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.

1. Know your release dates and what games you can wait to buy.
   
2. Read reviews to avoid the crud that many developers shovel out this time of year.
3. Play the demo; nothing helps you separate the wheat from the chaff quicker than hands on time.
4. Trade in and or buy used games, even new release used games are $5 cheaper.
   
5. Join a gaming community, which exist solely to help others find cheap video game deals.
   

These are some excellent ideas for saving on games. I've already prioritized my game purchases for the rest of the year, planning to pick up Mirrors Edge on launch day while waiting until after the holidays to snag a used copy of Gears of War 2. With the prevalence of demos and reviews these days there is no excuse for making an uninformed game purchase, even as a gift. While we are talking about gifts, let me be one of the first to say, "there is no shame in giving a used game as a gift, after all, used games play the same as new ones!"

Earlier this month, tons of technology companies gathered in San Diego at DEMO to debut a plethora of cool new products. Being a self-professed geek -- and a penny pincher -- I was excited to see a new program called Avego, which was demoed by Mapflow and put an interesting spin on carpooling.

We all have a rough idea of how traditional carpooling works in the US. An area where it is weak is that for the most part you are only carpooling with people you know rather than individuals who are going the same route as you.

Avego turns this model on its head and uses real time location data and cell phones to find other riders who want to be part of the route you are currently taking. For example, you could advertise an opening on the way to work in the morning and another person halfway there may ask to join your carpool for that trip only. These same kinds of interactions occur whenever you take a trip be it to the grocery store, movies or wherever.

Avego isn't just looking to change carpooling, but also human behavior by trying to get people to start sharing rides and also sharing them with a stranger, no small task on any front. It seems it has thought this through and it's using two of the best motivators currently at its disposal; the desire for many people to go green and the desire of more people to earn green! To facilitate the ride sharing Avego charges the rider 30 cents per mile, an amount cheaper than driving on their own or grabbing a taxi, and then pays the driver about 85% of that for the trip, thus providing motivation for all of the involved parties.