February 23, 2005
The Second Annual Cheapy Awards - Awards Ceremony
Posted by CheapyD
 | Hello and welcome to the Second Annual Cheapy Awards, the only awards chosen by "the real people" (the Cheap Ass Gamers, aka CAGs) which honor the best in the video game retail industry. It is also the only award presentation in which the host isn't wearing any pants.
16,999 votes were cast across 11 different categories in this year's Cheapy Awards. Because the voters are some of the most experienced game shoppers around, these awards should be taken seriously and we feel they are more important than the Grammys, Oscars, and maybe even Blackwell's Worst Dressed List. Discuss in the forums or... |
Before we get to the awards, its time to announce the winner of the $250 EBgames.com (last year's Best Online Retailer) gift card. This prize is to commemorate our 25,000th registered user milestone ($.01 per user, get it?). Congratulations ex0, don't spend it all in one place! Oh wait…I guess you have no choice.
On to the awards!
Best Online Retailer: EBgames.com
Congratulations to EBgames.com who successfully defended its title of Best Online Retailer. I guess they proved the old saying, "He who has the most sales wins". It wasn't even close as EB captured 58% of the vote while Amazon.com was runner up with a measly 18%. For the second year in a row, EBgames.com has proven they do pretty much everything well and deserve a spot in the Cheap Ass Hall of Fame.
Best Brick & Mortar Retailer: EB Games
EB Games does it again and show they are the best retailer both in real life and on the Internets. The only thing left is for them to do is to open up a store on Uranus so they could take next years' "Best Space Retailer Award".
Online Deal of the Year: GameFly.com's Used Game Sale with Free Shipping
GameFly's December sale on used games with free shipping kicked much ass, which enabled them to overtake EB on this one. It sure was close, with only 20 votes seperating first and second place.
B&M Deal of the Year: Circuit City's $5 Blow Out
It's pretty hard to beat $5 games, yet suprisingly easy to beat down the people who hoard them to unload on eBay.
Note: CAG does not condone any beat downs unless they occur online in Halo 2 and are administed by The Icon JimmieMac.
Best Retailer Website Design: EBgames.com
Anyone notice a trend here? EBgames.com is the total package. It's easy to search and browse, has a great shopping cart system and an uncluttered layout. I guess it's not much suprise EB took home this award too. Look for EB's new "Order by Thought" system, coming in late 2010.
Best Independent Online Retailer: VideoGameDeals.com
VideoGameDeals.com was constantly hooking up the CAGs with great deals. They are on a short hiatus while they move cross country, but they are expected back online in a few months.
Best Online Customer Service: EBgames.com
EBgames.com takes home another prestigous award, showing they embrace "the customer is always right" mantra. CAGs must be a huge pain in the ass to deal with, so this award should be viewed as truly a great honor for the EB Customer Service Team.
Worst Online Retailer: BuyRiteGames.com
What else can you say about a company that has a 0.14 out of 10 rating from ResellerRatings.com.
You gotta work hard to be that bad.
Biggest CAG Shopping News: Best Buy's Devil Customer Admission
Best Buy admitted they no longer want to keep the customers who only shop at their stores during sales. Here's a free tip guys, don't sell games for $5 if you are trying to keep out the "Devil Customers". I can't speak for everyone, but my guess is most shoppers don't come in for $10 copy of Advance Wars 2 and walk out with a HD Plasma TV.
Best CAG Forum Thread: CloudSpekk ripped me off
One thing I've learned in the (almost) two years CAG has been in existence is that the CAGs love drama. A trade gone wrong usually has plenty of drama and this particular one helped make "OLSON'D" a CAG household word.
Most Memorable CAG Villian: CloudSpekk
I guess it makes sense that the "star" of the Best Thread takes home this award. Man-boobs just don't have the same appeal as they did back in the day (sorry, DLF).
Well, thanks for joining us for this year's Cheapy Awards Ceremony. Congratulations to all the winners, especially EB Games, who completely dominated the awards. Thanks to all the retailers who provided us with great deals in 2004. We hope 2005 is even better. See you back here next year for even more cheap thrills.
Discuss in the Forums
- 
Posted at 01:00 PM
Last 5 entries:
Best of the Sunday Ad Video Game Deals (3/16 - 3/22)
CAGcast #111: The Gay Job
CAG Foreplay #36: Achievements, Increase Your Numbers! (3/12/08)
GameQuest Direct Weekly Specials (exp. 3/18)
Eye of Judgment Bundle (PS3) $45 shipped and other PS3 deals at Amazon
