weekly circular (11/11-11-17) reveals that the giraffe-fronted retailer will be rewarding anyone who makes an in-store purchase of Super Mario Galaxy with a $25 gift card. Here's a quick list of possible things you can buy at Toys "R" Us with the free $25, according to their online shop:

• 2000 Nintendo Wii Points Card
• Wii Classic Controller or Nunchuck Controller
• Nyko Nintendo Wii Charge Station
• Picross DS
• Bratz Talk Back Alarm Clock

[Via CAG]

Nintendo might not be cutting the price of the Wii, but that won't stop five lucky Japanese folks from getting one for 250 yen ($2.17 USD). Yep, Japanese online retailer GMAX will be selling five Wii consoles at a 99% discounted price between November 9 and December 9.

It sounds like a genius promotion, but we fear that something like this may cause the internets to implode.

[Via Nintendic]

Those of you who might've been holding back on picking up that Classic Controller or extra Wiimote might want to pounce on Toys R Us' latest deal. For every accessory you buy, you get 50% of the purchase of a second accessory. Oh, and did we mention that it's valid on Wii Points cards and SD cards, as well? Too bad the maximum capacity card it looks like they have is only 1gb. If you want to save on shipping, you can take advantage of the deal in-store.

Also, you might want to note that they're running buy two, get one free on games.

[Thanks, Leon!]

Spending $50 for an educational title like Big Brain Academy can be hard to justify for most gamers, especially considering that its Nintendo DS counterpart is budget-priced at $20. Wii Degree has a few features that the original lacks, like half-assed Mii integration and the ability to exchange student records online, but we're not sure if that makes it worth paying $30 more.

It could be worth paying $15 more, though. Amazon has slashed its price down to $34.99, offering to ship the game for free, as well. This deal won't last past midnight, so put in an order now before your brain transforms into a pumpkin.

[Via CAG]

This item has been going in and out stock all morning, so it will require a bit of patience and providence to take advantage of this one-day deal at Amazon. If you don't mind spending the rest of your day watching the product page, however, WarioWare: Smooth Moves could be yours for only $25 (s/h included), half of its regular price! Just think of it as another minigame -- every click on your browser's reload button is another opportunity for you to win! Bwahahaha!

[Thanks, Adam!]

"Oh my God! We're having a fire! ... sale. Oh, the burning!"

It's been only a month since Amazon last hosted its half-off sale on Nintendo's component cables, but the online shop is already at it again with an even deeper discount for today's one-day deal. The first-party cables are listed at $12.99, the lowest we've ever seen them sold for! Of course, Amazon will ship its goods to you at no extra cost if your order totals over $25.

Though this doesn't technically qualify as a "fire sale," we couldn't stay our hand at the chance to make an Arrested Development reference. Stop, drop, and roll past the post break for a video of Tobias Funke auditioning for a fire sale commercial.

Reviews for Tamagotchi: Party On! haven't been favorable, but if you've ever wanted to compete against your friends in an election for the Sparkling President of Tamagotchi planet, have we got a deal for you! Amazon is selling Namco Bandai's minigame collection at a bargain price of $17.99, shipping them out for free with orders totaling over $25, as usual. The deal ends today, and we don't expect the game to stay in stock for long, so snatch up a copy now, while you can!

[Via CAG]

To get the most enjoyment out of Wii Fanboy, well, you need a Wii. Really, the site's a lot better when you can care about the screenshots and game announcements. Now, we realize the Wii can be hard to find, so we understand why some of you haven't been enjoying the site in its fullest.

A Wii Fanboy friend just reported that his Target in Edmond, Oklahoma was advertising Wii consoles for sale Tuesday. We don't know how many, or if this applies to all Target stores. But, just in case, wait until Tuesday morning to go buy toothpaste, and check for Wiis while you're there. If you're the type of roguish loner who doesn't need an excuse to go somewhere, just go there Tuesday.

Anyone else see Wii announcements in their Targets? The weekly ad has a listing for the Wii, but no indication of whether or not it'll be in stores.

[Update: The ad might actually have been referring to today, in which case they're all gone! Might as well go check, we suppose. A couple of readers found them in stores today. Thanks to the readers who pointed this out.]

[Thanks, Zack!]