I was finally able to do this today. I was considering giving up on this deal since I had already picked up SPM at Circuit City for around 42.50, but I thought I could get it cheaper. A couple of days ago, I picked up FarCry for 19.99 at Target since I couldn't find one at BB. I tried calling most of the EB/GS stores in my area and all of them said that they weren't taking any FarCry's or Open Season's except for one GameStop that said the only game excluded from the deal was Wii Sports. So yesterday, I tried calling that same GameStop and asked about the deal again and the guy sounded like he didn't really know about this deal and said it was already over. I told him the deal was good until the 15th and he sounded confused. I asked him which games were excluded from this deal and he said he didn't know, probably only the launch titles were excluded. So I thought since the guys at this GameStop had no idea what was going on, I might be able to pull it off. After work, I stopped by BB to check if they still had Open Season and they did, so I picked one up for 14.99 with the coupon. Then, I headed over to GS with the unopened games and the guys told me they couldn't take them because they were still sealed. I told them they could open it but they said they would get in trouble if they did that and they wouldn't let me open it in the store or go out, open it, and then come back due to the video cameras rolling. They said they would do the deal but they couldn't give me a brand new game, only an opened game. I asked them if I could pre-order a game, and the guy said, "You can't trade in games for a pre-order", which is ridiculous since I know you can, but that clerk had no idea what I was talking about. So they told me there was no way I could get this deal done that day, but if I came back the next day with the games opened, I would be able to get my new free game. They also told me to try some other EB/GS stores, so I just said that they weren't accepting those games, and the clerks were stunned and tried scanning one, wondering how come, but they didn't find anything wrong.
So this morning, I called that GS again to double-check that they were still going to take these games and the clerk(different guy) said he didn't know which games were excluded because he wasn't the manager and that the manager would be there in an hour. I told him that I was there last night and I told him what happened, and he agreed that it was store policy not to take unopened games but he was surprised that they turned me down on the pre-order. I called back an hour later and the manager was there, so the clerk asked him what the excluded games were and he said there were none. I rushed down there, opened the games in the parking lot, and the clerk recognized me since I had just called, and asked me which game I wanted. I said I'll take SPM, then the manager told me it was sold out. He suggested I try the other EB, but I said I can't without explaining. He then agreed to let me do a pre-order instead of getting a new game and asked for which system. I was surprised because I assumed you could only pre-order Wii games with this deal, but they said any system is ok, so I asked them for a list of available games for Wii and PS3 and decided on Ninja Gaiden Sigma. The clerk was amazed that the trade-in value on FC/OS was $5 each and said that was a good deal and wanted to do it himself. The manager said something like doing a reservation instead of the free game wasn't something that was supposed to be done but actually could be done -- these guys didn't have a clue but I didn't want to say anything until the deal was completed. BTW, the manager happened to ask me about where I worked and I ended up telling him that I didn't have much work to do recently, so I am mostly getting paid to sleep, play games, go out shopping, watch DVDs, or surf the net (the truth). The fools were both like, "Ohhhh, I want THAT job! Are there any openings?" I said no, and that I wasn't even supposed to be there at GS and the clerk goes, "OH, SNAP!!" This deal was pretty much dead anyway and there weren't any other games I wanted, so I decided to tell these guys what's up. After the transaction was finished and I had my pre-order, I told them they weren't really supposed to do that, and they said "Well, no, it actually could be done", but I said "No, what I mean is all the other EB/GS stores around here are not accepting FC or OS for this deal." The manager goes, "There were exclusions?" Then, I told them about how people are cheating the system by buying the games for $15 at BB to get a brand new $50 game and the manager, a hardcore gangsta-looking black guy, looked at me kinda pissed and said, "You cheated me? That's not funny, man." I laughed and said everybody's doing it and I even told them how some people were buying FC/OS used, trading them back, and getting a new game, all at the same store.
So, 37.87 FC/OS incl tax + 4.11 tax for free Wii game + 10.83 difference I have to pay when I pick up NGS = 52.81 total for Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I guess it wasn't that good a deal and wasn't worth the trouble, but oh well. I still laughed all the way back to work to pick up my hard-earned paycheck.