SHADY BUSINESS PRACTICES 101

If this story in the Consumerist is to be believed, BestBuy has started trying to push extended warranties for game purchases on customers. According to the article, they are not only giving the hard sell on it, but making some questionable claims about the reliability of game software;

“Today I bought Tetris DS at my local Best Buy, and they tried to sell me the 2-year protection plan or whatever it is. I refused the coverage, but I was surprised that it was offered. I’ve never received the protection spiel from a cashier when buying software… only hardware ( (I haven’t shopped at Best Buy in a while, so I have no idea if it s a recent development). After my refusal, the cashier tried to scare me by telling me “we get a lot of these things returned. I just want you to know that.” I’m mostly convinced that she was full of crap, but I’m just one DS owner… I’ve been playing video games for more than 25 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a cartridge or disc go bad on me. I had been led to believe that Flash memory is more durable than the old GBA cartridges.” -Reader Phil H. as reported by the Consumerist.

Going beyond the issue of if a 2 year warranty is really needed on a game cartridge and whether or not BestBuy is playing hard and fast with the rules as far as what they’re telling their customers, think about this… If the game breaks 2 years down the road, what are the odds that they’re still going to have a copy of it on the shelves to replace yours with? It’s not like a stereo system where “something similar” is going to cut it.

Anyway, check out the Consumerist article here, and if you pick up a game in BestBuy anytime soon, feel free to drop us a line and let us know if the same type of offer was made to you.

BESTBUY DS-LITE OFFER

For those who didn’t get a chance to pick up the DS-Lite yesterday, there may be a reason to smile. BestBuy currently has a coupon (good at retail only) for a free copy of Brain Age with the purchase of a DS-Lite. The coupon is valid from June 11th through the 18th, or until supplies are exhausted. Head on over to BestBuy’s website here to get a PDF file of the coupon for printing. (It’s currently on page 4 of the front page item display)

BESTBUY TAKING PREORDERS ON 3 WII GAMES

Normally I wouldn’t call a store starting to take preorders on a few games must read news, but there are two reasons why I felt this one should be posted. First off, if we’re to believe BestBuy, the price point for Wii games will be the current $49.99 standard, not the $59.99 “Next Gen” pricing we’ve seen on the 360. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I saw this bit of news over at Kotaku and nearly burst out laughing at the way it was presented.

The games currently available for preorder are Red Steel, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Brothers Brawl. BestBuy has a release date of 12/01/06 on them as well, but I would probably chalk that up to a placeholder date at this point rather than an indication of the Wii’s launch date.

Check out the BestBuy Wii game pre-order page here and the aforementioned Kotaku posting here. Here’s to hoping Gauger can somehow escape the offices with her dignity and sanity intact. My advice? Put that training you’ve gotten through years of Resident Evil to good use. Come to think of it, it would make a great game – Resident Evil: Kotaku – you could play as Eliza Gauger trying to escape the Kotaku offices or as Brian Crescente coming back from vacation and trying to discern exactly what happened while you were gone. Hell, I’d buy it.