Welcome to Pricefall, the place where sales mean spreadsheets. Black Friday’s getting closer and there’s a lot to cover in this deceptively short entry, so let’s begin.
Black Friday Ads
Though it was quiet, last week was a big one for Black Friday news. Advertisements for Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Toys’R’Us, and Walmart all came out (in GameStop’s case, “leaked”). As they did, each of them had some oddball sales that lasted for a day or two for early shoppers. A few expired examples include Target’s Black Friday preview, GameStop’s sale for Powered Up Pro members, and Grand Theft Auto V for $29.99 at Best Buy. Here’s the good news: You didn’t actually miss anything. You might’ve even saved some money even.
If you jumped on Target’s sale for Battlefield 1 or Titanfall 2, realize that they’re in the “standard, more expensive” bracket for those two; Best Buy will have the former for $29.99 and Walmart will have each of those for $27. Walmart already had Titanfall 2 for $29.99 a few days ago and now Best Buy is topping that for those with GCU: Titanfall 2 is currently $32.99, or $26.39 for those with it (PS4 / XB1 / PC). They also have Overwatch Origins Edition for $34.99, its price on Black Friday, though GCU stacks with it making $27.99 the cheapest price it’s been yet (PS4 / XB1 / PC). Walmart is also expected to be the cheapest option for Grand Theft Auto V, they’ll have it for $25. So how will you know where to buy your games at their cheapest levels?
Here’s a spreadsheet with almost every game listed in those five ads. As the day nears, links will be added to it in the same style as I did with Titanfall 2 above. The bold reflects the cheapest price for that system and if there’s any extra sales or gifts, it’s in the notes section. I also make no difference between things like $14.99 or $15, they’re essentially the same. A few things to clarify:
- In the Toys’R’Us ad, Street Fighter V is listed but strangely is not on their website. Just Cause 3, while there, is at such a ridiculous price that there’s no way to know its price. Sunset Overdrive is so cheap that it’s also unknown. Toys’R’Us has an annoying habit where they don’t tell you the price for many of their games, only the discount that will be applied. This gives them more leeway on pricing and makes things weirder for anyone interested in buying stuff. To make it easy, the amount’s in the notes.
- On Target’s ad, Just Dance 2017 really is the Wii version. Not Wii U. Bear in mind that Target does not let you know what alternative platforms the game may be on, so it’s possible you’ll see it on both.
- Walmart’s ad is the messiest of them all. The best proof of that is that yes, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 really is listed in two separate price brackets for the same consoles.
- Yes, GameStop has a couple 3DS games listed at their $39.99 MSRP price. It happens.
- Though amiibo aren’t games, Lucina and Falco were in the usual section so I threw her in there. Might throw in other things (e.g., controllers, accessories) too as time comes.
- The games are always subject to change with more expected to be added. The platforms are a different story, especially for PC gamers. Many of these really will be console only and though some exceptions exist (e.g., Overwatch), don’t expect too many of them.
There are other, non-specific deals in the ads (e.g., 2 for $25 on all games $19.99 or less in Toys’R’Us) and I’ll cover them another day. Same goes for consoles – used console sales (e.g., GameStop’s Buy 2 Get 1 Free on pre-owned systems) and new ones alike. Games are just the most time consuming and difficult to map out due to the sheer number of them. A few examples not mentioned yet include:
Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4/XB1) – $9.99 [GameStop]
Bravely Second: End Layer (3DS) – $19.99 [Best Buy]
Call of Duty Modern Warfare Trilogy (360) – $15 [Walmart]
Dark Souls III (XB1) – $15 [Walmart]
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (PS4/XB1) – $24.99/$25 [Best Buy/Target/Walmart]
Far Cry Primal (PS4/XB1) – $14.99/$15 [Best Buy/Target/Walmart]
Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS4) – $8 [Walmart]
Lucina amiibo (Wii U/3DS) – $9.99 [Best Buy]
Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Edition (PS4/XB1) – $24.99 [Best Buy]
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (XB1) – $14.99 [Best Buy]
Star Ocean Integrity & Faithlessness (PS4) – $24.99 [GameStop]
Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition (PS4/XB1) – $19.99 [Best Buy]
Street Fighter V (PS4) – $15 [Target]
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (PS4/XB1) – $24.99 [Best Buy]
The Last of Us Remastered (PS4) – $9.99 [GameStop]
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3DS) – $15 [Walmart]
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PS4) – $14.99/$15 [Best Buy/Walmart]
World of Final Fantasy (PS4) – $35 [Walmart]
Best Buy Gift Cards
If you missed it at the start, Best Buy has a preview of their Black Friday ad. There’s over 70 games listed and you can see them in there or in the spreadsheet above. First the bad news: Among the changes to the terms of service, Best Buy has stated that GCU’s 20% discount will not apply to Black Friday, effectively making this what you could expect. Whether they’ll end up glitching at 1-3AM and have it apply anyway on accident, I don’t know, I just know I’ll be up for it. If you think you’re going to spend a lot there then good news: there’s a gift card sale going on until November 19th where if you spend $150, you’ll get a promo code for $15 that you can use between 12/4/16-12/17/16. There’s a maximum of three usages to it so you could get $45 back if you intend to be a big shopper there. Sales should continue well throughout December, sometimes you’ll find a couple better ones in that time period, especially on Nintendo games or products. They haven’t done their Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale yet either so as the clock ticks… well. We’ll see. Also keep in mind that shoppers who are Elite or Elite Plus (those who spend $1500 or $3500 per calendar year, respectively) will get to shop most Black Friday deals early online, usually the Monday of the same week.
That’s it for Pricefall today! Though it may seem short don’t be fooled, that spreadsheet’s got 166 games on it. Next spreadsheet will focus a bit more on hardware: Gaming consoles, handhelds, and laptops.
(Full Disclosure: The Best Buy and Walmart links are affiliate links, meaning we get a fraction of money spent on your purchase, which is used to pay our server fees.)
