Stores have sales all the time. Every once in awhile, Wal-Mart, or Best Buy, or Target, or really any store will have whatever the flavor-of-the-month game on sale for $10 off, or half off. But this does not happen often.
This is a time where the newest Call of Duty will cost $60 at launch, plus $50 for the DLC, and a time where the newest edition of the Madden series will cost $60 for, essentially, a roster update.
This type of price gouging makes online shopping a must for anyone who wants to new-ish games.
Web sites like Green Man Gaming, Amazon, Steam and Origin have sales daily on some of the best modern games.
Games like Bioshock Infinite, Fallout 3, and Battlefield 3 are not rarities on the proverbial online sales-racks.
Why, just last winter, during the Steam Winter Sale, I was able to pick up every game in the Grand Theft Auto series, sans GTA V, obviously, for just $10.
A couple of months later, I was able to pick up a bunch of games off of the Humble Bundle, a website that many game developers partner with, and every cent of the sales will go to charity.
For whatever amount of money you are willing to donate, (with a special bonus game if you pay above the average price) you will be given Origin and Steam keys (PC clients for buying games, they are stores similar to the PSN Store or the XBOX Marketplace) to download those games onto your computer.
One such sale had titles like Battlefield 3, The Sims 3 (plus 3 expansions), Crysis 2, Burnout: Paradise: The Ultimate Box, and more, including soundtracks for each game.
The overall value for this pack without the sale would have been $166. I paid $10.
PC games aren’t the only games ever on sale, however.
Last Black Friday, I was able to pick up Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty World at War, Skate 3, and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock for $8 each off of Amazon.
Look, the moral of the story here is that no matter how good the sale is at a brick and mortar store, there is always a better deal online.
Always check the computer before you head out to the store.