VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

[bikingjahuty]

The US needs Black Friday deals on groceries instead of games and big TVs.

Sadly, even if they made groceries super cheap for one weekend, it still wouldn't fix the underlying issue of your money being worth jack now due to unchecked inflation. I don't want to make this political, but inflation benefits people at the top, while hurting practically everyone else. Unless something is done about that, which there won't be, inflation is just going to get worse and worse. Our politicians, nearly all of them, will never bite the hand that feeds them.

[kashell]

The US needs Black Friday deals on groceries instead of games and big TVs.

Sadly, even if they made groceries super cheap for one weekend, it still wouldn't fix the underlying issue of your money being worth jack now due to unchecked inflation. I don't want to make this political, but inflation benefits people at the top, while hurting practically everyone else. Unless something is done about that, which there won't be, inflation is just going to get worse and worse. Our politicians, nearly all of them, will never bite the hand that feeds them.

Oh, of course. I was just being a bit silly. Black Friday is usually associated with overconsumption of stuff that isn't necessary.

[marvelvscapcom2]

The US needs Black Friday deals on groceries instead of games and big TVs.

Sadly, even if they made groceries super cheap for one weekend, it still wouldn't fix the underlying issue of your money being worth jack now due to unchecked inflation. I don't want to make this political, but inflation benefits people at the top, while hurting practically everyone else. Unless something is done about that, which there won't be, inflation is just going to get worse and worse. Our politicians, nearly all of them, will never bite the hand that feeds them.

Without making this too political subreddit level. I will say I wholeheartedly agree.  This year has been rocky to say the least. The 99 percent bleeds so the 1 percent can live in excess. What hurts the Bee benefits the badger.  The bee sees its home and lifes work breaking away. The badger sees free honey. I dont see an end in sight. Only varying degrees of bad.

Surprisingly though.  TVs went from something people would save for months to buy. A big family decision with the wife. Now its something college kids abandon in their dorms. As a gift I got a 55 inch 4k tv for 115 dollars.  Crazy how that industry has evolved to be cheaper somehow.  Really nice set too.


With that said... I do wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and gaming holiday    Whatever that looks like to you all! 

[tripredacus]

I don't want to make this political, but inflation benefits people at the top, while hurting practically everyone else.

It seems that way but this isn't the case. It doesn't actually benefit anyone. Inflationary periods always lead to consoliation at the top, yes, but this also happens in the other levels as well. It just appears that way because numbers go up and we are lead to believe that big number > small number.

[Warmsignal]

This is the first year in almost two decades where I really don't care at all about the potential deals to be had on video games right now. The problem is multifaceted. There's very little being released that people like myself actually would want this holiday season, most of the stores in my area that still have games have a pitiful selection so even if they offer a discount online the stores won't have any product you can actually go get, and of course, the discounted games this year are mostly last year's games or crap titles and now that MSRP is higher than ever that 25% to 30% off doesn't seem like such a sweet deal anymore.

All the years I remember standing in lines to get fantastic deals on recent releases that were super hyped, and buy two get one sales when there was actually enough games in the store to pick three you wanted. It was always the most fun time of year to be game shopping. This year it just feels like it's over, it's a thing of the past. It exists on a handful of websites, and it's nothing you really want.

So yeah, it's another tradition ruined by modernity.

[bikingjahuty]

This is the first year in almost two decades where I really don't care at all about the potential deals to be had on video games right now. The problem is multifaceted. There's very little being released that people like myself actually would want this holiday season, most of the stores in my area that still have games have a pitiful selection so even if they offer a discount online the stores won't have any product you can actually go get, and of course, the discounted games this year are mostly last year's games or crap titles and now that MSRP is higher than ever that 25% to 30% off doesn't seem like such a sweet deal anymore.

All the years I remember standing in lines to get fantastic deals on recent releases that were super hyped, and buy two get one sales when there was actually enough games in the store to pick three you wanted. It was always the most fun time of year to be game shopping. This year it just feels like it's over, it's a thing of the past. It exists on a handful of websites, and it's nothing you really want.

So yeah, it's another tradition ruined by modernity.

At least for me it's been an opportunity to get games I wasn't going to pay full price for, but still wanted to play eventually. Perfect example of this was God of War Ragnorok which I picked up for $20 the other day. I also picked up a few switch games I've wanted as part of a B2G1 deal on used games at Gamestop. I don't think there will ever be a time where there aren't at least a few games I'm interested in buying at some point.


