Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread XI

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IAmTheCheapestGamer

IAmTheCheapestGamer

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First off, let me welcome you all to the new guide thread. Second, I'd like to ask you all to please keep conversations not pertaining to guide drops to a minimum to avoid cluttering the thread. It's not that I don't enjoy the chit chat, but that it may stop others from locating information on the newest drops.

That being said, let me thank Cheapy for creating this site, without which I would've spent probably 10 times what I HAVE spent on games and guides. Moreover, let me thank each and every one of my fellow CAGs for continuing to contribute to making this site a great place to find out about sales and clearances of the items we as gamers use most. Without a great community, NONE of this would be possible.


Now, with that out of the way(and before I get to rambling), let's get on to making this new thread.

Useful Information(and links):

Game Guide Trade Thread(KEEP ALL TRADE REQUESTS HERE OR IN PM'S):

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175548

PLEASE keep ALL trade requests in there or PM's. Thank you.

Reduced Price Guide Discussion Thread(KEEP ALL DISCUSSION NOT RELATED TO GUIDE DROPS HERE!!!):

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169252

What is the purpose of this thread?

The purpose of this thread is to let our fellow CAGs know when a guide has dropped to a low price(it's NOT ALWAYS A PENNY), so they can go out and grab guides for themselves and for trading with other CAGs.

Anytime you have guide drops to report, post them here. Please specify at which store you found them and which guides you found and list them in alphabetical order. Thank you. Please, whenever possible, use RED font to make the drop info stand out. Thanks again.

What are penny guides?

Penny guides are guides which have been on the market for a while and the publisher(or store chain) decide that the remaining stock of these guides have little to no chance of selling, so they issue an order to pull them from the shelves and destroy them. At that time, they are also marked as .01 in their inventory system, except in the case of BBV, which marks them .01 only AFTER pulling them.

Most stores have an agreement with the publisher that states that if they destroy the remaining stock of those items, they will receive a credit for their value from the publisher. This is why many stores are usually annoyed when we CAGs come in and buy the guides AT the penny price, since otherwise they would've received a credit for those items.

According to an employee at a local BB, they also have a recycling program for the pennied stock, so as to not clutter landfill space with the guides. As to how true it is, I cannot confirm, but I would hope that the paper is at least recycled instead of just dumpstered.


Prior Reduced price game guide threads:

Guide Three:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...ighlight=guide
Guide Four:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/....php?p=1496376
Guide Five:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...ad.php?t=85976
Guide Six:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=116918
Guide Seven:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=131717
Guide Seven and a half:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=142400
Guide Eight:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=167157
Guide Nine:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=187222
Guide Ten:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219547

Finally, below is a list of website links, each of which goes to their respective guide page. Whenever possible, I will update the links with better ones(if available).

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
BestBuy
Gamestop
Overstock
Strategyguides.net
ToysRUs

Thanks to floormat, Guinaevere and anyone else who has created and maintained the guide thread before, as well as to all of those who find out either advance information on drops or provide a list of which ones dropped when we do have a drop.

The post below this one contains a list going back at LEAST six months of the more current guide drops, which stores they occured at and which ones dropped. Note that sometimes(Oblivion guide, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)there are multiple versions of a guide, be it that there are Prima versions, Brady versions and the occasional Nintendo and Doublejump guides.

Please specify WHICH version has dropped when mentioning possible guide drops. Thank you.

Common Guide Drop Related Questions(FAQ):

FAQ - If you are new (or a vet with a few questions) look here SECOND! (After reading the above!)

Q: What Are Penny Guides?
A: Penny guides are guides which have been on the market for a while and the publisher(or store chain) decide that the remaining stock of these guides have little to no chance of selling, so they issue an order to pull them from the shelves and destroy them. At that time, they are also marked as .01 in their inventory system, except in the case of BBV, which marks them .01 only AFTER pulling them.

Most stores have an agreement with the publisher that states that if they destroy the remaining stock of those items, they will receive a credit for their value from the publisher. This is why many stores are usually annoyed when we CAGs come in and buy the guides AT the penny price, since otherwise they would've received a full credit for those items.

