I hope you enjoyed that tryptophan coma, because you'll need all your wits about you today. The so-called biggest shopping day of the year is upon us, and if you're lucky, there's still time to get a few good deals before you head back home, whether you're shopping at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, whatever.
Helping you to plan your attack, we've rounded up most of the retailers advertising Black Friday sales, and since we don't know exactly where you're located, we've provided some of the biggest suppliers that have a location in pretty much every state in the union.
The sales themselves don't differ too much from retailer to retailer, so no matter where you go, you'll be able to net yourself some good deals without hurting the coin purse. For example, you'll see a few stores offering PS3 and Xbox 360 bundles. We suggest planning your visits to less frequented shops, or a location closer to you. The more people means the less options to get a deal as supplies are limited. There's also that whole "being trampled" thing.
Providing each and every sale item would be absurd, but we have narrowed down the sales to some of the best offers, and provided links to each retailer so if you like, you can scan their offers for yourself. Store hours are also provided, but this can change from location to location.
Fair warning, with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 having only released earlier this month, chances are slim you're going to find a deal on either console or the games. But they are out there (Best Buy, hint hint), just don't get your hopes up. Also, a lot of retailers don't announce their deals until the day of the sale, meaning come midnight tonight, there could be a few more. We'll check back and provide updates as needed.
That being said, read on to see the deals:
Toys R Us - opens Thursday, Nov. 28, 5PM
- Skylanders Giants or Spyro's Adventure Starter Pack for $9.99 when you buy a 3DS XL
- Dual Shock Controller or Xbox 360 Special Edition Camoflauge Wireless Controller for 39.99
- Buy 1 Get 1 for $1 Offer - 150 titles in all for Plants Vs. Zombies and LEGO Batman 2 on the DS, Saints Row III and Batman: Arkham City on the Xbox 360, and others
- 250 GB PS3 bundle offering Batman: Arkham Origins or The Last of Us for $199.99
- Xbox 360 Kinect Holiday Bundle - includes Kinect Sports Season, Kinect Adventures, and Halo 3, all for $199.99
- Wii U Skylanders bundle for $259, normally $299
- Nintendo 3DS bundle with Luigi's Mansion for $149
- Lastly, buy anything $75 or more, and they'll throw in a $10 gift card.
Best Buy - opens Thursday, Nov. 28, 6PM
- PS3 250GB bundle including The Last of Us or Batman: Arkham Origins only $199
* EXCLUSIVE Xbox 360 250GB bundle including Tomb Raider, Batman: Arkham City, Darksiders II, or Halo 4 for $189.99
- $34.99 game deals - PS3 - The Last of Us, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Beyond: Two Souls
- $34.99 game deals - Xbox 360 - Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Madden 25
- Battlefield 4 for Xbox One for $44.99
- Wii U bundle with Nintendo Land and Luigi Remote for $319.97
- 3DS bundle with Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon for $149.99
- Skylanders: Swap Force Starter Pack for $49.99
- $29.99 game deals - PS3 - Saints Row IV, Batman: Arkham Origins
- $29.99 game deals - Xbox 360 - Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
- $29.99 game deals - Wii - Just Dance 2014
- $29.99 game deals - PC - The Elder Scrolls Anthology
- Buy 2 Get One Free on all Skylanders: Swap Force single characters
- $11.99 game deals - PS3 - Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, LittleBigPlanet 2: Special Edition
- $11.99 game deals - Xbox 360 - Grand Theft Auto IV, Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition, Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
* I braved a local Best Buy early in the God forasaken morning and was not surprised to find that they had already been deprived of their next-gen stock by roughly 12:30 AM. Unfortunately, the sales rep on the floor I spoke with couldn't say when they were expecting more stock. But (and as I'm sure most of you are aware) they did have a system in place to alert interested customers when stock was coming in. If you text "gamer" to 332211, and accept all the rigamarole and possible charges over data / messaging rates, supposedly you'll get texts letting you know when the store would have more stock (at least, that's what the rep said). Obviously, this can easily vary from location to location, but it's better than calling every morning, or stopping by every day on a whim.
