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If we failed to tweet about it during the countdown party: the Orchestral Score was reached with the Paypal pledges!!! :D

— SnowCastle Games (@snowcastlegames) April 12, 2014

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PlayStation’s World Wide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida joins us for this week’s epic show, dishing out his thoughts on Dark Souls II, Project Morpheus, and his current favorite games. Plus: New details on MLB 14 The Show on PS4, next week’s new releases and much more. Buy now!

• Pure Chess and Backgammon Blitz on PS4
• Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn for PS4
• Trials Fusion for PS4
• Deception IV for PS Vita
• Luftrausers
• Ask Shu!
• MLB 14 The Show for PS4
• Destiny of Spirits for PS Vita
• The origin of Shuhei’s Twitter handle
• …Dark Souls II. Sorry

• Episode 115: Light and Dark
• Episode 114: Batfriends
• Episode 113: Meet Morpheus

• Sid Shuman – PlayStation Social Media Manager
• Shuhei Yoshida – President, SCE Worldwide Studios
• Justin Massongill – PlayStation Social Media Specialist
• Ryan Clements – PlayStation Social Media Specialist

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.

Hi! I’m Rob Karp. You may remember me from my role as producer in the multi award winning XDev Studio, where I worked on a number of Sony’s first party titles over the last few years. Today I want to tell you about my latest venture, which is coming as a time-limited exclusive to PlayStations everywhere. It’s called Backgammon Blitz!

Backgammon has been played for centuries by gamers young, old and ancient. It appears to be a simple game about getting your checkers around and off the board before your opponent, but it has immense layers of depth and strategy to it.

I’m just the messenger, of course. The talented folks behind this lovely little title are VooFoo Studios. Having made a name for themselves with Hustle Kings and Pure Chess, Backgammon feels like a step onwards and upwards for the studio, taking all of their strengths – gorgeous art design, a subtle but stylish approach to UI – and none of their weaknesses – cake night each Friday has always been their Achilles heel – into the next generation of platforms.

Speaking of awesome visuals, check out the beautiful screenshots in this post, taken from in the game!

Backgammon Blitz is launching this winter on PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. The team are so keen to whet your appetite for the world of backgammon that they’re offering a trial version of the game that’ll teach you the rules in an instant… And if you upgrade to the full game, you’ll get seamless a-sync cross platform play that’s so quick it feels like realtime multiplayer, as well as a brand new arcade mode called Blitz! With more action and more tactics needed, can you become the Blitz Master?

...as that bundle is exclusive to @TargetCanada stores. #Nintendo2DS pic.twitter.com/XXevlkZURg

— Vernon Schieck (@kitroplious) April 11, 2014

Time to catch up on the latest pre-order discounts and bonuses - let's get started!

If you've been holding out for Lego The Hobbit on Wii U, a number of pre-order offers are still in place for the game's release April 22nd. Gamestop's bonus is perhaps the most notable, as your pre-order entitles you to an exclusive Good Morning Bilbo Baggins Lego mini-figure. These figures are apparently only available with a pre-order of the game, so it's definitely worth considering if you're a Lego collector, want a fine gift for a Lego fan, or are just looking for something to flip on Ebay to help offset the game's cost.

Amazon is offering a $10 store credit with Lego The Hobbit purchases & pre-orders, while Best Buy will knock ten bucks off your purchase when you buy both Lego The Hobbit and the recently released The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug movie on Blu-Ray.

If you've been considering Mario Golf: World Tour for 3DS, both Amazon and Walmart are offering the title for $29.99 with pre-order. This is a savings of five or ten dollars, depending. (There's some contradiction as to the final MSRP - Amazon and Best Buy seem to think it's $39.99, but Gamestop is holding at $34.99.)

Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars releases for 3DS on April 15th, with the first printing set as a Special Edition with bonus CD soundtrack and box packaging. This edition isn't exclusive to any one retailer, but given the niche nature of the title and Best Buy having currently sold out of their initial allotment, you may want to pre-order the game sooner than later if you've been meaning to lock in a copy. It's still available via Amazon, Gamestop and Walmart.

Before I finish up, I'd like to mention a new feature I've added to the regular mega-deal list you'll find post-jump. Along with the usual game discounts for 3DS, Wii, Wii U and DS, you'll also find new pre-order comparison tables for 3DS and Wii U! I hope this'll come in handy when comparing pre-order offers amongst some of the more popular retailers - not only prices but bonuses as well. Hit the jump to check it out, and as always, thanks for reading!

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