Have you always wanted a third packaged version of Soul Calibur II for your Xbox system? Have you always wanted to hark all the way back to the era of the PSP launch titles but never wanted to drop a meaty $30-$50 on them? If you answered, "yes" to either question, your prayers have come true.

Microsoft and Sony have recently announced a new surge of "Platinum Hits/Greatest Hits" for their respective platform and once again bring a new wave of tasty titles to gamers with a price tag of less than $20. While budget re-leases have been par for the course for the Xbox and Playstation 2, this previous week was the first time Sony's portable system has featured the red-labeled games.

According to the official Playstation Web site, the "Greatest Hits" titles joining Sony's parade for the PlayStation Portable are:

• Ape Escape: On the Loose
• ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails
• Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee
• Twisted Metal: Head On
• Wipeout Pure

All five titles are available in stores now, and carry a new price tag of $19.99 — a suitable replacement for all of those UMD movies that don't seem to be selling.

Microsoft recent marched to the beat of a different drummer, re-re-releasing a handful of its best-selling titles. The company re-launched a series of its "Platinum Hits" titles with the new label "Best of Platinum Hits." While the platinum banner still outlines the game's cover, the words "Best of" hover over the "Platinum Hits" in bold, red text.

Thankfully, the additional text isn't the only catch to the new best-selling series. "Best of Platinum Hits" titles are in stores now and sell brand new for a mere $9.99.

The "Best of Platinum Hits" lineup currently includes:

• Counterstrike
• Mechassault
• Project Gotham Racing 2
• Shrek 2
• Soul Calibur II
• Spider-Man
• Spider-Man 2
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
• Tony Hawk's Underground
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
• True Crime: Streets of LA

Nintendo hasn't released any information on recent "Player's Choice" titles but in case you missed them, a small lineup of best-selling re-releases were marked for the Game Boy Advance:

• Super Mario Advance
• Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Furthermore, while nothing has been indicated on the official Xbox and Playstation Web site listings for the best-selling budget re-releases, more $19.99 titles have been popping up in stores including Star Wars: Battlefront II and Burnout: Revenge. Blogcritics will have a full listing once the announcements have been officially made.

Outside of the budget labels, a lot of other prices have been teetering, making this summer a prime opportunity to make your game pile a little bigger. Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max and Mega Man X: Maverick Hunters are among a chunk of PSP titles not on the "Greatest Hits" labels to be spotted at $19.99 brand new at Target. Titles such as Half-Life 2 for the Xbox, Jak 3 for the Playstation 2 and decent multi-system games such as Matrix: Path of Neo, Beyond Good & Evil and Second Sight have been spotted at a mere $8-9 brand new at Circuit City.

The falling prices may show signs of slower sales over the summer, but summer is usually a much slower time of the year for sales. With only a few days left in July, big releases are abounding in August as we pick up speed to enter the daunting holiday shopping season.