Back in the day when I was still wearing braces,  getting in trouble for skate boarding in the school yard and was death afraid of girls (who at the time stood at least a head taller than me) my favourite multiplayer game was…well, I guess it was Goldeneye. That was the first, and unfortunately only, FPS that I was able to whoop everyone and there brother at.

My second favourite multiplayer game back then was…Super Smash Bros. Dammit. Well, a game I really liked was Mario Party 2 and it’s out out this week on Virtual Console. Hit the jump for more info on that and this week’s other releases.

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Anyone who uses Valve’s Steam service is probably familiar with their killer sales. Well, today Valve kicked off their biggest sale event of the year: the annual Holiday Sale. Running until January 2, this year’s holiday sale features savings on almost everything on Steam. Aside from jaw dropping deals on singular titles (which rotate every day), this years sale also features some ludicrously low prices on publisher complete packs. For example you can get every Bethesda game on Steam (including Fallout: New Vegas) for $69.99. If that doesn’t impress you, how about every Square Enix title + DLC for $74.99, a savings of $275.

To see the whole list of today’s daily sale, hit the jump.

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We’ve already told you about the Humble Indie Bundle 2, but there’s another Pay-What-You-Want promotion going on. YAWMA is currently running a PWYW promotion of their own in support of indie music and game development. A quarter of proceeds will go three charities: VH1′s Save the Music, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and Child’s Play.

The promotion is segmented into three different music/game pairings. For the first two days Max and the Magic Marker and Twin Sister were available. Currently, Cold Beam Games’ Beat Hazard and Girl Talk’s Feed the Animals are on sale. Tuesday through Thursday Black Moth Super Rainbow and Multiwinia will be available for purchase.

If that sounds like a deal to you, head over to YAWMA and name your price for an indie game & album.

A screenshot such as this may be all that a developer needs to get a good number of gamers excited. This one in particular comes from Firefall, Red 5 Studios’ persistent world shooter MMO set to release late next year. A sophisticated look at this shot reveals the artful line of attention drawn by the gun sight pointed at the giant Titan looming in the distance. The excitement, however, may come just from the fact that there are guns and monsters in the game.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a billion, or a gazillion. Red 5 didn’t disappoint in this department. The initial trailer, even with its almost generic monsters and over-the-top artillery, wowed droves gamers at 2010′s Penny Arcade Expo. The subsequent gameplay video solidified Firefall as one of the highly anticipated titles of 2011. Which video do you think we posted after the jump?

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Last week, developer differentcloth brought the award-winning indie title lilt line to Nintendo’s Wii-Ware service. In a recent interview, lilt line developer Gordon Midwood had some interesting things to say about the Wii and the rhythm genre in general.

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Not much is known about the upcoming swan song to Gaijin Games’ Bit.Trip series - Bit.Trip FLUX. However, some images of the title have surfaced. These screens were unlocked by completing the Bit.Trip level of  Mission in Snowdriftland. Now this is all wild speculation but from the looks of things, FLUX may be something akin to Bit.Trip BEAT in reverse.

While details on this title may be scarce, excitement for it definitely is not. Why not whittle away the time until FLUX‘s release by checking out the Wii-Ware demos for Bit.Trip FATE and lilt line, the full games, the four other Bit.Trip titles on Wii-Ware, or Bit.Trip Beat for Steam/the iDevices.

Also, why not hit the jump and check out the rest of these sexy Bit.Trip FLUX screens.

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It doesn’t take sleuthlike perception to realize that Kinectimals’ target audience isn’t dissimilar to that of, say, Hannah Montana (no, not paedophiles!). That said, the game’s message boards are beginning to sound like a Kinectimaloholics Anonymous meeting for 20-and 30-something-year-old addicts, with cries of “I’m a 35-year-old male and I freakin’ love Kinectimals!” and “I bought this game for my 8-year-old daughter but she ain’t gettin’ a look in!” emerging.

Following such testimony, and given that I’m such an open-minded, young-at-heart individual, I decided to rent it… erm, for my girlfriend. The trouble is, without substance and innovation a game like Kinectimals wouldn’t be acceptable by modern standards, and this was my initial fear; after all, the tired old feed-wash-play formula of pet sims of old would wear thin very quickly indeed. So, is the game a groundbreaking taster of the possibilities of Kinect, or is it nothing more than an ostentatious Tamagotchi? Read on to find out. Read more… »

It’s Wednesday, which of course means it’s time to unwrap another Store update. This week sees a new batch of downloadable games including Prince of Persia Warrior: Within and Two Thrones and the glorified tech-demo that is Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves, along with some fresh DLC for Dj Hero 2, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.

Check out this week’s PSN update in full after the break.

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I think you’ll have gathered by now that I have very mixed feelings towards Gran Turismo 5‘s car list. Like me, many fans have been reeling in the decision to restrict around 800 of the 1000 + strong car lineup to inferior quality PS2 imports, and it’s easy to see why after the arduous 5 year wait.

Well, it looks like Polyphony are hoping to rectify this as a recent comment from Kaz himself in Famitsu magazine indicated that there are plans to upgrade Standard models to the prestigious Premium quality, sporting superior quality modelling and the all-important full interiors. Just how many cars will get the Premium treatment remains to be seen, but it’s nonetheless encouraging to learn that GT5‘s tinkering is showing no signs of ending any time soon.

The Bugatti Veyron will be a priority upgrade though, right?

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While I was at PAX earlier this year I had the great opportunity to sit in on a panel about the Humble Indie Bundle, a promotion that went on back in May that gave consumers the opportunity to net World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru, Samorost 2, and Penumbra: Overture for as little as a penny. The promotion managed to raise over a $1 million within a week, of which nearly $325,000 went to charity.

If this is the first you’re hearing of “the Bundle” and you’re feeling a little bummed, don’t fret. A second pay-what-you-want bundle of five new games launched today. Hit the jump for more information on the Humble Indie Bundle 2 and how you can get your hands on a package including titles like Braid and Machinarium for as little as $0.01.

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From the makers of Zombie Tycoon and Young Thor comes … A Space Shooter for Two Bucks! This PlayStation minis title is making its way to PS3 and PSP via the PlayStation Network for the low, low price of – yes, that’s right, $1.99. For PlayStation Plus subscribers the title will be absolutely free when the game launches next week.

The game is pretty much what you would expect, which is entirely fine by me. The PlayStation Network really could use some more good shmups. So if you could use a little more alien blasting in your life, be on the lookout for A Space Shooter for Two Bucks! on December 21^st.

[Via PlayStation Blog]

This week, another PS2 classic joins the list of titles hitting Sony’s Black Box O’Blu Ray in glorious high-definition visuals. The second title of the Sands of Time trilogy, Price of Persia: Warrior Within, hit the PlayStation Network today complete with HD and 3D visuals for your downloading pleasure. Now, both Price of Persia: Warrior Within HD and Price of Persia: Sands of Time HD are available via the PlayStation Store for a paltry $14.99.

[Via PlayStation Blog]