XBLA, PSN carve out Thanksgiving sales

Downloadable services dropping prices for US holiday weekend, offering Rez HD, Echochrome, Catan, and more at a discount.

In the US, the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday, the starting gun for the holiday-shopping season that often sees retailers offering high-ticket items at absurdly low prices. But gamers won't need to camp out overnight for a deal; Microsoft and Sony are both discounting some high-profile releases on their respective downloadable-game services.

Until next Thursday, PlayStation 3 gamers can pick up The Last Guy, PixelJunk Eden, Echochrome, Novastrike, and Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 for the reduced price of $4.99 each. All five of those games sold for $9.99 upon their original releases on the PlayStation Network.

Microsoft has a wider array of content on sale, but its Xbox Live Marketplace Black Friday promotion also has a few more strings attached. From Friday morning through Sunday evening, Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to get deals on a variety of Live Arcade games and premium downloadable content.

On the XBLA side, a slate of games going for 800 Microsoft points ($10) will be available for 500 Microsoft points ($6.25). Those include Rez HD, Catan, Arkadian Warriors, Brain Challenge, Boogie Bunnies, and Golf: Tee it Up! On top of that, Assault Heroes will be discounted from its 400 Microsoft point ($5) price to 250 Microsoft points ($3.12).

Some of the more notable downloadable content on sale includes the full Metallica Death Magnetic album for Guitar Hero III/World Tour. Ordinarily selling for 1,440 Microsoft points ($18), the record will instead fetch 1,000 Microsoft points ($12.50). The Crackdown Getting Busy bonus pack is also getting cheaper, given that the 800 Microsoft point ($10) add-on is temporarily being cut to 500 Microsoft points ($6.25).

Forza, Rock Band, and Lips will have one discounted download each, whereas themes for Sonic Unleashed, Castle Crashers, and Gears of War 2 will be cut from 250 Microsoft points ($3.12) to 180 ($2.25).

38 Comments

  • AlexLJ

    Posted Dec 13, 2008 12:39 pm PT

    WHOO HOO!! REZ HD!!

  • ToneLoki

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 3:48 pm PT

    5$ games rooool! The last guy is a steal at 5 bones, and so is elephunk for its two player 'Jenga' mode [makes a great drinking game kids!]

  • neerajkumar_4

    Posted Nov 30, 2008 8:12 am PT

    sweet!!!!

  • CharlieFubar

    Posted Nov 29, 2008 3:00 pm PT

    Such A Deal!

  • lamprey263

    Posted Nov 28, 2008 1:23 am PT

    in other good black friday news, I was using the netflix feature and it appears something has been worked out between Microsoft and Netflix and Sony over the streaming of Sony movies onto the X360, and it's working now, so either a deal was made or it was a fluke the content made it out

  • Norgavue

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 8:42 pm PT

    Not really interested in any of these.

  • Media_Mind

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 6:15 pm PT

    None of them aren't that appealing though...

  • Moppyp

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 4:54 pm PT

    Echochrome here i cum...

  • mtofu

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 11:53 am PT

    does the PS2 USB Rez Vibrator work with the XBox 360 Arcade version?

  • Hedfix

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 10:57 am PT

    Thanks for sharing these temporary cuts with the europeans...

    Insular crap continues

  • SPaM782

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 9:32 am PT

    Microsoft aren't being dirtbags Generic_Dude. Its a benefit for Gold Subscribers. And to be honest i don't know many if any Silver Members who are connected to Xbox Live.

    MightyMuna not all themes require paying for them. There are many free ones but at the current moment there are no free Premium ones which are compatible with the New Xbox Experience.

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 8:42 am PT

    Gold Members only? Hey, let's all be thankful for corporate greed! Thanks for lowering the bar AGAIN, Microsoft, you dirtbag fatcats!

  • MightyMuna

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 8:27 am PT

    damn, I cant believe you have to pay for themes on XBL. What a rip-off.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 7:32 am PT

    Settlers was a fun game...wish they had included the expansion content though.

