Best Buy giving $100 gift card for pre-ordering and buying five upcoming games

by Griffin McElroy on Jun 16th 2011 11:50AM

There are few things on this planet more satisfying than getting a hundred dollars for little to no work. Best Buy's capitalizing on that fact to shore up video game sales -- any Reward Zone member who pre-orders and buys five upcoming titles will receive a $100 credit for future purchases.

One caveat: The five pre-orders and purchases must come off of this list of fifteen upcoming titles.

NCAA 2012
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Madden 2012
Resistance 3
Gears of War 3
FIFA Soccer 2012
Forza 4
Just Dance 3
Batman Arkham City
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Battlefield 3
Elder Scrolls Skyrim
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Rage

Source: Best Buy

Tags: best-buy, ds, microsoft, nintendo, playstation, ps3, psp, sony, wii, xbox

Reader Comments (97)

thats not a bad list at all if anyone can't figure out what to get they should get Uncharted 3, or Skyrim, or Rage, or Zelda, or Gears of War 3 plus sure others will mention different games but still not a bad list lol

@StormChaser91

Dude... BATMAN. I mean, I know you said that others can probably recommend other good ones, but really, how can you overlook the goddamn BATMAN?

@ddrussianinja Because Batman is all kinds of stealthy duh! No but really I would put that on my list. But everyone does have things they like different. Like I wouldn't touch any of the ones he listed but Skyrim. But that's just me.

@ddrussianinja
And Best Buy also gets you Robin!

Well...now I'm not sure

This is basically the same as getting 5 $20 credits from Amazon pre-orders.

@SpaceGhostFlyer

In theory that's true, but in reality it is not. Assuming the price of the 5 games are all $60 each at both BB and Amazon... and assuming there isn't any shipping or tax for both BB and Amazon. at BB, you would need to buy a total of 7 games to utilize the $100 credit totaling $420 - $100 = $320 spent. At Amazon, you would only need to purchase 6 games to utilize all 5 $20 credits totaling $360 - $100 = $260.

Theoretical and probable Amazon deal is better.

@Morisato13

Not to mention no tax on Amazon... if your state's Amazon is tax-free. I can't remember if they all are or not.

@bennyfuyou Let me tell you a secret: you are supposed to keep records and pay state sales tax on any untaxed internet purchases when state income tax is due. Not that most people do this, but it could bite you in the ass if you make any large purchases.

@Morisato13

I don't understand your logic there. Why would you need to buy 7 games when it clearly says you need to buy 5?

@Morisato13 Actually Best Buy is the better deal. As a reward zone member and member of the gamers club you get $10 for every $150 you spend. 6 games at $60 is $300 - $100 gift card - $20 Reward certificate = $180 for 6 games.

@collinc

Because for most states, you don't need to pay sales tax on Amazon. For Best Buy, you have to pay sales tax, and with 5 games that's going to add about to about another $25, plus whatever gas costs to drive back and forth 5 times.

@Agies

yep. it's called Use Tax. Another little tidbit, an online retailer is only required to charge sales tax on purchases if they have a physical location within that state. Therefore, the state that the Amazon HQ is in or warehouses, etc, would require Amazon to charge residents of those particular states sales tax on purchases made online.

@Morisato13

Yeah but there is no tax and free release day shipping at Amazon, and most games are 5 bucks off if you pre-order early enough.

@Morisato13 TOO MUCH MATH!!!
But thanks for telling me to stick to Amazon. I was going to do that, anyways.

@mywhitenoise Yeah but $25 != $120. And you only have to pay gas if you choose to drive (which I don't). The only thing I can think of that he was saying is that he's assuming people would use the $100 to buy two more games at $60 each.

@collinc

I live in Amazon's home state, WA, so I get boned on sales tax, 9.5% =(

@Morisato13

Sorry if I missed it. But where do you see Amazon giving you $20 credit for each game you bought?

@Raffi256

We also get boned on Steam and Xbox Live.

Basically, WA is the worst place in the states to be a gamer when it comes to Sales Tax.

@Aerothorn

Yeah but we have no income tax so I guess it works out somehow.

@CplCupcake
Plus the fact that with a lot of higher profile games, Gamers Club members get bonus $10 credit to their accounts with certain game purchases.
So, even though you don't get these credits until 30 days after purchase, it still could possibly be another $50 back at ya. In addition to the Reward Zone $20, and promotional $100.

@Aerothorn ehh the tax man is going to bone you no matter what. here in NH we have no sales tax OR income tax, but our property taxes is perhaps the highest in the country. theres really no way to escape it

@bennyfuyou

Not to mention that Amz currently does not have $20 GC for UC3, Resistance3, MW3, etc

@Agies I don't understand how you were downvoted. Everyone already knows this? Or nobody believes you?

@collinc

Because you would recieve the gift card after making those purchases, so he is adding the other 2 games on as a way to use the gift card.

@SpaceGhostFlyer

And amazon has Release Date delivery at no charge.

@Morisato13 Your math is a bit off

@SpaceGhostFlyer
Would be good in theory, but Amazon doesn't always offer those credits, and not always is it that high, the average is about $10

And all of those games will probably have a $20 credit through Amazon, plus no sales tax and free shipping in most states. So it's about equal.

