By Alex Nunez on November 23, 2010 in
One thing is evident upon a perusal of the Black Friday circulars: if you're buying video games for friends or family, there are some attractive deals on interesting titles for all the big consoles. Sure, you may need to brave the crowds, but it might just be worth the effort.
Babysitting and basketball on the Wii
One of the wierdest new games to arrive this year has to be Babysitting Mama, a new Wii title that lets you put your Wii remote into a baby doll "controller" to, well, simulate babysitting duties. Regularly priced at around $50 at Amazon and most retailers, you'll be able to pick up Babysitting Mama on Black Friday for $34.99 at Best Buy. Professional reviews for Babysitting Mama are pretty harsh, though. IGN.com utterly hammers it, saying, "I rarely play games that I can’t find anything good to say about, but Babysitting Mama is one of those games" on the way to a 4.2/10 rating. IGN readers, however, are more charitable, giving the game an 8.2 rating overall. Game Informer dismisses it as being gimmicky and rates it 3.0/10 overall. Still, the "Mama" games (such as Cooking Mama, Crafting Mama and Gardening Mama) have a dedicated following, and kids may look at things very differently than professional reviewers do.
NBA Jam, a classic both in arcades and on your dust-covered Super Nintendo console, is back on the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. Professional and user reviews are very good -- IGN.com says it's "a great game and highly recommended" on the way to an 8.5/10 overall score -- and the Wii version, which makes ingenious use of the system's motion controllers, is marked down to $27 at Target and $29 at Walmart on Black Friday. That's a steep discount off the regular price of $49.99 -- a price yours truly paid for the Wii version earlier this month. And yes, I will personally attest that it's as fun to play as the pro reviewers say it is, especially when you and your buddies are furiously making dunking motions and trash-talking each other in the TV room. All the current NBA stars are represented, and you can unlock the pros from the classic NBA Jam as well. (Hello, Patrick Ewing...)
007, hoops and Halo for the Xbox 360
If your gamer favors the Xbox 360, you'll find abundant deals for the Microsoft console as well. Both Target and Best Buy are marking down Halo Reach on Black Friday ($35 at the former; $39 at the latter). The latest installment in the acclaimed Halo franchise of first-person shooters, Reach normally sells for around $50 to $60. Reviews are off-the-charts good, both from pros like IGN.com and users posting feedback at sites like Amazon.com and Walmart.com.
Best Buy is also featuring the new James Bond-themed game, 007 Blood Stone on Black Friday. It'll be marked down to $34.99 for the Xbox 360 (and Playstation 3). It normally retails for around $50 to $60. Professional reviews are mixed, though. IGN.com says "Meh," while Gamespot.com says it's flawed, but still an "enjoyable foray into the world of James Bond."
Hoops fans who favor a more traditional simulation (as opposed to the wild, arcade-style 2-on-2 NBA Jam dunkfest) will be interested in NBA 2K11 for Xbox 360, which Walmart is marking down to $29 on Black Friday. In addition to being a full NBA sim, the game has also has a licensing deal with Michael Jordan, and features him in the game, recreating classic matchups and the like. The experts at IGN.com sum up NBA 2K11 thusly: "This isn't just the best basketball game ever; it's the best sports game of this generation." Like most console games, you can expect to normally pay anywhere from $50 to $60 for NBA 2K11, so the Black Friday price is excellent.
PS3 game deals less abundant, but Best Buy and TRU doorbusters score
Frankly, the Black Friday deals specific to Playstation 3 games aren't much to write home about. There are several steeply-discounted older titles at different stores, and Best Buy's $34.99 price on 007 Blood Stone applies to the PS3 version, too. The well-reviewed new action RPG, Fallout: New Vegas, is being offered for $39.99 at Best Buy (price applies for Xbox 360, too) Beyond that, however, nothing particularly jumps out. Unless you're into sports games -- then you should head to Best Buy, where several popular EA Sports titles are marked down to $34.99 in a 5:00 AM doorbuster special.
The special price applies to Madden 11, NCAA Football 11, NHL 11, FIFA Soccer 11, and EA Sports MMA. There are also three non-sports titles from EA in on the deal: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, The Sims 3, and Medal of Honor. The $34.99 price is a while-supplies-last deal, and it also applies to the Xbox 360 versions. The clunker of the bunch is probably Medal of Honor, which gets a 6/10 overall rating at IGN.com. The highest-rated? Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, which gets a 9/10 at IGN. The EA Sports titles are all strong picks, and The Sims is reasonably well-reviewed too.
Toys R Us also features Medal of Honor, Madden 11, The Sims 3, and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (for all available platforms) in a Buy 1, Get One for $5 deal it's running from 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night all the way until 10 p.m. on Black Friday. The other eligible titles are Goldeneye 007 (a Wii exclusive), Fable III (XBox 360 exclusive), Halo Reach (XBox 360 exclusive) Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (multi-platform), and Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 (multi-platform). You can save up to $55 with this BOGO special, and it's nice because you can mix-and-match games for different consoles. Furthermore, it's the only deal we saw that includes the very well-received new Goldeneye 007 for Wii.
What about the handheld console games?
Pretty much every Black Friday circular that has video games lists steep discounts on a wide variety of handheld console titles. If you're shopping for someone who's dedicated to their Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, you can find deals that start under $10. These make great stocking stuffers for kids. If you're giving one of the handheld consoles as a primary gift, this also affords you the opportunity to start your child off with a nice little game library without overspending.
Ratings rundown
The games above target a wide age range in terms of audience. Some are suitable for all, while others are clearly meant for mature players due to their content. If you're a parent who's planning on doing some video game shopping this weekend, you can look up the ratings for every game listed above at the ESRB website beforehand to ensure their appropriateness for their intended recipients.