15 Best Black Friday Gaming Deals

by GamePro Staff
November 25, 2009 09:08 AM PST

15 Best Black Friday Gaming Deals.

From HDTVs to console bundles, there's an overwhelming amount of Black Friday video game sales going on, which can make it difficult to figure out what's really worth fighting through hordes of shoppers the day after Thanksgiving to save money. That's why we've sifted through hundreds of Black Friday deals from multiple stores and handpicked fifteen gaming bargains you don't want to miss.

Best PS3 Slim Bundle

Price: $299.99
How much you save: Approximately $140
Where to get it: Walmart
Without question, one of the best Black Friday gaming deals we've seen so far can be found exclusively at Wal-Mart, and if you're planning on getting a PS3 Slim anytime soon you should consider taking advantage of this bargain that's almost too good to be true. Wal-Mart's 120 GB PS3 Slim deal comes with two great new releases: the gritty stealth-infused Batman: Arkham Asylum and Sucker Punch's sandbox-style superhero action game inFAMOUS, as well as Christopher Nolan's second (and arguably better) Batman film, The Dark Knight. This is a killer deal for the superhero fan in the family.

Another Great PS3 Slim Bundle

Price: $299.99
How much you save: Approximately $100
Where to get it: GameStop
If you're not a huge Batman fan and are thinking about purchasing a PS3 Slim, you may want to go to GameStop instead of Walmart, which is selling the 120 GB PS3 Slim with Sony's user-generated/platformer hit LittleBigPlanet and the first two games in their relentlessly gory God of War franchise (packed together in the God of War Collection). Both titles are among the best games available on the PlayStation 3, but they're complete opposites, so this bundle may be a better buy if the console is going to be shared by multiple people (i.e. God of War for older brother and LBP for mom or someone younger in the family).

Best Xbox 360 Bundle

Price: $299.99
How much you save: Approximately $80
Where to get it: Best Buy
Best Buy's Xbox 360 Elite bundle comes with six, count them six free video games. Of course, you're getting more quantity than quality, but it does include several games worth owning such as Ubisoft's acclaimed tactical shooter, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, and the blisteringly intense off-road racing game, Pure. And while the rest of the games you get are far from spectacular (Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and the abysmal Sonic the Hedgehog), you do get Lego Batman, which is surprisingly fun and one of the better games that uses the Lego brand.

Best PSP Bundle

Price: $199.99
How much you save: Approximately $70
Where to get it: K-Mart
If you don't own a PSP, there's a deal going on at K-Mart where they're giving away one of the greatest games of 2009, Assassin's Creed II on PS3, absolutely free when you buy one of the new slick pearl white PSPs. The limited edition PSP also comes with the PSP-exclusive Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and PSN vouchers for free music downloads and Angels and Demons. I'm not really sure how the adaptation of Dan Brown's novel fits with the Assassin's Creed theme of this deal, but one thing's for sure -- this deal is too good for any Assassin's Creed fan to pass up, especially considering Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed II are both brand new games.

Great DSi Bundles

Price: $169.99
How much you save: Approximately $20+
Where to get them: Anywhere
While not as sexy as the rest of the Black Friday console steals included in this article, the recently announced DSi bundles are not a bad way to score some extra games (and applications) when picking up a DSi. Nintendo's new DSi bundles come in two forms: the Metallic Blue "Mario Collection," which comes with three Mario games (WarioWare: Snapped!, Dr. Mario Express, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again) as well as a Mario Clock and Calculator. And if puzzle games are more your thing you can pick up the White "Brain Age Collection" instead, which comes with three Brain Age Express games (Arts & Letters, Sudoku, and Math), Clubhouse Games Express and a Photo Clock.

$9 Blu-ray Movies that Don't Suck

Price: $8.99 each
How much you save: Approximately $26+
Where to get them: Amazon
Okay, so maybe this sale isn't exactly gaming-related, but we're guessing that most gamers enjoy movies to some degree. Amazon is selling a number of movies on Blu-ray at absurdly low prices and the best part of their sale is they're actually good movies and not Baby Geniuses 2. You can pick up several sweet action films for nine bucks a pop such as Robocop, Speed, The Transporter, and Die Hard 4. They're also selling Schwarzenegger's original sci-fi action flick The Terminator for only $8.

HDTV and PS3 Bundle

Price: $1499.99
How much you save: $299.99
Where to get it: Best Buy
There are ton of HDTV deals out there but this one caught our eye for two reasons: first, you get a gigantic 52" 1080p LCD HDTV with a 120Hz refresh rate (which helps eliminate some of the motion blur that plagued early LCD's which refreshed at 60Hz) but the inclusion of a PS3 Slim is what makes this deal so compelling. The TV retails for the price of the bundle itself, which essentially means you get the console for free. Gamers who need a new TV and don't own a PS3 should definitely check this deal out as it's a fast and easy way to instantly upgrade your entire gaming setup, but if you already own a PS3 and just need a new TV, you can easily sell the included console and help diffuse the overall cost.