Sadly, PC versions aren't applicable. PS3, 360, Wii, and PSP only it looks like.

So spend $300 to get $100 back? Sound good on paper but that is a lot of games. Probably save just as much by waiting.

I just bought my first game at $60 this week. It was Duke Nukem Forever. Figured I waited 12 years for it so it was worth it.

@FriedConsole
Yeah...."figured", but a 12 year hold is probably a good indication that the game was going to be crap. Didn't you learn anything from "Too Human"!?

@FriedConsole
Joke's on you I guess. Sorry to hear about your loss.

@FriedConsole

2011 is one of the best years in videogaming, possibly ever, and THAT'S what you wait to buy at full price?

@ungeheier

It is what I expected. I have huge nostalgia for the Duke so I love it. It's awesome to circle strafe again. A shooter hasn't let me do that in about 8 years.

@FriedConsole Dude, the logic may not work for you since you only buy new full priced games once every 12 years, but me...I buy games! So it's actually a decent deal for me and those like me who love getting better games on day 1. I know one thing, I'm DEFINITELY buying BF3, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Arkham City and AC: Revalations as soon as they come out! So, it makes sense for me to get them from Best Buy instead of Gamestop(which is where I normally buy games) so that I can get the $100 card...then I can get more good stuff without spending any more than I normally would have!!! :-)

@Dukk420

I have actually bought Nintendo games at $50 because they don't go down in price very quickly. Bought a PS3 late and have been catching up on games on the cheap. You save a lot of money by being a year behind.

Nothing was worth $60 before because they were all missing the Duke.

Is Skyward Sword cell shaded like Windwaker was?

@xFenixKnightx

This is like if that Wind Waker shit met that Ocarina Of Time I had - and they had a baby. And then, meanwhile, that crazy Twilight Princess I had and the Four Swords Adventure met and had a baby. And by some miracle, those two babies met and f**ked - this would the shit that they birthed.

@oOWallaceOo

How are people downvoting that? Great pineapple express reference. :D

@oOWallaceOo

So.... is it cell shaded or not? =P

@collinc

Becuase Pineapple Express wasnt that good so people really dont remember that reference?

@xFenixKnightx
Pineapple Express was excellent, and almost on par with Dumb & Dumber, they both have an extremely similar formula.

@xFenixKnightx

In my opinion Pinapple is the best of the Apatow films, far superior than Superbad which I think is really over-rated.

As for your actual question :)... Skyward Sword is a mash up of the bright colourful world from Wind Waker with the models from Twilight Princess. It's like a happy medium between the two which gives it a sort of Ocarina of Time feel, so It's not cell shaded like Wind Waker or Jet Set Radio, but it's not going the realistic route of Twilight Princess or Crysis

@xFenixKnightx http://lmgtfy.com/?q=skyward+sword+pictures

If you hate pot comedies you might not like it. You probably wouldn't like Grandma's Boy either then.

@oOWallaceOo

It was decent. Diferent strokes, I guess. Yeah I got my lazy ass to Google it and it is indeed cel shaded but with new more adult character models. I loved Wind Waker, personally so I might actually get this. Derfinately getting that WiiU Zelda HD too, looks incredible!

Technically neither Wind Waker or Skyward Sword is cell shaded. Wind Waker is similar to cell shading but not the same thing, I think they call it "toon shading." And Skyward Sword looks like normal rendering with just unrealistic textures.

@collinc

Nah I LOVED Grandmas Boy. Have the DVD in my collection actually.

@xFenixKnightx

Fair enough. I can certainly say there was a degree of over the top-ness of Pineapple Express. Maybe that left a bit of a bad taste in your mouth?

So, preorder 5 new games for $300+ tax and get enough to buy maybe one and a half new games?

Nah. I get better deals from Gamestop trades.

@Faceless Troll
There's no such thing as a "better deal" with Gamestop.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Best Buy giving $100 gift card for pre-ordering and buying five upcoming games

Reader Comments (97)

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 11:55AM StormChaser91 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:12PM ddrussianinja said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:46PM Xei said

Posted: Jun 17th 2011 2:14AM Nolan North said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 11:56AM SpaceGhostFlyer said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:03PM Morisato13 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:07PM bennyfuyou said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:21PM Agies said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:23PM collinc said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:30PM CplCupcake said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:30PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:32PM XperimntNterror said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:38PM Anticrawl said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:43PM romevi said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:51PM collinc said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:14PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:18PM temmpest said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:24PM Aerothorn said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:30PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:51PM JonahStein said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 2:41PM xyloPhipps said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 2:50PM eescala7 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:46PM F1shBone said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 6:03PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 8:35PM whylekat said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 11:23PM Dobe2049 said

Posted: Jun 17th 2011 2:47AM Nolan North said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 11:56AM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 11:57AM RBecho said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 11:58AM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:05PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:07PM ungeheier said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:15PM Prax said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:19PM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:45PM Dukk420 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:53PM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:02PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:10PM oOWallaceOo said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:25PM collinc said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:28PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:30PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:32PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:55PM oOWallaceOo said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:56PM collinc said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:58PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:21PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:22PM xFenixKnightx said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 1:54PM collinc said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:03PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 12:06PM mywhitenoise said

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