Crave

Save up to $5 on each game in Konami's impressive iPhone catalog.

I once wrote for an app review site where the guidelines insisted price shouldn't factor into a game's rating. Nuts, right? That's like saying as long as you like the car you're test-driving, forget about the sticker.

For a cheapskate like me, price absolutely matters, which is why I'm happy to see every game in Konami's iPhone catalog temporarily on sale for 99 cents each.

That includes Metal Gear Solid Touch, which is widely regarded as one of the top iPhone shooters. It normally sells for $5.99 (and was $7.99 at launch).

Other 99-cent titles include:

• DanceDanceRevolution S
• DanceDanceRevolution S+
• Field Prowlers Police Rush (a brand-new game)
• Frogger
• Krazy Kart Racing
• Power Pros Touch
• Silent Hill The Escape
• Silent Scope

These prices are good until Saturday (November 21), at which point they'll return to their previous levels: anywhere from $2 to $6.

Most of Konami's games have earned pretty high ratings from users, but there are some--like Frogger and Power Pros--that I just wouldn't buy for $2 or $4 (respectively). (Again: cheapskate.)

But 99 cents? That's my trigger point, the number that pushes me into what-the-hell mode. So I'm stocking up.

How about you? Does price factor into whether you'll buy an iPhone/iPod Touch game? If so, what's your magic number?

We all know the cost of a phone is more than just the price of the device. There are also monthly costs to deal with, whether you're going for the cheapest plan possible or for the expensive all-in-one bundle. This is especially a concern when it comes to smartphones, as data and messaging costs can add up to quite a hefty monthly bill.

In light of recent Android smartphone releases, we decided it might be good to compare the voice, messaging, and data plans of some of these phones across all four nationwide carriers to see which is the cheapest and which is the most expensive. Since AT&T does not yet have an Android phone, we used the Apple iPhone 3GS for comparison. We assumed that customers would be buying these phones with a new contract, so to keep things fair, we did not include T-Mobile's no-contract price plan in the chart (see note below). For Verizon, we did not compare the Connect or Premium plans because they aren't available for the Droid.

We also did not include the pricing for corporate and family plans. For example, Verizon's corporate data plans will cost $45 a month instead of $30 a month (despite claims to the contrary), which is the same for AT&T's iPhone.

We calculated the cheapest plans by adding up the cheapest of all the voice, messaging, and data options (we assumed that most smartphone users will want at least a basic messaging plan rather than no messaging plan at all). Conversely, we calculated the most expensive plans by adding up the most expensive of all three options. Typically, the costliest plans include unlimited voice, messaging, and data. We also know a lot of smartphone users don't use a lot of talk minutes, but are ardent users of text and data, so we also added up monthly plans with the lowest minutes but with unlimited text and data usage.

Sure, you can probably score a better price buying audio gear online, and it's certainly easier, but is it a smart way to go? I don't think so.

First, buying hi-fi without listening to it is a bad idea. Smart buyers compare one product to another, it's simply the best way to learn what your choices are. Granted, it's not the same as hearing speakers in your own room, but at least you're hearing them in comparison to each other under the same conditions.

An Innovative Audio listening room in New York City.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

Online reviews, including the ones I write for CNET and print magazines offer my opinions about sound. But reviews by me or anyone else can't predict about how, say a speaker, works with a receiver that's similar to yours. I have no idea about your specific needs, your room size, acoustics, taste in music, etc.

Use my reviews as a starting point and then try and listen for yourself.

User reviews? Hey, I make my living writing audio reviews and my opinions are drawn from my experiences with literally thousands of audio products. I can point you in the right direction, but at the end of the day, its your ears and your money. Buy what you like; just make sure you've heard it.

A good salesperson can offer sound advice based on your specific needs. That's a huge advantage online sales outlets can't duplicate. Yes, finding the right store or salesperson can take time, but that's true for doctors, lawyers, plumbers, and contractors, but once you've found a good one, their advice and council can be a huge asset. If you're spending $500 or more for speakers or a receiver try to make the effort to hear the thing. A successful salesperson has lots of happy customers, there's no other way to be successful. I sold audio for 16 years, I know from where I speak.

I don't like to misuse the word "cheap," so I won't. Instead, I'll just say that the Asus VH236H is one of the best monitor deals out there.

(Credit: Josh P. Miller/CNET)

I request a lot of monitors from various manufacturers without always taking into account their retail costs. Sometimes, I'm just much more excited about posting a review of the latest, greatest, coolest monitor, than I am about the cheapest.

