Pricematch + Summer of Entertainment promo = Bioshock PC for ~$34.66 @ Best Buy

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CZroe

CAGiversary!
The PC has always been the cheapest gaming platform thanks to significantly cheaper software prices easily covering the cost of more expensive hardware if you play LOTS of multi-platform games (I got PAID to buy Spiderman 3!). It looks like Bioshock is no different! I just hope my 7800GT SLI won't provide an inferior experience to the 360 version. Anyway, this seems to be the best deal on Bioshock (PC).

The PC version of Bioshock is listed in the Best Buy ad for $49.99. This can be brought down to ~$34.66 like so:
You should have already done this part if you are a CAG, but just in case...
Sign up for a free Reward Zone membership and go to myRewardZone.com to confirm your email address for the Summer of Entertainment program.
Take a short survey to get $10 credited toward your first $10 certificate issued after $100 of purchases (this is in addition to Reward Zone points/certificates).
This will net you essentially 11.111...% off your first $100 (issued as an "entertainment certificate") and 10% off any subsequent $100 spent on music, movies, and games (PC and HD/BD formats count too!) until August 25th.

Now, purchase at the full $49.99.
Go to Customer Service and 110% price-match to Circuit City's advertised price of $39.99 to get it for $38.99.
If you are planning to spend another $51.01 on music, movies, or games soon (combines with any deal/coupon until the SoE promo expires), calculate the 11% discount and that's $34.65777...
In addition, you will also continue to earn your Reward Zone points, and you could earn even more* if you use the Best Buy MasterCard... which can net you another $30 in Reward Zone certificates on approval if you haven't signed up yet.

*I forget the multiple... I've seen "double," "triple," and "quadruple" points offers with it

Oh, and if you've already earned your first SoE cert with the survey, I guess it's technically only 10% off your next $100 instead of 11.111...%, but if it isn't obvious already, that's just my OCD kicking in.

BTW: This is a mod-approved reposting of the deal (assumedly... he deleted the request thread from the other forum after I PM'd). Sorry about before, but it should be up to code this time. ;) Thanks!
 
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This post is better :)

I'm still kinda hesitant because this is like the google checkout thing where this can be posted for every single game in the world and how to save money on it. A generic post on the Summer of Entertainment would be better but since this ends in 4 days it doesnt really matter.
 
Basically sign up for their service and if you spend $50 more you get a gift card back but you have to then spend $50 more and the promotion ends in a few days and you have to drive back again to PM, so ehhh if its worth that effort for $5....
 
Good post, I'm going to try the demo on my PC and see if I can get away with the PC version. For a lot less work, especially for those with no CC/BB nearby, just pricematch at Wal-Mart for the CC sale price.
They had S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for $10 off retail price either at release or soon after release, and that $30 is about the cheapest I remember seeing it since, so BioShock may have a similar pattern (catch it on sale at CC now with a pricematch or you may wait a while for the deals).
 
[quote name='AwRy108']Thanks for the post, but, wow--totally not worth the trouble.[/QUOTE]
You don't have to go all the way. An extra register visit before you leave nets you an extra $1 off and Circuit City gets to keep stock for other customers. Even without Reward Zone points and SoE promo points, it's better just because it keeps the game in stock at Circuit City longer. Most CAGs ARE RZ members and that's reason enough to get it for $39.99 straight-up pricematch. Honestly, seeing the $7.99/$9.99 new releases at Circuit City (like they did with SiN, HL2:EP1, Spiderman 3, etc) sell out and rule out pricematching elsewhere (must be in stock) makes me sad.

[quote name='Brian9824']Basically sign up for their service and if you spend $50 more you get a gift card back but you have to then spend $50 more and the promotion ends in a few days and you have to drive back again to PM, so ehhh if its worth that effort for $5....[/QUOTE]
I don't drive back to PM! I walk straight from the checkout to CS as described. That's the bulk of the deal there and if you decide not to participate in the SoE promo then you get it for $38.99... MUCH better than $50 and Reward Zone alone is incentive to do it here. Who would rather pay $20 to join Circuit City's similar gamer-oriented rewards program when Best Buy's is now free? The SoE promo has run plenty long enough for any CAG to spend far more than enough without spending too much by pricematching other deals.

As far as a generic SoE thread, I made one of those too. It didn't go anywhere.

[quote name='turls']Good post, I'm going to try the demo on my PC and see if I can get away with the PC version. For a lot less work, especially for those with no CC/BB nearby, just pricematch at Wal-Mart for the CC sale price.
They had S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for $10 off retail price either at release or soon after release, and that $30 is about the cheapest I remember seeing it since, so BioShock may have a similar pattern (catch it on sale at CC now with a pricematch or you may wait a while for the deals).[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I threw down a $5 WoW GC coupon and got S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for $25 when Best Buy shortly put it on sale for $30. Fry's had a few deals on it before that.

