Black Friday / Cyber Monday 2024

My friend is looking to buy a switch pro controller so hopefully it goes on sale. I've seen it for as low as $50 before during the holidays.
I just checked QVC and HOLIDAY30 is live. It doesn't work on video games but it brings the Switch Pro Controller down to $45.

Edit: I decided to order one today since apparently no Black Friday price is better and it let me get all the way through the order process before producing an error while finalizing checkout.
 
Last edited:
Surprised at all the negativity towards Sea of Stars. It was very well reviewed and has an 88 on Steam. Definitely a lighter JRPG than the 2D Final Fantasy games for instance but it’s extremely well made and, at least to me, a fun game. To each their own I suppose.
 

Thanks, not really a great option since GS's used prices are basically like new prices at some retailers and honestly not worth it since you dunno if you're going to get a case (and manual, if game had one). Would be good for harder to find/out of print games but I never find those in my stores and they rarely show up online.
 
Surprised at all the negativity towards Sea of Stars. It was very well reviewed and has an 88 on Steam. Definitely a lighter JRPG than the 2D Final Fantasy games for instance but it’s extremely well made and, at least to me, a fun game. To each their own I suppose.

sea of stars was one of my FAVORITE games last year, just downloaded octopath travelers II because a buddy said it was similar.

i loved the unique fight mechanics of sea of stars, and, of course, my man GARL.
 
  • Like
Reactions: awp
sea of stars was one of my FAVORITE games last year, just downloaded octopath travelers II because a buddy said it was similar.

i loved the unique fight mechanics of sea of stars, and, of course, my man GARL.

Dunno about similarities, but Octopath II is legit one of the best JRPGs I've played in awhile. And I did not care for the first one.
 
Yeah, Octopath II is much better than the first IMO. At least from what I’ve played. Super long JRPGs take me while, lol.
 
Just hoping for a good discount on audeze maxwells unless a new one is coming out
they had them on sale straight from Audeze this past week $200 for ps5 and 229 for Xbox.i should have jumped on it but I didn’t cause they just fired 4 people at my job this past week.
 
First, apologies for the continued off-topic, but this begs a response.

Move the goal post?

Let me ask you then -- what is the point of having a cryptocurrency? What is the real benefit? It's not connected to gold; frankly, it's not connected to anything other than its fictional "value" of NOT being connected to any governmental entity.

So what is the economic basis for the existence of a cryptocurrency? Why does it have any value? Why does anyone bother to attribute the value to the currency? It's literally not backed by anything, after all.

The value is in its untraceability. I'm an econ guy; there are countless econ papers (practical and academic) discussing/analyzing the data on this in great detail. It's why cryptocurrency is ripe for use in criminal activity and basically why it exists. (Alleged) studies suggesting the percentage of cryptocurrency used in crime are de minimis are all premised on data of an untraceable currency and only based on amounts actually prosecuted on by government agencies (i.e., these studies are all almost assuredly grossly under-counting the real funds at issue).

In short, stop fooling yourself into thinking otherwise. You're just buying into the billionaire narrative. No better way to hide assets and escape taxation than using a currency NO ONE can trace the origins of.

And on this, I'm not saying folks should feel bad or anything using bitcoin. I don't care. All I'm saying is that cryptocurrencies are by design made to avoid regulation and be outside the system, and what has been fueling their growth is pretty obvious ...

Okay, that's it. Back on-topic:

Target presumably will have Switch consoles for ~$230 on BF. That's a "deal" though I'm guessing most of us here are just waiting for Switch 2 at this point.
You do know that all bitcoin transactions are traceable through the public ledger? I'm not saying that people don't use it for illicit things, just that it's really fucking dumb to expect anonymity when all transactions are freely available.
 
First, apologies for the continued off-topic, but this begs a response.

Move the goal post?

Let me ask you then -- what is the point of having a cryptocurrency? What is the real benefit? It's not connected to gold; frankly, it's not connected to anything other than its fictional "value" of NOT being connected to any governmental entity.

So what is the economic basis for the existence of a cryptocurrency? Why does it have any value? Why does anyone bother to attribute the value to the currency? It's literally not backed by anything, after all.