  • bacchus2

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 3:14 am PT

    I very much doubt these discounts will be in Australia, but I think I will check and grab Rez while it's cheap even if I'm unlikely to play it for a while. Assault Heroes is a steal, I'm pretty sure I got that for 800 points originally and it was definitely worth it.

  • Irve

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 2:31 am PT

    i hope they do something like this in the UK too .. but for everyone not just the goldies

  • robbieeeeee

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 12:27 am PT

    Still wont buy them.

  • Vote_For_McCain

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 12:05 am PT

    Everyone should get Catan. That was a great game...especially over Xbox LIVE.

  • Englando_IV

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 11:44 pm PT

    @ctg867
    Rez HD for the 360 is the best game listed in this article.

  • jcloverboy

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 11:26 pm PT

    now I'll d/l the Death Magnetic album. I'm still upset that we don't have option to purchase single tracks for some packs in GH, unlike RB where that option is always available.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 11:05 pm PT

    some good deals on both systems

  • dracula_16

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 9:32 pm PT

    I guess this will a perfect opportunity for me to finally get Rez. Down with procrastination!

  • lilsugardaddie

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 7:39 pm PT

    Go 360!

  • ctg867

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 6:41 pm PT

    Wow, Microsoft continues to be stingy with the DLC. Sony is doing a huge fan service by dropping the price on three amazing games by half: Last Guy, Pixel Junk Eden, and Echochrome.

    But on the 360 side, all the $10 games they dropped the price on suck (see: none of them are good), except for Assault Heroes. And on the DLC front, the fact that DLC like the Crackdown pack isn't free by now is just stupid, but when they discount it, they can't even do us a favor and put it to an even $5, since that's all they sell their point cards in: $5 increments.

    And for the themes?... Don't even get me started. They charge more then $3 for handful of jpeg images, and they have the balls to discount them at a still ridiculous price "temporarily". If you are really gonna be that cheap and charge for something so stupid, they shouldn't be more then $1 a piece. Simple as that.

    Moral of the story, BUY LAST GUY, EDEN, AND ECHOCHROME, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANYTHING ON THE 360 SIDE (unless it's Assault Heroes or te Death Magnetic album). You'd be a complete idiot not to get at least one, if not two or all three. I own Eden, and I really enjoyed playing Last guy and Echochrome. I'll be picking up both tomorrow.

  • SonicTheMonkey

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 5:24 pm PT

    Wow a $3.75 savings! Now that's a Black Friday deal worth talking about >_>

  • spawnassasin

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 4:23 pm PT

    hmmm maybe ill get The Last Guy played the demo and it was pretty fun

  • lamprey263

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 4:23 pm PT

    I didn't like The Last Guy at first but it grew on me over time, Echochrome though was pretty cool and worth $5, Rez HD is also really cool, but a good thing I held out on Brain Challenge, I almost downloaded it the other day, now I can get it cheaper

  • NoseWeed619

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 4:17 pm PT

    Yay! Now where's the good games that are getting discounts?

  • Yo-gan

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 4:13 pm PT

    death magnetic here i come ^_^

  • iNyCzOwnJody

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 4:10 pm PT

    i still think they shouldhave put more things on sale,Like things people actually WANT.

  • Alizerothree

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:51 pm PT

    Would be nice for an NXE polish patch along with the price cuts.

  • -E-N-E-M-Y-

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:50 pm PT

    That's pretty cool. Looking to get a new Gears of War 2 theme.

  • kkkkknaruto

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:49 pm PT

    themes on the xbox costs $3.12 r u serious?

  • CodingGenius Site moderator

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:42 pm PT

    That's really sweet. I'll pick up a few of those on sale!

  • NirvaKnot

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:41 pm PT

    All i want is Castle Crashers and SFIIHD for $10 and I'll be happy

  • ShadowBass989

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:39 pm PT

    cool.

  • GodsPoison

    Posted Nov 26, 2008 3:37 pm PT

    Meh, none of those are really interesting to begin with. PSN needs to add some older ps1 titles like FFT and Metal Gear solid. People would buy those.

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