Joystiq
Joystiq News
Black Friday is usually a good time to restock on video games and gaming gear at a discount, and this year should be no exception. If you’re looking to pad out your backlog, pick up a new console or refresh your desktop with new peripherals, we’re rounding up the Black Friday gaming deals that are most worth your attention below.
To be candid, the selection as of Wednesday morning is fairly light — we expect tons more discounts to pop up Thursday and Friday, after , , and other retailers start their official Black Friday sales in earnest. That said, a number of noteworthy Switch, PS5 and Xbox games are already down to their lowest prices to date, while the Xbox Series X and a few well-reviewed accessories are cheaper than usual too. We’ve dug through reviews and to ensure each offer below is a genuine deal, and we’ll update this post regularly over the next couple of weeks as additional deals become available.
The Xbox Series X.
Photo by Aaron Souppouris / Engadget
Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Xbox Game Studios
The WD Black C50 Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S.
WD
The 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard.
Will Lipman Photography for Engadget
Check out all of the latest and deals here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at
Console Bang News!
To be candid, the selection as of Wednesday morning is fairly light — we expect tons more discounts to pop up Thursday and Friday, after , , and other retailers start their official Black Friday sales in earnest. That said, a number of noteworthy Switch, PS5 and Xbox games are already down to their lowest prices to date, while the Xbox Series X and a few well-reviewed accessories are cheaper than usual too. We’ve dug through reviews and to ensure each offer below is a genuine deal, and we’ll update this post regularly over the next couple of weeks as additional deals become available.
: This is well off the lowest price we’ve seen for the higher-end Xbox, and there’s a chance we see alternative deals next week. It is Microsoft’s , though, and any chance to save $50 is still worth calling out. Whether any Xbox is a must-have is , as Microsoft has emphasis on exclusives, but the Series X is still a if you’re sold on Xbox Game Pass or just have friends who use the platform. Also at , , and others.
: This is a new low for the recent Switch remake of the beloved GameCube RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Engadget Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar was pretty straightforward : “It’s great, you should play it.”
: The lively and brisk Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars remains one of the Super Nintendo’s essential games. It didn’t necessarily need a Switch remake, but it got one last year anyway; thankfully, the new version keeps the original’s oddball spirit in tact as it spruces up the visuals for true 3D. If you’re in the market for a lighter RPG, this deal at Amazon subsidiary Woot brings the game down to a new all-time low.
: Portal and Portal 2 are two of the most fully-actualized games ever made, a pair of human-lab-rat simulators overloaded with wit and mind-opening puzzles. The second is also one of our . This discount ties the lowest price we’ve seen for the Companion Collection, which bundles both games for the Switch, and it comes as part of a wider suite of at Nintendo’s online store.
The Xbox Series X.
Photo by Aaron Souppouris / Engadget
: The Mass Effect trilogy doesn’t hold up perfectly — the original is very much a game from 2007, while the overarching “morality” system feels ancient in a post- world — but it remains as accessible and deeply entertaining as any action-RPG series out there. The Legendary Edition remasters all three titles, and this discount brings the compilation down to its lowest price to date. The deal comes as part of the , which is otherwise light on standout offers.
: This matches the all-time low for The Master Chief Collection, which gathers five of the venerable FPS series’ essential games in one package. It also includes Halo 4 (we kid).
: Pentiment remains one of , a gorgeous and unusually soulful 2D adventure/visual novel that examines the nature of truth itself. This deal for the Xbox version represents an all-time low.
: Another entry on our list of the best Xbox games, Psychonauts 2 is a distinctly eccentric, wonderfully written 3D platformer that tackles heavy themes with real warmth. This is another all-time low. Several other digital Xbox games are on sale as part of .
Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Xbox Game Studios
: Madden could use a creative reset, but it’s ultimately still Madden, so there’s fun to be had if you’re in the football mood and feel like denying Patrick Mahomes a championship in at least one realm of existence. This is the best price to date for this year’s latest installment. Also at .
: We’re not going to sit here and tell you the series formerly known as FIFA is good — AI defending is still a mess, while the mode still blends grinding with gambling to mind-numbing effect — but we realize that many people just want to mess around as their favorite footy team. This is a new low for the PS5, PS4 and Xbox editions. Also at , , and . The is at an all-time low of $30, too, though it won’t run as well.
: We this is a new low for the physical PS5 and Xbox copies of the latest WWE game, which the itch for most people looking to do some fantasy booking and digital powerbombing. Just don’t be surprised if you run into a few bugs every now and then; this is a 2K game, after all. Also at , and , or for $23 at . The last-gen versions are on sale for a few bucks less as well.
: NBA 2K has its own longstanding issues with pay-to-win online modes and occasional glitchiness, but its on-court play is generally rock solid if you’re looking to play through a season or run some offline games with friends. This is a new low for the PS5 and Xbox copies of the game. Also at , and . has the Switch edition for $4 less, though that version is generally slower and more watered-down than the others.
The WD Black C50 Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S.
WD
: It’s aggravating, but the only way to the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to use a proprietary expansion card. Only two of those currently exist, but the C50 is one, and this discount drops the 1TB model to a new low. It’s normally sold for roughly $40 more in recent months. Is this still expensive compared to a normal SSD with the same capacity? You bet. But any extra savings should be welcome. Also at . A is a couple bucks above its all-time low at $68 as well.
: Seagate makes the other official storage expansion card for the Xbox Series X/S. This discount isn’t the best we’ve ever seen, and it’s been live for most of the month, but it’s still about $30 to $50 below the 2TB model’s typical street price. There’s little performance difference between this and the C50, so which is best merely comes down to how much space you need and whatever one costs less.
: While not a top pick in any of our keyboard guides, the wireless 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard is still a nice value for anyone looking to give their desk a more vintage look, as its keycaps and accents are inspired by Nintendo’s old NES console. It’s comfy for typing and hot-swappable, too, though the default switches are pretty noisy. This discount matches the lowest price we’ve seen.
The 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard.
Will Lipman Photography for Engadget
: Although it’s a 2023 model, this configuration of the A16 should do the job for value-minded buyers. It comes with a 16-inch 165Hz 1,920 x 1,200 display, an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an AMD Radeon RX 7700S GPU. You’ll still have to deal with the usual trade-offs of a cheaper gaming laptop — it can get warm under load, it’s bulky, the keyboard isn’t great and the screen is somewhat dim. But it’s powerful enough to run newer games in 1080p, the chassis generally feels sturdy, and the battery can reach double-digit hours when you aren’t gaming. This discount is $20 above than the config’s all-time low but ties the best price we’ve seen otherwise.
: This is a variant of the “no-compromise” pick in our guide to the . It’s a premium OLED panel with a sharp 4K resolution and a fast 240Hz refresh rate, though it can jump to a super-smooth 480Hz if you drop to 1080p (and own a PC that can handle that). That’s great if you spend a decent chunk of time in esports-style games like Counter-Strike 2. Being an OLED monitor gives it excellent contrast with deep black tones, though it’s not quite as vivid as the handful of high-end OLEDs that also use quantum dots to boost colors. Still, it’s well worth a look if you have cash to burn and know you’ll use the dual refresh rate modes. This deal has been live for a month but represents an all-time low. Also at and . Compared to the recommendation in our guide, the only differences with this model are that it has a white finish and its built-in speakers aren’t as strong.
Check out all of the latest and deals here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at
Console Bang News!