Vote for Amazon's $199 PS3 bundle
by Randy Nelson 
{ Nov 21st 2008 at 4:30PM }
Amazon is at is again with its ker-azy pre-holiday "deal voting" promotion. Like last year, customers have the opportunity to choose from various items presented in three sets; the "winning" item is offered at an extreme discount, in extremely limited quantities, to those who voted for it – and are very, very quick with a browser.
This year, gamers will want to focus their efforts on the three PS3 bundles up for grabs, two of which will potentially be offered at $199. The "Blu-ray Family Bundle" (pictured) is currently in the lead with 57% of the vote, and includes an 80GB PS3, Blu-ray Remote, LittleBigPlanet, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy on Blu-ray. Original price: $567.
The two other bundles both include 80GB systems with BD remotes; the "Blu-ray Sci-Fi Bundle" comes with Firefly: The Complete Series on BD and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, while the "Blu-ray Action Bundle" ($229) packs a Blu-ray James Bond movie six-pack and Far Cry 2. Get out the vote ... and good luck!
This year, gamers will want to focus their efforts on the three PS3 bundles up for grabs, two of which will potentially be offered at $199. The "Blu-ray Family Bundle" (pictured) is currently in the lead with 57% of the vote, and includes an 80GB PS3, Blu-ray Remote, LittleBigPlanet, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy on Blu-ray. Original price: $567.
The two other bundles both include 80GB systems with BD remotes; the "Blu-ray Sci-Fi Bundle" comes with Firefly: The Complete Series on BD and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, while the "Blu-ray Action Bundle" ($229) packs a Blu-ray James Bond movie six-pack and Far Cry 2. Get out the vote ... and good luck!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rollins @ Nov 21st 2008 4:33PM
Might want to fix your link. Unless something's weird with my browser, the link made me vote for one of them. And I have no idea which one.
Rollins @ Nov 21st 2008 4:34PM
Nevermind, it just brought me to a screen telling me I already voted...when I to another round and back it gave me the option to vote.
Dave @ Nov 21st 2008 4:33PM
Damn... what a deal. Makes me miss my $500 I spent on mine. But still worth every penny.
CaramelZappa @ Nov 21st 2008 4:37PM
I would almost buy a PS3. Almost.
I guess I'll vote anyways for the people who do want one.
Lord HowitHurtz @ Nov 21st 2008 4:43PM
I guess we know which one engadget wants to win.
I click on the link and I automatically vote for the crappy Pirates of the Caribbean blue rays and the even crappier Little Big Planet game.
Lord HowitHurtz @ Nov 21st 2008 4:46PM
Oooops...meant joystiq not engadget.
brickwalker0 @ Nov 21st 2008 5:09PM
LBP is crappy for those who either:
A: havent played it
or
2: have poor taste in video games
Lee @ Nov 21st 2008 5:37PM
... Or those who prefer tighter controls, those who want to play a proper fleshed out single player game, those who are sick of seeing 'sackboys' and the concept of them.
I like LBP yea but it's like Locoroco or any other arty game before it, it's fun for an hour then you go back to playing something better.
Hyams @ Nov 21st 2008 5:38PM
LBP is awesome.
Nomi @ Nov 21st 2008 5:43PM
I had more fun playing LBP then MGS4. Honestly, I was more intent on finding out how the saga ends and just shot my way through the whole game...instead of all that stealth stuff they talk about.
phinn @ Nov 21st 2008 6:38PM
LBP is an amazing game. I got it to play with my gf and its perfect for 2 players. We've played it for hours and hours so far and haven't beat the single player and haven't finished our level. It's a masterpiece. So play it before you run your mouth.
mr mobius @ Nov 23rd 2008 1:08PM
'Artsy' games are amazing. Never played LBP but
Okami = amazing
World of Goo = amazing
Wind Waker = amazing
and there are many other such games which are brilliant that I would consider artsy. The best games are artsy because they try to alternate from the norm.
Rentaro @ Nov 21st 2008 4:46PM
Damn. This is a great deal. I have no interest in the PS3 but this alone might change my mind
Pumapayam @ Nov 21st 2008 4:49PM
The LBP bundle is the best of the bunch.
Dirty @ Nov 21st 2008 4:49PM
Buy it and turn around and sell if for 350. Keep the LBP,Movie and remote. Hooray, I hope I win.
Guerrilla @ Nov 21st 2008 4:51PM
You don't automatically vote. Just click the Amazon header and you can vote.
I voted for the James Bond bundle, but it seems most people want Pirates/LBP.