According to an employee at a local BB, they also have a recycling program for the pennied stock, so as to not clutter landfill space with the guides. As to how true it is, I cannot confirm, but I would hope that the paper is at least recycled instead of just dumpstered.

Q: Do all guides from all stores drop at the same time?
A: No. While most chains have nationwide drops within their own store (as in every BB will have the same drops coast to coast), not every different chain drops at the same time (what drops at BB is NOT necessarily dropped at GS). When in doubt, check post TWO for drop info.

Q: I found a penny guide and a clerk denied me! I'ma report 'em!
A: Whoa, hold your horses there, pardner! First of all, not a question. Second, just because something is on the shelf, the clerk does NOT have to sell you that item. Most stores are PRIVATE property and as such can deny you just about anything they want - including a sale. The best advice is to not be rude, not be arrogant, and just try hard to get them to have pity on you.

Q: Why don't the clerks want to sell me their penny guides? Aren't they just throwing them away?
A: As stated above, the stores are ordered by the publisher to trash the guides, and are then given credit for those guides. If they don't do this, the publisher won't give them the credit - it's like losing a sale. On the employee level, selling a penny guide can sometimes get them in trouble (or even fired!) I know it seems silly, but this is their job we're talking about! Respect the man (or woman) behind the counter and you'll get a lot more guides than otherwise!

Q: Should I just ask if the store has penny guides then?
A: No, since that denotes that you have some insider information as to the runnings of these businesses.

Q: What if the clerk wants to know how I know so much about guide drops?
A: If asked where you got your info about guides that pennied, simply say either 'the internet' or 'a friend of mine told me they're on clearance'.

Q: But clerks will know what a penny guide is, right? I can talk to them like anyone else here...
A: Never use the word pennied to ANY store clerks unless you have built up a good rapport with them. Even then, it may seem a little fishy if you know more about their shop than they do.

Q: Are guides labeled as a penny on the shelf?
A: Sometimes. Most times, no. GS seems to label everything that gets a price drop, so often times guides will be stickered. But even so, they most likely won't sell them to you. A sticker does not mean 'have to sell'.

Q: I tried to buy a guide that this thread said was pennied and it didn't ring up as such! What gives?
A: Either 1) Our source was wrong (this rarely happens and is usually verified a FEW times within maybe an hour of posting), or 2) The clerk changed the price. It's usually number 2.

Q: What's the easiest way to get penny guides? This sounds like TONS of work!
A: Best Buy is probably the best place to get guides, followed by GameStop, GameCrazy, Toys R Us and then Blockbuster. From what I've seen though, probably 95% of guides that people get are snagged at BB - the rest come from the other stores. But it never hurts to try!

Q: Has there been a drop recently?
A: If you are asking this question you didn't fully understand the OP - go back and read it once more. When a drop happens, it will be posted, and then placed in the second post - trust us.

Q: How do you guys know so much about penny guides?
A: We sometimes have inside sources with the information from the stores themselves; other times, fellow CAGS just like you or me simply take suspected guides to the register and ask them to ring them up, to check their prices. Feel free to do this yourself, and help give back to the community by telling us what you find! However, DON'T ask "Has anyone checked XXX lately?", unless you are in the right thread (discussion area).

Thanks to GrilledWitOnions for creating the above FAQ, which should eliminate the need for such questions popping up in the thread from this point on out.
 
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fuck. They pulled the guides at the BB closest to me. The guide section was half-empty . Most of that space was filled by about 60 copies of the Halo ODST guide. It wasn't a total loss, though... they still had a couple of the Spore: Galactic Command? Guide. : (
 
[quote name='Nogib']Just watched some dufus actively pulling.[/QUOTE]

You should have said "excuse me," took some guides and hid them in another section!
 
