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RPG Deals 8/30 – 9/5

By Russ | August 30, 2009 at 3:38 pm

September may have a lot of games coming out for it, so it is a good thing the prices of the 360 and PS3 dropped.

Plus you still might be able to grab a decent computer during the back to school sales. Gaming triple play ahoy!

360 Elites are $300, Pros are $250, and Arcades are still $200. 120 gig slim PS3s are $300, and many of the PS3/Uncharted 120 gig bundles have followed suit. Some places are still offering the older bundles for $400, so be wary when taking it to the counter for purchase.

Of note, especially for importers, is a big sale at Play-Asia. Any game that is currently in stock and has been out for at least 30 days is marked down 20% when you pay with a Visa card. So that means, for example, if you hit Play-Asia and tap the Visa, you can get Sigma Harmonics (JP) for $11.92, Final Fantasy III DS (English!) for $19.92 (nice since EB doesn’t even sell this online), Dragon Quest IX (JP) for $55.92, Persona 4 (English — this puppy is backordered at most GameStops) with soundtrack for $39.92, Digital Devil Saga 2 (English) for $35.92, Final Fantasy X International (JP, was not released in NA) for $27.92, and Final Fantasy XII International: Zodiac Job System (JP, was not released in NA) for $51.92, among other great pickups. Not everything is priced for less that you’d fin it locally, but there are a lot of things Play-Asia has in stock that most American retailers don’t anymore. If buying Japanese-language games intimidates you, consider My Japanese Coach for DS.

Last week’s column was the one-year anniversary for RPG Deals. Yet I forgot to mention the two people who have made this possible – Phil and Heath.

Phil used to run the RPG Observer, and approached me to write this column after seeing some personal posts I made regarding where to find deals. When the RPG Observer closed down, Heath allowed me to continue the column on RPG Land. It’s thanks to both of these gentlemen I can continue like this; so thank you.

I also understand I have been verbally abusing the 360 a bit too much. It’s fun; you should try it.

But seriously, if there was a way to coat all DVDs in the stuff the Blu-Ray Discs are coated in, a lot of problems would be solved. I hate pulling DVDs fresh out of packaging to find scratches on the discs, or out of one of my DVD capable devices to find small nicks and scuffs. Developers – hard-coat your DVDs!

Today we will also discuss bundles with more accuracy. This is not a reference to system bundles, but rather some of the Platinum or Greatest Hits titles that are released later in a title’s life. Mass Effect‘s 2-Disc Edition has been cited here before, since it includes the DLC chapter Bring Down the Sky. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion had a Game of the Year release with al of its extra chapters as well – chapters that cost upwards of $15 to $20 – for $10 more than the standard edition of the game. Fallout 3 will see a similar release with all of its DLC this Fall for both systems. By the way, it should be noted the Platinum Hits edition of Oblivion does not contain those expansions.

A very good example of this occurs outside of the RPG genre. Star Wars – The Force Unleashed will have a Sith edition with all of its available DLC plus an extra mission exclusive to the game. The DLC for this game is $40 by itself. The regular release is $20 – $30 for game, while the re-release id $40 with all the content. Marvel Ultimate Alliance saw a couple re-releases; a Gold version with a few new heroes, then its Platinum Hits edition with another add-on.

I bring this up because if you have yet to play these titles and are thinking about getting them, a little investigation into future releases might save you some money or net a fuller experience.

That’s it for this week. Happy Hunting.

Disclaimer: Deals may not be available in all stores. Prices in each store may differ. You can try different stores to mitigate this, and always ask if a store has it before writing them off. You might be able to get a raincheck. A lot of these deals are in-store only, except where specified.

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