[quote name='hordak']> I got PAID to buy Spiderman 3!

Hey! Me too! Glad we both we are to figure out how to get this deal! :)[/QUOTE]

If only the game were better though. ;)

[quote name='cheaphuck']Can you provide direct links?[/QUOTE]
They show up when you log in to RZ and so they wouldn't work... unless you meant the $39.99 price at Circuit City, but that's their normal price online and in store all week. If you want, you can read about the Summer of Entertainment program in the circular but the online ad makes it very difficult.
 
Thanks for posting about the survey and $10 bonus thing. I will be PMing the 360 version at BB so this and Bioshock makes $60 my $100.
 
Nicely done OP. Way to put a deal together.

But like the FAR laptops at staples, not my style. I know I sound like a heretic, but I'll wait until Bioshock is in the $8 bin at officemax or the like.
 
Misleading deal. Put the fact you have to spend $100 to get the game for $35 in the title.

Nevermind that the game is $40 at CC or anywhere you can pricematch at like BB, Walmart or CompUSA. No worry about CC running out of copies. Bring in your Sunday advertisement or print it off the website when price matching.
 
You could always buy 5 copies, then try to use the $40 off $200 coupon.

That's $32+tax each.

Then return the other 4 copies.

Morally reprehnsible perhaps, but this is CC. Free Speedy!
 
[quote name='trip1eX']Misleading deal. Put the fact you have to spend $100 to get the game for $35 in the title.

Nevermind that the game is $40 at CC or anywhere you can pricematch at like BB, Walmart or CompUSA. No worry about CC running out of copies. Bring in your Sunday advertisement or print it off the website when price matching.[/QUOTE]
The title would be too long. Oh, and you only have to spend $90 for your first one (not $100). Besides, it works as a deal at $38.99 or even $39.99 (considering that the CC price doesn't have it's own thread), so it's not like it doesn't have it's audience for those that didn't have $90 to spend over three months. Still, I'll see what I can do with the title.

Also, all pricematch deals stipulate that they do not pricematch to even advertised items if it is out of stock. Haven't they ever picked up the phone and called when you've done a pricematch? The reason is that another retailer could advertise an item at a loss and only have one per store and then they might have to pricematch HUNDREDS at their own expense. It would give competitors a way to take advantage of their policy to harm them. They'd also get dragged in if a competitor was trying the illegal bait and switch tactic.

[quote name='Nemo_Hyde']Nicely done OP. Way to put a deal together.

But like the FAR laptops at staples, not my style. I know I sound like a heretic, but I'll wait until Bioshock is in the $8 bin at officemax or the like.[/QUOTE]
I can't remember the last time I paid over $13 for a PC game, but this one is different... the developers outright tell you to stay away from the Internet and its potential spoilers if you don't plan on playing this game right away!
 
Hmm seems like this kind of deal is better posted on Fatwallet, CAG's like to skip out all the tedious grunt work and wait for a sale. Meeting all the requirements to get this deal to save $3 from BB(which alot of us won't even shop at) is just not worth it to us.
 
[quote name='Medium_Pimpin']Hmm seems like this kind of deal is better posted on Fatwallet, CAG's like to skip out all the tedious grunt work and wait for a sale. Meeting all the requirements to get this deal to save $3 from BB(which alot of us won't even shop at) is just not worth it to us.[/QUOTE]
It seems to me that every gamer should have Best Buy at the top of their list. If paying MSRP for games or accessories, the Gamer's Gift Card coupon made it THE place to go for years. The WoW GC continues this tradition for PC games and Reward Zone only sweetens the deal. Games in particular frequently get double or triple points and sometimes MORE with a coupon (sent to RZ members). You don't have to sign up for a credit card or pay $20 for a year like you do with the Circuit City programs, so it just makes sense to price-match everything at Best Buy for either 100% or 110% of the difference and get RZ points on top.

Last month, I got a $100 GC with my second PS3 at Hastings (gonna sell it) and I honestly couldn't think of a thing to spend it on considering that it was wasting money if I could be spending it at Best Buy for RZ and SoE certs (Hastings is a media store and the SoE promo covers music, movies, and games). They do special orders, so I ended up just getting a couple games for full price because I haven't seen them in stores or haven't seen a deal on them anywhere (Mario Pinball and R&C: Going Commando for $20ea). I also got a PS3 controller, but I returned that considering that I was paying 25% more than I could get it for elsewhere ($50 instead of $40) and there weren't any multiplayer games I'd be playing between now and when the enhanced one arrives (whenever that is).

You see? Best Buy is RUINING my ability to shop elsewhere because it's nearly always better to get it there! All CAGs with a local Best Buy should be RZ members and when all else is equal (no rebates and what-not), it almost always means that it's better to buy at Best Buy. The frequent 12% off coupons always help with major purchases. Heck, I got a 1TB Hitachi drive for $240 and I brought that down to $110 with Reward Zone certs earned over this Summer!