Vcize @ Nov 21st 2008 4:53PM
Seems like by the comments so far that people are talking like they can just go over there and buy it at this price. This is basically a contest like any other. There is an EXTREMELY small chance that you will be able to purchase at this price. The slickdeals thread about this alone already has tens or hundreds of thousands of views, and only 500 people will get a chance to buy it.
Dirty @ Nov 21st 2008 5:00PM
Well somebodys glass is half empty.
Vcize @ Nov 21st 2008 5:11PM
I just remember this from last year. Frustrating cluster**** is probably the best way to describe it.
Besides, you'd probably have a better chance of winning any number of contests that give you more than enough money to buy a PS3 than you do to win this one where you still have to pay 200 bucks for it.
el serpiente @ Nov 21st 2008 5:54PM
Quit your whining. It's a promotion. The upside? You get a ridiculously cheap PS3 package. The downside? You wasted 30 seconds voting on the site. You already spent more effort bitching about it here.
Vcize @ Nov 21st 2008 6:18PM
Who's whining or talking about wasting effort? I was just commenting to the people who are posting stuff like "oh hey good deal I think I'll buy one for that price" that it's not going to be as easy as just logging on and putting in your order.
It's a contest, not a sale price.
It's not like I'm sitting here saying "oh man I wish Amazon would have less contests and promotions". Try to comprehend something before responding to it for once.
el serpiente @ Nov 21st 2008 7:04PM
Umm, you said "frustrating clusterf**k". It's not like you waited in line all night and had to fight hordes of trailer trash only to fall inches short of grabbing the deal.
Ah, you must just be having a bad day. Hope things change for the better skippy!
Vcize @ Nov 21st 2008 7:12PM
The frustrating cluster**** I was referring to is the way they did it last year, which basically amounted to opening as many browser windows as possible and watching them all spin in circles, not loading, and refreshing as often as you could to try and hopefully get through on one of them, then being able to finally click add to cart, go all the way through the process with each page in the long checkout process taking 10 minutes to load because of the site being slammed, only to FINALLY get to the last step in checkout and it telling you "oh yeah, btw these sold out like an hour ago, sorry".
But hey, you just keep pretending like you're an expert on stuff that you know jack about.
sk8monroe81 @ Nov 21st 2008 9:48PM
el serp enjoys getting people going.
i have never seen el serp make his/her own comment on this website. always replies to our comments only.
i stopped listening to "it" a while ago.
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Nov 21st 2008 11:45PM
The REASON why this is done this way is because the two years they had the deals go on sale at midnight, it brought Amazon crumbling down. Despite limiting quantities, they were hit hardcore.
As an example? The Xbox 360 deal for $99 on a Core around Launch. 38,000 orders hit in the span of 10 seconds. All throguhout the day, Amazon had service blackouts.
So they switched to this system. On the downside, that means this euns as a contest. On the upside, Amazon doesn't suffer huge bandwidth cost and server failure on a massive scale.
Scott @ Nov 21st 2008 5:01PM
So when does this deal actually happen. I will finally be picking up a PS3 if I can get it at this price
FSK405K @ Nov 21st 2008 5:02PM
As much as I would like to support Little Big Planet, the sci-fi bundle has Firefly. (I'm ignoring the Force Unleashed).
And yes, when you first follow Joystiq's link, it says you voted, though incorrectly. As above, click the "Amazon Votes" header just above the three choices and you'll actually be able to vote.
FSK405K @ Nov 21st 2008 5:06PM
Damn, I put like eight spaces between Little, Big, and Planet, because I know there's one guy who gets pissed if you don't write it as one word, but it shrunk each of those to one space apiece. Experiment:
Little . . Big . . Planet
Too obvious?
Vcize @ Nov 21st 2008 5:12PM
You're lucky you mentioned Firefly, it should save you from all the down votes for that LBP spacing disaster.
+ to you.
sk8monroe81 @ Nov 21st 2008 5:10PM
damn this is a Christmas present in itself, being able to be one of the lucky few that get to purchase one of these bundles at $ 200.00
amazon continues to amaze me.
AwesomeTown @ Nov 21st 2008 5:12PM
Yea, LBP bundle is overall the best IMO, but all are equally great. I really want to win the EEE though, been looking into getting one.
TwistedBishop @ Nov 21st 2008 5:18PM
The $199 bundles are just aggravating. A great Bluray with a so-so game, or a so-so Bluray with a great game. Whoever designed this deal probably moonlights as a supervillain, forcing parents to choose which of their children will get dipped into molten lava and which will get a cookie. Made of lava.
Ayrkain @ Nov 21st 2008 5:21PM
I lol'ed
Lee @ Nov 21st 2008 5:39PM
Nice Pokemon DS reference. My Pokemons ates all my lava cookies already.
ThePhoenixLament @ Nov 21st 2008 5:33PM
Hmmn a ps3 for 199? And it includes Pirates of the Caribbean?
