Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming: Thanksgiving Weekend sales for gamers

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Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Thanksgiving Weekend sales for gamers

I'm out of control.

Fortunately, my sickness is to your benefit.

Some amazing gamer-related sales this morning, but there are some other good ones this weekend. I've tried to list some of the national deals in play (and of interest to me), but check your local stores, and act fast -- some of these are only good through Saturday.

Current-gen gaming
Next-gen hardware
Next-gen gaming

DEALS:

1. Current-gen gaming

Check out stores for $10 versions of Sony PS2 and Microsoft Xbox versions of great games. Best Buy (Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory) and Circuit City (Doom 3, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, and Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within) have $10 titles, and they and others (Fry's Electronics, etc.) are doing "2-for-$30" Greatest Hits (Sony) and Platinum Hits (Microsoft) titles.

2. Next-gen hardware

So no sitings of new Xbox 360 bundles yet, but that doesn't mean there aren't some next-gen hardware opportunities out there, and you don't have to be as fat-walleted as was once the case.

There were some incredible deals on 26", 27", and 32" HDTV LCDs Friday a.m., but at stores like Best Buy, Office Depot, and Fry's Electronics, you can still pick up a 26-inch or 27-inch LCD widescreen (usually Olevia or Westinghouse), with standard TV tuners, for about $500. And most of them at this size are native 720p (or 1.66:1, with minimal black bar fill-in for 720p).

Want to go bigger? This time of year marks the first time DLP projectors are hitting below $500, and they're great for HDTV gaming. You can find the Toshiba projector I use (the TDP-S26U (or TDP-S25U) for $450 after rebates (Best Buy, but only $499 at other places).

I've also seen the Optoma DS305 (or equivalent) for similar prices, and you should check out CompUSA for their amazing home theater packaging deals, which wrap together projectors, screens, and other stuff (sometimes a DVD player; sometimes a bucket of popcorn; seriously).

Keep in mind at this price these are SVGA (800x600), and while handling 480p EDTV beautifully, often scale to 720p and 1080i. You'll want to look at projectors to see if the scaling is acceptible, and check out projectorcentral.com as a nice resource for all things projector.

Also, part of the reason prices are dropping on these projectors is the new consumer crop of lower-cost, true 720p projectors are out (Panasonic AE900, Sanyo PLV-Z4, etc.), and at "only" around $2,000, are the next big thing in low-budget consumer home theaters.

Disappointingly, I didn't see any great audio deals (receivers/amplifiers, speakers, or cabling) that got me excited.

3. Next-gen games

Xbox 360 games (other than first-party) are expensive at $60 a pop. I'm glad to see Fry's Electronics offering Condemned: Origins (Sega) and Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (Ubisoft) for $40.

Also, check out Best Buy, which has a free, in-store mini-publication about the Xbox 360 from the editors at IGN.com. The thing has a bunch of tech-light articles on the new system (why it's cool, how to experience high-definition, etc.), and $5-off coupons for 11 of the 18 launch titles (and if you're a Rewards Zone member, that totals out to approximately $7.50-off per game). My only gripes about the mini-mag (aside from some minor formatting issues) is it's a little marketing-ish (go figure), and a bit disconnected on some delayed launch titles information.

There. Consider yourself informed. Go forth and bolster the economy.

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Thanksgiving Weekend sales for gamers

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