The value is in its untraceability. I'm an econ guy; there are countless econ papers (practical and academic) discussing/analyzing the data on this in great detail. It's why cryptocurrency is ripe for use in criminal activity and basically why it exists. (Alleged) studies suggesting the percentage of cryptocurrency used in crime are de minimis are all premised on data of an untraceable currency and only based on amounts actually prosecuted on by government agencies (i.e., these studies are all almost assuredly grossly under-counting the real funds at issue).

In short, stop fooling yourself into thinking otherwise. You're just buying into the billionaire narrative. No better way to hide assets and escape taxation than using a currency NO ONE can trace the origins of.

And on this, I'm not saying folks should feel bad or anything using bitcoin. I don't care. All I'm saying is that cryptocurrencies are by design made to avoid regulation and be outside the system, and what has been fueling their growth is pretty obvious ...

Okay, that's it. Back on-topic:

Target presumably will have Switch consoles for ~$230 on BF. That's a "deal" though I'm guessing most of us here are just waiting for Switch 2 at this point.
I feel like it’s all part of the great reset. inflation can’t keep up and it’s going to crash and digital will take over.
 
You do know that all bitcoin transactions are traceable through the public ledger? I'm not saying that people don't use it for illicit things, just that it's really fucking dumb to expect anonymity when all transactions are freely available.

Come on, this is such an "emperor's clothing" argument. Cryptocurrency companies all talk about how it's public/on the blockchain.

But let's see now -- if it's so traceable, why do hackers always rely on cryptocurrencies for ransomware attacks to shut down Fortune 500 companies, hospitals, and a multitude of governmental entities? And why do we seldom -- if ever -- hear about any of these hackers being caught?

Yeah, just because transactions are allegedly public doesn't mean it's at all easy/simple to ID wallets and the actual folks behind any transaction. In fact, the resources needed to even try seem well beyond the limits of even the U.S. government, so ...

WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-hackers-use-bitcoin-and-why-it-is-so-difficult-to-trace-11594931595
 
Last edited:
I'm done with the Bitcoin conversation. Though admittedly, the lack of any big BF deals is certainly one of the reasons we're talking about this ...

Some of those BB deals aren't bad. Picked up a few games there.
 
Sea of Stars is an excellent imitation of Chrono Trigger in terms of graphics, gameplay and music. I disagree that most negative reviews are likely from traditional jrpg fans, it replicates the SNES era of jrpgs well. The problem is just the infantile writing and character development. It’s similar to how game of thrones season 8 sucked compared to the earlier seasons, or like playing a fan fiction with otherwise generic cosplayers as the characters. It’s nothing like Octopath 2, other than being in the same genre. Octopath 2 has well developed characters and great writing, tells a better story 8 times, but doesn’t try for or have a Chrono trigger vibe.
 
Last edited:
Enjoyed Sea of Stars but do agree with others that the story isn't that good. It isn't bad, but it isn't as engaging as other turn based JRPG style games (they aren't a Japanese company btw, they are Canadian).

The battle system is good but gets repetitive towards the end. Enemy types gets repetitive towards the end too which doesn't help. The characters don't have much depth to them and I really only connected with Garl and Resh'an. The main characters, Valere and Zale are kinda boring but they serve their purpose.

That's not to say it's a bad game though. The graphics mesh well with the intended style, the battle system is deep enough to keep you engaged (it just gets stale after a while), the music sets the mood for each scene and lastly, the characters fit the story well, even the side characters. But I wouldn't get the game for more than $20. Even at $25, you'll still get a good 20 - 40 hours out of it.
 
Last edited:
Sea of Stars is an excellent imitation of Chrono Trigger in terms of graphics, gameplay and music. I disagree that most negative reviews are likely from traditional jrpg fans, it replicates the SNES era of jrpgs well. The problem is just the infantile writing and character development. It’s similar to how game of thrones season 8 sucked compared to the earlier seasons, or like playing a fan fiction with otherwise generic cosplayers as the characters. It’s nothing like Octopath 2, other than being in the same genre. Octopath 2 has well developed characters and great writing, tells a better story 8 times, but doesn’t try for or have a Chrono trigger vibe.
As someone who really liked the game overall, I can agree that the writing and character development weren't the game's strong suits. Music/graphics/combat are definitely what kept me interested in this one.
 
