Perhaps you guys don’t buy games very often, but I used to run into problems all the time. Especially on titles that weren’t massive, like Madden, but were still pretty big and had a brewing interest in the gaming community that wasn’t anticipated. I probably run into that situation at least once per year.

If you really want a good deal, avoid brick and mortar stores altogether. Buy your games from Amazon. I buy a lot from them, so I have a Prime account ($80/yr for free 2nd day shipping on most items and overnight on most items for $4). I use them almost exclusively for my new games, now.

Amazon usually charges a little less for their new games. So instead of $60, you might pay $56 or $58. And then no taxes. And on an increasing number of titles, they promise *free* release-date delivery for Prime members. And in the case of Modern Warfare, they also offered $20 credit toward any future game purchase.

So, I could have driven to Game Stop (or another outlet), dealt with traffic and employees hassling me and trying to upsell me or pre-sell me on future games, pay taxes, etc… and come home with a game for $65 some time on launch day — or I could do what I *did*… which is pre-order MW2 ages ago on Amazon and get it delivered to my front door by 11:00 AM on release day for $40. No tax. No shipping. No hassle. It was awesome.

(I have nothing to do with Amazon, other than being a very satisfied customer of almost ten years who has never had a major complaint with them and has had great customer service from them. – You could say I’m a big fan).

Of course, if you don’t buy enough to justify a Prime subscription fee each year, then this may not work out as well for you.