PS3 Bundle Deals

My PS3 finally insisted that it had to be updated or it would not play a Blu-Ray that I'd rented from Netflix. After setting it up on the wireless network, which it refused to do a couple of years ago, but went on with very little effort, this time (yes, I've used it mainly as a Blu-Ray player and for stand alone games and never needed to be online before), I also set it up to watch Netflix on-demand streaming. I was actually quite surprised at how good the movie looked. Nowhere near HD quality, of course, but not much worse than watching a regular DVD and with very little stuttering in the video (the audio never did mess up). All in all, something of a miracle given our slow internet connection. It took 3 hours to download our rental video from Amazon, in comparison; of course, once I figured out that we had to watch it in Microsoft's Media Center and not using the Amazon software, which was cutting off the lower half of the picture, the quality of it was the same as having rented the physical disc. In any case, I foresee us using the PS3 more and more, as Netflix pushes downloaded rentals instead of physical discs. It is already a pretty good game box and still perhaps the best blu-ray player on the market, but now it has taken the role of a Roku box, as well (although I haven't figured out if I can also use it for Amazon VOD, yet).

For Black Friday, Amazon has put together a couple of good bundles, for those looking to upgrade, add a system to a second room. Priced the same as the controller alone, both bundles also throw in two games. The first is the best of the two bargains and the one that appears as if the price will change the earliest (or just go away forever, once they sell out), throwing in a Blu-Ray movie and a $25 credit to use in the store later on. Both come with a single controller and you can play the games and watch movies using it.

If you want to play any of the multi-player games, you'll want a second DualShock 3 Wireless Controller (which now comes in wide range of colors) and I'd greatly recommend the Sony PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Remote, which I've had for a couple of years and use every time we watch a movie. I'm now looking at adding a PlayStation 3 Wireless keypad, which I never really needed, but after having to type in login information on netflix, I think some type of keyboard may become a necessity (you can use the controller, but it's a bit slow and tedious and anyone watching can see you hunt out the letters for the password). Any USB or bluetooth keyboard will probably work, but this one would be attached to the controller (and rechargeable), so I wouldn't have to keep track of it or find more space to store it.

PlayStation 3 160 GB Black Friday Bundle w/ Uncharted 2, Pixel Junk Shooter, Karate Kid Blu-Ray, and $25 Video Game Credit ($299.99)

Bundle Description

• DualShock 3 wireless controller with detachable USB charge cable and AC power cord for console and a free PlayStation Network membership
• Slim, light PS3 system with a 160 GB HDD, Internet-ready built-in Wi-Fi, 2 USB ports and HDMI + Bravia Synch output for 1080p resolution and connectivity between other Sony HDMI products
• A copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Game of The Year, with included game of the year extra items
• A PlayStation Network download voucher for a game copy of Pixeljunk Shooter
• A Blu-ray copy of the 2010 version of The Karate Kid staring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith

PlayStation 3 160GB Amazon Family Bundle w/ Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time and SingStar Dance Party Pack ($299.99)

Bundle Description

• A copy of the PlayStation exclusive Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
• Slim, light PS3 system with a 160 GB HDD, Internet-ready built-in Wi-Fi, 2 USB ports and HDMI + Bravia Synch output for 1080p resolution and connectivity between other Sony HDMI products
• DualShock 3 wireless controller with detachable USB charge cable and AC power cord for console
• Free PlayStation Network membership and access to Netflix with Unlimited membership (sold separately)
• A copy of the PlayStation 3 exclusive SingStar Dance with 2 included wired SingStar microphones

Today's Two Buck Music + One Free Song

Amazon is continuing their Black Friday Week in the MP3 store, with five new $1.99 titles today and a free Christmas song, Dream Child by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Today's list makes it tough to pick a favorite, but I settled on John Mayer's Battle Studies, only because I already have more than one version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.

