Thursday, May 20, 2010

Thank you Walmart System Error!

This is one of the best emails I could ever receive from Walmart:

Dear Nate Gillick,

Thank you for shopping with Walmart.com.

Due to a system error, we have shipped you duplicates of Alan Wake in your recent order ##########.

Because this was our error, please enjoy the extra item – on us! You will not be charged for it. If you don’t need the extra item, please give it to a friend or consider donating it.

Again, thank you for shopping with Walmart.com.

Sincerely,
Your Walmart.com Customer Service Team


So, I got not 1, but 2 copies of Alan Wake for $49.96 + a $10 eGift card. Incredible. This raised the question: What do I do with that second copy of Alan?

Do I

1. Sell it to recover the cost of the copy I paid for, essentially getting Alan Wake for free?
2. Give / Trade / Sell at reduced price to a friend in exchange for a massive IOU of some form?
3. Offer it up as a prize to podcast listeners for winning some suitably crazy contest? (And I do mean crazy... I need to get $50 worth of entertainment out of it to want to part with my copy LOL)

Contraty to Silva's opinion, I'm not rich. Option #1 has the high lead at the moment, as that would make my AW copy free, plus probably take some of the edge off of the price of Red Dead Redemption. I will listen to compelling arguments for options 2 and 3 though.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Alan Wake $49.96 + $10 Gift Card

If you don't check out Walmart.com for video game deals much, you should get in the habit of it. They have a deal for a $20 gift card with Red Dead Redemption, which almost made me cancel my Gamestop preorder, but I really want that game ASAP. The Alan Wake Deal I can't pass up.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Alan-Wake-w-Bonus-10-Walmart.com-eGift-Card-Xbox-360/13376070

They're selling it for $49.96, plus you get a $10 gift card for your next purchase off the site. Save $10 now, save $10 on your next game purchase. That's A-OK by me. Pulling the trigger on this deal since I'll have Red Dead to keep me entertained until this one shows up at my store.

Gotta look for other deals on the site now too...

EDIT: The one downside to this (for me) is that I can't use my associate discount on egift card offered games. Still, I find I'm saving more than I would with my card. After taxes and shipping, Alan Wake cost me about $2 less than if I'd bought it in-store with my discount, and I have a $10 gift card carrying over to my next purchase, which I've used on a preorder for Halo Reach. That one is now $2 cheaper than if I used my discount, and I'll have $20 off my next game purchase. Total savings: $36 off retail. Not too bad. Have no idea yet what the $20 gift card will go to yet.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Rainy Days = Gamerscore Blitz

I feel the itch... the need to inflate my gamerscore a little bit. With it pouring outside now, and tomorrow, it appears my next two days off are ideal days to play video games. Not only does the weather suck, but these days off are weekdays, where I probably wouldn't find anyone to do anything with anyway.

In the name of grabbing some more gamerscore, I made a push in Cameron's Avatar, completing the Human campaign. I now only need to go through Conquest for two achievements and I'll have everything done but wrapping up the Na'vi side.

I also re-rented Saw from my local Family Video, to try to get through the nearly 800 points I have left there. Deciding that wasn't enough for two rainy days, I also drove down to Gamestop and picked up Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper, which has been interesting so far.

Yes, I know I should be playing Record of Agarest War and the Halo Reach beta... and I will be continuing to do some of both, but my gamerscore has been stagnant lately, and since I'm in a competition where I could win some microsoft points, now seems as good a time as any to make something of a gamerscore push. In a perfect world, I complete Saw, Sherlock, and Avatar in the next two days... but that may be overly ambitious. We shall see.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Count me out on Lost Planet 2

A little internet research just saved me $60. After reading IGN and x360a's reviews, and getting an overall impression from Metacritic, I'm quite convinced LP2 is not a game I should be purchasing on Day 1 with my hard-earned cash. With an achievement list that looks insane enough to make Warriors Orochi 2 look like the new Avatar, I'm not even sure I'll put it in my tray period; four player coop be damned. I think I'm better off continuing on with what I've been playing until Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption come out. We'll call that $60 towards my fantasy TV instead LOL.