Bullseye.

There are a lot of websites that lead you to good deals on video games: Gamer Deals, Amazon's Outlet Area, and, of course, this place. And if those don't have what you're looking for, there's always eBay.

But I don't want to wait for a game to be sent to me. Sometimes, the thrill of the hunt is as exciting as finding a bargain. That's why I always stop at Target when I go to a new town.

Last week, Target, Southern Minnesota: LocoRoco 2: $4.98, Left 4 Dead: $12.48.

Another Target, Central Minnesota: MK Vs. DC Universe: $14.98, Prince of Persia (the new cel-shaded one): was $59.99, now $14.98.

These games will never be this cheap again brand new. Left 4 Dead in particular is currently going for $45 USED at GameStop.com. Target doesn't care. They have to make shelf space in their one 360 case (Wii and DS each have 2 cases) for L4D: Game of the Year Edition. I don't mind. I save all the money.

Sure, and unscrupulous type would buy these and bring them to another Target (or Wal-mart, or ShopKo, or wherever) with the "I got these for my birthday" excuse to rake in a cool $60 in store credit. Nothing like cheating the system. I wouldn't do that though... I just wanna play!

Every Target has a clearance games section. Sometimes, it's by the pharmacy. Sometimes, it's by the book section. But there's always one somewhere. I found PGR3 for $2 at one in North Dakota just as PGR4 was coming out. Sure, the games are a few months old, but you can't find these in questionable condition at pawn shops for these prices. And honestly, who doesn't like scavenger hunts?

Why should WiiCare?

WiiWare - a land of opportunity, where small indie developers can stand toe-to-toe with the big boys like Square Enix and EA. This is where weird, interesting games should go to live. The Wii has a controller unlike any other in the industry, and games like Lost Winds and World of Goo show how to utilize it very well. Unfortunately, there are a few things holding WiiWare (and the Virtual Console, as well) back from competing with the "real" next-gen systems:

- No demos
- No standard pricing structure on WiiWare
- Lack of consistent release schedule

First, no demos. Now that Nintendo (finally) did something about the Wii's lack of storage (Yay for SD!), there is room on gamers' consoles for game demos. On 360, the demo is the same size as the full game, but purchasing the whole game "unlocks" the rest of the content. Wii doesn't need to do it that way. A shorter download time for a first level would be fine for A.D.D. types that still play Wii. If I want the full game, yes, I would wait to download again. It's not a big deal.

Without free trial demos, countless interesting games are getting lost in the shuffle while people buy tripe like Major League Eating: The Game. A demo will allow gamers to try something they normally wouldn't, because there's no risk. "Want to try Swords & Soldiers for ten minutes before you buy it? That'll be ten dollars. Hope you like it. No refunds."

The pricing on WiiWare is also all over the place, ranging from $5 (Texas hold'em Tournament), to $6 (Bubble Bobble Plus), to $8 (Final Fantasy IV: The After Years), to $10 (Let's Catch - What the crap?), to $15 (World of Goo). The prices don't seem to be based on anything besides what the developers hope people will pay. That, and probably development costs. But gamers don't care about that. They just want a good deal for their dollar.

Lastly, the release schedule. New XBLA games come out every Tuesday. New WiiWare games come out... whenever. There are new games released every week, but there is no guarantees that they are WiiWare games. It could be DSiWare, or a Virtual Console title, or WiiWare, or maybe, if you're lucky, a good WiiWare game. It's probably just another calculator or clock for your DSi, and no matter how cool it may be, it is not delivering on the potential of the technology. Pick up the slack, Nintendo! If Sony can do it with the slumping PS3, you can do it too. You have enough money. Use it for something that doesn't suck, for once!

A baby seal walks into a club...

Since the early days of the NES, there has been some form of the current Club Nintendo. The Super Mario Fun Club, My Nintendo, Nintendo Power Club, I'm sure there's more. Today, they offer special gifts to people who join the club and earn a certain number of points. The catch: you can only get points from official Nintendo products. First party games only. With the Wii, that's not so bad. Who's buys third party Wii games anyway? You get 30 points for registering a DS game and 50 points for a Wii game. At 300, you achieve "gold" status and at 600 you are "platinum." Also, with more points, you can cash them in for Nintendo cards or DS game cases or, the motherload, a Club Nintendo-exclusive Game & Watch Collection game for DS.

A number of months ago, a Tingle (the fruity elf guy from Zelda) game was made available to Japanese Cllub Nintendo members. Since then, the value of the game has basically skyrocketed. Hopefully, this game will do the same, because I have nearly enough points to order it. Still, it takes an awful lot of loyalty to afford it. 800 points = $800 spent on Nintendo products. And, since the Nintendo fiscal year ends on June 30th, I am fairly sure that Nintendo will mix up their rewards at that time. And then G&W will be gone forever! And that makes me a sad panda. But I do already have 720 points, and I'm sure there are some more Wii games sitting around this house. If only I cared about my Wii, I would know where the games are! I must have the shiny golden game. I don't even want to unwrap it or play it, however. I want to sell it when I'm 60 and buy a Ferrari with the profit.

Cheaper... cheaper... not?

