Contrary to what I previously said about the K-mart deal potentially trumping the Best Buy deal, I think my stance has changed. Though thanks largely in part to BB stepping up their game.
But when breaking it down, BB is now offering;
-$10 RZ Pre-order bonus
-$15 Gift Card with purchase
-Sharpshooter suit DLC code
-"Nicholson Electroplating" Arson Case DLC Pack Upon Release*
-Midnight Release (in my area)
*Contingent on me being one of the first 16 people who show up for the midnight release but I think there's a decent chance of that. Also, depending on when it's released as well as the price of the DLC pack there could be more savings right there.
Getting to play games at midnight hasn't been all that enticing for me lately but considering that the Playstation Network is down I bet like many others this will be carrying me for the next couple of weeks until May 31st when PSN gets back up and running. I've heard it has no multiplayer so PSN being down is really a moot point but the fact that everyone pretty much has been campaigning for the past month or so this will be the hottest thing around and I've been really looking forward to this for a while.
So, considering the K-mart offer won't be available until approximately 12 hours later (when the store opens the next morning), the hour-long trip to and from K-mart being a bit of a hassle to say the least, and having to suffer through a hasty timeframe to redeem the $20 gaming coupon (see below) and ultimately the financial savings don't really amount to very much if anything anymore.
[quote name='IronZombie']I have a question for you guys.. I don't normally shop at Kmart for video games and I'm wondering what the difference is between a gift card and their "gaming coupons".. can it be used as a gift card? Also, can I used it on the same day as I receive it or is there a hold on it for 24 hours like there is with TRU gift cards? I would hate to have to drive back to the store on a different day, it's pretty far from my house.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='LF2']Kmart game coupons work like a gift card as long as it's used on gaming products, but they don't activate for six days.[/QUOTE]
Allow me to elaborate:
K-mart Gift Cards can be used on anything in the store while K-mart "Gaming Coupons" can only be applied towards a gaming purchase (practically anything video game related i.e. hardware, software, accessories, etc.) However, they typically expire after about a month so there's a limited window to cash in unlike a gift card which do not have an expiration date. Also, the gaming coupons don't activate until the following Sunday which is 5 days later. The reason for this is because the gaming coupons are "weekly ad" deals generally offered during the first week of a newly released game. Games typically release on Tuesdays and the gaming coupon offers will be available until Saturday. A new weekly ad will commence on Sunday, which is when your gaming coupon will be activated and new games (as well as deals) will arrive on Tuesday.
Be careful when committing to the gaming coupon frenzy because they don't activate until the following week and are only good for a month so combine that with the fact that they can only be applied towards video games and it's safe to say you should map out in advance what games (if any) you are looking forward to redeeming it on within that time period.
Oh, and also consider that a $20 gaming coupon must be applied to a gaming purchase of $20 or more and cannot be applied toward a single purchase of a $19.99 game. Whereas a $20 gift card (for argument's sake) can be applied and practically buys me the game (add sales tax), the $20 gaming coupon would require you to spend additional money to bring the subtotal up from $19.99 to over $20, plus add tax and it's pretty much like K-mart dictating that you have to buy another gaming related item (which figure can't be cheaper than $9.99 or so) so as an example they are trying to force you into buying at least a 19.99 and 9.99 game or a 29.99 game merely allowing you to apply the gaming coupon toward the purchase and not purchase the game outright like a gift card. Also the gaming coupon must be spent entirely and there cannot be a remaining balance unlike a gift card.
If that was too confusing I apologize. I'll try to clarify further if anyone still has questions about it.
Hope I helped.
Good luck.