The other four albums in today's Black Friday Week sale:

Dark Side Of The Moon, by Pink Floyd
You Are Not Alone, by Mavis Staples
xx, by The XX
High Violet, by The National

Ebook Sales and Dollar Books for Black Friday

Several of the online bookstores are having sales for the Black Friday weekend, plus a number of authors at Amazon and Smashwords have marked down their books for the day to 99 cents.

First, at Fictionwise, where the DRM'd books are no pretty much only nook or app compatible, as they only have the EReader format, but the DRM-Free books and magazines will work with any device, you can get 50% off this weekend using the coupon code blackfriday2010. This sale is good thru tomorrow, so you have plenty of time to look thru their catalog. The main thing I buy there now are magazines, which are often a better deal than at Amazon. However, as their selection has continued to go down after being purchased by Barnes and Noble, I'd advise you to make your own backup copies of any purchases, as there is no guarantee they'll be there when you want to re-download.

Next, at Kobobooks.com, use coupon code Nov26ww30 to get 30% off any non-Agency book (including any of the bestsellers at $9.99, where Kobo has set the price). All the books at Kobo are in EPUB format, with standard ADE DRM. This means they work on any of the major ereaders out there, except the Kindle.

At Books on Board, you get a 10% bonus on any gift certificate over $30 (presumably as Reward Dollars, which can't be used on Agency priced books).

Small publishers are also having sales this weekend. OmniLit has what looks like a site-wide 25% discount going on Harlequin  and any Harlequin  imprint (code 25BlackFridayMira is entered for you automatically). Mundania Press and their romance label Awe Struck Publishing both have 25% off with coupon code BLACK. They sell paper and ebooks, but it looks like the books are pretty much only in PDF format with ADE-DRM (so, not Kindle compatible). There is a lot of overlap with Fictionwise's multi-format listings, so I'd check there first (and FW's prices are better with the coupon code, as well), but some titles you can't get at FW are to be found. Untreed Reads has discounted all short stories 25%, novelettes and novellas 30% and full-length works and anthologies 40% for today only and claims to have "super-secret specials hidden throughout the store where folks can save even more in addition to the listed discounts". Erotic romance publisher Changeling Press has a 5% off sale using code BlackFriday2010; all their selections are DRM-free and generally are priced under $5 before the coupon code. Erotica publisher AllRomance has added a few new freebies for the weekend in the Just One Bite series, joining the over 200 free titles they have available. Rainbow eBooks (LGBT books) has all of their books at 15% off this weekend, no coupon code needed.

Manning Publications has a 35% to 50% off sale (depending on sales total), using promotions codes gt35, gt42 and gt50 for totals under $50, from $50 to $100 and over $100. Not a bad discount on some pretty technical computer programming books. O'Reilly books is another source of (drm-free) technical books and they not only have Erlang Programming on sale today, but also have an MS Press book at 50% off, 25% off off online courses and a free copy of Maker's Notebook for orders over $200.

Over at Audible, they are having their annual holiday sale, with 100 audio-books at $4.95. The deal is limited to members with a paid or trial monthly or annual AudibleListener plan, but you can sign up easily, with offers such as these:

• Limited Time Offer - Get Your First 3 Months at Audible.com for $7.49/month!
• Try Audible Now and Get A Free Audiobook Download with a 14 Day Trial

An Awesome Book Of Thanks! ($0.99), Clayton Page, is a book I just saw mentioned on Amazon's Kindle blog. I'm not sure how long it'll stay at this price, but suspect it won't be much past the weekend, if that long.

Book Description
Inspired by the idea of being thankful for all that you have, An Awesome Book of Thanks! is a beautifully written, fantastically illustrated walk through a world of magical unicorns, robotic dinosaurs, and all of life's simple moments, great and small. Crafted for children ages 0-1000, this timeless story is sure to be an instant classic, at home in the hands of anyone looking for the perfect reminder of just how beautiful life can be.

Fleeing Famous, by Laura Freed & Moxie Baker, is the first in the SpellBound Cafe series and is back to 99 cents today. I know they were hoping the second would get published today, but it looks like it hit a snag. Good deal for you, as this one is going up to $2.99 when the second one arrives. Nearly every reader comment I've seen on this book has been positive, so it's definitely worth taking a look at the sample. It is indie published, so it could stand a little more polish (and I would not be surprised if it were picked up by AmazonEncore at some point).

