Cheap games are easy - sometimes!

For the record, I'm not rich. In fact, I'm quite the opposite of rich. If rich were Barack Obama, I would be Sarah Palin, that's how poor I am. Yet, I have a PS3, a 360, a 42 inch HDTV, a decent Desktop, a MacBook, and quite a decent collection of games. The consoles, computers and TV were actually the easy purchases - tax returns and being single gave me some disposable income for a while. (Thanks to going back to school and being a full-time student eligible for education credits.) At $60 a pop for new games though, it becomes impossible to buy every new game that looks fun. Especially with Christmas less than a month away.

Luckily, getting games - even newer ones - for much less than $60 isn't very hard - it just takes some searching skills and patience. While you'll almost always pay more for a game
in the first 3-5 months after its been released, you can still usually find them on sale at some point for less than the normal $60. If you don't mind waiting until a game has been out for half a year, you can even find great games for $20 or less! Considering you can't even do dinner and movie for that much, $20 for anywhere from 6-40 hours of gameplay is an awesome deal!

So here are some of the places I find cheap games along with some pros and cons of each method:

Retail Stores:

Wal-Mart: Not much to say about Wal-Mart other than they usually have a good selection of $20 games, usually greatest hits titles. Nothing spectacular, but most people have a Wal-Mart nearby, and some decent games to be had for 20 bucks isn't too bad.

Target: Things can get a bit more interesting at Target. This store will usually have some sort of sale happening where you can get a giftcard when buying certain new games. A $5-$20 giftcard with the purchase of a $60 game might not be super exciting, but hey, it’s something. Target's strength is their clearance items. Depending on how patient you can be, you can get some insane deals on Wii, PS3, Xbox, and PC games. Although it’s rare, sometimes you can even find popular games for 75% off. The problem with Target clearance is that it’s usually hidden on an endcap at the back of the electronics section, and the "good stuff" can go fast. Rumor is that new items are marked down on Mondays, but this can vary by store.

K-Mart: K-Mart seems to have suddenly taken selling to gamers seriously. In addition to a decent selection of $20 games (though, prices are usually unmarked on them, at least at mine), Kmart has recently started giving "gaming coupons" with certain new releases that are good towards video game purchases starting the following week (or visit sometimes). They even do this with some new hardware, such as the recently released Kinect.

Toys R. Us: I barely ever go to this store because our local one is very dirty and the employees are rude...however, I hear they do run many buy one get one 50% off and buy 2 get one free sales. Like Kmart and Target they give gift cards with some new releases. I also hear they sometimes have good clearance items.

For the most part, the retail store I hit the most is Target. No feeling is better than finding a gem of a games for less than $10 in the clearance rack. I buy things once in a while at Wal-Mart and K-Mart, but usually the deals they have just aren't that compelling to me. (Though, Kmart still has layaway, which can be REALLY handy for hardware purchases.)

Web-sites (New games):

walmart.com: Not much on Wal-Mart's site except a 2 for 30 deal. Some older games, but few are okay.

Amazon.com: $20 + credit (on a later purchase) when you pre-order some new releases. Frequent sales on games, sometimes you can find some really good prices...especially on PC games that have been out for a while.

Used games

Gamestop: Frankly, 90% of the time I'd say avoid Gamestop like the plague, but they do have some nice preorder bonuses on some games, such as exclusive DLC. (Though recently retail stores have started giving coupons/gift cards, which might be a better deal.) They also have a buy 2 get one free sale once in a while, which can be an okay deal for some older used games. You can never be sure if you'll get manuals or scratched disks though.

Half.com: Owned by eBay. I get a LOT of my used games here. (and on occasion even new games as well.) This is the opposite of eBay, instead of bidding, all the people selling the game are displayed along with price and condition - leaving the choice up to you. You can get some killer deals and the site uses eBay’s feedback rating, so you know if a seller is reputable or not. The only drawback is that shipping is charged on each item - even if bought from the same seller - but it still usually comes out much less than new or buying it at Gamestop.

Going out of business sales: One of the sad side effects of a bad economy is businesses closing. The good news for poor gamers is that you can get absolutely insane deals at going out of business sales. In the last few years both CompUSA and Circuit City went out of business, and some of the deals on video games related merchandise were insane. At one Circuit City I saw Guitar Hero III, with a guitar (it was still new at the time) for $20...it was retailing for more than $80 at the time. A more recent example has been the closing of Hollywood Video/Movie Gallery. I was able to pick up games for as low as $2, and all told I got nearly $500 worth of Wii, PS3, and 360 games for about $60. Simply unbeatable.

So there you are, I've revealed SOME of my secrets for getting cheap video games. I've kept a couple under my hat and might have a post about them later. Enjoy, and let me know about any great deals you find!