CheapSkate Gamer

Greetings all, this is your friendly neighbourhood Batguy, filling in for lamboman who has taken ill with a terrible case of exams. Get well soon buddy! Before we get to this week’s prices, I’m going to share one of my personal cheapskate tips with you: International Xbox Live accounts.

It should come as no surprise to budget-minded Australian gamers that we are paying more for Xbox Live downloads than our international cousins. As a comparison, 1000MSP costs $16.50 in Australia, $US12.50 in America (approx $AUD12) and £8.50 in the UK (approx $AUD13.50). This means that if you can buy your XBL games and DLC from the US, you will get an instant 25% discount at the current exchange rates. Bargain! As an added bonus, the American store has content that is otherwise denied to us – most notably Indie games and the Rock Band Network, although that didn’t seem to work when I tried it last night.

So what do you need to take advantage of these savings? Firstly, you need an an American Xbox Live account. I won’t go into all the details here, but you can create one very easily from your Xbox 360 or the web. Then you need to add some US Microsoft points to the account. I’ve purchased points from Maximum cards many times without any problems and the codes arrive via email within a minute or two. Finally, buy the US content on the same Xbox 360 that you would normally use with your Australian account, so that all accounts on that machine can play it. Note that some people have reported compatibility issues between foreign DLC and local games – I haven’t, but buyer beware.

An American PSN account has similar benefits, but last time I downloaded from the US store it needed to go through an American proxy server. Unfortunately the store is currently down so I can’t check if this is still the case.

If you need any more information about how to create an international account, or you wish to share your own experiences, please let us know in the comments.

Now onwards to the prices! Unless otherwise stated, I’ve given the cheapest in-stock online price I could find. All these sites have free postage.

Coupon
If you use the coupon OZPRICECHECK5, before June 4, you can save $5 on orders over $30 from ozgameshop (Thanks to FatShady for the tip). This makes some of the prices below even more insane!

PC Retail
Alpha Protocol approx $8
Batman: Arkham Asylum approx $8
Bioshock 2 approx $8
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat approx $8
The Witcher Enhanced $8
Aliens vs Predator $10.99
Just Cause and Deus Ex $12
Mass Effect 2 $15.99
Mafia II $21.49
Sid Meier’s Civilization V $21.49
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood approx $23
Fallout New Vegas approx $23
Crysis 2 $29.49
Brink approx $35
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings (Premium Edition) approx $37

A selection of games at three for approx $16 are also available.

PC Digital
Ah Steam. We all love Steam because it’s so easy to buy top quality games at rock-bottom prices, but, well, we all hate it because it’s too easy to buy top quality games at rock-bottom prices. They’ve started doing weekly and daily sales so it’s pointless trying to list them all for you. It’s best that you go check the latest Steam sales for yourself here or a price tracker here.

Gamersgate, GOG and Direct2Drive also have daily and weekly specials you might want to look into.

Some of the interesting prices out there as I write this include:

Just Cause 2 approx $5 (expires 5PM AEST today)
Homefront approx $32 (expires 6PM AEST today)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Retribution Complete Pack approx $40
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings (Digital Premium Edition) $69.99 with $26 GOG credit.
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition approx $10
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (pre-order) approx $43 – Get in before they realise we live in Australia and bump up the price!

Xbox 360
Bioshock 2 approx $16
De Blob 2 approx $16
Batman: Arkham Asylum approx $17
Deathsmiles: Deluxe Edition approx $17
Bayonetta $17.99
Final Fantasy XIII $19
NBA Jam approx $19
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West approx $20
Lego Batman approx $20
Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 approx $20, Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 Collectors Edition $28.99
Splatterhouse approx $20
Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands approx $20
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood approx $23
Mass Effect 2 approx $23
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition approx $23
Skate 3 approx $23
Aliens vs Predator $24
Red Dead Redemption $27.99
Fallout New Vegas approx $28
Marvel Vs Capcom 3 approx $28
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 approx $28
Alan Wake $29 (Alan Wake $21.99 Out of stock)
Mafia II $26.49
Crysis 2 $42.99
Brink approx $51
Dark Souls – Special Edition (pre-order) approx $57
Alien Noire $59.99

XBL Gold Member Deal of the Week
I’m a big fan of the XBL DOTW. You can pick up quality games and DLC at significant discounts if you’re a gold member and are willing to wait till a couple of months after release. The outgoing deal is the Bethesda Blowout, with 50% savings on Fallout 3 and Oblivion expansions, avatar items, and, yes, horse armour. Hmmm… some good stuff (The armour! So shiny!), but I imagine you would probably already have any of these that interest you. However, this deal is due to end any moment now, so I’ll update the story or the comments as soon as I know what the new deal is.

PS3
De Blob 2 approx $16
Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands approx $16
Batman: Arkham Asylum approx $17
Aliens vs Predator $18.99
Bioshock 2 $18.99
Bayonetta $19
Dante’s Inferno $19
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West approx $20
Final Fantasy XIII approx $20
Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 approx $20, Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 Collectors Edition $27.99
Prince Of Persia Trilogy: HD Collection approx $20
Splatterhouse approx $20
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood approx $23
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition approx $23
Skate 3 approx $23
Red Dead Redemption $25.99
Alpha Protocol – The Espionage RPG $28
Fallout New Vegas approx $28
Marvel VS Capcom 3 approx $28
Mafia II $28.99
BioShock 2 $29
Crysis 2 $42.99
Brink $50.99
Dark Souls – Special Edition (pre-order) approx $57
LA Water $57.99
Infamous 2 Hero Edition (pre-order) $169

Wii
MADWORLD approx $11
De Blob 2: The Underground approx $16
Lego Batman approx $20
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle approx $23
Resident Evil 4 approx $23
Metroid: Other M $39
Donkey Kong Country Returns $48.99
Nintendo Wii Black Console Plus Mario Kart Game Bundle $188 in store at Big W

3DS
Super Monkey Ball $26.99
Puzzle Bobble Universe $33.49
Rayman 3D approx $37
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars approx $37
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D approx $37
Nintendogs + Cats (Golden Retriever) approx $39
Super Street Fighter IV approx $43
Dead or Alive: Dimensions approx $46
LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean $45.99
Pilotwings Resort $45.99
Steel Diver approx $46

DS
Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands $13.76
De Blob 2 approx $16
Puzzle Quest 2 approx $19
Hello Kitty: Birthday Adventures approx $20
Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 approx $20
Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass & Spirit Tracks $70 in store at Big W ENDS TODAY!!

PSP
Lord Of Arcana: Slayer Edition approx $16
Modnation Racers approx $16
Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 approx $17
Star Ocean: First Departure approx $20
Tactics Ogre approx $23
God Of War: Ghost of Sparta $29.95
LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean approx $36

A selection of games at 2 for approx $40 across all platforms is also available, though many of them are actually cheaper if bought individually. Go figure.

Did I leave any deals out? If so, comment below or on Facebook, and tell us where!

Lamboman may be away, but Jimu is not. He has been hard at work on the latest installment of Commander Computer Games and I have it here now for your enjoyment. Take it away Jimu!

Next week should see the return of Lamboman. I now appreciate just how much work it takes to write this column and will be welcoming him back with open arms. Lavish your praise upon him people, because he deserves it!


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