06.27.07 - Monster 1 of 2

We all buy games for various reasons: next killer app, sequels to previous hits, new game in our favorite genre, games that friends have recommended, games that seem decent and the price is cheap, etc. All of the games that I have bought recently are actually for the last reason I listed: cheaply priced games. If you're worried about the $60 price tags floating along for next-gen consoles, don't fret because there are plenty of great titles out right now with prices dropped to an affordable level. I'll take you through my recent shopping excursion and tell you about the good deals I did find.

I'm not much of one for shopping, but yesterday I went out trying to find speakers for my new sound system (Sharp SD-HX500). I've got a nice sized bedroom, but it is only a bedroom, so I didn't need any fancy speakers, pretty much just something that would be enough to get the job done. Starting at Wal-Mart, (I know, I know, but I wanted to get a feel for speaker prices since I know nothing about them whatsoever), I didn't see anything worth looking at, which was expected, but I did notice that both Lego Star Wars II and Rockstar's Table Tennis dropped in price to under $20 (these can also be purchased online). These price drops seemed to be universal, and something you could probably find anywhere, but I was glad to see any games below $20 since that hasn't happened often since the release of the Xbox 360, or at least not often enough.

Moving on to Target, I again had no interest in the speakers available, but I noticed there was a clearance game section that had 360 titles mixed in with the previous generation console games. The prices marked were nothing to brag about, but I decided to take them to a scanner anyway. Lo and behold, Condemned: Criminal Origins was marked for $30 but rang up at $15 (stores only). This is one I've been meaning to add to my collection for awhile, but had never got around to it. Pretty good find in my opinion.

I decided it was time to amp up the search for my speakers (pun intended), and hit the electronics stores. Best Buy and Circuit City are a bit of a drive for me, so when I go out that far, I try to hit up every store that has games in the area. First along the way is Toys'R'Us. They usually have a crap bargain bin, but every once in awhile you can find a decent deal for any system. Here I found Xbox Live Arcade: Unplugged for $20, which is a great value for six arcade games, even if you've already purchased Geometry Wars.

Sadly, Best Buy was a waste of a trip in looking for speakers. The sound section was completely disheveled, and it was atrocious to even try to look at anything there, so I quickly moved on to the game section where I found Blitz: The League, NHL 07, Top Spin 2, The Outfit, and Bomberman: Act Zero for $20 a pop. Way better than the standard Xbox 360 Platinum price of $29.99.

Circuit City across the street helped me to learn more about speakers, but at this point in the trip I decided to only price shop for my new surround speakers. Perusing their game section, I found The Outfit, FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup, Bomberman Act: Zero, Bionicle Heroes, X-Men: The Official Game, Madden NFL 2006, Eragon, Just Cause, Dance Dance Revolution Universe (game only), Virtua Tennis 3, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006, Full Auto, and King Kong: The Official Game (groan), all for $17 bucks. Some of these are probably online only at this price, but the one I bought did ring up at this price.

There was a Sears in the mall nearby, which actually had some surprisingly good deals, especially considering the Sears nearest to my home doesn't even carry video games. There I found X-men: The Official Game for $20, King Kong for $9, and FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 for $19. My speaker quest was over at this point though. They had a minimal selection, and they all came with a receiver, which I already had.

Since I was already at the mall, I stopped by Gamestop / EB Games before I headed home. I hate buying open new games there, so I generally don't even bother. They still have their Gamer Days sale going on though. You can still find Eragon for $20 and Quake 4 for $15, if you're lucky. Just remember, these games will probably already be opened, and sealed with a stupid yellow sticker. Sweet, someone already opened my product. That's like buying a can of pringles and discovering that while all the crisps are there, someone has touched every single one of them with their dirty little employee fingers.

To end the day, I just came home and did all of my speaker research online, which I probably should have done in the first place. I always forget that nowadays you can see the inventory in most stores through their websites; something I'd recommend before going out and searching for these, and other deals. Amazon.com can have a great Deal of the Day once in awhile (click the image on the right side to view the current deal), or you can dig through their Bargain Bin, but that is generally a hit or a miss.

GoGamer.com has GUN for just under $20 and Rumble Roses XX for the super low price of $13.73. I still might not buy that one at that price, ha.

Some of the deals are either in-store pickup or online only, but most of these places will at least be nice enough to list which one is possible. Your mileage will vary. Anyway, if you're dying for something new but strapped for cash, you can immerse yourself in any of the cheap games listed above for the time being. It should be able to help you save enough cash for the likes of Halo 3, Bioshock, and Mass Effect when they do release.

 

 

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