Introducing CheapSkate: Your Mascot for Cheap Games

Introducing a new site mascot, CheapSkate! He's a bottom-dwelling cartilaginous fish who grew up in the meaner parts of Britain (the seas around it) and he's a big fan of video games. The only problem is, his $100 a year salary for living as an endangered skate is hardly enough to get the big games throughout the year, so he has to maximize his gaming pleasure with the cheapest ones out there. Here is his guide, loyally translated from Fish into English using a Babelfish, to the cheapest gaming experiences out there. (Be sure to read the following in a Dickensian British accent for a full translation experience, just a suggestion.)

Cheap Gaming Suggestions

#1: $8.96 Circuit City games

There was a recently released list of games at Circuit City here that let gamers now which of their games had had their prices dropped to the bottom bin, but there are a couple of savants in that special ed class. If you want any EA Sports game that says 2006 or 2007 on it, you can probably get it. Last-gen games dominate the lists as well. I was a bit sad to see Parappa the Rapper for the PSP on the list, but oh well. Gun is also a pretty nice game on the list, for several consoles. Check out the list if you're interested, but it's pretty tough to read and the store's selection certainly won't include all of those. 'Tis the fate of the brick & mortar.

#2: Gametap

Not to endorse a big product, (Turner Broadcasting owns them? Really? No wonder they have enough money to just buy out games like they do) but Gametap has to be a good source for lots of games for very little money. For basically the cost of one big new game a year, you can get access to their huge selection as it keeps on and on increasing. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of crappy games on there, but most of those are at least nostalgic while big pretty new games get released every so often on the service as well. Gametap is the best place to get Sam & Max games, and also features a selection of third-person shooter-ish games like Tomb Raider, Bloodrayne, Hitman, and Thief. Besides, the $60 a year thing, they also offer a lot of games for free. You just download their program, and from there you can play several full games for nothing besides the incentive to sign up for their program. Ugh, corporate endorsement. I feel dirty, let's move on, even though I'm not getting a penny for recommending their service.

#3: Sleeper Hits of Yester-Year

Some of these games made it big anyway, but here are several now-cheap wonderful games and series, arranged in a nice little diamond:

• Sly Cooper
• Splinter Cell
• Beyond Good & Evil
• More old EA Sports games
• Metal Gear Solid
  
• Psychonauts
• Pirates!
  
• Doom

Plus, anything for the DS will basically work, because good lord have they got a lot of cheap little casual games. Brain Age 2 is $20 or less, assuming you're not in certain stores that overcharge for used games. Oh yeah, and maybe I should have said that, get used games. You should know that I think, but used games will be cheaper for the price of one chewed up manual. As long as your game isn't for the PC and it requires a CD code from the manual, you should be fine (just find CD codes online for stuff, anyway, if you're really cheap about it.) That should be about all for today's CheapSkate Guide to Cheap Games, now I have to, uh, "lay eggs in a horny case known as a mermaid's purse". (Thank you, Wikipedia!)