Thing is, most users simply don't care about the latest, greatest, coolest monitor. Most simply want something that's low-priced and does what it does (shows pictures of whatever they're attempting to display) well enough that they don't notice any problems.

I've gotten plenty of feedback lately requesting such information. "What is the best monitor for normal office work and occasional movie watching? My budget is $175-$225. ByeiiiEE!"

OK, I added the "ByeiiiEE!" but, here today, to quench your penny-pinching thirst, are my picks for the five best monitors that won't run you more than $200 (before shipping/taxes of course).

Be sure to always check out more monitor reviews here as well.

(Credit: Gizmodo)

Wow, as if we needed more incentive to not invest in the PSP Go, a new trend has arisen during the first day of Mini availability. The same games cost more on the PSP/PSP Go than they do on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Examples:

(Credit: Gizmodo)

Unfortunately, the system is set up to charge the consumer at maximum from the get-go. Games from the App Store start at free. PSP Minis--a new series of bite-size games--start at $5.

The fact of the matter is the iPhone gaming experience isn't all that great. Full-fledged PSP titles should cost more than tiny downloadable apps any day. But there's no good reason for gamers to pay a premium on PSP titles that are available for less on other platforms, just because they generally pay more for games.

There are multiple fingers to be pointed here. Sony, for not allowing free games, which would inspire some price competition. Sony again, for skimming who knows how much off the top of the price point. (In comparison, it's known that Apple takes 30 percent off of the iPhone App Store sales.) And the publishers, who decide to set their games at prices up to two or three times the cost of the iPhone version.

But the worst part? Not only is the content of overlapping titles generally no better than the iPhone; sometimes it's worse.

(Credit: Branz.org)

Like most social-networking sites, Twitter isn't immune to lurkers, fakes, and creeps. The 404 Twitter account received over 600 followers in the last 24 hours, which leads us to believe that we're either becoming wildly popular or more likely, the new adds are demonized accounts; in other words, people that had their accounts taken over by a spam bot. This has to stop, Biz--stop teasing our egos!

In other ridiculous news, the CBS video print ad we picked apart in Episode 411 is fetching up to $400 on eBay--what the what? If we'd known that prices would skyrocket on the black market, we would have ganked a few more copies from our parent company, CBS! This is a great example of how you can buy practically anything online, including an 800 thread count Egyptian Cotton duvet cover or a set of custom-made Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle drapes from your humble host's childhood...don't ask, just watch the show.

After the break, we get to a few Calls From the Public, including one from a caller all the way in the Caribbean! We also run down the 20 best cartoons from the 1990s, but they forgot about the X-Men cartoon! And where is "Teenage Mutant Ninja Frickin Turtles?!" Take a look at the list and let us know your favorites!

(Credit: Nintendo)

Nintendo has officially announced that the price of the Wii will drop to $199.99, effective on Sunday. The long-rumored $50 price cut comes in the wake of recent price drops for the PlayStation 3 ($299, with built-in Blu-ray player) and Xbox 360 ($299 for the 120GB version with built-in DVD player and Netflix support), which have boosted sales of the Sony and Microsoft consoles. (To date, the Wii remains the best-selling home game console of the three.)

Other than the price cut, there are no other changes to the current Wii bundle--you're still getting the console, along with the Wiimote and Nunchuk controllers and the bundled Wii Sports game. By contrast, there's at least one rumor that the U.K. will get a Wii package that adds the MotionPlus peripheral and Wii Sports Resort to the mix. Meanwhile, white remains the only color choice in North America (Japanese consumers can choose black as well).

Nintendo also took the opportunity to officially announce the release date for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which had previously been slated for a vague "fall 2009" window. The multiplayer Super Mario game will hit store shelves on November 15.

So, what do you guys think? Does the price drop make the Wii more attractive? Would you prefer a more enticing bundle? Or are you holding out for the Wii HD? Share your comments below.

Microsoft is offering a $50 mail-in rebate on the Elite through October 5.

Nobody likes a mail-in rebate, but if you're the patient type who doesn't mind waiting to get your cash back on your purchase, Microsoft will send you $50 if you buy the Xbox 360 Elite between now and October 5 (this is for U.S. customers only).

While you'll have to fill out all the requisite paperwork to get the discount, that mail-in rebate drops the price of the Elite--which only a short time ago cost $400--down to $250. Details of the rebate are here.

As other blogs have pointed out, that $50 might come in handy to buy an HDMI cable, Wi-Fi adapter, or a game. All we can say is, thank you, Sony, for dropping the price of the PS3 to $299. There's nothing like a good price war to keep things interesting in the game-console space.

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(Source: Joystiq via Major Nelson)