So what happens to all the guides that get pulled? do they go back to the manufacture or do they end up in the dumpster bin
 
[quote name='trailmix10']So what happens to all the guides that get pulled? do they go back to the manufacture or do they end up in the dumpster bin[/QUOTE]

They get field destroyed which usually means the covers are ripped off and the rest are trashed. Don't think about dumpster diving, though, as BB has industrial trash compactors and does not have traditional dumpsters like GS.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']They get field destroyed which usually means the covers are ripped off and the rest are trashed. Don't think about dumpster diving, though, as BB has industrial trash compactors and does not have traditional dumpsters like GS.[/QUOTE]

damn lol :) im not really a collector of game guides but those are truly some good deals on guides if one is able to find and purchase them. only guide i own is the guides to the harvest moon ps1 and metal gear good luck to everyone else out there though
 
[quote name='Doomstink']They get field destroyed which usually means the covers are ripped off and the rest are trashed. Don't think about dumpster diving, though, as BB has industrial trash compactors and does not have traditional dumpsters like GS.[/QUOTE]

At my store, at least, they just get shipped back with the other returns.
 
Remember guys, even if they're pulled, doesn't mean they're dead. My BB, for example, often pulls them to price change them (put penny sticker on them). An employee was in the middle of doing this one drop I stopped by during and took me to the back room where a guy was stickering them so I could get what I wanted.

We've also had multiple reports of old penny guides getting put back on shelves (hell, I found Madworld 3 months after it pennied, when it was nowhere to be found at the initial drop).

Of course, this is YMMV, but don't view a pre-pull as the end of the world quite yet.
 
I'm going to hit up mine Monday after work. They had a Army of Two and a Dragon Age. Badly want the Army of Two since i love that game and i collect guides for my favorite games just because, so if i don't get it can someone here hook me up please? i will gladly compensate.
 
[quote name='loxthefox']At my store, at least, they just get shipped back with the other returns.[/QUOTE]

Same with my store. They are all intact. No covers ripped off or anything.
 
I really, really want the DAO LE guide but I haven't seen it for months in all the BB within 100 miles radius.

I hope some kind CAG who manages to grab an extra would like to sell or trade it.
 
So, seems there's a little confusion in the thread. Has anyone been able to buy any of the new penny-drops today? Quite a few posts seem to say it is so. I wasn't planning on going out until Monday.
 
[quote name='eugaet']So, seems there's a little confusion in the thread. Has anyone been able to buy any of the new penny-drops today? Quite a few posts seem to say it is so. I wasn't planning on going out until Monday.[/QUOTE]
No confusion. No one has bought anything yet. Talk of stashing guides or just seeing if anything is out on the floor or removed only.
 
[quote name='oldboy26']I'm going to hit up mine Monday after work. They had a Army of Two and a Dragon Age. Badly want the Army of Two since i love that game and i collect guides for my favorite games just because, so if i don't get it can someone here hook me up please? i will gladly compensate.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='eugaet']So, seems there's a little confusion in the thread. Has anyone been able to buy any of the new penny-drops today? Quite a few posts seem to say it is so. I wasn't planning on going out until Monday.[/QUOTE]

Personally I am just scouting since I have 2 best buys on my route.
 
[quote name='irishsoccermbw']I always stash guides behind a pile of microwaves, never been caught hiding them and they have yet to be found.[/QUOTE]
The only times I've ever tried hiding any guides, they ended up falling flat to the floor behind a shelf and wayyyyy outta my reach.:lol:

Otherwise, I just go in on Tuesday or Wednesday anymore and if the guides are still there then I grab all dem shitz.

Oh and Token.....I'm not putting an unverified list in the second post.:razz: Although I do thank lox and Frosty for keeping us informed on drops.

Besides which, if the list is up there for everyone to see and not have to fish through posts to find, then I might have more competition.:razz:
 
Barely found anything :( I found nothing I wanted. I hid a Fallout 3 GOTY and 2 Kingdom Hearts. I just got those for trading.
 
For those who want the DAO:CE, you should buy one anyway and then return it after you score one. I assume its better to go and pay for one than trading for one and once this is gone, its gone. i'd rather pay store price than reseller prices.
 
[quote name='Estebon']For those who want the DAO:CE, you should buy one anyway and then return it after you score one. I assume its better to go and pay for one than trading for one and once this is gone, its gone. i'd rather pay store price than reseller prices.[/QUOTE]
:razz: A man's gotta eat, ya know.;)

The way it is, I think I've given away far too many guides that later on turned out to be worth good money for far too little.

