The 6th Annual Cheapy Awards - Awards Ceremony

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Welcome to The 6th Annual Cheapy Awards, the only awards that recognize the best (and worst) in video game retail, nominate and voted on by the Cheap Ass Gamers, the most knowledgeable video game shoppers in the world! The CAGs nominated and voted in 11 different retail related categories and 4 CAG community categories. This was our biggest year ever with over 45,000 votes cast!

Congratulations to lurknomore and McWeen both of whom have won a $500 Amazon Gift Certificate for participating in the Cheapy Awards voting.

Read on for the results!


Best Online Game Retailer: Amazon.com
Best Online Customer Service: Amazon.com


Best Online Deal: Amazon.com: Black Friday Weekend (and Beyond)

It's officially a dynasty for Amazon, who, for the last three years, has won the Best Online Retailer and Best Online Customer Service awards and has made it two in a row for Best Online Deal. Amazon's Best Online Retailer win is the biggest landslide in this year's Cheapy Awards, taking 83% of the vote. In response to their impressive victories, the Amazon Video Game Team has provided this statement:

"It’s an honor and a privilege to win the Cheapy Awards for Best Online Game Retailer, Best Online Customer Service and Best Online Deal. We’ve spent the last few years really focusing on creating a high-quality customer experience on Amazon.com for gamers and we’re thrilled to be honored by the community for our efforts. In the last year we launched the Release Date Delivery program (get the game the day it comes out), expanded the Amazon Gold Box to have game-themed days, and really focused our efforts on ensuring amazing deals for the Video Game Deal of the Day program. We’ve got more exciting things planned for 2009, but above all we will remain laser-focused on providing great deals for all gamers! Cheers."



Best Brick & Mortar Game Retailer: Best Buy
Aggressive Sunday ad deals and their popular Reward Zone incentive program helped seal the deal for Best Buy's third straight Best Brick & Mortar Game Retailer award. Congratulations to Best Buy!



Best Independent Online Game Retailer: Play-Asia.com

Proving that good things come in threes, Play-Asia has also taken home an award three years in a row.
Consistent weekly deals, seasonal sales/contests, great service, and coupons with every order secured the Best Independent Online Game Retailer award for the Hong Kong based specialty retailer.

A Play-Asia.com spokesperson responded to news of their Cheapy Award with this statement:
"Thank you ladies and gentlemen! Winning the Cheapy Awards Best Independent Online Game Retailer award again means a lot to us. It's these kind of things that make our work here more meaningful. We are proud and happy, and will work hard to do even better in the future! Thanks again to all who participated and thanks to a more than decent CheapyD for running these awards year after year. Happy gaming and world peace!"



Brick & Mortar Deal/Sale of the Year: Toy R Us: Buy 2, Get 1 Free Games

Just like last year, Toys R Us came in first and second in the Brick & Mortar Deal / Sale of the Year category. Their famous Buy 2, Get 1 Free sale provides a sizable discount and a lot of options, which made it a popular selection for voting CAGs. This is the first year that Toys R Us' Buy 2, Get 1 Free Sale has won this award.



Best Game Trading Website: Goozex.com

This is the second year of existence of the Best Game Trading Website award, and the second time Goozex has won it. Goozex's landslide victory was just slightly behind Amazon's, for the biggest win of this year's Cheapy Awards.

Instead of swapping directly with other users, Goozex traders mail out their games for Goozex Points, and then use those points to get other games from other Goozex users. The CAG community really enjoys this interesting take on game trading as a way to derive great value from their used games.

Goozex's crew recorded this acceptance video:



Biggest CAG Shopping News: Circuit City Bankruptcy & Fall

Although many people like to see the powerful fall from grace, I think most CAGs regret having one less option for their game shopping needs. Sure, Circuit City subpoenaed CAG and tried (unsuccessfully) to sue one of our members, but they also had some great deals, especially in their Sunday ads. I'll miss your deals Circuit City, but the legal fees, not so much.



Best Game Value: Burnout Paradise

Who would have guessed that an EA published game would have picked up the Best Game Value two years in a row?
Criterion Games, the developers of Burnout Paradise, have put forth great effort in supporting their game, releasing a lot of new (and free) content, which significantly improved their title. The Burnout Team thanked the CAGs for the award and added, "Burnout Paradise is a recession busting game and the perfect antidote to the credit crunch." Currently priced new at $19.99, I think Criterion might be right.

A very honorable mention to Fallout 3, who finished a very close second.



Worst Online Game Retailer: EB Games.com / GameStop.com

Worst B&M Game Retailer: EB Games / GameStop

It's also three years in a row for GameStop, who have been monopolizing the Worst Online Game Retailer and Worst B&M Game Retailer "awards". Hopefully the rumors that online used game listings will soon state if case and manuals are included, turn out to be true. Given that the company is doing so well financially, I doubt we will see many other changes that would impress CAGs. Here's hoping that GameStop can get back on the CAGs good side, sooner rather than later.



