How to save money on video games this holiday season
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Technology
November is one of the biggest months for video game releases as publishers try to make their way onto holiday wish lists with big titles such as Gears of War 2, Mirrors Edge, Call of Duty, Brothers in Arms, Little big Planet and many many more. Even picky gamers can easily spend $300-$400 to snap up just the highest rated games, let alone any of the casual games set to invade store shelves in the next two months. With so many releases it is no wonder that the GeekDad at WIRED came up with 5 ways to stretch your gaming dollar this fall.GeekDad offers the following 5 ways to save money on games this holiday season.
- Know your release dates and what games you can wait to buy.
- Read reviews to avoid the crud that many developers shovel out this time of year.
- Play the demo; nothing helps you separate the wheat from the chaff quicker than hands on time.
- Trade in and or buy used games, even new release used games are $5 cheaper.
- Join a gaming community, which exist solely to help others find cheap video game deals.
Toy Wishes Hot Dozen
Every year, Toy Wishes magazine names the "Hot Dozen" -- toys that the trade magazine predicts will be the hottest sellers that holiday season. On this year's list: Toy: Kota the Triceratops Manufacturer: Hasbro Playskool | Price: $300
Hasbro / AP
Toy: Ultimate Wall-E Manufacturer: Thinkway Toys | Price: $249.99
Thinkway Toys / AP
Toy: U-Dance Manufacturer: Hasbro | Price: $74.99
Hasbro / AP
Toy: Bakugan Battle Brawlers Manufacturer: Spin Master | Price: $12.99
SPIN MASTER LTD / AP
Toy: Disney Clickables Fairy Charms Starter Set Manufacturer: Techno Source | Price: $29.99
Toy: Animal Scramble Manufacturer: Wild Planet | Price: $29.99
Wild Planet / AP
Toy: Bratz Really Rock! Jade Manufacturer: MGA Entertainment | Price: $19.99
Toy: Crayola Glow Station Manufacturer: Crayola | Price: $29.99
Crayola / AP
Toy: Pacific Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker Manufacturer: Jakks | Price: $29.99
Toy: Lego Angents Mission 6: Mobile Command Center Manufacturer: Lego | Price: $89.99
www.shop.lego.com
Another method GeekDad mentions is a subscription rental service such as Gamefly.com. This is an excellent way to get through the glut of games coming out in the next few weeks. I've personally used several of these services and Gamefly tops the list in selection and shipping times. If you plan to play a lot of new releases, sports games especially, then a subscription service is an absolute must.
Finally there's nothing more disappointing than finding out the game you bought for your 12-year-old doesn't sync up with the restrictions you have on gaming at your house. Thankfully parents can avoid the hassle of selling a used game at half price by making informed decisions with the information at WhatTheyPlay.com. What They Play is a ratings and discussion board dedicated to helping parents understand what is really in the games their children play.
As a gamer and a saver, I am living proof that you can enjoy your gaming and still make prudent financial decisions. While many people are quick to dismiss gaming as expensive, even with an initial cost of $60, my cost per hour of entertainment for Halo 3 was only $0.67, making it one of the cheapest forms of entertainment aside from solitaire. If you already have a console it is likely one of the cheapest ways to entertain you and your friends, just don't forget the cheese poofs!
If you follow even a few of these steps you can easily cut your monthly gaming bill in half and put that money towards something important like an emergency fund or snowballing your debt away. How do you save money on video games? Share your best tips below.



Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-11-2008 @ 5:09PM
Jim said...
One other thing you can do. Watch the ads for Toys'R'Us, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, etc.
A lot of them lately are having "Buy 2 Games, Get 1 free"
Toys'R'Us did this last year and have already done it twice this fall. And it usually includes ALL video games, with the cheapest game being free. Target also did this just a couple weeks ago with all of their Wii games.
I bought 3 new release Wii games for my kids last year and spend $100. My wallet was happy and so were the kids.
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11-11-2008 @ 5:12PM
bell12691 said...
hey like bratZ
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11-11-2008 @ 8:18PM
Robert said...
I may always be behind, as far as what "new game" people are talking about, but I always buy my consoles when it's predecessor comes out. Example, I bought the PS2 when the PS3 was released. XBox when the 360 came out. I had more game choices at a cheaper price and did not have to camp out of a store for 26 hours. By the way I still play and have introduced my 5 and 6 year old daughters to the Atari 2600.
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11-11-2008 @ 8:18PM
bob said...
if u buy gears 2 used you dont get the free maps to download
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11-11-2008 @ 8:21PM
Josh Smith said...