That's about to change though.;)
 
[quote name='Estebon']For those who want the DAO:CE, you should buy one anyway and then return it after you score one. I assume its better to go and pay for one than trading for one and once this is gone, its gone. i'd rather pay store price than reseller prices.[/QUOTE]

What? If you want DAO:CE why wouldn't you buy one in the firstplace?
 
People here are cheap. Thats the point of the site. Why pay $34.99 when you can pay .01. Thing is, BB is now on to us and its better to just go and buy one at retail price than not score one and then hope you can get one for a trade or cheap down the road. Its not going to happen. I'd rather pay $34.99 than a higher price down the road.
 
[quote name='judgedee']What? If you want DAO:CE why wouldn't you buy one in the firstplace?[/QUOTE]
Because it's a decision between paying $35 or $.01. Personally, the 50/50 chance of getting one for a penny will almost always win out over paying MSRP.
 
[quote name='Estebon']People here are cheap. Thats the point of the site. Why pay $34.99 when you can pay .01. Thing is, BB is now on to us and its better to just go and buy one at retail price than not score one and then hope you can get one for a trade or cheap down the road. Its not going to happen. I'd rather pay $34.99 than a higher price down the road.[/QUOTE]


People actually wait for guides they want to penny out rather than buying them straight out?

Do these people also wait for the games to be discounted heavily before buying the game too?

How is it a 50/50 chance btw? There is so many factors that go into a penny guide that your odds of the guide you want going for a penny should be much much much lower.
 
[quote name='typical guy']I nearly always wait for at least a price drop? why pay 60 dollars?[/QUOTE]

Really? You wait 1-2 months for a price drop before buying a game you want? That's the kind of price drop I am talking about. I am not talking about Amazon Promos/ Walmart Promos/ TRU promos
 
[quote name='judgedee']People actually wait for guides they want to penny out rather than buying them straight out?[/QUOTE]Short answer: Yes
Long answer: Hell, yes.

And I've waited years to buy a game before it dropped to a price I would pay.
 
[quote name='eugaet']Short answer: Yes
Long answer: Hell, yes.

And I've waited years to buy a game before it dropped to a price I would pay.[/QUOTE]

lol may I ask which game that is? I mean if its a game I have a mild interest in I wait like any other person. But if its a game like Red Dead or SC2 I can't wait so I buy it release day.
 
[quote name='judgedee']People actually wait for guides they want to penny out rather than buying them straight out?

Do these people also wait for the games to be discounted heavily before buying the game too?

How is it a 50/50 chance btw? There is so many factors that go into a penny guide that your odds of the guide you want going for a penny should be much much much lower.[/QUOTE]
I'll admit that I've bought at least a few guides at MSRP over the past 3-4 years(GTA IV, Red Dead Redemption), but that was only because I figured I would NEVER find one once they pennied and I was dead on with GTA IV since every copy was long gone before BB pennied it. Of course I also bought the guides using cheaply acquired credit.

Couple that with the ever increasing denials I keep getting when I find guides that'll ring up a penny and that's why I'm glad I had a buttload of cheap GS credit.

If not for credit I made by trading in games I paid next to nothing for,(or nothing in the case of trading multiples of the BB free after coupon games) I would NEVER buy a game on release date and at MSRP.

As it stands, I've bought and/or reserved 4-6 games at MSRP over the past 2-3 years(Mercenaries 2, Little Big Planet, GTA IV, GTA Episodes, Red Dead Redemption, Transformers: War For Cybertron), but only because I made the credit so cheaply.

Otherwise, I'd have waited till at least a couple of price drops happened before buying any of those games.
 
the only guides i've ever paid full price for are Final Fantasy guides. Otherwise i just ebay everything and always buy atleast 3-4 guides at a time from one seller to save on shipping and keep costs down as much as possible. I normally get guides around 4-6 sometimes even cheaper if i get some unlucky person who chose to offer free shipping but then gets screwed and i get a guide for $2-3 shipped!
 
shit ton of lurkers posting in this thread for the first time cause of the upcoming drop announcement. where are you guys on every other monday?
 