Games depreciate faster than cars. You drive a brand new car off the lot, and it loses half of its value. You open a game, and then it's just not worth much anymore. That's why you can get an open copy of Chrono Trigger on the SNES for $50-100, but a sealed one will net you over a grand, easy. I just got Far Cry 2 on 360 for $10 on a clearance at Target. I can go on Xbox Live and get N+ for $10. Both are quality games. But Far Cry 2 started at $60 then lost 83% of its retail value. N+ was released before Far Cry 2 and maintains its original $10 price tag, all whyile not offering the benefits of tangibility. You can't bring it over and show your friends. You can't read the instruction manual in the bathroom. You can't pass it down to your children someday like I hope to do with my NES and Atari 2600 games, proving to them just how far we've come and just how lucky they are to live in a world with more than 8 colors. Why are downloadable games able to maintain their value so much longer while not even being real? They are real in the fact that you pay for an experience, and you control it like a normal game, but you can't hold it. You don't get to rush home, break the seal, and take a huge whiff of that "new game smell" (you know the one). I've wanted to download Cloning Clyde since I first played the demo on my new 360 a few Christmases ago, but it was ten bucks. It's still ten bucks. Games that were available at retail at that time have prices that have completely plummeted. It's not fair. It makes it really hard to want to download games when full, expansive retail games are available for the same price.

Also, I seem to be blogging about game prices a lot. With the economy in shambles, it's easy to get hung up on how much things cost. I don't want to sacrifice quality, however. A $20 year-old 360 game is almost always better than $20 Wii shovelware. But downloadable titles... they're almost all the same price, regardless of quality or age. Money is harder to come by nowadays, and I could use that $10 on rent, or to eat, or to fix my car. Even in America, our expendable income isn't as expendable as it used to be.

Out with the old, part 2

Toys 'R' Us is starting to buy used games. Amazon is starting to buy used games. Who else buys used games? Not me. Apparently, both places are only offering credit for old games, and not as much as you can get at GameStop. Still, you can use the Amazon credit for anything on their website. But the only thing I bought there was video games and the occasional board game anyway, so the advantages would be lost on me. Oh well. I'll stick to buying my used games at pawn shops, where creepy old shopkeepers don't know anything about the real value of games. But I'll still hang out with the nerds at GameStop!

Deal.

Yeah, I missed two days. I was on vacation for the first time since Christmas. I'm back.

Games are expensive. Sometimes, good games are even more expensive. Also, certain genres have a tendency to maintain their value better. Sports games halve in price after a few months. After a few years, Madden is $3 and WWF Smackdown Vs. Raw is $5. Conversely, Pokemon is worth as much today used as it was when first released brand new. Many RPG's are super rare and valuable to people with lots of expendable income... Any Final Fantasy, Shining Force, or Panzer Dragoon game is worth way more today than it probably should be, although many of these games are timeless. The only way a serious game collector will accrue all of his most wanted games is with a lot of money, or a lot of luck. Pawn shops are great places for finding deals, because many of them will have a rack of games with a sign like "SNES games $3." All SNES games are not worth $3. But I sure wish I could get by paying just $3 for every one of 'em...

I thought it would be fun to compile a list of the best deals I've found on games in my years of garage saling and pawn shopping:

Shining Force for Genesis - $2 (This morning! Awesome!)
Final Fantasy II for SNES - $4 at a comic shop, $15 at a garage sale
Super Mario RPG for SNES - $15 at the same garage sale
Illusion of Gaia on SNES - $3 at a used CD store
Final Fantasy 3 for SNES - $40 with SimCity and a Super Nintendo
Final Fantasy Tactics - $15 at a garage sale (original not greatest hits)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - $15 brand new at Blockbuster! Too bad I opened it to, you know, play and enjoy it. I could have retired if I sold that when I hit 60.
Dragon Quest VIII on PS2 - $20 new at Best Buy. Best bang for your buck of any new game ever in the history of the world. If only I could find Dragon Warrior 2, 3, or 4 on NES for less than $50...

What's this worth?

When new games are released, they are all basically the same price, give or take $10. Strangely, the prices for new games has hovered at around $50-60 since the days of the SNES. Back then, it was because cartridges were so expensive to produce; now, it's mostly because of high production values. Still, games don't really seem to be subject to inflation. When the original Nintendo came out, it was $200. That's over $400 when you take inflation into account. When the Wii was released, it was $250. Today, that's approximately $250. What a deal.

As games get older, their value to collectors decreases. Even big-budget SNES games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 3, which retailed for upwards of $80 back in the 90's when they were first released, can be found on eBay today for around $50. (Or sometimes you find "deals" like this.) Most 16-bit games can be found at pawn shops for about $5. If a game includes the box and instructions, it's value increases exponentially. Spider-Man on the Atari 2600 is worth about $3 if you just have the cartridge. The box is worth hundreds. Why? Collectors know that the condition and completeness of any item, not just video games, affects it value. Even if you have a Honus Wagner card (the most valuable baseball card in teh world), it's not going to sell for $2.5 million at an auction if it's torn in half. I guess the moral of the story is this: don't ever open your games, baseball cards, or action figures, and then when you hit 40 you can sell them all and retire from your job at Domino's. How's that for a five-year plan.