With the holidays fast approaching and the recession still ongoing, we here at QJ.NET decided to do another round of bargain hunting at Amazon.com. If you're a first time game console owner, or maybe just looking for a great deal before the holidays, or one of those avid games collector, then you better checkout our list of 25 excellent games under US$ 25 and hopefully this can help you out with your purchasing decision. The full list after the jump.

It's better to give than to receive - this was the point of the new initiative set up by Ratchet & Clank developers Insomniac Games as it introduced a new technology sharing program entitled "Nocturnal" for other video game developers in the industry. Its aim is basically to create a central information hub which different devs can share with one another. You can find out more about the Nocturnal initiative by reading our full article after the jump.

If you loved Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, then you'd be interested in what old pal Quartermann has to say about its next chapter. In the latest EGM issue, the gaming seer also talks about Tecmo Bowl and a possible challenger to Mario's platform game throne from Disney. We smell a hidden Mickey! All this and more after the jump!

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced that the nominations for the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards has finally been closed. The final list of candidates has been compiled and is currently entering the general voting stage. Want to find out if your bet got into the final list? Read the full article!

Let's face it: Square Enix' current lineup of games is made up of entries to known franchises that promise good sales.  Sure, we're still waiting for Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery, but aside from those big names, the rest of Squeenix' promising games are either of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest lineage.

In this list, we'll take a look at games that deserve their sequels Sit tight, and prepare to ride the nostalgia train! Find the list at the full article.

 

Over at the U.S. side, the rental charts at GameFly eyes FASA Studios' Shadowrun for the Xbox 360 and the PC, which climbed a fair share of spots on either platform to become the most requested game on GameFly. Forza Motorsport 2, published by Microsoft, took the second top spot across the charts, with Codemaster's DiRT revving up Forza's tailpipe for a solid seat at third.

Nintendo's Mario Party 8, pegged by GameFly as last week's most request title, now slipped five spots down to number six in the overall charts. The top title at the Xbox 360 charts is Shadowrun, while Take Two's Darkness tops the PlayStation 3 wish-list. Mario Party 8 celebrates on top of the Wii charts, while Nintendo's Pokemon Diamond keeps its chances for the number one spot rock-hard. Apparently, size actually does matter for unlikely duo Ratchet and Clank as Sony's Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters get big on the PSP charts.

The list of the top five titles for each platform to follow right when you click "Full Article."

The UK is one of the hottest gaming hotspots in the world, and companies realize that. This week, we have a nice set of releases ending on the period April 13th. Not too much action on the next-generation machines, but there's plenty more in the video games shelves to spend those British pounds on.

This coming week, we have one of the best batches of handheld software to come along in quite a while. We've got Harvest Moon DS and Pokemon Ranger for the Nintendo DS, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters for the PSP and Final Fantasy V for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. All of which are excellent and are expected to sell well in the UK as they did in locales with earlier release dates.

The PlayStation 3 crowd will be treated to some mobster action as The Godfather: The Don's Edition hits town. The PS2 may be on its twilight year, but games are still flowing in as Everybody's Tennis and Dancing Stage SuperNova have come to breathe in new life to the grizzled system.

Rounding up the list is Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Lost in Blue 2 for the DS and Wing Island for the Wii.

Last week, it will be noted that Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was GameFly's most requested game title. This week, however, the lean green fighting machine will be taking a backseat to second, as we report that Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii takes GameFly's top post among several other to-be-released and already released games. Activision's upcoming Spider-Man 3 multiplatform game replaces Sega's Armored Core 4 for the number three position.

See the lists below for the breakdown of each console's top five games.

Nintendo Wii

1. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo)
2. Cooking Mama: Cook Off (Majesco)
3. Medal of Honor: Vanguard (Electronic Arts)
4. The Godfather: Blackhand Edition (Electronic Arts)
5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Electronic Arts).

Xbox 360

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Ubisoft)
2. Spider-man 3 (Activision)
3. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft)
4. Armored Core 4 (Sega)
5. Earth Defense Force 2017 (D3P).

PlayStation 3 (PS3)

1. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)
2. MotorStorm (Sony)
3. The Godfather: The Don's Edition (Electronic Arts)
4. Spider-man 3 (Activision)
5. MLB 07: The Show (Sony)

Nintendo DS

1. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo)
2. Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo)
3. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3P)
4. Spectrobes (Buena Vista)
5. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Nintendo)
   

PlayStation Portable (PSP)

1. 300: March to Glory (Eidos)
2. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (Sony)
3. Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road (Atari)
4. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Konami)
5. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3P)