PlayStation Update for February 25th: Thief, Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, and the largest amount of discounts ever

There is a large amount of new releases and special deals for PlayStation owners this week, so let's get right into it.

New Releases

PS4

• Thief - $59.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Basement Crawl - $9.99* (Digital)

PS3

• Thief - $59.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - $59.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Magus - $29.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Pac-Man Museum - $9.99* (Digital)
• Port Royal 3 Gold Edition - $29.99 (Retail)
• Tales of Symphonia Chronicles - $39.99 (Digital/Retail)

Vita

• Mahjong World Contest - $3.99* (Digital)

PS2/PSone Classics

• Herc's Adventures (PSone) - $5.99* (Digital)

*Projected price, not official.

Finally, a new triple-A title is being released this week, and arguably the biggest title of the year so far. Thief is getting mediocre reviews out of the gate, currently holding a 70 out of 100 at Metacritic at the time of this post.

Stealth games are generally not my cup of tea, so my pick of the week would be Tales of Symphonia Chronicles. It includes both games that were exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube and Wii (respectively). The first game is one of the better "Tales of" stories, and even spawned an anime series. The second one can get a little long and pales in comparison, but it's still features a good conclusion to the entire saga.

Vita features its worst week, and for those interested in Mahjong, it was already released in Europe with a detailed review from Vita Player here. However, the week may be slow for new releases on the handheld, but there's plenty of options in a massive sale this week.

Sony has two different sales going on at the same time. First, they feature some games that we've all missed in the past year. These deals aren't exactly doorbusters like their first sale earlier this year, but there's plenty of deals that are worth it.

NOTE: All the following prices are available to those that have a PlayStation Plus subscription.

Back to 2013 Sale

• Diablo III - $35.99
• Dragon's Crown (PS3/Vita) - $17.49
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2 classic?) - $4.89
• Guacamelee! (Cross-buy) - $7.34
• Injustice: Gods Among Us (Ultimate Edition, Vita) - $14.69
• Injustice: Gods Among Us (Ultimate Edition, PS3/PS4) - $24.49
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - $6.99
• Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PS2 classic?) - $3.49
• Persona 4 Arena - $7.50
• Rayman Legends - $29.39
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Vita) - $17.49
• Spelunky (Cross-buy) - $7.34
• Super Motherload (Cross-buy) - $3.75
• Tales of Xillia - $14.99
• Terraria (PS3) - $5.99
• The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 1 - $2.79
• The Walking Dead: Season 2 Pass - $10.49
• Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - $2.39
• Wolf Among Us: Season Pass - $8.99
• WWE 2K14 - $29.99

I'm not into either The Walking Dead or Wolf Among Us games, but those season passes sparked a lot of fans to snag those up. Other highlights include Ni No Kuni at seven bucks, Guacamelee for under eight bucks, Injustice on the PS4 for $25, Dragon's Crown at $17.49 (either PS3 or Vita, it's not cross-buy), or Terraria on the PS3 for those that don't have it on the Vita or other handheld device.

The next sale celebrates the birthday of the Vita.

PlayStation Vita 2-Year Anniversary Sale

• Castlestorm - $4.89
• Castlestorm (Collector's Edition) - $6.99
• Castlestorm: From Outcast to Savior - $1.39
• Castlestorm: The Warrior Queen - $1.39
• Hotline Miami - $2.50
• Velocity Ultra - $2.09
• Sumioni: Demon Arts - $4.89
• Orgarhythm - $4.59
• Ragnarok Odyssey- $14.69
• Valhalla Knights 3 - $14.69
• Stick it to the Man - $6.29
• Machinarium - $1.75
• Proteus - $4.19
• Killzone Mercenary - $17.49
• Escape Plan - $7.34
• Open Me! - $4.89
• Malicious Rebirth - $7.34
• flOw - $2.79
• Flower - $3.49

Again, some games like Killzone were available for less in Sony's bigger sale earlier this year, but that's still not a bad price for one of the most full-fledged games on the handheld. Other recommendations are the Castlestorm collector's edition, Hotline Miami, Machinarium, and both flOw and Flower if those haven't been purchased yet. Remember, those games are now cross-buy for PS4 and Vita for those that purchased them on PS3 in the past.

Another discount this week that's not involved in this sale is Starhawk, now available for $10.49. I purchased this game over a year ago and it still sits firmly on my shelf all wrapped up. One day, I'll get to this game.

Instant Game Collection

Finally, this week's addition in the IGC for PS+ subscribers is Modnation Racers: Road Trip.

Have a great week everybody!

February's free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers: Remember Me, Metro: Last Light, and more

Those that still haven't subscribed to PlayStation Plus may finally cave in after Sony released their list of free games their offering in February for the PlayStation platforms.

The PlayStation Blog announced the games for North America on Thursday. Here are the games that will be available, spread out through the entire month..

• Outlast (PS4, previously announced)
• Remember Me (PS3)
• Metro: Last Light (PS3)
• Payday 2 (PS3)
• Street Fighter X Tekken (Vita)
• ModNation Racers: Road Trip (Vita)

New games will be available every Tuesday, but no official dates are ever announced.

Next month is an unbelievable deal; all of those games are quality titles that didn't receive much attention when they were released. There's an abundance of fighting and racing games for Vita owners that have subscribed to PS+. I haven't played MNR: RT yet, but that's likely the weakest offering in the batch. Especially with Sonic All-Star Racing Transformed was available for free recently.

For those that haven't purchased a PS+ subscription, think of it this way. If these games were all purchased on Amazon today, that total price would be $119.92. PS+ is $50 a year. It's an unbelievable service that offers a wide variety of titles; for those that purchase PlayStation for that variety like myself, it's a must have.

Worst case scenario, players can always download the games they already purchased for back up when they're available for free, or they can just sell their physical copy for a little cash to put into the PS+ subscription price.

Next month has my full attention. What game are you looking forward to the most?

Image credit: Flickr