40" HDTV

Price: $598
How much you save: $0
Where to get it: Walmart
We've noticed that the purported savings on a lot of the HDTVs on sale this Friday aren't actually real: most use outdated MSRPs that don't reflect the real price that you can find if you hunt around. But that doesn't mean you still can't get a good bargain. Take this Samsung 40" 1080p LCD HDTV, for instance. It's not particularly fancy nor does it have a lot of bells and whistles, but it's perfect as an entry level HDTV. It's big enough to fill most living rooms and it offers a full 1080p display. Gamers who want to upgrade from an existing set should look elsewhere but anyone looking to upgrade from a standard def TV or is in need of a secondary display for a bedroom or a game room should definitely consider this deal.

Half Price PSN/XBLA Games

Price: $4.99
How much you save: $5
Where to get them: PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade
For those of you who don't want to get trampled outside your local Walmart at 4AM on Black Friday, you can find a handful of great deals without even getting up from your couch. Sony and Microsoft are slashing prices on some of their most popular downloadable games, with nine games (and one expansion pack) getting temporary price cuts, but we're going to point you towards the three best games of the discounted bunch. First, there's Peggle on Xbox Live Arcade -- an addictive and adorable puzzle game that you'll be able to pick up for just 400 Microsoft points. Then, there's Flower on the PlayStation Network -- one of the most beautiful games to come out this year, and an excellent example of proper Sixaxis motion control. Finally, there's The Last Guy, also on PSN -- one of the most innovative zombie games to come out in quite some time. All three are half their original price!

Free Lego Rock Band

Price: Free, with $20 purchase
How much you save: $49.99
Where to get it: Old Navy
This is a historic Black Friday. For the first, and probably last time, you might want to ask your family to buy you socks. Specifically, you'll want them to get them at Old Navy on Friday, where the clothing outlet will be giving away copies of Lego Rock Band with $20 purchases. Why? We're not quite sure, but it's probably related to the fact that the store now sells Rock Band-related apparel, too. Reports are coming in that the deal will only be at select stores and that there will be limited supplies everywhere, so you should call ahead, lest you buy a new Performance Fleece for nothing.

Rock Band Dirt Cheap

Price: $49.99
How much you save: Approximately $50
Where to get it: Walmart
Rhythm games will most likely never be cheap, and though Rock Band cost a pretty penny when it first released, the Special Edition -- which includes a wireless guitar, a drumset and a microphone -- can be found on Black Friday for $50. To put it in perspective, that's half the price you'd pay for one of the specialized Beatles Rock Band guitars. This deal is a little tricky though, as it's a Doorbuster, i.e. get there way before the store opens and get in quick. The price will remain at $49.99 until 11:00 A.M. on Black Friday, so if you're in need of some RB on the cheap, this is your place.

Dead Space Extraction

Price: $19.99
How much you save: Approximately $20
Where to get it: GameStop
Garnering a perfect five out of five stars from us, Dead Space Extraction was a huge survival-horror hit for the Wii when it released last month. Reviews editor Tae Kim lauded Extraction as the best Wii light-gun game so far, and said that it helps round out the Dead Space saga by telling a rich prequel story. The game is already discounted from its original $50 price tag to $40, but shave off another twenty bucks and you're getting the game for 40 percent of its original price.

Need for Speed SHIFT

Price: $39.99
How much you save: $20
Where to get it: GameStop
EA's revitalization of the Need for Speed franchise delivered on what many racing fans really wanted; a great balance of high speed thrills, and an engaging career mode that was supplemented with some well-executed online tournaments. With new downloadable content adding further modes and some classic cars for free, it's a tremendous value. Hardcore racing fans may prefer Forza 3 (also available for $39.99) but Need for Speed has the broad-appeal racing market pretty much cornered.

Wii Sports Resort + extra Wii MotionPlus

Price: $49.99
How much you save: $24.99
Where to get it: GameStop
If you don't already have Wii Sports Resort because you'd written it off as "too casual" or "something I'll pick up later, it's time to go grab it. OK, so the money you're handing over isn't any less than the game usually retails for, but you are getting an extra MotionPlus thrown in too, so you can properly indulge in all of the game's multiplayer modes. GameStop is saying that this deal is one of it's "Doorbusters," so you're going to need to get to your local GameStop store early if you want to take advantage of the offer.

Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered

Price: $0.99
How much you save: $6
Where to get it: iTunes App Store
Grab while you can at this price. Beneath a Steel Sky is a truly classic point-and-click adventure game, and it's not often you find a game featuring wonderful voice acting, excellent writing, beautiful artwork by a well-known artist (in this case Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons) and over 10 hours of gameplay for under a dollar. Originally released in 1994, the game has been completely revamped for the iPhone with enhanced artwork and an optimized touch screen control scheme. Publisher Revolution Software says the game will be at this price through until the end of Thanksgiving weekend.