CAG Community Award: speedy1961


CAG Deal Buster: speedy1961


In case you were not aware, speedy1961 is famous for providing the CAG community with the heads up on each week's Sunday ads. It's a bittersweet victory for speedy1961, who picks up these awards for the 2nd straight year, but has lost his job which provided him (and us) with a sneak peak at the ads.

In honor of his contributions to CAG, starting next year the CAG Deal Buster award will be known as the Speedy1961 Deal Buster award.

Upon learning the news, speedy responded with this statement:
"This is definitely the best news that I've had this year. It certainly caps a tumultuous year in my personal life; a year that saw me attain and surpass a number of personal goals only to be laid off from my main source of employment.

(My weekly postings at CheapAssGamer.com & DVDTalk were ALWAYS a labor of love and a secret
35C
source of pride.)

I will always treasure these awards and they will always stand as a reminder of all the good times and great people that I met and conversed with at CAG. I really miss interacting with all of you every week.

I'd to thank CheapyD, Wombat, all of my CAG moderator friends (Shrike4242, LinkinPrime & Trakan) and of course all of the CAG members who read, contributed to and benefited from my weekly postings. I miss you all and am honored to receive these awards AND to have one renamed after my efforts. May God bless you all and please make 2009 a great year for you and yours."



Most Memorable CAG Villain: DrunkPollock

Although JimmieMac had a respectable 2nd place finish, he couldn't repeat last year's victory. It's really hard to beat out scummy trade scammers like DrunkPollock. fuck you.



Best CAG Forum Thread (non-deal): "CAG Fund for Child's Play"
The CAG community raised over $32,000 for Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity. The community banded together to organize a raffle complete with a long list of great prizes. Congratulations to all of us, with special thanks to marten and Justden for donating awesome prizes. We rule!

Thanks to all the CAGs who participated in this years voting and nominations for The 6th Annual Cheapy Awards. A special thumbs-up to the award winning retailers who provided us with great deals and service in 2008. See you next year!

Quick rundown of winners:
Best Online Game Retailer: Amazon.com
Best Online Customer Service: Amazon.com
Best Online Deal: Amazon.com: Black Friday Weekend (and Beyond)
Best Brick & Mortar Game Retailer: Best Buy
Best Independent Online Game Retailer: Play-Asia.com
Brick & Mortar Deal/Sale of the Year: Toy R Us: Buy 2, Get 1 Free Games
Best Game Trading Website: Goozex.com
Biggest CAG Shopping News: Circuit City Bankruptcy & Fall
Best Game Value: Burnout Paradise
Worst Online Game Retailer: EB Games.com / GameStop.com
Worst B&M Game Retailer: EB Games / GameStop

CAG Community Award: speedy1961
CAG Deal Buster: speedy1961
Most Memorable CAG Villain: DrunkPollock
Best CAG Forum Thread (non-deal): "CAG Fund for Child's Play"



Previous winners:
5th Annual Cheapy Awards
4th Annual Cheapy Awards
3rd Annual Cheapy Awards
2nd Annual Cheapy Awards
1st Annual Cheapy Awards
 
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Woohoo, congrats to the gift card winners, and to Burnout Paradise. It definitely deserves it's spot as the best gaming value of 2008. :D
 
I surprised myself, I chose very well this year. I like the acceptance video by the Goozex guy. Hopefully more people will do them.
 
[quote name='Uberc']Do we really need these awards if the same companies win them every year?[/quote]How will you know if the same companies will win if we stop having them? ;)
 
I don't agree with what you said about Burnout Cheapy, because I just signed on the game for the first time in a while, and to have all of the cars that my friend does, I'd have to be spending another $20+ in MSPoints. 1000 points for the Toy cars, 640 for the specials, 400 if I wanted to cheat and buy my unlocks, and 800 for Party if I didn't have Ultimate Box.

But before the last month I do agree with you on that.
 
[quote name='twen']I don't agree with what you said about Burnout Cheapy, because I just signed on the game for the first time in a while, and to have all of the cars that my friend does, I'd have to be spending another $20+ in MSPoints. 1000 points for the Toy cars, 640 for the specials, 400 if I wanted to cheat and buy my unlocks, and 800 for Party if I didn't have Ultimate Box.

But before the last month I do agree with you on that.[/QUOTE]You kind of have to understand that at the time we were dominating and voting, the paid Burnout content wasn't really out yet (we had free content for a year). That's why it turned out to be such a great value.

I'm glad to see DrunkPollock getting the CAG Villian award. He/She scammed me out of three GBA games and two PS2 games (one being somewhat rare, the first Shadow Hearts) and I'll NEVER forget him/her for that (I lost $7.65 shipping to him, and he never paid me $60). I still have my PMs by hin/her. We have to say him/her because while we were given a male name, a few of the names also mentioned (and at the MySpace currently) are females. I feel the pain from the other CAGs who got scammed along with me.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']You kind of have to understand that at the time we were dominating and voting, the paid Burnout content wasn't really out yet (we had free content for a year). That's why it turned out to be such a great value.[/QUOTE]

Of course that's why I made a blurb about it at the end of my post. Believe me, I was surprised when I signed on earlier and I almost shat a brick when I saw how much that DLC would cost me -- because my friend was going on nonstop about the cars. He forgot to mention that one little detail about cost tho.
 