Book Description
Fleeing Famous, loosely based on true events, is the story of how one woman finds her destiny (and assorted muffins, cakes, and pies) on the road she takes to avoid it. Moxie Baker (not her real name) is the daughter of VFFP (Very Famous F***ing Parents). Moxie longs to escape the celebrity shenanigans of her Oscar winning mother, Rockstar father, and spoiled wanna- be reality star sister, Harper. When Moxie accidentally finds herself in Sugar Hollow Harbor, a sleepy town that promises on the Welcome Sign: “You’ll find sweetness in our shadows,” she decides to reinvent herself. Ah – but the truth, and Moxie’s sister, threatens to expose Moxie and unravel her new, delicious life.

Fleeing Famous launches the Spellbound Café fiction series: Stories about the magic of food, the power of friendship, and the mysticism of fortunate events. )

So Brave, Young, and Handsome ($1.84), by Leif Enger

Book Description
One of Time magazine’s top-five novels of the year and a New York Times best seller, Leif Enger’s first novel, Peace Like a River, captured readers’ hearts around the nation. His new novel is a stunning successor—a touching, nimble, and rugged story of an aging train robber on a quest to reconcile the claims of love and judgment on his life, and the failed writer who goes with him.

In 1915 Minnesota, Monte Becket—“a man fading, a disappointer of persons”—has lost his sense of purpose. His only success long behind him, Monte lives a simple life with his loving wife and whipsmart son. But when he befriends outlaw Glendon Hale, a new world of opportunity and experience presents itself.

Glendon has spent years in obscurity, but the guilt he harbors for abandoning his wife, Blue, over two decades ago, has finally lured him from hiding. As the modern age marches swiftly forward, Glendon aims to travel back into his past—heading to California to seek Blue’s forgiveness. Beguiled and inspired, Monte soon finds himself leaving behind his own family to embark for the unruly West with his fugitive guide—a journey that will test the depth of his loyalties, the inviolability of his morals, and the strength of his resolve. As they flee from the relentless Charles Siringo, an ex-Pinkerton who’s been hunting Glendon for years, Monte falls ever further from his family and the law, to be tempered by a fiery adventure from which he may never get home.

With its smooth mix of romanticism and gritty reality, So Brave, Young, and Handsome often recalls the Old West’s greatest cowboy stories. But it is also about an ordinary man’s determination as he risks everything in order to understand what it’s all worth, and follows an unlikely dream in the hope it will lead him back home.

Here are some of the (mostly) indie books marked down to 99 cents (unless noted otherwise), in no particular order and not grouped by genre (sorry, there are just too many this time).  I tried to only pick those that were at least novellas in length (or short story collections); most are novels. Genres are all over the place, from SciFi to Fantasy to Thrillers to Romance and I suspect a couple that are Erotica. Some of the "indie" authors are the same ones who are traditionally published in paper, but who either retained their ebook rights or managed to get them back (examples are Stephen Leather and Delle Jacobs), while others are published only in ebook form and may or may not have used editors and proofreaders for their works. I'd sample, first, of course, but don't tarry too long, as the prices could change quickly.

