The final one of the big retailers. My final 2009 Black Friday blog. Amazon has come out with guns a-blazin'... I guess.

You see, I can't really post too much about their Black Friday deals because they haven't released all of them yet. What Amazon's doing this year is a whole WEEK of Black Friday deals, and you can find them daily at this link.

Among them this week include EA Sports Active (Nintendo Wii) for $40, Rock Band (PS3/360) at a reduced price (price to be revealed an hour after this blog post), and more. Check the link I provided religiously for the best deals (they had already sold out on a laptop that was going for $200).

I hope you've enjoyed these blogs, as they were intended to be primers for the Holiday Shopping Season. Happy Economy-Boosting, everyone!

So last Friday (11/20/09) some of us at Dawson McAllister Association attended the 2009 Nashville A.I.R (Achievement in Radio) awards, and walked away with two trophies this year. "Best Entertainment Interview" for Dawson's interview of Rob Thomas, and "Best Overnight Show" for the second year in a row for the show I was brought down to TN to help launch, "Dawson McAllister Late Nights."

I want to publicly tip my hat to the entire DMA crew: Executive Producers Wes Crafton and Ike Wingate, and Producers Kent Harris, Graham Bland, and Jeremy Gover, as well as of course Dawson and all the other folks that helped us continue to do the impossible with as small a staff as we have. Here's to you, guys.

Hey, the second season of Batty&Me has officially begun. With this season we're taking more risks, getting Batty out of the apartment more, and also going to a bi-weekly schedule to make the season last longer. Enjoy the first episode of season two right now!

This is it, people. The one you've been waiting for. Wal-Mart's Black Friday ad has been spotted in the wild, and it's beautiful.

The full ad can be seen here. Among the highlights:

Laptops starting at $200
12mp Digital Camera for $70
Blu-Ray Players for $78(!)
A 1TB(!) External Hard Drive for $78
Lots of recent movies on Blu-Ray for $10 including Harry Potter 6, Ice Age 3, Dark Knight
32" HDTV - $248
42" HDTV - $448
PS3 w/ Infamous, Batman: Arkham Asylum and The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray - $300

Get there early. I mean, REALLY early.

No time for witty comments. Macy's listing is here.

This is the big one, folks. Every year either Best Buy or Wal-Mart has the best deals, let's see what they've got, thanks to this preview from CNN:

Here's the Black Friday ad listings from Meijer, otherwise known as the superstore that Wal-Mart Supercenters WISH they were. A (*) means you better get there early. Great deals include an $89 Blu-Ray player and a "get two free games AND two free Blu-Ray movies with purchase of a PS3" deal.

Video Games
All Video Games Priced $19.99 or Less - 50% Off *
Buy Any Xbox 360 Game System or Bundle, Get Grand Theft Auto IV and Halo 3 FREE
Buy a PS3 120GB Slim Console, Get 2 Buy-ray Movies and 2 Video Games FREE - $300
Nintendo DSi Video Game System w/ FREE $30 Meijer Coupon Good For Your Next Purchase - $169.99 *
Nintendo Wii Console w/ $50 OFF Your Next Meijer Purchase Coupon - $199.99 *

Have you not seen the latest Batty&Me events?

Let me rectify that for you.

OK, this is one of the big ones. Every year, Best Buy has one of the best Black Friday ads. So will they save us this time around from what has mostly been a mediocre offering by retailers?

Eh... not really. But hey, at least there's some video game discounts, right?

Video Games
$20 Gift Card w/Any Nintendo DSi Game System Purchase - $0.00
Assassins Creed (PC Game) - $19.99
Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii) - $14.99
Bioshock (PC Game) - $19.99
Bolt (DS Game) - $9.99
Brutal Legend (PS3.360) - $34.99 *
Call of Juarez (PS3/360) - $19.99
Civilization IV (PC Game) - $19.99
Cooking Mama (DS Game) - $9.99
Cooking Mama (Wii) - $14.99
Crash (DS Game) - $9.99
Dragon Age (PS3/360) - $34.99 *
Excite Bots Trick Racing (Wii) - $14.99
Fallout 3 (PS3/360) - $19.99
Family Game Night (Xbox 360) - $19.99
Far Cry 2 (PC Game) - $4.99
FIFA Soccer 10 (PS3/360) - $34.99 *
Guinness World Records (DS Game) - $9.99
Hawx (PS3/360) - $19.99 *
Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360) - $34.99 *
Madagascar 2 Escape From Africa (Wii) - $14.99
Madden 10 (PS3/360) - $34.99 *
Marker Man (DS Game) - $9.99
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Wii) - $14.99
My Sims Kingdom (Wii) - $9.99
My Word Coach (DS Game) - $9.99
NBA Live 09 (Wii) - $9.99
NBA Live 10 (PS3/360) - $34.99 *
Need For Speed: Shift (PS3/360) - $34.99 *
NHL 10 (PS3/360) - $34.99 *
Nintendo DSi Brain Age Bundle (White) w/$20 Gift Card - $169.99
Nintendo DSi Mario Bundle (Metallic Blue) w/$20 Gift Card - $169.99
Pikmin Classic (Wii) - $14.99
Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii) - $9.99
Resident Evil 5 (PS3/360) - $19.99
Riddick (PS3/360) - $19.99
Slots (PC Game) - $19.99
Sonic Chronicles The Dark Brotherhood (DS Game) - $9.99
PlayStation 3 w/Little Big Planet and Ratchet And Clank - $299.99 *
Spyro (DS Game) - $9.99
Stalker (PC Game) - $4.99
Sudoku Ball (DS Game) - $9.99
The Bigs 2 (PS3/360) - $19.99
Wii Sports Snowboard (Wii) - $14.99
Wii Sports (Wii) - $9.99
World Of Warcraft (PC Game) - $4.99
Xbox 360 Elite w/Four Pack Game Set - $299.99