I'll get that if I'm invited and then sell it on eBay. Don't need the piece of shit 3 but I do love me some Pirates of the Caribbean!
Wil @ Nov 21st 2008 5:42PM
People like you that drive me mad with deals like this. Someone that might actually wish to purchase this PS3 at an awesome deal getting shoved out of the way by people like you that just want to make money.
Go die in a ditch.
el serpiente @ Nov 21st 2008 5:58PM
He's totally going to keep it. Don't worry Wil. Hate like that is so close to love, it's undistinguishable.
Enjoy your new PS3, prematureAssknight!
ThePhoenixLament @ Nov 21st 2008 6:30PM
Nope not going to keep it. ps3's are going for like $400 bucks on eBay if I remember correctly and since I already have a better standalone bluray player the ps3 has no value at all to me. I'll just sell LBP and the machine on eBay to some poor soul/sony fanboy and be rid of the junk.
And then I get Pirates of the Caribbean...for FREE.
That's an awesome deal right there.
el serpiente @ Nov 21st 2008 7:08PM
What is going to be your PSN account name? I recommend ITrollCauseNoOneLovesMe.
sk8monroe81 @ Nov 21st 2008 9:43PM
el serp-
a question.
do you ever make your own comments or posts on this website, or just reply to what others have said?
just askin...
it would be nice to actually hear what you had to say if anything on a subject, instead of just replying to the comments of others.
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Nov 21st 2008 11:58PM
Unless you have a BluRay player currently going on market for $800 plus, you're a lying about having a better one than the PS3. You can bash the system all you want but a couple facts must remain.
1. PS3 is still one of the few BluRay players on the market that is current on Firmware updates day and date.
2. Most but the four speed BluRay drives, aside from those found in computers with controller card upgrades, average over a minute to load the first menu on a BluRay. This seems on par with many of the higher end BluRay players currently on the market as well. It's usually only AFTER the $800 price limit to you see load times comparable to the 42 second loading of PS3. So if you say you have a BluRay player better than PS3, you either spent double the price of the system, or you're a liar.
3. PS3 DVD upscaling is still among the best among upscaling DVD players reaching all the way into the upper upper price ranges of these devices.
Essentially it's like this. Even if you have no intention of using a PS3 for gaming, it's very hard AND pricy to find comparable entertainment hardware. And in regards to firmware, well let's just put it this way. On the BluRay players that COULD upgrade to the latest protocal found when Ratatouie was released, the quickest company launched their firmware two months after that BluRays release.
In other words, Troll Harder.
jynxycat @ Nov 21st 2008 5:40PM
The point is that if you vote, you get entered at a CHANCE to purchase this. They randomly select email addresses, 500 to be exact, who can then decide if they want to purchase the winning item.
I'd be more concerned with actually getting selected, than worrying about which Ps3 wins.
Rollins @ Nov 21st 2008 5:53PM
The Action bundle is the best. It's worth significantly more while only selling for $229. No love for Bond, apparently.
And Joystiq, I feel the need to mention this again; the full-page ads are fucking annoying. Especially when they pop up after clicking the "returning" tab. Not to mention that for whatever reason, they don't even pop up an advertisement on my browser; they just cover up the entire screen and force me to reload the page. Not cool.
sqwarlock @ Nov 21st 2008 6:09PM
hmmm...one has one of the greatest TV series of all time and a meh game and another has one of the best games of this generation and a meh movie trilogy. I'm torn.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 21st 2008 6:31PM
Huh. Maybe I will bite. I mean, I do kinda want a Blu-ray player now. And since it's at that price...
So fucking tempting.
Grey Acumen @ Nov 21st 2008 7:44PM
This is the first PS3 bundle I've seen anyone do that actually tempted me, even without taking in the $200 price.
If I had the money to put down on this, I'd be camping like a fiend right now. Having the full trilogy of Pirates of the Caribbean is pretty sweet too.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Nov 21st 2008 9:26PM
Now I wish I had 200 dollars to spare.
Poisoned Al @ Nov 21st 2008 11:41PM
How much is $199 in jars of dirt?
Eric @ Nov 22nd 2008 12:18AM
The way it works, if you vote, you're entered for a chance to buy, even if the one you voted for doesn't win.
Personally, I'm hoping for the Bond pack, but I'll buy any of them if I get the chance.
There's also a standalone Sony Blu-Ray player in one of the other vote-offs, for $100.
BPMOmega [gamertag] @ Nov 22nd 2008 1:10AM
Hell yes, I'll buy a PS3 for $200, even if it doesn't have PS2 playback.
I might even be able to find someone local in Craigslist who'll trade their 60GB for it...