Congratulation for all the winners. Not too many suprises for me personally, I think I voted in all winners, except for Top Villain, which I don't really know any, and best game value, which I didn't vote because I have just a few games :p.

Nice video from Goozex by the way. And congratulations to Cheapy also for posting the Awards before the end of the year lol.
 
Hey everyone!

Wow, thanks for the love here! Here's what I like about the CAG awards -- there is no bull. If the CAG community likes something, then you'll vouch for it. If you don't like something then I pity the fool that crossed you.

As many long time members know we listen to our members and try to build the game trading service that works for you. Like recently we did the automatic shipping label system. This week we're introducing new button designs. We've got the Goozex exchange program in place for you.

Many of you also come to expect some of the best prize giveaways from Goozex here. And to celebrate us winning again we will sponsor another prize giveaway -- CheapyD just approved. So stay tuned for that!

Many thanks for the votes and letting us be a part of this community. Many thanks to CheapyD for running one of the coolest sites around.

-GTeam

p.s. I thought for sure people would boo the video.
 
Woo Hoo!
This certainly made my day. Winning should make my fiance feel a whole lot better about my CAG obsession.
 
I'm glad to see that most of the voting went into Best Game Value, shows what we're all about on CAG. I will admit the results surprised me... srsly? Burnout...
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']burnout paradise winning confuses me as much as jimmiemac getting that many votes.[/QUOTE]

EA has continually improved and added to the game via the DL, which is what as gamers we were hoping the DL would give us, rather than unlocking stuff already on the disks.
 
Whoa, PlayAsia called CheapyD "more than decent." I am more than jealous.

Stupid Amazon gift cards! Right state, wrong person! (congrats to the winners)

Oh, piss in the shower thread. So close.


I think I'm going to get rolling on Goozex soon, seems like that site has taken off quite a bit. I've got too many games I don't need and spend too much on new ones. Plus they were playing Don't Shit Your Pants in the video.
 
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I think it's kinda funny that EB came very close to second in Best B&M retailer, yet had a landslide win in Worst B&M retailer.
 
Let me be the first one to say congrats to speedy1961 for getting an award named after him for next year. We miss you speedy1961!

Excellent move CheapyD!
 
Hey Cheapy, can we get IRV (Instant Runoff Voting) next year? I want to make sure Toys R Us NEVER gets close to the top again for pulling a bait and switch on the $109 Rockband deal.
 
Congrats to the winners and Goozex for the amusing acceptance speech! I called most the winners except for the best b&m deal still think tru rock band 2 was the shit!
 
Has anyone reported DrunkPollock to the Internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3)?

I'd do it, but I haven't done any dealings with him.
 
I dunno if amazon will landslide it again this year with their new price adjustment and other policies which I'm sure they felt they needed to do, but ultimately make them that much less of the awesome site that they previously were.
 
Congrats to all winners, especially Goozex and Amazon. Both companies did a lot to earn my vote this year.

Oh, and fuck you DrunkPollock
 
I was with Wombat/Wombat was with me on Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 being the Gaming Value of the Year. I wonder if it had even had one of its six modes online, it would've gotten the deserved consideration.
 
So much BAAAW'ing about Gamestop. Hilarious.

Couldn't be happier to continue giving them my money, if only so it keeps them successful, and you babies whining more!

 
Hmm, Best Buy? Really? I can't remember buying ANY games there in 08. What were these awesome deals that made it the winner? For me, Target's constant clearances, Circuit City's $16.96 reductions (with 30% off on weekends), and TRU's deals made Best Buy completely irrevelant.
 
It was strange seeing me up there in the winner's stand....been busy with two little girls, but I guess that it is time to get back into gaming....big time.

Thanks CheapyD....

Congrats to Goozex and the G-team, see you all here and there.
 
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[quote name='McWeen']Woo Hoo!
This certainly made my day. Winning should make my fiance feel a whole lot better about my CAG obsession.[/quote]

Not to mention the rest of us who really hate your CAG obsession. Just kidding, congratulations. jerk
 
[quote name='lurknomore']It was strange seeing me up there in the winner's stand....been busy with two little girls, but I guess that it is time to get back into gaming....big time.

Thanks CheapyD....

Congrats to Goozex and the G-team, see you all here and there.[/quote]

As the father of one little girl, I can only halfway imagine the nightmare of sleeplessness mixed with the slowly fading euphoria of being a new dad. Congrats on the win and here's hoping we see you online, maybe in RE5 or L4D.
 
Pretty cool naming an award after Speedy. How about next year you offer 10 $100 GC prizes or 20 $50 GC prices. Same expense, more winners!
 
Cheapy, you should get your art team *cough*WSB*cough* to come up with some sort of award logo that these websites could put up for display.
 
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