Like all other good retail companies, Amazon is prepping up for its Father's Day promotion to help consumers give gifts to their dear old dad. This year, the major online retailer is offering a buy two, take one promotion on selected Blu-ray movies.

The news that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots' street date has been broken isn't exactly new, but to everyone who still believes such a thing isn't possible, we've got another thing coming. It seems that reports and comments about Wal-mart selling the PS3's 80GB MGS4 bundle seems to be true as you can see in the image after the jump.

Around three months ago Amazon revealed that there were a few Paramount movies bearing the Blu-ray logo. Now, that list of movies will be joined by five more titles this coming May. So better get your popcorn ready folks! Find out what these movies are in the full article.

Nintendo updated its Wii Shop Channel yet again and added three more classic video game titles for fans to download and enjoy. According to the company's official press statement, this week's lineup is somewhat geared towards fathers since we ecently celebrated Father's Day.

First up is NES Open Tournament Golf which features well-loved video game character Mario as a golfer. In this game, players can go head-to-head against each other in Stroke, Modes, and Tournament modes. Open Tournament Golf, which costs 500 Wii Points, features three fantasy courses located in the U.S.A., Japan, and the UK.

TurboGrafx-16 title World Sports Competition, on the other hand, is priced at 600 Wii Points and can support up to five different players. The title sports a total of 18 Olympic events divided into six different categories: shooting, archery, rowing, swimming, and track and field. Various modes include Training and Olympics.

The last title for this week is Bloody Wolf. This action shooter with an overhead view was first released on the TurboGrafx-16, and now fans can enjoy it again - this time for 600 Wii Points. Basically, the premise of the game is that players take on the role of a commando and try to save the kidnapped president deep in enemy territory.

That's it for now for Virtual Console titles. Now be nice to your dads, okay?

For those of us who couldn't make it to the Nintendo World Store with our dads in time for the Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree tournament, here's a chance for all of us to catch a glimpse of what we've missed.

The brief clip shows son-and-dad teams working hard together to get as many points in the game as possible - after all, with prizes of brand-spanking-new Nintendo hardware, who wouldn't? Of course, it wasn't all about the prize, as there was much bonding between parent and child to be had, as well as crucial life lessons like sportsmanship and patience - things people never thought a video game would actually teach.

It's certainly good that Nintendo's holding events like these - no mere contest of skill, but also of intellect and camaraderie, as well as developing bonds in families. Let's hope Ninty holds another one, and we'll be sure to cover it as it happens.

To all dads out there, Happy Father's Day!

 

A lot of families celebrate Father's Day in different ways. Regardless of what people do, it's a given that people celebrate and bond with a person that they hold dear, their father. For father and son gamers, what better way to spend the day together than playing a couple video games?

Apparently, Nintendo feels the same way and held a father and son event at the Nintendo World store in New York. This event called "Biggest Brain" had 30 contestants playing Big Brain Acadamy: Wii Degree in a bracket-style playoff format. The champions for the contest Rick and Michael Singer, walked away with a "hot Wii."

Interestingly enough, Rick Singer gave word that they just happened to be there. He said, "I asked my son to come to New York with me for Father's Day, but he said he'd only come if we could go to the Nintendo World store." They're probably both glad that they stopped by.

An official announcement by PlayNC on the City of Heroes website has pegged a special weekend for gamers just coming out of school and entering the lazy days of summer. In celebration of the lapse between schooling (and Father's Day?), PlayNC will be doubling your experience points in one weekend.

The special weekend will begin on Friday, June 15 on 8:59 a.m. PST (11:59 a.m. EST) and will end on Sunday, June 17 on 8:59 p.m. PST (11:59 p.m. EST). Gamers who don't have an account and want to take advantage of a special opportunity that happens only twice a year can get a friend to refer them to the game for a 10-day free trial.

And those currently active on City of Heroes might want to take advantage of the Referral Program for free game time in return. And not limiting only to the good side, City of Villains players will also enjoy a double experience weekend in parallel with the protagonist experience.

The people at Nintendo definitely have a lot to celebrate nowadays. Two Ninty DS games - New Super Mario Bros. and Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day for Nintendo DS ranked as the No. 1 and No. 3 best-selling games of May, according to the independent NPD Group.

NPD Group provides global consumer and retail information that helps manufacturers and retailers make more informed, fact-based decisions in order to optimize their businesses. And they are doing that very same things for Nintendo.

The good news doesn't end there, early reports from major retailers indicate that those same titles are being scooped up with the new Nintendo DS Lite in advance for Father's Day. Nice! I am pretty sure that my dad would love to play Brain Age!

According to the same group, The New Super Mario Bros. sold at a nonstop rate of roughly one every four seconds nationwide during the reporting period after going on sale May 15. It also emerged as the No.1 game of the month even if it was in stores for just 13 days.

DS Lite sales are also making Ninty smile more! Apparently, just two days after Nintendo DS Lite went on sale in the United States on June 11, it sold more than 136,500 units, with many retail outlets reporting sellouts. Also Major retailers report that sales of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day tripled over the previous week. I am sure that the guys over at Nintendo are patting each others backs for a job well done!

A few new themes have hit the Marketplace today in the form of a Class of 2006 Theme and a Father's Day Theme. Both of the themes cost the usual amount of 150 Microsoft Points each. While Microsoft has had some holiday themes like the St. Patrick's Day Theme, maybe they will start having all kinds of life events as themes.

It does seem pretty crazy to have to pay 150 Microsoft Points to show your graduation or fatherly pride, though. Well, if you have want to show off your graduation year of 2006 or Father's Day ties, then go ahead and check them out.