2009-01-22 01:12:21 Bargain Bin Gems (Sales, Discounts, etc)

This is a thread for bargin bin gems.

You can post feedback on games you overlooked and now "bargin" games and, after further review, are quite good in your opinion. Links to deals are also welcome in this thread.

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Pwn'd by Phaethon360.

2009-01-22 02:07:13

Battlefield Bad Company $20 new (Best Buy)

I picked this up Saturday night for $20 from Best Buy -- this was a steal. The single player is only ok -- it looks like they planned 4 player coop but never implimented the coop part!! AI is so-so and the sandbox gameplay, while a nice change, could have used a lot more refinement (AI, design, variety, etc). Scripted sequences so far are really boring, building variety is pretty sparse, etc. Story telling is painful ... something to keep in mind. The AI team mates are dumb and you cannot set way points for them or anything. So far SP is so far a story of malcontent dunces with one liners. It can be funny--and relaxing for a shooter--but overall nothing worth writing home about.

The plus side is the game mechanics are solid and the destructible environments are very cool. Not 100% destroyable (although they could have if they wished as the structural shells are really just place holders) but the ability to wipe out a wall or whatnot adds a new dimension to the gameplay. My biggest gripe is probably the lack of a basic cover system (KZ2s lean and peak would have been perfect) and the auto injector is a pretty poor Halo rip off IMO.

This really carries over into MP. The gunplay is pretty tight (lethal even) and the classes, while inferior to the BF2 / 42 / DC ones, still is a nice change of pace and work well. The big difference is the maps are HUGE for MP, the games are NOT laggy (dedicated servers FTW!!!!!!!), the team/objective/class/vehicle MP is also different from your standard TDM console fair and very well done overall. Sure some things suck (squad implimentation is weak for example) and some things, like Helos, are cruel with a gamepad. But the experience is unique and, more importantly, well crafted & fun. If you like team based MP and are looking for something more open ended I don't think there is anything like Bad Company on the consoles. So while things like vehicle balance will irritate and some of the obvious console-itis concessions (Many unecessary at that) the overall package stands out.

The graphics are overall great. Some of the short comings are annoying--sometimes shadows totally flip out. The framerate obviously drops below 30fps and turning turrets can be quite jerky at times. LOD, especially in tree detail can be spotted and the lack of filtering is ugly when grass isn't there to pretty it up. I am nonplused by Haggard and companies faces look so washed out in-game when US military troops look good, even great when you meet up with them. Death animation is pretty weak and you will encouter a fair number of glitches. The fact buildings don't fully collapse, damage is precomputed (in dynamic grids; bigger ammo will take out more grids and angular damage can make for unique grid shapes), and trees and signs have set break points will bring you down to earth. As mentioned befoe building variety is weak s well.

But with all those gripes aside the fact the game has a fully dynamic shadowing system, almost everything can be broken, and the maps are huge and detailed really stands out. The game looks very good when sitting still and evn better when things start going BOOM. When the scope is factored in (huge maps, a fair number of vehciles, 24 players, no lag) and the detail on the map, the graphics become quite impressive. It isn't Crysis, but functionally it offers a large dynamic world that looks good and is fun to play in. In its own way BFBC is as visually pleasing as any game on the 360.

I will revisit my notes later with pros and cons, but those are my initial thoughts.

Deal or Dud?

For $20, a steal of a deal for MP alone.

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Pwn'd by Phaethon360.

2009-01-22 06:07:10

The second hand market is full of incredible bargains at this point for the Xbox 360 especially. Browse Half.com--you can spend $60 and come away with several good-to-great games instead of one. I was planning on picking up a bunch of older 360 releases that I have missed very soon.

Ninja Gaiden 2 was $10 at Best Buy last week too, but I'm not sure what the status of that deal is. It's probably over.

2009-01-22 11:00:40

For all the Europeans on the forums I suggest looking at www.play.com
They've got amazing bargains every week.

Most games I've ordered on there are half the price of the store "versions".

(New) Games for 30/40 euro's are common. I for example got the Fallout 3 collectors edition for 35 euro's (special sale) while the normal version is 39 euro's on the site. In most stores the game is still sold at the 59/65 euro's price.

*Edit*;

Even the platinum PS3 games and the classic X360 games are cheaper

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"Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherf*cker in the valley"

2009-01-22 12:13:00

Yeah play.com has awesome prices and deals. Many new PC games are like 32.5€ compared to 49.90€ what they are here at new. Awesome savings.