once bitten, by Stephen Leather (non-indie UK author)
dreamer's cat, by Stephen Leather
NO GOOD DEED, by Mary McDonald
Tropic of Capricorn ($1), by Henry Miller
Fairy Tale Fail, by Mina V. Esguerra
The Cinderella Curse, by J.L. Penn
Bullsnake Jones (Special Operations Forces: A.N.G.E.L. Group), by T. J. Cook
The Sword And The Light (The Chronicles Of Zayin and Uri: Book One), by T. J. Cook
The Gift of Joy, by Valerie Maarten
Firefly Island, an Epic Fantasy, by Daniel Arenson
North Star Bay, by Richard Thompson
Seven Days From Sunday, by M.H. Sargent
Kill&Cure, by Stephen Davison
Toe Popper, by Jonny Tangerine
Suspect/Victim, by John Luciew
Wet Desert, by Gary Hansen (recommended)
Four Years from Home, by Larry Enright
The Holy Bible (Illustrated King James Version, KJV) for Kindle, by MobileReference
When Justice Steps Out, by Cooper Sterling
Lethal People, by John Locke, and 4 others in the Donovan Creed series
Not What She Seems, by Victorine E. Lieske
PORTAL (Portal Chronicles), by Imogen Rose
His Majesty, the Prince of Toads and three other titles by Delle Jacobs
Entangled, by Barbara Ellen Brink
101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire and Shades of Gray (Amaranthine), by Joleene Naylor
Beyond the Darkening, by Kerry Allen
Along Came a Demon (Whisperings), by Linda Welch
Forsaken By Shadow (A Paranormal Romance of the Mirus), by Kait Nolan
Forever Mine (The Moreno Brothers), by Elizabeth Reyes
Always, by Jodi Langston
Healing Touch, by Jenna Anderson
Devil's Heart, by Jax Cassidy
Tempest, by Jamie DeBree
Wrapped, by Meryl McQueen
Christmas on the Rocks, by Tim Bugansky
Pale Boundaries, by Scott Cleveland (sci-fi)
Radioactive Communist Zombies, by S. Evan Townsend
Loisaida -- A New York Story, by Marion Stein
THE DAUGHTERS OF NORA CRAWFORD, by Anne Lebrecht
THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY, by Jon F. Baxley

Kristie Leigh Maguire's books are all $2.99, but you can download some free stuff on her web site.

At Smashwords:
Key to the Stars, by Kevin Domenic; $1 w/ Coupon Code - UV63M
Alliance of Serpents, by Kevin Domenic; $1 w/ Coupon Code - TK75S
Retail Ramblings, by Kevin Domenic; $1 w/ Coupon Code - SB62X

Update:
Here are a couple more marked down for today:
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble, a Paranormal Romance (Jolie Wilkins Series, Book #1), by H.P. Mallory
A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones), by S.L. Baum
Hush Money (Talent Chronicles), by Susan Bischoff
Immortal, by Lauren Burd
Promise, by Kristie Cook (free on Smashwords)

Refurbished Kindle K2 for $119.99

The price on these just dropped and it's another that I don't expect to stay in stock for long (it looks like the thousands of K2's at $89 earlier today sold out in under ten seconds). Get a Refurbished Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G, 6" Display, White - 2nd Generation from Amazon Warehouse Deals for $119.99. These differ from the new units in the following way:

Factory refurbished and sealed. This item does not ship with the AC adaptor plug. This accessory must be purchased separately. All purchases eligible for Amazon customer service and a 30-day return policy.

Otherwise, it's the same as the Kindle K2's that were the latest and greatest last Christmas and that sold like hotcakes this morning. Also, at least on reader grabbed one of the earlier K2's for shipping overseas, so it's worth making the attempt if you were wanting a new Kindle for XMAS, but missed getting one of the international K3's before they sold out.

Update: A Refurbished 2nd Generation Kindle DX is also available and the price on it has dropped to $229.99. New ones are selling for $329 and the newer graphite model is $379, so this is a nice discount. Interestingly enough, there is no restriction on how many of the DX models you can buy (the K3 models all say you are limited to three).

Video on Demand Sale at Amazon - 75% off Rental

Here are a couple of great deals on Video on Demand at Amazon. First, enter the code RENTDEAL on this page and you'll get 75% off the next movie that you rent from Amazon (between today and the end of the month).

As if that isn't a good enough deal, you can also rent the biggest new releases for 99 cents this weekend, on this Video on Demand Black Friday Deals page, including five of the Harry Potter films. Combine the two and you get a movie night for a quarter!Venture out a little farther and you can rent any of these 99 movies for $2.99 (actually, less, as many are also knocked down to 99 cents this weekend and you'll have that 75% coupon).