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Black Friday deals for Kmart and Sears revealed

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 5th 2009 at 11:35AM }

And there it is. The first shot across the bow. The first salvo of sweet – yet brief! – holiday sales offers. The first indication that, yes, the day after Thanksgiving is going to be Hell for retailers once more. Behold: The video game-related Black Friday sales selections of Kmart and Sears, which we've posted after the jump. Please avoid trampling one another as you make your way down there.

Here's a few big ticket items: Kmart's offering a free copy of Halo 3: ODST with the purchase of every Xbox 360 Elite, and both stores are cutting prices on a ton of big-ticket games (L4D2, Dragon Age, Brutal Legend) by $20. November 27 is going to be a long, long day, friends.

[Via GamerDeals]

Continued →

Wal-Mart offering $100 gift card with purchase of Xbox 360 Arcade

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 4th 2009 at 1:15PM }

Black Friday isn't the only day in November where prices are eviscerated and sweet deals are distributed like confetti at a Flaming Lips concert. Wal-Mart has begun posting ads for a batch of sales being offered this coming Saturday morning -- one of which will be particularly intriguing to the prospective holiday console buyers among you. While supplies last (and we assume they won't last long), anyone who purchases a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade bundle will receive a $100 gift card to boot.

A free Benjamin's worth of Wal-Mart products? That's enough to buy a couple of games for your new system! And it's only $35 short of the price of an Xbox 360 120GB hard drive! Or, you could buy two Xbox 360 Arcade bundles, and then have enough in gift card money to get a third one -- plus another $100 gift card -- for free! It seems we've beaten the system, as it were. Wal-Mart, consider yourself outfoxed.

[Via Engadget]

November NPD: Double Megaton

by JC Fletcher { Dec 12th 2008 at 9:00AM }

In October, the Wii was the top-selling console in the US, with 800,000 systems sold. Then in November, Nintendo sold 2.04 million Wii systems. No, wait, that's not right -- it needs italics, bolding, and underlining.

2.04 million Wiis. In one month. This is what happens when Black Friday and adequate stock meet. It's a record for November, obviously. Is this the turning point for the Wii? Is this when it starts to eclipse the mighty DS Lite for good? Who knows? We're too dazzled by big numbers to analyze.

Unsurprisingly, the surge in Wii sales meant great numbers for Wii Play, because people tend to like having multiple controllers. Much more unexpected is the appearance of Wii Music in the software top 10. It's not a Wii Fit or Wii Play-caliber hit by any means, but some people bought it. Also on the subject of Wii music, the Wii version of Guitar Hero World Tour was the only version to make it into the top 10. No Animal Crossing, though. Check after the break for the top 10 list.

- Wii: 2.04m

1.237m (154%)
- DS: 1.57m

1.079m (220%)
- Xbox 360: 836K

465K (125%)
- PSP: 421K

228K (118%)
- PS3: 378K

188K (99%)
- PS2: 206K

70K (51%)

Continued →

Wii serious business during Thanksgiving week

by Chris Greenhough { Dec 8th 2008 at 6:26PM }

Behold what the Wii can do when it's actually available to shoppers. During last year's Thanksgiving holiday week, the console shifted 350,000 units in the U.S., even though shortages were pretty major at the time. With more Wiis in stores this year, that number jumped to 800,000. In a single freakin' week. To put that in perspective, Nintendo sold 803,000 Wiis in the whole of October. Italics. Yikes.

Satoru Iwata broke the happy news in an interview with Reuters, adding that "When the economy is strong, people tend to buy three things from the top of their wishlist. But when things are bad, people often buy only the first thing on their list. Fortunately for us a lot of shoppers put our products at the top of their list." That's a pretty sizeable "nyah!" to the competition.

[Via Joystiq]

Xbox 360 saw record breaking Black Friday sales

by Dustin Burg { Dec 2nd 2008 at 9:45AM }

Even with a less than stellar economy, all of last week's Black Friday deals had a positive effect on overall Xbox 360 console sales as Microsoft reports record breaking sales numbers.

According to team Microsoft, the 360's U.S. Black Friday weekend hardware sales were 25% higher than last year's numbers and software sales were equally strong. "We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism" admitted Microsoft's Don Mattrick, adding that "record Black Friday sales in the US, coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox Live members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009." Epic win!

Microsoft: Black Friday Xbox 360 sales trump PS3 3-to-1

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Dec 2nd 2008 at 9:15AM }

Black Friday, whether you view it as America's most chaotic consumer spending spree or simply as an excuse to shove everyone between you and a $3 toaster, is a critical retail event for console manufacturers. According to Microsoft, the Xbox 360 enjoyed record sales during the frantic shopping period, amounting to an increase of 25% over last year. The company can't resist claiming victory in a battle that doesn't involve the Wii -- the Xbox 360 is said to have outsold the PlayStation 3 by a factor of three.

Microsoft also expressed satisfaction with software sales, with Gears of War 2, Fable 2 and Lips (yes, the karaoke game) leading the way. We'll have to wait until November's NPD results are out until we can see just how well each of those titles fared.

Unsurprisingly, Wii Fit sells big on Black Friday

by David Hinkle { Dec 1st 2008 at 6:27PM }

Even though the Wii reigned supreme on eBay, other retailer sites saw crazy demand for Nintendo's fitness package, Wii Fit. For major retail site Amazon.com, the Wii and Wii Fit were the top-selling video game items throughout the day on Friday. On eBay-owned Shopping.com, the top searches were for Wii Fit and the Nintendo Wii. And during a season that is expected to generate $29 billion, that's a lot of green for Nintendo.

