Coming Out of the Turkey Coma + Giveaway!

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  Did you eat a lot of turkey?  Have fun with family?  Play a lot of games (board, video or otherwise)?  More importantly, did you go Black Friday Shopping?

I love Black Friday shopping.  I think it's so much fun.  The thrill of the hunt in a sedentary society, and all that.  Every year I hit the games and DVDs pretty heavy.  That said, this year I only got a couple DVDs (cheap TV seasons) and ... brace yourself ... ZERO games.  I didn't try to get into the madness around every electronics department, and I didn't even go to Best Buy.  Unheard of.  In my defense, I am 7 months pregnant and when I was at Wal-Mart two fights broke out at the electronics department.  And at Target the entire area was ringed with people 6-7 deep.  There's no way I was trying to break through all that.

If only we could go at these crowds Dead Rising style.  Then every game would be miiiiine.

But even more than my burgeoning belly, I didn't buy because I was so mad.  I mentioned in an earlier blog that I had picked up 3 new games at Target because they were Buy Two Get One Free.  This was just within the last month or so, so I spent $100 on 3 new games - Dance Central 2, Disney Universe, and Once Upon a Monster.  All three of these games were drastically price reduced for Black Friday.  I believe I saw DC2 for $15 somewhere.   That made me want to punch someone.  (Maybe I should've gotten into the electronics fray...)   Debbie had a similar experience.  In the last month she has purchased Batman Arkham City, Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and has Assassin's Creed waiting on reserve.  Of all those games, only Skyrim wasn't at a $30 or less price point.  Do the math: that's $90 that Debbie could've saved by waiting two more weeks.

This isn't about our lust for instant gratification and buying games as soon as they come out.  If you've put any math together about me as a gamer you know that's not true.  I'm more likely to wait a year or more to play a game just to get it used for $30 or less.  The bigger issue here is that it is holiday season and we gamers are barraged with all the awesome game releases in early November... and with each barrage we are further assaulted by the entire game industry encouraging us to buy on the release date to speak to the developers about what kind of games we want.  There are midnight parties to hype releases.  And we are given bonus content for reserving the game before it's even out.  Well, we at Achievos are here to tell you that an in-game weapon or t-shirt for my avatar does not heal the wound that a $30 price cut a week and a half later inflicts.

Is looking at this picture of a gun worth $30 to you?  It's about that satisfying to play it in the game too.

Heaven knows I've been burned on price before (did anyone else buy Lego Indiana Jones when it was full price, only to be $20 a month later?)  But maybe I've learned my lesson.  Maybe I'll just hold off on buying any new games, especially in early November, before I can try to buy them on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.  Were you burned this year?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or over at our Facebook page.  From the comments we will choose a winner for a free Fruit Ninja game code for Xbox Live Arcade.  I guarantee that a free game will soothe your soul.  Contest closes 11:59 pm on Sunday, December 4 and the winner will be chosen December 5.