The big, bad Black Friday game deals post: 2011 Edition

It's nearly the moment you've been preparing for all year, savvy shopper. And right here? Here is the page from which you finalize your Black Friday master plan. You'll show those retailers, alright ... or is it the other way around?

Here we go again, y'all -- one week 'til Black Friday 2011. In that vein, we've once more compiled our annual testament to post-Turkey retail madness, replete with savings from vendors large and small, brick-and-mortar as well as online.

Up above, you can head directly into any of "The Big Six" sections by clicking the individual logos. Down below, some highlights to help guide that process:

Best Buy: Consoles on the cheap and the special edition Zelda 3DS [more details]
GameStop: Like Best Buy, but you can totally trade in stuff [more details]
Kmart: Discounted HD remakes, HD newmakes, and non-HD wagglers [more details]
Sears: Mario for the holidays (at home and on-the-go) [more details]
Target: Cheapest Mario 3DS bundle, discounted Kinect, in-store Pizza Hut [more details]
Walmart: Blue Wiis, the Bats, and so, so many bullets [more details]

"OTHER" NATIONAL RETAILERS / REGIONAL RETAILERS
In the interest of completeness, we like to offer as thorough a selection of retail options as possible. What you find below may not be "thrilling" so to speak, but they are some viable options should you be at your local shoperia, purchasing discounted wares of the non-electronic variety:

Big Lots: EA Sports bundles for $15 [ad scan], buy two slash get two free on ... a bunch of stuff. Also, frozen pizza. [ad scan]
Costco: The best deal you're going to find on GAEMS. Also, frozen pizza. [ad scan]
RadioShack: The same $200 PS3 and Xbox 360 bundles as many others, but, uh, likely fewer of them. Likely no frozen pizza. [more details]
Sam's Club: Blue Wiis and many other consoles on sale. Also, frozen pizza. [ad scan]
Toys R Us: Discounted consoles, portables, and gift cards on Apple products. Definitely no frozen pizza. [Black Friday details / Cyber Monday details]

It's more than just "Small Business Saturday" that puts money into region-exclusive retailers' pockets, you know. While this list is notably shorter than last year's, we can't encourage folks enough to stop by a local game seller and take advantage of their unique sales:

Hastings: Discounted Wii, PSP, and buy one / get one games! A much better selection than last year, to boot. [more details]
Meijer: Forza 4, Resistance 3, Battlefield 3, Rage, and more for half off. And God of War 3 for ten bucks! Hey now! [complete ad scan]

ONLINE RETAILERS
Sure, you don't like going out into the freezing cold at the crack of dawn and pushing through hordes of people -- we can relate. Thankfully for us shut-ins, there's a variety of enticing Black Friday deals available from the comfort of the internet:

Amazon.com: Black Friday Video Game Deals page (starting Monday, Nov. 21) / Twitter / Facebook [Update: Here's what Amazon has in store.]
Buy.com: Deals page / Twitter / Facebook
CompUSA.com: Deal Alerts via RSS / Twitter / Facebook
Dell.com: Black Friday page / Gaming Deals page
JR.com: Games page / Facebook
Newegg.com: Black Friday Deals page / Facebook
TigerDirect.com: Deal Alerts via RSS / Twitter / Facebook
Overstock.com: Black Friday page / Twitter

YOUR FAVORITE DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION PORTALS
Beyond not going out, you don't even want all that silly "stuff" in your living space. You want it all digital, all the time, baby! Maybe you're The Lawnmower Man? Maybe you just don't have a lot of space. Fair enough! We've only got a couple for now, but more are sure to pop up as the week goes on, and we'll add 'em right here:

Impulse: Thanksgiving Sale page [ImpulseDriven.com]
Sega Digital Games on PSN/XBLA: Sega Genesis and Dreamcast classics on sale (now thru Nov. 29 for PSN, Nov. 28 for XBLA)
Namco iOS Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale: Variations of Pac-Man, Galaga, and other classic franchises with drastically reduced prices (now through November 28) [more details]
PlayStation Network "Fall Sale": Limbo, Section 8: Prejudice, Outland, and more all on sale (now through November 28) [more details]

Reader Comments (34)

its on til the break of dawn

@OGC Dammit... I almost went through today without hearing "Dawn" and "Break" in the same sentence. Thanks a lot...

i thought Gaems was a typo behind Costco, then i click and i was like whaaa?

Sears sells videogames? o.O I thought it was a home appliance store?

@SonyPS It's a department store. They sell some of everything. People just think of them more for clothing and appliances.

@SonyPS
Sears sells everything you didn't expect them to sell because people rarely check anything beyond the first few steps.

@SonyPS

I distinctly remember ordering The Sims 2 from JC Penney when it came out because it was significantly cheaper there.

Not to be outdone by the competitors listed above, Steam will just give away games for free.

Just a reminder to those looking to go shopping after Thanksgiving, please be considerate of the poor schlubs stuck working on Black Friday at your local retailers. While you may have to wait in line for a few hours, they are stuck dealing with irate, rude, and unpleasant people for 8 or so hours. Show some courtesy and patience for these kids working long hours on a holiday weekend for minimum wage.