[quote name='judgedee']Really? You wait 1-2 months for a price drop before buying a game you want? That's the kind of price drop I am talking about. I am not talking about Amazon Promos/ Walmart Promos/ TRU promos[/QUOTE]

When I'm buying a game for myself, I never buy it for full price. For example, I've only recently picked up Fable 2 GOTY when it was very low in price and I've wanted that since it was released originally. I haven't picked up Fallout 3 yet because I want to get the GOTY version for cheap. I'm hoping to pick it up for 10 or so at some point this year or next. There are other games. Red Dead for instance is one that I have not purchased. I'm undecided if I want it or not but if I get it, it won't be until it's down in price. I'm not talking about promos either, I'm talking about waiting 1-3 years for games to be cheap.

I think we need some perspective here, these are video games. I enjoy them but they are not that important to me. If I spend $60 on 5 different games, that's $300. That's a lot of money when I could get those same games for $100 (assuming I don't wait till they go below 20). This is real money we're talking about here and it adds up. When you're buying baby bottles and formula, you kind of realize that extra $40 premium you pay to get it right away just isn't worth it.
 
[quote name='judgedee']lol may I ask which game that is? I mean if its a game I have a mild interest in I wait like any other person. But if its a game like Red Dead or SC2 I can't wait so I buy it release day.[/QUOTE]There's a lot of games I wait to hit clearance at
 
[quote name='typical guy']When I'm buying a game for myself, I never buy it for full price. For example, I've only recently picked up Fable 2 GOTY when it was very low in price and I've wanted that since it was released originally. I haven't picked up Fallout 3 yet because I want to get the GOTY version for cheap. I'm hoping to pick it up for 10 or so at some point this year or next. There are other games. Red Dead for instance is one that I have not purchased. I'm undecided if I want it or not but if I get it, it won't be until it's down in price. I'm not talking about promos either, I'm talking about waiting 1-3 years for games to be cheap.

I think we need some perspective here, these are video games. I enjoy them but they are not that important to me. If I spend $60 on 5 different games, that's $300. That's a lot of money when I could get those same games for $100 (assuming I don't wait till they go below 20). This is real money we're talking about here and it adds up. When you're buying baby bottles and formula, you kind of realize that extra $40 premium you pay to get it right away just isn't worth it.[/QUOTE]
Lucky for me I'm single, have no kids and had a shitton of GS credit for a loooong time which afforded me the ability to grab as many games as I did for next to nothing, even if they were at MSRP the credit wasn't made $1 real cash for $1 in credit.
 
I havent bought a guide in years, fallout 3 and some guides like ff7 and re2 back in the day :) I have never got a penny guide, but there's always time for firsts. I bet they have them pulled already tho, and like someone said earlier, my bestbuy isn't busy enough so i would be like SolidSnake sneaking around. lol

peace n good luck cags :) oh yeah and baby coming Jan 6th, Day of the Magi ;) Should I name it Magus if it's an evil dark elf? Link if it's a boy, Isabella if it's a girl?
 
[quote name='Wolve11']shit ton of lurkers posting in this thread for the first time cause of the upcoming drop announcement. where are you guys on every other monday?[/QUOTE]

I would rather a lurker than a bunch of people posting useless stuff.
 
[quote name='Wolve11']shit ton of lurkers posting in this thread for the first time cause of the upcoming drop announcement. where are you guys on every other monday?[/QUOTE]
OK, you're trolling and I bit. Since Lox posted the list, there have been two CAGs in training that posted and each have more than 100 posts, hardly lurkers. Nearly all of the posts are by regulars to the thread. So I ask "Whaaat"? Additionally, what would it matter? Should everyone post on every Monday for the last 3 months when nothing was happening (Best Buy)?

EDIT: Sorry, but Zero=Shit ton?
 