Is sea of stars worth it? I only ask because it’s on gamepass
Sadly no. The only gimmick it brought to the table was a dexterity mini-game during combat that was more annoying that interesting. Characters were bland and very G-rated, so overall it might have done more for me 30 years ago than now. Even then, it wouldn't have stood out as classic.
 
Yeah, Octopath II is much better than the first IMO. At least from what I’ve played. Super long JRPGs take me while, lol.
I just wish these games weren't so round-robin with every character. I gave up finishing the second one because they really do start to just feel like a checklist of story chapters to complete and none were really doing anything for me. Meanwhile combat and character progression felt a little too simplified this time, but maybe I was just seeing the cracks having finished the first game.
 
Octopath series definitely isn’t for everyone. I was both disappointed at how similar it was to octopath 1, and pleased at how much they improved, at the same time. The biggest improvement for me is that I never got bored by the dialogue and stories, unlike octopath 1. It’s a huge time sink and slow going, but that was perfect for me at the time. I played it during a month long drugged up surgery recovery, didn’t want anything too exciting or fast paced, it filled the time perfectly. Even with how good I think it is, not sure I would have finished otherwise though. The midpoint and pacing of 8 stories back and forth does drag. Now that I think about it, I finished sea of stars at the start of that timeframe, just before Octopath 2. Sea of stars started out great to me, but I was tired of it by the end. Took about 1/6 the time to beat as Octopath 2, but I found it more boring and strung out for some reason, when octopath is really the one with tons of filler. It could have just been the drugs, I dunno.
 
Octopath series definitely isn’t for everyone. I was both disappointed at how similar it was to octopath 1, and pleased at how much they improved, at the same time. The biggest improvement for me is that I never got bored by the dialogue and stories, unlike octopath 1. It’s a huge time sink and slow going, but that was perfect for me at the time. I played it during a month long drugged up surgery recovery, didn’t want anything too exciting or fast paced, it filled the time perfectly. Even with how good I think it is, not sure I would have finished otherwise though. The midpoint and pacing of 8 stories back and forth does drag. Now that I think about it, I finished sea of stars at the start of that timeframe, just before Octopath 2. Sea of stars started out great to me, but I was tired of it by the end. Took about 1/6 the time to beat as Octopath 2, but I found it more boring and strung out for some reason, when octopath is really the one with tons of filler. It could have just been the drugs, I dunno.
Just took notice of your pfp+name. I used to run the Xenogears/saga community page on Facebook ;).
I haven't tried Octo 1/2, but I heard it's similar to Bravely Default 1/2? The first half BD1 was interesting, then the time loop crap just screwed it all up and it was like playing the first half x3.
 
Just took notice of your pfp+name. I used to run the Xenogears/saga community page on Facebook ;).
I haven't tried Octo 1/2, but I heard it's similar to Bravely Default 1/2? The first half BD1 was interesting, then the time loop crap just screwed it all up and it was like playing the first half x3.
Nice! Xenogears is the perfect example to me of how good narrative and pacing can elevate a game to something else. Sea of Stars, not the worst, but probably an example of how it can detract. Technically the games aren’t any better than one another, so not sure what else it is. Not that some of these older jrpgs had great writing or character development, they just weren’t filled with what I find to be boring drivel at least. Only played bravely default 1. Octopath 2 is basically bravely default with better characters, writing and graphics, without the nonsense. Octopath 1 was a step in between to me. I definitely recommend octopath 2 to anyone that can handle long winded 2D sprite narratives. Some slight connections, but you can and probably should jump right into 2, unless you already know for sure you would want to play them both.
 
Last edited:
I like the story of xenogears but pacing definitely was it's weak point. Ricos section alone could be cut out entirely with little lost. It also felt repetitive since mc is all I don't want/need friends and doesn't want to fight. then makes friends and wants to fight to protect them. Then Bart shoots something accidentally again.
 
Just saw a sneak peak at the AAFES Black Friday ad (Active Duty, Veterans, and dependents only) but the PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle will be $330. Probably the best deal I’ve ever seen on it.
 
Just saw a sneak peak at the AAFES Black Friday ad (Active Duty, Veterans, and dependents only) but the PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle will be $330. Probably the best deal I’ve ever seen on it.
It is also going to be the same price at BJs Wholesale Club.
 
