Posted February 26, 2016
Remember going into the game stores of yesteryear and suddenly finding yourself part of a spectacular deal? Like that $49.99 game being marked down to $19.99 for a day or two and you just happened to be there and snatched it up.
It seems silly compared to the "Buy 10 great games for $2" deals these days, but back in the day, really awesome deals were hard to come by.
So what are your favorite deal moments?
I have 3 I'd like to share:
#1) Crappy space flight sim game
I was at EB Games and a crappy space flight sim that didin't even take place in space was so terrible that they were just getting them off their shelves for a penny each. I picked up a copy and was blown away. The game was awesome and is still one of my favorites.
The game was Hardwar, now a cult classic.
#2) Stupid RPG
I was at a Gamestop quite a few years ago (but not too many years) and there was a sandbox RPG for sale and just released a week ago. The stickers were clear: $29.99 -- $19.99 -- $9.99. I stared at the box for a few minutes and the game looked awesome. But in the past week, its price dropped from $30 to $10. I couldn't buy it. I was coming back to the mall the next day anyway, so I went home and did some research. Horrid reviews. People said things like "The combat is too lifelike and challenging," "You can't really win, you just play," and "You're only one guy in a field of 100. You seem insignificant." It sounded fun to me.
I got back to the Gamestop with $10 in hand and I saw the game, marked down to $4.99. Sweet! Saved some money. :) I handed the man my money and he literally laughed at me. "I tried that game. It sucks bad."
I installed the game on my old laptop b/c my desktop PC was a few hundred miles away from where I was at the time. The colors were all distored and the controls were tough as nails with the touchpad. But I quickly found myself 20 hours in and still loving it.
By the time I got home, I just kept playing and loving the game. 100 hours in, I was laughing at the store clerk.
And that was my first time playing Mount & Blade.
#3) How much for that?!
I wanted to pick up a Simpsons driving game for my PS2. I went to my local used game store (they sold CDs, DVDs, VCR, 8Track, Vinyl, and games) b/c the retail store on the other side of the mall was very expensive. I had no car at this point, so I could only go walking-distances. I had a gang of friends with me b/c we all wanted to spend a Friday evening of college playing this game.
$79, the clerk told us. "What!? It's a 20 dollar game!" The clerk shook his head. "Price has gone up a lot in the past weeks. We buy them for $28."
Disappointed and rather mad that they were gouging us so bad, we went to the expensive store to buy it at $19.99. It was a greatest hits after all. We bought every copy they had and then went back to the used game store and sold them all. We all ate well that night for free and still had a game to take home that night.
Do you have any fun stories?
It seems silly compared to the "Buy 10 great games for $2" deals these days, but back in the day, really awesome deals were hard to come by.
So what are your favorite deal moments?
I have 3 I'd like to share:
#1) Crappy space flight sim game
I was at EB Games and a crappy space flight sim that didin't even take place in space was so terrible that they were just getting them off their shelves for a penny each. I picked up a copy and was blown away. The game was awesome and is still one of my favorites.
The game was Hardwar, now a cult classic.
#2) Stupid RPG
I was at a Gamestop quite a few years ago (but not too many years) and there was a sandbox RPG for sale and just released a week ago. The stickers were clear: $29.99 -- $19.99 -- $9.99. I stared at the box for a few minutes and the game looked awesome. But in the past week, its price dropped from $30 to $10. I couldn't buy it. I was coming back to the mall the next day anyway, so I went home and did some research. Horrid reviews. People said things like "The combat is too lifelike and challenging," "You can't really win, you just play," and "You're only one guy in a field of 100. You seem insignificant." It sounded fun to me.
I got back to the Gamestop with $10 in hand and I saw the game, marked down to $4.99. Sweet! Saved some money. :) I handed the man my money and he literally laughed at me. "I tried that game. It sucks bad."
I installed the game on my old laptop b/c my desktop PC was a few hundred miles away from where I was at the time. The colors were all distored and the controls were tough as nails with the touchpad. But I quickly found myself 20 hours in and still loving it.
By the time I got home, I just kept playing and loving the game. 100 hours in, I was laughing at the store clerk.
And that was my first time playing Mount & Blade.
#3) How much for that?!
I wanted to pick up a Simpsons driving game for my PS2. I went to my local used game store (they sold CDs, DVDs, VCR, 8Track, Vinyl, and games) b/c the retail store on the other side of the mall was very expensive. I had no car at this point, so I could only go walking-distances. I had a gang of friends with me b/c we all wanted to spend a Friday evening of college playing this game.
$79, the clerk told us. "What!? It's a 20 dollar game!" The clerk shook his head. "Price has gone up a lot in the past weeks. We buy them for $28."
Disappointed and rather mad that they were gouging us so bad, we went to the expensive store to buy it at $19.99. It was a greatest hits after all. We bought every copy they had and then went back to the used game store and sold them all. We all ate well that night for free and still had a game to take home that night.
Do you have any fun stories?