[quote name='Wolve11']shit ton of lurkers posting in this thread for the first time cause of the upcoming drop announcement. where are you guys on every other monday?[/QUOTE]

It's sad how defensive some of these kids get. Grow up, they are just games and guides that have no affect on your life. You'll never enjoy even half them because all you care about is a quick buck while some of us actually us these deals to get great items that we will actually keep and enjoy instead of just flipping for a quick buck just to use that money to flip another game and follow an endless and shallow road where we never enjoy anything we buy because we turn it around too fast.
 
im just curious from reading the past 5 or so pages on this post either A)your all poor asses or B) your all cheap. not granted yes i know this is cheapassgamer but the way people talk its like your all broke and cant afford a game at retail. i buy every single rpg game and guide. guides i buy from amazon as they sell guides for 30-35% discount new. games mostly buy from gamestop or amazon. certain games i will wait on as they are just horrid rpgs and will be bound for clearance bins but most of my games i buy retail. shrugs maybe its just me but id rather buy a game/guide for retail then be the poor sap whose crying he didnt buy it on retail.
 
perfect examples to back up what i said are many rpg collectors one being the infamous demon souls collectors i bought 3 on retail and glad i did as implied in atlus newsletter it was going to be very limited. guides the most notable rarity of recent is star ocean second evolution and oblivion goty guides. both are 120+ new guides.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Like you just did?:razz:[/QUOTE]

I anticipated this response. My posts are infrequent and try to reel the banter in and keep things on-topic, so I feel my posts are relevant, even if they aren't usually talking about a specific drop.

I know your response was tongue-in-cheek, so I don't take offense.
 
[quote name='confoosious']hope you're talking about penny guides.[/QUOTE]:rofl: Thank you, that laugh was definitely needed.

[quote name='Ubiiquitous']I anticipated this response. My posts are some of the best on this forum.[/QUOTE]
Fixed.


Hoping to find a fallout 3 goty le, as i accidentally traded my fallout 3 le a while ago to amazon. Ugh... sometimes I seriously have no clue what I'm doing.
 
[quote name='gauu']perfect examples to back up what i said are many rpg collectors one being the infamous demon souls collectors i bought 3 on retail and glad i did as implied in atlus newsletter it was going to be very limited. guides the most notable rarity of recent is star ocean second evolution and oblivion goty guides. both are 120+ new guides.[/QUOTE]

That's great that some things are worth more over time. I don't think it's a good example to point to a few things and say this is the reason to buy things when they first come out. Starting a collection in an attempt to make money on something that will become rare does not seem wise to me. You can buy 20 games on release and one of them becomes more valuable than what you paid for it. Maybe even 2. Hell, I'll give you (and this is a huge stretch) 50% of these 20 games are worth double what you paid. Well how much would you have saved if you bought all 20 games for 10 dollars each as opposed to 60 (or more for CE versions)? Geez, I can buy all of those games for the price of a couple of your collectors editions. You're going to have to have more than a doubling of value to make this kind of investment scheme valuable. Even if you bought all 20 games at $20 each, that's $400 total. Now lets assume you bought all 20 games for $60. Now you're paying $1,200. Even with me paying 20 for each game and you paying 60 for each game (including the CE ones) you're still going to have to make up an $800 difference in game prices.

Now that may be too much emphasis on one of your points but in my mind, the value of the guides is a key point you're trying to make. You're indicating you're glad you bought them new because they cost $120 now. Well, how about you don't buy them new. Only get them really cheap (like 1 cent) and see how much you saved? How much do 5 or 6 of your guides cost anyway? Are you even going to sell that guide that's worth 120? If you just wait it out and can't get it later, just use the freaking Interwebs to find the solutions to your problems!
 
[quote name='oldboy26']It's sad how defensive some of these kids get. Grow up, they are just games and guides that have no affect on your life. You'll never enjoy even half them because all you care about is a quick buck while some of us actually us these deals to get great items that we will actually keep and enjoy instead of just flipping for a quick buck just to use that money to flip another game and follow an endless and shallow road where we never enjoy anything we buy because we turn it around too fast.[/QUOTE]
While I may flip games many times, I don't really do so anymore unless it's something I got stupid cheap or it's something which I know(thanks to the GS TIV thread)has some value left.

But by the time I finish a single game anymore the trade value on it is total crap, so I end up keeping it or trading it here on CAG.

As for buying at MSRP, like said before I'll only buy if it's with cheap credit. If I have to spend real cash to get a game it better be a nominal amount or I'll wait for a price drop or two before buying.
 
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