GameStop - opens at midnight tonight
- Xbox 360 250GB bundle including Halo 4 or Tomb Raider for $199 (Friday only)
- PS3 250GB bundle including The Last of Us or Batman: Arkham Origins only $199 (Friday only)
- Battlefield 4 for only $24.99 (Friday only)
- Just Dance 4 for only $14.99 (Friday only)
- Buy two pre-owned items get one free (includes games, accessories, systems and electronics)
- Pre-Owned Xbox 360+20GB Hard Drive and Extra Wireless Controller for $99.99
Target - opens at 8PM tonight. It looks like Target's Black Friday work online as well, but it's difficult to say, as when trying to investigate, you're led to ads specifically from the Target nearest you (kind of). As such, there might be some fluctuation in the items and prices from location to location, and in-store to online.
- All Sony DualShock 3 controllers, turtle Beach P11 and X12 headsets, and Xbox 360 camo or black wireless controllers for $39 each
- $10 game deals - Wii - Just Dance 3, Monster High: Skultimate Roller Maze, and more
- $10 game deals - Xbox 360 - Xbox Live 3 month gold membership, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Max Payne 3, and more
- $15 game deals - 3DS - Wreck it Ralph, Angry Birds Star Wars, and more
- $15 game deals - Wii - Wipeout: Create & Crash, and more
- $15 game deals - PC - The Sims 3, and more
- $15 game deals - PS3 - Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City, and more
- $25 game deals - 360 - Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more
- $25 game deals - Wii - Just Dance Kids 2014, and more
- $25 game deals - 3DS - LEGO: Marvel Super Heroes - Universe in Peril, and more
- $35 game deals - PS3 - FIFA 14, WWE 2K14, and more
- $35 game deals - 360 - Battlefield 4, Batman: Arkham Origins, Madden 25, and more
- free $20 gift card when you buy Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag on Xbox 360
- free $10 gift card when you buy Call of Duty: Ghosts for the Xbox 360, Just Dance 2014 for the Wii, or Mario and Luigi: Dream Team for the 3DS
- Buy 2 get 1 free deal on Skylanders characters and accessories
- Disney Infinity starter pack for $49.99
- Xbox 360 4GB Kinect bundle with one month free xbox live, Kinect Adventures! and Kinect Sports Season Two for $189.99
- PS3 250GB bundle including The Last of Us or Batman: Arkham Origins for $199
Kmart - Odd hours here, as Kmart has divided Thanksgiving and Black Friday hours into three different in-store "doorbuster" sales. What's being offered as far as video games go have been sectioned. There's also separate online hours, from 5AM to 7PM CST on Thanksgiving morning, 6PM that night to 2PM on Black Friday.
* Thanksgiving Morning Doorbusters 6AM - 5PM, Nov. 28
- Xbox 360 4GB with Kinect for $199.99,
- Xbox 360 Game Deals - Just Dance 4 for $29.99, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag for $49.99, Call of Duty: Black Ops II for $29.99, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for $19.99
- $39.99 game deals - Xbox 360 - Grand Theft Auto V, Battlefield 4, Madden 25, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Batman: Arkham Origins
- $39.99 game deals - PS3 - Beyond: Two Souls
- $29.99 game deals - 3DS - Mario Party Island, Pokémon Y, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
- Nintendo 3DS bundle with Luigi's Mansion for $149
* Thanksgiving Night Doorbusters 7PM - 3AM, Nov. 28
- $29.99 3DS game deals - LEGO: Marvel Super Heroes - Universe in Peril, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
- $34.99 3DS game deals - Pokémon X, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario Kart 7, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario 3D Land
- $39.99 Wii U game deals - Just Dance Kids 2014, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
- Other Wii U game deals - Super Mario 3D World for $49.99, Super Mario Bros. U for $44.99, Nintendo Land for $19.99
- Mario & Luigi Deluxe Set Wii U Bundle for $299.99, includes Super Mario Bros. U and Super Luigi U
* Black Friday Morning Doorbusters 6AM - 12 Noon, Nov. 29