Hmm Maybe I'll have to switch my gaming priorities around to take advantage of the maps. I doubt the used price will drop enough to make up the map pack price.
Thanks!
11-11-2008 @ 8:18PM
Bama said...
you can always use ebay......
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11-11-2008 @ 8:18PM
BevQB said...
Thank you, Josh! I now know what I'm getting my 12 year old son for Christmas-- a prepaid Gamefly.com membership. I think he's going to LOVE it.
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11-11-2008 @ 8:21PM
Josh Smith said...
Bev, Glad you found Gamefly, I loved it and only stopped for lack of time to play.
11-11-2008 @ 8:21PM
wmmcdaniels said...
i like to go on a site called goozex.com its pretty good sit though you have to watch at times cause its not rally a company. its a trading site where you can buy credits and points or mail your old games for points to trade all the games around. ive recieved probablly about 40 games from it already. o another down side at first is can be a little slow because it limits what you can trade and recieve until you start getting a higher feedback score
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11-11-2008 @ 8:21PM
wmmcdaniels said...
o and if you can figure out a way tell them i recommended you so ill get a referall credit :D wmmcdaniels thanx
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11-11-2008 @ 8:21PM
Mike said...
Gamestop & FuncoLand also sometimes have a "BUY 2/GET 1 FREE" deal... but gotta be careful with that... might end up going into MORE debt if you find a good haul in the messy bins, LOL.
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11-11-2008 @ 8:31PM
nnarum said...
There are so many games this holiday season I want, and some I need to catch up with from the last few months...
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead
Fallout 3
Call of Duty World at War
Either Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero World Tour
Fable II
And I still need to finish Grand Theft Auto IV! Which is a time consuming game... So many games, so little time...
I'll probably wait until most of them are used to buy, maybe not on the music games because new instruments > used instruments.
Good post Josh!
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11-12-2008 @ 8:07AM
Brittany said...
Don't waste your time on Fallout 3. It sucks. Plus you can't keep playing once you finish it. All you do is go through the missions shooting mutants with VATS. My boyfriends brother was done with it in like 12 hours.
Fable 2 is the way to go. so much more stuff to do. Better use of money. Iv'e been playing for the past 3 days and I still haven't gotten half way through.
Fallout 3 was just a big waste of money.
11-11-2008 @ 9:54PM
pvander17 said...
go buy the games at a pawnshop, way cheaper than anywhere else.
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11-11-2008 @ 9:43PM
Shela said...
My brother is a hardcore gamer so I know the basics when it comes to shopping for games. Best deals are from black fridays, but Best Buy, Walmart, and Circuit City have been selling cheap bundles early this year.
I think last week Walmart was selling psp bundles for $199 (psp with a game included and $30 gift card), so look out for those.
Does anyone know where I could score lego [star wars, batman, etc] games for xbox under $30 though?
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11-12-2008 @ 8:07AM
Tim said...
You can get Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Xbox) for $19.99 plus S&H @ www.FRYS.com @ www.kmart.com and @ www.sears.com
Also you can check out this site/link: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Lego+xbox&oe=UTF-8&cid=9607614966888407385#ps-sellers
11-12-2008 @ 4:46AM
Timothy said...
You can get Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Xbox) for $19.99 plus S&H @ www.FRYS.com @ www.kmart.com and @ www.sears.com
Also you can check out this site/link:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Lego+xbox&oe=UTF-8&cid=9607614966888407385#ps-sellers
11-12-2008 @ 8:09AM
Lori said...
The best site we've found is www.swapvideogames.com and there is also a link at the bottom to sell your games. A friend got Gears of War for 27 cents after swapping the games he had beaten!
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11-12-2008 @ 8:07AM
JERRY ARROYO said...
I have to say some of the advise that was given really sucks, Kind of like gamestop does .No true gamer goes to a corperate gamestore. All they do is rip people off.Trading or trade-in credit for games is cool,ive found a store that gives 2 for 1 on games.The pawnshop another great place to buy games or systems .I cant even begin to tell you how many hard to find or rare games ive found,im talking about getting games that are 40&50 dollars for 5 or 10 bucks. can i get hooked up with goozex?
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11-13-2008 @ 6:59AM
Edwin said...
A great place to trade in your games as well as get new releases is Play n Trade. Visit www.playntrade.com for your local store. There is a try before you buy policy so you can be absolutely sure that you will love what you buy. Thus, no more buyer's remorse.
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