With that said, I agree with you that Black Friday isn't what it used to be as a gamer and collector. I used to go all over town to multiple Gamestops taking advantage of their B2G1 or B2G2 deals they've done in the past. On more than one occasional I actually spent too much money, but didn't care since I had like 10+ new games I'd wanted for a long time. Not only that, but the amount of new games I wanted was definitely higher than it is now. You're definitely not alone when it comes to feeling a bit disenchanted about the modern gaming landscape, but luckily it's not all doom and gloom. There are still a bunch of indie games that are getting released that I'm finding more and more have the soul that the mainstream industry has been lacking for some time. The only problem with indie games is getting them physically since there are only a handful of companies that make limited physical copies of them. Even though a lot of the better indie games that come out usually get the physical release treatment, there are sadly quite a few that never will, especially with the end of physical games being on the horizon. I guess my advise is to expand your horizons when it comes to gaming if you haven't already. There are a lot of great games out there if you're looking in the right place.

[marvelvscapcom2]

This is the first year in almost two decades where I really don't care at all about the potential deals to be had on video games right now. The problem is multifaceted. There's very little being released that people like myself actually would want this holiday season, most of the stores in my area that still have games have a pitiful selection so even if they offer a discount online the stores won't have any product you can actually go get, and of course, the discounted games this year are mostly last year's games or crap titles and now that MSRP is higher than ever that 25% to 30% off doesn't seem like such a sweet deal anymore.

All the years I remember standing in lines to get fantastic deals on recent releases that were super hyped, and buy two get one sales when there was actually enough games in the store to pick three you wanted. It was always the most fun time of year to be game shopping. This year it just feels like it's over, it's a thing of the past. It exists on a handful of websites, and it's nothing you really want.

So yeah, it's another tradition ruined by modernity.

At least for me it's been an opportunity to get games I wasn't going to pay full price for, but still wanted to play eventually. Perfect example of this was God of War Ragnorok which I picked up for $20 the other day. I also picked up a few switch games I've wanted as part of a B2G1 deal on used games at Gamestop. I don't think there will ever be a time where there aren't at least a few games I'm interested in buying at some point.


With that said, I agree with you that Black Friday isn't what it used to be as a gamer and collector. I used to go all over town to multiple Gamestops taking advantage of their B2G1 or B2G2 deals they've done in the past. On more than one occasional I actually spent too much money, but didn't care since I had like 10+ new games I'd wanted for a long time. Not only that, but the amount of new games I wanted was definitely higher than it is now. You're definitely not alone when it comes to feeling a bit disenchanted about the modern gaming landscape, but luckily it's not all doom and gloom. There are still a bunch of indie games that are getting released that I'm finding more and more have the soul that the mainstream industry has been lacking for some time. The only problem with indie games is getting them physically since there are only a handful of companies that make limited physical copies of them. Even though a lot of the better indie games that come out usually get the physical release treatment, there are sadly quite a few that never will, especially with the end of physical games being on the horizon. I guess my advise is to expand your horizons when it comes to gaming if you haven't already. There are a lot of great games out there if you're looking in the right place.

My theory is that Black Friday used to be quite special when it was delegated to one day and was mostly physical box stores only. I used to go every year and wait in freezing cold lines in MA. But it was worth it. It allowed for a lot of exclusivity and companies even did black friday edition consoles like Nintendo did with the new 3ds. I loved black friday back then.  Once saturday came you were shit out of luck. It was 1 day, 1 chance. It caused pandemonium yeah but at the same time the sales were more deep since they didnt have to sustain weeks on end. Once companies realized that they could stretch smaller sales into longer periods and pack deals into mostly online avenues to boost online commerce and strengthen their ROIs the consumer lost as always...   it's a shame.  But anything that truly benefits the consumer will be tweaked until consumer benefit is minimum and corperate gain is maximum.  They know if they go longer periods at smaller sales people will still buy more due to more opportunities to do so.  Cyber monday hinted at that. But even that was black friday as a cyber day. Now its cyber month.  Their is no real black friday anymore. So now instead of Switch 2 being 350 for 1 day. It will be 399 for 3 weeks.  Instead of borderlands 4 being 40 for 1 day. It'll be 55 for a month.   The deals don't hit like they used to imo.


The way PS sales go, the way gamestop does buy 2 get one on pre owned often, the way amazon slashes games for prime day and summer sales.  Black Friday is almost useless now.  But that doesn't mean it is without it's fun.  Like BikingJahuty said.  I found some deals on games that I otherwise wouldn't have been willing to commit to for half off or 30 percent off. And overall tech and games did decent this year.   Assassins Creed shadows at 30 was good for me to play it and not pay the 47 to 60 it usually is. So i'm happy with that. 


I heavily agree that you gotta look into AA games today.  Indie devs or budget productions are doing beautiful work.  IE: Stray, Jusant, Gris and Untitled Goose Game all stand out as unique experiences to me.   I feel this gen is either the most dense or most dry depending on how you game.