- PS3 250GB bundle including The Last of Us or Batman: Arkham Origins for $199
- PS3 game deals - Beyond: Two Souls, Dead Space 3 for $39.99, Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus for $19.99
- 2DS in red or black for $119.99
- $24.99 3DS game deals - Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, LEGO: Marvel Super Heroes - Universe in Peril
Last, and most certainly least...Walmart - opens Thursday, Nov. 28, 6 PM
On a special note, I have to say that Walmart's website is an atrocious disaster to navigate, and suffers from all around sloppiness. Clicking on the Black Friday deals on the homepage sends you to whatever circulars the Walmart nearest you is sending out. A lack of a downloadable .pdf forces you to strain your eyes to read the ads on-screen, which is nigh-impossible to anyone without the vision of an eagle. Hovering the mouse arrow over the item is helpful, but following the contained links in the pop-up ad only serve to further confuse and annoy, leading to lists of items that are either not shown in the ad, not showing items that ARE in the ad, and even items advertised as a different price than how they appear in OTHER ads. I've provided notes where needed in an attempt to explain some of the offers. While the truly hard headed could theoretically find some excellent deals here after stirring up some false advertisement claims, don't count on it as a guarantee. With all the asterisks, online only, and other mumbo jumbo, I'd avoid this store like the plague, and both dimwitted simpletons that outsourced the job and the site's designer should be bludgeoned with a rock.
- Xbox 360 4GB for $99.99
- PS3 250GB bundle including The Last of Us or Batman: Arkham Origins for $199
- PS3 12GB for $149
- Disney Infinity Starter Pack for $38.96, same price for Skylanders Starter Pack
- 2DS, your choice of red or blue, for $99
- $10 games, no exact list given, but pictured are:
* for the Wii - Just Dance 2013
* for the DS - LEGO Batman 2, LEGO Battles Ninjaga
* for PC - World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
* for PS3 - Gran Turismo 5, Max Payne 3, Dead Island, Twisted Metal
* for Xbox 360 - Dishonored, Call of Duty 4, Batman: Arkham City, and others
- Call of Duty: Ghosts for $39.96 for PS3 or Xbox One
- $34 game deals - PS3 and Xbox 360 (limit 1 per customer) - ad links to this list which includes Call of Duty: Ghosts, which is odd given the aforementioned listing, however, the deal is more than likely referring specifically to Batman: Arkham Origins, NBA 2K14, Grand Theft Auto V, and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- There are also "over 41 games" listed for $15 each, and "over 37 games" listed for $25 each, but trying to determine which games fall under each category is another nightmare scenario, as the links in the ad lead to lists full of far more items then what the ad mentions.
Online specials
- Sony PlayStation Plus 1-year Card $29.96,
- Xbox Live 3-Month Gold Membership Card $12.96
- Nintendo 2DS Holiday Bundle for $119, (ad says your choice game, but Paper Mario: Sticker Star said to be standard)
- PlayStation Vita 3G/Wi-Fi 4GB with Telltale's The Walking Dead Complete First Season and 400 Days for $179
- Xbox 360 Holiday Bundle with Special Edition Camo Wireless Controller $139 (ad says your choice console, but lists 4GB console)
- PS3 Holiday Bundle $199 (ad says your choice console and controller, but consoles with larger storage add to item's cost)
- Wii U Holiday Bundle with choice of game (Just Dance 4, Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth, Assassin's Creed III, Rabbids Land, Ben 10 Omniverse, ZombiU, Rise of the Guardians, ESPN Sports Connection, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013, FIFA Soccer 2013, Madden NFL 13, Mass Effect 3, Transformers Prime, Phineas and Ferb Quest for Cool Stuff, The Croods: Prehistoric Party!) and controller for $329
- Nintendo 3DS XL Holiday Bundle with choice of blue, pink, black or red 3DS XL, and choice of two games (most of which aren't worth mentioning, trust me) for $219
