It’s so, so easy to hate on Wal-Mart, what with destroying this country’s mom and pop culture, importing cheap junk from China, and freaking out whenever employees mention the word “union.” But if you’re a gamer, you really ought to cast aside your prejudices, brave the crowds, and find the games you’ve always wanted for a good $10 less than what you’ll find elsewhere. That’s right: we’re having ourselves a good old fashioned price war.
Wal-Mart has taken it upon itself to sell video games this holiday season (not sure if it’s a permanent thing or not) for $10 less than you’ll find at GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, etc. Sixty dollar games become $50, $50 games become $40, and so on.
I don’t know if there’s any $40 games any more.
And credit to PC World for using the word “rubbish,” which is right up there with my favorite words this years, in describing the games you won’t find. You will find Halo: ODST for $10 less, but you won’t find Barbie Goes to Hollywood and Gets Mixed Up With the Wrong Crowd.
How have the likes of GameStop responded? Oh, by seeing the value of their stock go way down. GameStop stock tumbled 8.26 percent after word got out that Wal-Mart was meaning to eliminate the so-called “next-generation tax.”
In conclusion, if you’re so viciously anti-Wal-Mart that you won’t shop there for any reason whatsoever, then it may make sense to do your video game shopping there.
And if Wal-Mart is good enough for Ric Flair, then it’s good enough for me.