CHEAP ASS GAMES!...AT RADIOSHACK??? WTF?!!!

WARNING THIS IS A LONG ASS POST IF YOU WANT TO GET THE IMPORANT STUFF SKIP TO THE 4th PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!

Prologue:
Recently small stores have been getting into games, it all started with the Halo 3 launch back in last September with all the projected numbers to be generated in revenue and pre-order of the game and all the hype the game had been causing retailers saw one thing (cha-chin) that’s right, not profit of the game itself because retailers don’t make money off new games but their other merchandise accessories and other services like used games and such (ie. Gamestop) So everyone was trying to cash in on the hype and use the advantage of customer volume to sell their products. Non-electronic stores and electronic a-like. The usuals; Best buy, Circuit city and retailers like Walmart and Target. Hell even GAS STATIONS like 711 started to do pre-orders on it and now carry overhyped “college frathouse musts” gramer games. One store that was under the radar was Radioshack, the company I work for.

Now before I continue I don't wanna sound like a long advertisement for the company, and it doesn't help the fact I'm majoring in marketing BUT just hear me out. And it's not like I'm in LOVE with the company, a lot of times it actually feels like I’m working in a concentration camp….and it still does.

So at first I thought it was a temporary ploy as we jumped on the Halo 3 bandwaggon. But to my surprised it became permanent. So as a gamer I got a HUGE boner when I found out our stores will be carrying games and my store was going to be a gaming store. Now at first off that don’t know already, Radioshack is a small electronic store corporation that has loads of products jam packed in it and one being every few miles of any given city nationwide. So needless to say shipment wasn’t huge or diverse on our games since there wasn’t we just entered the market and there wasn’t any place to put them. it was as slow process getting games and we didn’t have much at first and still don’t these days. It seems Radioshack only carries the bigger and more popular gamers especially when they come out. Now I know I’m ranting and need to get to the point of this blog, but here’s where it gets good for gamers.

Important Stuff:
Since Radioshack isn’t a gaming store and only keeps games for temporary, usually on launch of big games. What happens when they can’t sell their stock since most people don’t know Radioshack carries games to begin with?...THEY CLEARANCE THEM OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s right after few months on most game releases Radioshack is forced to sell the games at SUPER low ass prices to get rid of stock. I mean most of them are real steals!

For example I bought Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground for the XBox 360 for $19.97(+tax) NEW when the game was still going for about $49 new and 30 something used (this is when it was still fairly new about 3 or 4 months old!) NOW let’s look at the prices of it as of today October 6th, 2008 almost about a year after its release compared to Gamestop.

As you see gamestop is STILL selling that sonofabitch for more then I price I paid new for a used copy that probably was used for a game of Frisbee in a concrete park and has more beat up then your mother’s ass after an interactial gang bang. $24.99 USED? After I bought it for $19.97 NEW about six months ago?

Now here’s the REAL kicker look at current Radioshack price…...

$9.97?!!!! NEW?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! That’s still cheaper than the used version of the DS game!

Ok so that’s one example of a fairly popular game among skaters and sports section. Ok that’s fine but what about a big title game? One of my favorites of all time and the best deal/buy I’ve EVER had for a game this good. That’s right Call of freaking Duty 4 I didn’t get a chance to even play this game after months it came out because I just didn’t have any money left with the little hours I work on the weekends and school on weekdays and with gas and all my other expenses. I bought the game around mid-summer of 08 around June so it was still fairly popular since it came out early November used it would be worth still around the high $50s at this time.
So get ready how much did I get it for………

$39.97! That’s right Call of Duty 4 new in packaging for $39.97!

Which is still the current price is goes for at Radioshack but current retailers are still selling it for $59.99 new. Gamestop will give ya $49.99 new and $44.99 used!

Yeah as you clearly see I saved a whopping amount of money shopping from Radioshack.

Now I will warn you the only real downside is these are CLEARANCE games, remember? When you search Radioshack.com or are in store remember any price ending in 97 cents and not 99 is a clearance item. So the disadvantage being of course once its gone its gone and hunting down these games can be a hassle, but also the advantage of not a lot of people knowing Radioshack carries games and there being Radioshack almost EVERYwhere there should be at least one or two copies of the game you want in 5 stores nearby all in a 10-20 mile radius. I know of a few stores here in the DFW area of Texas that still has a few copies of CoD4 around.

Also like other retailers like Target and Circuit City we’ll do occasional sales on games and accessories taking a few dollars off here and there and maybe giving you a gift card or something. I think like right now the Xbox controllers are on sale and some of the ps3 controllers on clearance.

The other problem is not all store are gaming stores or have much games, so you are gonna have to hunt some some games, I transfered to a new store and we barely have like 5 games in stock I think. My advice is to search the site for the “In store” deals and search stores near you that might have it with the “may be available near you” link, if they have it and CALL BEFORE HAND and make sure they physically can see they have it in stock, you don’t know how much of a headache that’ll save EVERYONE! And pick it up the same day because technically we’re not allowed to hold for more than day, so if you see it go there ASAP! It’s a first come first serve basis, so you’re just gonna have to beat the rush. If they don’t have it call a nearby store and give them the catalog number n see if they can find a store nearby who has it in their district because sometimes the website isn’t that great of searching.

Epilogue:
So my point is most of you know about not shopping from Gamestop for good deals and the numerous amounts other retailers and sales that go on and the popularity of online shopping. But if you’re like me and online shopping isn’t your thing because of the hassle of returning and exchanging a disk especially if it’s like ebay and you like in-store service you should check out Radioshack or other under the radar companies. Not just one retailer, as you’ve seen Cheapy-Dees CheapAss Corner, keep a look out for deals and online or in-store, call around and do some work you can save A LOT of money in the long run.