Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming: GTAIV deals and side bennies

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Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Sunday, April 27, 2008

GTAIV deals and side bennies

Grand Theft Auto IV hits this week, and the deals are a-flying -- particularly for Xbox 360 new owner wannabes.

You can get $50 gift cards from Best Buy (Xbox 360 only) or KMart (360 or PS3, and the latter by mail) if you buy a console and any version of that console's GTAIV. At Circuit City, you get a wireless controller & Gamer's Savings Club membership for buying a 360 and GTAIV, or $10 gift card with just the game.

The Special Edition feels about right, at $89.99, it's $40 over the price for the standard* edition, but it comes with the game, a safety deposit box, art book, CD soundtrack, Rockstar keychain & duffle bag. A safety deposit box -- now that I'm in the game industry, I'm thinking of getting the special edition just to store employee reviews in this bad boy.

The soundtrack is allegedly new material, and not a subset of the 200 in-game songs (Updated: Full 16-song list at Kotaku.com).

But don't miss the competitive offers, too -- saving you cash on other big games, as all of the big boys do what they can to move units in the face of one of the biggest releases last year through next.

On the Circuit City front, try $30 BioShock (360 -- why have you not played it? Why?); $45 Frontlines: Fuel Of War (360); $35 Bully: Scholarship Edition (360, which uses the Gamebryo engine, and Wii); $40 Condemned 2 : Bloodshot (360 and PS3) and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PS3).

At Best Buy, it's $30 Assassin’s Creed (360, PS3); $50 Viking: Battle For Asgard (360 and PS3); $50 Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game Of The Year Edition (360, limited, and includes a token for free maps, and they're selling the PC version for only $40).

These are just the games / deals I care about. For a more comprehensive, consolidated list across platforms and stores, check out Cheap Ass Gamer (more Wii titles, newish titles like Dark Sector, Army of Two, and Turok, etc.).

* Yeah, I know list price for console SKUs is $60, so some would say it's "only" $30 over the standard edition. But I think this generation's console software price bump is artificial, and PS3 and 360 owners are subsidizing PC and Wii development and sales when we pay this price. There, I said it. Again.

Labels: PlayStation3, shopping deals, Xbox 360