Any of you snag a Wii or Wii Fit to gift someone this holiday season?

Gallery: Wii Fit

[Via Gamasutra]

Black Friday: Wii crowned, economy still down

by James Ransom-Wiley { Dec 1st 2008 at 2:58PM }

Black Friday 2008 will be remembered as a slight, but pleasant bump in a rocky road for retail this holiday. Fitting, then, that Wii and its equally scarce sidekick, Wii Fit, were the top search items on the day. As it turns out, folks wanted to shop (172 million to be exact!), they just couldn't always buy what they were searching for. With Wii in short supply at retail, eBay merchants continued to turn profits on resales of the console with an average selling price of $349. Overall, online shopping totals grew modestly relative to last year.

Meanwhile, a stack of Xbox 360s caused a brawl at Walmart, and, in a macabre turn of events, an employee was trampled to death by a frenzied mob at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York. In California, two men killed each other in a gunfight that erupted at the Palm Desert Toys R Us. All convincing examples of why we prefer to pay it safe from our keyboards: Hellooo Cyber Monday!

[Image credit: Bruce On Games, Dec. 2007 -- same tune again this year, eh?]

Best of Cyber Monday deals: Wii

by David Hinkle { Dec 1st 2008 at 2:43PM }

If you're looking to get something for that Wii gamer this year, there's plenty of deals going down right now as part of Cyber Monday, the online equivalent to Black Friday. Notable sales around the net include Okami for only $20 at Amazon, Tomb Raider: Underworld for $30 and $10 off Shaun White Snowboarding at Gamestop, Umbrella Chronicles for $25 at Toys R Us (along with a bunch of other discounted titles) and some specific Wii bundles at Buy.com.

Head on over and check out the page here.

Wii was most desired eBay item on Black Friday

by JC Fletcher { Dec 1st 2008 at 11:55AM }

eBay issued a press release touting the rush of activity on their online auction site last Friday, in which they celebrated the success of consumer electronics auctions. The press release noted the items for which more people searched eBay than any other, and our favorite console topped the list. The Wii was the most-searched item across all of eBay on Black Friday, and 3,171 of those searchers paid too much for it (an average price of $349) by buying on eBay.

The second most-searched item was probably picked up by most of the same people -- Wii Fit sold 1,059 units at an average $140 price. Congratulations to everyone who "won" one of these items, we guess! Although it's kind of sad to think of all those people either getting rid of their Wiis or grabbing them from stores for the express purpose of eBay markup.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Video: Black Friday shoppers brawl over last 360

by Dustin Burg { Nov 29th 2008 at 1:45PM }

For the most part, the once a year Black Friday shopping event has come and gone (XBLM deals are still GO!) For those who didn't brave the shark infested shopping waters, here's a video that'll bring you up close and inside the phenomena that is Black Friday shoppers brawling over discounted electronics. Witness Walmart shoppers attack a stack of Xbox 360s and leave nothing but a skeleton of wooden pallete. 360s bring out the best and worst in people.

Wii Warm Up: Day of buyer's remorse

by JC Fletcher { Nov 29th 2008 at 10:30AM }

Yesterday was the most hyped shopping day of the year. Some of you braved the morning insanity out in the retail world, and some of you (and us) took advantage of delightful online deals. One thing every shopping experience had in common: unexpectedly awesome deals other than the ones you'd planned to buy.

Did you make any impulse buys that you now regret? Did your money-saving efforts end up costing you a ton? Or are there deals that you regret not jumping on?

XBLM Black Fridays deals now available

by Dustin Burg { Nov 28th 2008 at 1:15PM }

For those who decided to stay home and far, far away from the retailers and the shopping mobs in search of Black Friday deals, you can still participate in the Xbox Live Marketplace Black Friday shopping.

Available through the weekend (to U.S. Gold Live subscribers) are fifteen different hunks of Marketplace DLC that have been value priced. The content ranges from in-game content and themes to full version XBLA games. Make the jump to view the discounted goods and as cute and adorable those cheaper Boogie Bunnies are, stay away. They cause nothing but trouble.

Deals: Crisis Core for $15, God of War for $20

by Andrew Yoon { Nov 28th 2008 at 10:45AM }

Looks like amazon.com is having some great Black Friday deals on PSP games. Check them out:

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - $14.95 (Reg. $29.99) For some reason, this deal isn't working out.
God of War Chains of Olympus - $19.95 (Reg. $39.99)
Metal Gear Portable Ops Plus - $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
N+ - $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
The Bigs - $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
PSP 2000 Component AV Cable - $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)
PSP Headphones with Remote Control - $4.95 (Reg. $29.99)
PSP Pouch and Wrist Strap - $9.95 (Reg. $19.99)

For more Black Friday PSP deals, click here.

[Via CAG]

DS Daily: Buying a bundle?

by Alisha Karabinus { Nov 28th 2008 at 9:00AM }

With the DSi coming down the pipe, for those who are a) interested, and b) not into importing, it seems weird time to release new limited edition DS models and bundles, But then again, this is a community who has proven themselves willing to buy new hardware for slimness and shininess (this blogger is guilty as charged). So, own up to it -- do you covet one of the bundles? Which are better, this years or last year's?