It's funny: I considered pricematching even the Hastings PS3 deal at BB, but I didn't want to push it... I've had bad luck PMing "Free X with purchase of X!" deals.
 
Well, I just had to return and warn everyone away from the retail PC version. Unlike Flight Simulator X, Halo 2, and other Games for Windows games that contain Microsoft Product Activation, this one will not allow you to play without activating.

Sure, I saw the note on the back of the box about activation, but when the definition changes with each title (remember EA's "Internet Activation Required and the games that didn't even say that?!), I had no clue that I was going to encounter this new kind of crap. I got almost all the way through installing when it demanded activation with the CD key and I was faced with a decision I could not make. The system had DX8 7800GT cards in an SLi configuration, but I suspect that one is bad (causing instability) and they were only placeholders from the previous system until I can get a deal on DX10 successors (8800GTS 640MB SLi at a minimum). Because of this uncertainty, I had not even activated my freshly installed Vista Ultimate 64bit yet (I want to finalize the hardware before I lock my software to it). When I finally DO finalize it, I will install fresh with SP1, activate, and image the drive. But even if I had done all that, I STILL wouldn't activate Bioshock on it: You get TWO activations with GFW games... not two simultaneous ones, two EVER. One, then the other. I have a Core 2 Quad Q6600 system with SLi 7800GT cards borrowed from my Athlon X2 3800+ system. Suppose I wanted to play it on the other systems my twin brother and I own. Then what? I can take an XBOX 360 game disc and play it in any XBOX 360, so what do I get for activating the PC version and sacrificing my ability to resell the game? Do I get discless play with future download access through Steam? No. Do I get to play it on any system with my Steam account installed? No. So I get every drawback that I get with digital distribution with NONE of the advantages. I bought retail because I wanted a tangible copy that has actual value in the collection (RESELLABLE value) that is not permanently tied to my Steam account. The other systems aren't slouches either: HT Pentium 4 3.2GHz 7800GS system (MCE PC), a Core Duo X1600 system (gaming laptop), and an Athlon XPm 2.5GHz 500MHz FSB + 7800GS (HTPC w/ MCE). All our systems have either 2GB or 4GB system memory. So, I want to play on my brother's Media Center PC, with an XBOX 360 controller: I can't. I want to play on our home theater Media Center PC with the lift-top cocktail table for keyboard + mouse: I can't. I want to play on the general-purpose XP PC with the bulk of the games on it (XP compatability): I can't. I want to play on my laptop at school or work (yes, work): I can't. Why? Because it only makes sense to activate it on the best PC available to me, and guess what? I'd be taking a risk to even play it on that one, so until I upgrade, I STILL "can't." Understandably, I'd choose to play on the 64bit system with 4GB system memory and DX10, but it still needs the DX10 HDCP-compliant video cards.

Steam is worth the extra $15 because I can play it on every single one of those systems from now until the end of time (or until Valve goes belly-up... whichever comes first). I don't even need the disc. Screw Microsoft and 2K Games for killing PC gaming. There used to be incentive to get nearly any console game available on the PC and retail was always the best deal due to competition, clearance, and the lack of platform licensing costs (Shadowrun PC vs. Shadowrun XBOX 360 pricing anyone?). Heck, even if it is against the rules, I could even make it tangible again by using a new email/Steam account for each game and selling the account. Than's to bull-shiz "activation," Steam is more tangible than retail now!

Halo 2 let you play without the disc when activating. Flight Simulator simply wouldn't let you play online, but would let you play on as many PCs as you wanted. Why not do something similar with Bioshock? Why REMOVE any advantage that you get from buying retail with activation without giving you, the consumer, a reason to do it? Steam is more appreciated than ever.

I've been redialing for the last hour and I can't get through to complain, so I just had to come back here and vent. DO NOT BUY.

Oh, and FWIW (and to get back on-topic), it was simple to obtain with the deal I mentioned above: I walked in, bought it, went to the car for some other stuff I had already purchased to do a pricematch, came back in and did it all at once. I already had to go back in anyway.

Oh, and I saved more on all the other stuff I bought today because it made sense to go to do all the pricematches at once (saved an extra $.50 on Empire Under the Sun on DVD, $.50 on Brain Age 2, $1 on Bioshock, $.50 on Blue Planet Blu-Ray Disc, and that's all in addition to the $5-$10 pricematch on each, Reward Zone, and the Summer of Entertainment promo (each and every one qualifies). Like I said before: it's something every CAG should have been doing for the last few months. It's made Best Buy the ONLY destination for getting any of the deals they offer and any from elsewhere that you can pricematch.
 
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