Dead Space is 23.5€ for PC
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/5537628/Dead-Space...

I would try it but I don't have time for it now.

Only bad thing is that the delivery will sometimes take really long time.

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
War, war never changes...
Demigod -.|.. -_- ..|.-

2009-01-22 12:23:38 In reply to Isomac (2009-01-22 12:13:00)

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"Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherf*cker in the valley"

2009-01-22 12:29:28 In reply to Isomac (2009-01-22 12:13:00)

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Memories, they have a habit of sticking to you like...like a pube on a pipe.

2009-01-22 12:41:18

Hmm how is the controls awful? You could just use 360 pad if the mouse support is bad. Though my friend played the game on PC and didn't complain about controls if I remember right.

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
War, war never changes...
Demigod -.|.. -_- ..|.-

2009-01-22 12:45:52

Yeah if you use the pad maybe it works better, i don't know, but the mouse had this terrible delay crap going for it. Made aiming a lot harder than it should be.

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Memories, they have a habit of sticking to you like...like a pube on a pipe.

2009-01-22 12:50:29

Hmm maybe it was just the mouse smoothing option or what ever it is called. Some games have that and it makes the game feel bad for me or they just made a bad job with the controls.

Thanks for letting me know. I'll check more info about it if I am going to get the game later.

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
War, war never changes...
Demigod -.|.. -_- ..|.-

2009-01-22 12:56:16

I took peoples' suggestions and looked on Play.com, and they've got some great deals going on. Some that stood out:

GTA IV - £17.99
Oblivion - £9.99
LittleBigPlanet - £17.99

2009-01-22 13:02:11

I just ordered Midnight club for the ps3 for 25 Euro's :-)

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"Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherf*cker in the valley"

2009-03-24 14:20:44

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars DS
23.49€ with shipping to EU
http://www.play.com/Games/DS/4-/6072242/-/Product....

Also the Persona 4 what alimokrane already mentioned in the other thread.
12.99€ with shipping to EU
http://www.play.com/Games/PlayStation2/4-/8697426/...

Play-asia also has some sale going on now, just remember to check if the game works on your system. Most games are Asia versions at the site.

Edit: Hmm bargin bin? I always thought it should be bargain bin.

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
The 69 Eyes!

2009-03-27 15:21:38

King's Bounty The Legend (PC) 9.99€
http://gamersgate.com/index.php?page=product&what=...

I just tried gamersgate and it seems like a cool service and they have pretty sweet deals at weekends.

About the game: It's a bit like HoMM games but there are some big differences. Bounty has this one big campaign map where you do lots of quests and movement is real time at the map screen. Battles are pretty much the same as in HoMM games although there might be some treasure chests and other stuff at the battlefield. Cool game, I would recommend to try the demo at least.

Universe at War: Earth Assault (PC) 5€
http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?page=product&w...

Don't know much about the game other than it's weekend deal game :p

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
The 69 Eyes!

2009-07-23 20:06:11

For the Emperor!

DoW II 13€.
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/5380006/Warhammer-...

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2

2009-07-23 20:28:07 In reply to Isomac (2009-07-23 20:06:11)

2009-07-23 21:39:32

zavvi is having a sale with some decent prices

overlord 2 is down to 17.99 already

and they're selling 360 controlls for 17.99 too as well as a whole heap of other crap.

2009-07-25 05:37:56

http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Gemsi/

Every friday this guy posts up bargains he finds online. Check the comments for instore bargains as well.

UK only though.

2009-07-25 06:38:17 In reply to Acert93 (2009-01-22 01:12:21)

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Don't you know who I am? I'm the goddamned Banman.

http://couchcampus.com

2009-08-09 22:04:47

not exactly a bargain, but if you're in the UK you can get MW2 for the normal price of 35 rather then the inflated price of 45.

http://direct.tesco.com/search/default.aspx?search...

eat that activision you scumbags.

2009-08-09 22:21:57

Microcenter has Madden 2010 for $35 new. Walk in only. Buy.com has 360 controllers for $31, charge and play for $40.

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Pwn'd by Phaethon360.

2009-08-10 05:26:10

Some Best Buy's are apparently testing a program where they will price match new games with used titles from Gamestop and Game Crazy. I hope that plan goes nation wide, cause it's a pretty awesome deal.

@KornDOG: if you really want to stick it to Activision just buy it second hand, they'll only see one sale after all.