Used games a great way to save cash
If someone gave you a shiny new video game system for the holidays, you might be experiencing sticker shock. Yes, games cost between $20 and $60. Quite often, they're worth the price.
But you can save gobs of money buying used games online and at game stores. The biggest chain is GameStop/EB Games.
Used games are guaranteed from merchants such as GameStop and GameFly.com. The same can't be said of all games on Craigslist.
Anyway, here are great "preowned" bargains I found through GameStop.com and GameFly.com -- and they're all $10 or cheaper.
■ Xbox 360 games that originally retailed for $60:
"Rainbow Six: Vegas" ($4). "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07" ($4). "Gears of War" ($5). "Stranglehold" ($5). "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08" ($8). "Tomb Raider: Legend" ($8). And all the following fetch $10 now: "Ninja Gaiden II"; "Fallout 3"; "Gears of War 2"; "Battlefield: Bad Company"; "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion"; "Halo 3"; "Pro Evolution Soccer 2008"; "BlackSite: Area 51"; "The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena"; "NBA 2K10"; "Street Fighter IV"; "Crackdown"; "Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions"; "Fable 2"; "Mercenaries 2"; "Devil May Cry 4"; "Call of Duty 3"; "Condemned 2"; "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare"; "Battlefield 2: Modern Combat"; "F.E.A.R."; "Dead or Alive 4"; and "Rainbow Six: Vegas 2."
■ PS 3 games that originally retailed for $60:
"Madden NFL '09" ($5). "MotorStorm" ($5). "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07" ($5). "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08" ($6). "NBA 2K9" ($7). "Stranglehold" ($8). And the following fetch $10 now: "Fight Night Round 3"; "Metal Gear Solid 4"; "Rainbow Six: Vegas"; "Condemned 2"; "Grand Theft Auto IV"; "NBA 2K10"; "SOCOM: Confrontation"; and "Pro Evolution Soccer 2008."
■ Wii games that originally retailed for $40-$50:
"SSX Blur" ($7). And these fetch $10 now: "MadWorld"; "Soul Calibur Legends"; "Rockstar Games Table Tennis"; "Tornado Outbreak."
■ DS games that originally went for $20-$40:
"Elite Beat Agents" ($4). "Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble" ($4). "USA Today Crosswords Challenge" ($4). "Space Invaders Revolution" ($5). "Metroid Prime Pinball" ($6). "Kim Possible Kimmunicator" ($7). "Big Brain Academy" ($7). "New York Times Crosswords" ($7). "Moon" ($9). "Advance Wars: Days of Ruin" ($9). "Dementium II" ($9). "Wall-E" ($9). And these fetch $10 now: "Brain Age"; "Myst"; "Spore Creatures"; "Drawn to Life"; and one of my all-time favorites, "Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution."
You also can rent. GameFly.com works the way NetFlix's mail system does. Although, GameFly isn't as cheap as it used to be. You can rent one game per mailing for $16, or two games at a time for $23 a month.
Blockbuster charges $22 a month for a card that lets you rent an unlimited amount of games in person (at stores, not online) each month.
("Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution" by 2K Games for Xbox 360, PS 3 and DS -- Plays addictively fun. Looks very good for what it is. Moderately challenging. Rated "E 10+" for alcohol and tobacco reference, mild suggestive themes, violence. Four stars out of four.)
Contact Doug Elfman at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
NEW IN STORES
"Little Big Planet 2" (Sony) is 2011's sequel to the very acclaimed 2007 game.
You portray Sackboy (a boy made of a brown sack and buttons for eyes), you run left to run, and up and down, jumping up on platforms, bonking villains, and solving puzzles to get by obstacles.
This sequel comes with 30 story levels created by game designers for you to play offline.
And once again, if you want to create your own levels and characters, you can do so, then upload them online to the PlayStation Network for others to download and play them.
In fact, this sequel includes 3.5 million downloadable levels -- contemplate that for a moment -- that were created by regular gamers using the first "Little Big Planet's" game-creation tools.
This is a very family-friendly game that, unlike most kids games, can be played by adults who may be astonished by the gorgeousness of the settings. And you can play it in cooperative mode with up to four gamers total.
The Tuesday release retails for $60 for PS 3. It's rated "E."
It appears that the only video game released on the serendipitous date of 1/11/11 is a sports game for Wii called "101 in 1 Sports Party Megamix" (Atlus).
Since this is for Wii, this is not a hard-core sports title. It's a cartoonish game meant more for the typical Wii owner: someone who plays only now and then or is new to the gaming experience.
So you can play such breezy minigames as javelin, kayak racing, table tennis, potato sack, pole climbing, karate competition, jump rope, darts, logrolling, archery, skiing, horse riding, weight lifting, shot put and ax throwing.
There are some simplified elements of more mainstream athletics included, such as hockey. But it's not full-on hockey in the vein of "NHL Hockey." It's more like: You shoot pucks at a goal.
You can play alone in solo play, or in multiplayer matches that accept up to four gamers.
The game retails for $20 for DS. It's rated "E 10+" for mild cartoon violence.
-- By DOUG ELFMAN