I'm going to Target. The most neutral shoppers to be around with during Black Friday.

I'm staying home, whoopee!

I work at Best Buy in Corpus Christi, Tx and we're gonna be open at midnight. Not too sure why the add listed in this article says 5 a.m.

@UndyingFailure
Hey! Do you really want to be advertising that info as a worker? I live in the valley, maybe I'll go up and enjoy my black Friday Corpus style.

Joystiq the BestBuy link is from last year!...

@rambo8 They all are except for Walmart.

Why are the links linking me to last year's black friday sales? I was looking at the Target ad trying to find a 3DS price, and wondering why they wanted $50 for the first Dance Central, lol.

Also, Target has the best price on the Mario 3DS? I think Best Buy, Walmart, KMart and Target are all selling the Mario 3DS bundle for $179.99, but KMart gives you a $25 gift card.

@Hoops um Gamestop has the best deal you can get a bundle and trade in your old DS andf get a 3DS for either $129.99, $119.99, or the DSI XL $99.99 sorry joystiq fails again

Gamestop's and Best Buy's links lead to last year's sales. :P

I would like to trade in my black 3DS for that Zelda 3DS at GameStop, but it looks like there's no special trade-in deals for 3DS' "upgrading" to the Zelda model.

I will hopefully be shopping from the comfort of my home. Amazon usually beats or does deals comparable to the retailers.

Hey, thought you guys might need to update this article....For one thing almost none of the links provided for online retailers actually lead to this year's Black Friday sales (or they lead to deals that have already expired - Newegg and Tigerdirect are two of these).

Also, Monday is the 21st.....Do the deals on Amazon start on the 22nd or do they start on Monday?

And does Sears actually sell video games? I've been dragged through at least four Sears stores by numerous girlfriends (the whole frickin' place) and I've never seen such a thing. Lol. Has anyone ever seen this before?

@trinica Sears does sell video games, just not in the petite section that your girls were dragging you through.

@trinica Numerous, you say? Wow, you must be pretty cool in real life or something. That's awesome.

It's times like this that makes me think... "Sears sells video games?"

I want the Zelda 3DS bundle, but I don't want to brave the Black Friday crowds...I'm afraid they're going to be impossible to find after that though.

Somebody want to buy me one!?

@Ospov

Sure give me $5000 and I'll get it for you. Oh and if it looks like the package was already opened and played with, it was the "display" model and the last one left. Honest.

This awesome generation has made every single player game a permanent BF deal, because by the time I get my backlog caught up to them they cost like $15 new.

So thank you game developers for making SO many great games that we literally can't keep up.

On the other hand, stop trying to screw us over on everything else please.

Sorry, but you do not have the right best buy add. They have a much better deal going this year for the xbox 360. If you guys want to see real black friday adds they are going up here http://www.theblackfriday.com/

You guys totally messed up the links

I just wanna know who's saling TV's for the cheapest.

@zombiefriend That would be Best Buy. $200 for a 42 inch Sharp 1080p lcd. You will probably want to start standing in line on Thanksgiving morning if you want to get it tho.

Just to clarify, Best Buy is not offering the special edition Zelda 3DS, only GameStop. BBY's bundle is for the standard black 3DS w/Zelda.

Sears has an Electronics department you know... They DO sell video games in said electronic department.

Also, I'll be working Black Friday... and I absolutely hate how some stores are opening at midnight now. Sooner or later those in retail won't even get Thanksgiving off..

So I saw Best Buy's ad for Sunday through Wednesday, $299.99 for a 4GB Kinect bundle + $100 gift card. If Amazon matches that and I buy a lot of household stuff from Amazon that I need each year then it's essentially the same price but I don't have to wait in line right?

The big, bad Black Friday game deals post: 2011 Edition

Reader Comments (34)

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:19PM OGC said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 5:40PM Edge of Blade said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:21PM OGC said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:27PM SonyPS said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:38PM VioletArrows said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:45PM blahblah55 said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 2:16PM Durinthal said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:27PM Butmac said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:34PM KillerSlinky said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:46PM blahblah55 said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:53PM 343 Guilty Fart said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 8:59PM UndyingFailure said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 2:34AM Crimsic said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 9:00PM rambo8 said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 9:03PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 9:00PM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 3:29AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 9:05PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 9:30PM AGuyOnTheInternet said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 10:14PM trinica said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 1:37AM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 24th 2011 3:56AM Blaze463 said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 10:28PM Schlecht said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 10:32PM Ospov said

Posted: Nov 23rd 2011 7:21PM Yellowdevil said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 10:44PM Vcize said

Posted: Nov 18th 2011 10:55PM KingRanger said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 12:08AM jwan830 said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 1:30AM zombiefriend said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 1:38AM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 3:57PM andrew632 said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 5:25PM Benstamania said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 5:25PM Benstamania said

Posted: Nov 19th 2011 10:42PM monkey man said

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