This, the final Geek Gamer Gift Blog, will focus on the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. There's a couple of caveats to mention:

1) The new model of the DS, the DSi, will soon be replaced by a larger-screen version. Also, the DSi cannot play Game Boy Advance games, while the DS can. Keep that in mind if your gamer wants some older GBA games.

2) The PSP has two flavors: those with physical disks (UMD), and those that are download-only consoles (the new "PSP Go" model). I tend to prefer to actually OWN my stuff; the download-only PSP Go doesn't really guarantee that you'll actually get to keep any games you download, PLUS a lot of the PSP's older games aren't compatible with it because Sony didn't install a UMD drive. Any games I suggest for the PSP will be with the original UMD model in mind; your mileage will vary when it comes to finding the same games on the Go.

Enough said, let's get to it.

SONY PSP

1) LittleBigPlanet - practically the same game that's available for the PS3. This cute yet deep platformer specializes in letting you build your own levels. If you're not very artistic, you can just hop online and play other people's levels, or enjoy the story mode's built-in challenges. Fun, addictive, and cute enough to melt even the most hardcore gamer's heart. You WANT this game.


2) Half-Minute Hero - you know how portable gaming is supposed to be built with portability in mind? When's the last time you played an RPG for less than a minute and been able to say you actually made a significant dent in the game? Half-Minute Hero thrives off the idea of minigames, and its quirky sense of humor should please most.


3) Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines - picking up after the events of the first PS3/360 games, and a heck of a lot better than the atrocious Nintendo DS port, AC: Bloodlines also has the ability to transfer money and weapons earned to the gamer's Assassin's Creed II file on their PS3. That's some handy stuff right there. It also looks great for a PSP game.


4) Rock Band: Unplugged - with a better track list than many of Guitar Hero's Nintendo DS offerings, decent-quality sound, and the ability to download additional tracks, this addictive-yet-simple music game is the perfect way to waste five minutes at a time.


5) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - yes, it's an older game. It's also a prequel to one of the most acclaimed games of all time, and it plays more like Zelda (real-time combat) than it does your typical Final Fantasy game. Highly recommended. That is all.

Honorable Mentions: God of War: Chains of Olympus, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.


NINTENDO DS


1) Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - look, it's a turn-based RPG where Mario and Luigi get sucked into Bowser's stomach and fight their way out. It's a MARIO game. BUY THIS.


2) Scribblenauts - wonky controls aside, this creative puzzler/platformer gives you a simple objective: collect the star. How you do it's up to you. Draw a T-rex wearing a saddle. Attach a chainsaw to a rocket. Seriously, you're only limited by your creativity. And occasionally bad controls.


3) New Super Mario Bros. - yes, it's an old game. Yes, if your DS gamer is at all serious about it, they've probably played this. I don't care. It's still one of the best non-Pokemon games on the system.


4) Professor Layton - This highly-praised, yet generally overlooked game is pretty much the best puzzle game experience you can find on the DS. 150 or so problems - each with a solution, I might add - will keep your DS owner busy.


5) Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - strange title, but addictive gameplay. The game takes place prior to the events of the first two console versions of Kingdom Hearts, so KH fans who love some Final Fantasy mixed with Disney will love this. Plus, Stitch is in the game, so BONUS POINTS right there.

Honorable Mentions: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, Mario Kart DS.


And that's that! I hope these blogs have been helpful for those of you trying to figure out what to ask for this year, as well as those of you wondering just what to get that special nerd in your life. Oh, and if you're still undecided, gift cards to Wal-Mart, GameStop, and Best Buy are great stocking-stuffers.