I like the story of xenogears but pacing definitely was it's weak point. Ricos section alone could be cut out entirely with little lost. It also felt repetitive since mc is all I don't want/need friends and doesn't want to fight. then makes friends and wants to fight to protect them. Then Bart shoots something accidentally again.
The biggest complaint is usually the last part of the game being crammed in as a novel basically. I still like even that though. It just had huge scope for the time, and I think mostly succeeded in how the story was told, in video game form, which was still being figured out. It’s been awhile but the trivial and weird side stories were just a few hours in a hundred hour game, if I remember right, compared to being the whole game.
 
If you have Sea of Stars on gamepass, then just give it some time and see if you enjoy it. I thought the demo of the game on switch was pretty excellent and was glad to buy it even before the current deals. RPG's are kind of subjective and even some of the critical stuff brought up, I don't really agree with all of it. The mesh of what works for me can shift around from game to game. I'm not so rigid on most design elements that all the boxes of what I like need ticked as long as it does enough that I find enjoyable. But there's no barrier here to try the game. Fire it up and give it a try and if you don't have gamepass, play the demo. IMO, it was one of the better rpg demos in recent history as it's not the first hour (or whatever) but a sampling of content through the game so you can kind of see how things progress without really revealing too much in the process about the story.

Ended up grabbing a few games from BB's sale. $15 Broforce, $25 The Doinksoft Collection, $20 Outer Wilds, and $20 Prince of Persia The Lost Crown all for switch. I know POP will be likely $15 somewhere but I'm to the point in my life that I don't really care if I spend a few dollars more if it means I don't have to hunt down something later. That game seems more than meaty enough for $20.
 
I was really hoping to see some deals on the PS5 disk version this year, but it looks like they're focusing on off-loading the digital-only versions. Amazon briefly had a deal for $50 bucks off the PS5 in October - I should've jumped on it then. But maybe there's still a chance for a discount next week.
 
It's going to be around $429 on Black Friday. A reliable leaker who has never been wrong afaik already mentioned it last month, and he was right on the digital edition.
 
PS5 Disc will actually be $424 on black friday, presumably all retailers, the Fortnite bundle. Target already has it on their weekly ad starting sunday, I imagine every other retailer will be doing the same

20241117_17al_BqeS5
 
I actually think it was very similar last year. They didn't release anything until like the week of
it was exactly the same, and really the deals haven't leaked in years. all of the "leaks" in the last 5 years are the websites putting ad previews on their own website. they don't put them out as early because of not wanting to hurt sales on their mostly horrible early black friday sales.
 
Yup, I mentioned it before. The best deals now are lightning or deals of the day. They’re not preannounced so you’ll come back continuously to see what’s new.
 
Octopath 1 was awesome.

Octopath 2 was awesomer.

Though when I did get to the 50 or 60 hour mark of the latter about one month ago, my interest began to peter out.
There's a solid chunk of the middle game where you are either overleveled for everything and it feels like a tired slog with poor exp gains, or you are appropriately under/leveled with your other four remaining castmates and kind of repeating your grind. Excellent game; not the best rise-to-a-climax gametime arc tho. My first 30 or 40 hours with it I felt like it was hands-down a 10 out of 10 perfect game. Then the exploration and hidden secrets taper off a bit. After you've snuck into a few high level towns and stolen a lot of top-tier weapons and armor.

One thing most of these modern games do now though is have the ability to zip through battles with fast button presses if you would really like to. Plus the ability to turn down / off or avoid random encounters altogether. II is a really solid game. I just put it down because GotY Metaphor came out. I think I have 65 hours on my save file and I'm def going to go back and finish it up sometime.

And for all the "wahhhhh the price of bacon" backwoods short-bussers out there, it's amazing how we can get all of these great AA and indie games for $20-$25 now, physically.
 
PS5 Disc will actually be $424 on black friday, presumably all retailers, the Fortnite bundle. Target already has it on their weekly ad starting sunday, I imagine every other retailer will be doing the same

20241117_17al_BqeS5
Yeah I saw a price sticker at Walmart yesterday for the reduced price PS4s. Hope there are more than just the Fortnite bundles though.
 
bread's done
Back
Top