Mass Effect 2 is having a simultaneous release for Xbox 360 and PC on Thursday January 28th. There are some preorder bonuses including some EB Games exclusives.

Price round-ups are forum discussions that let the community track prices and trade in offers for upcoming releases. It is an opportunity to share trade in exploits, point out online sales, reveal broken street dates and helps reduce work for staff so that we can have more frequent round-ups.

My local GameTraders (Castle Towers NSW) has got stock of Mass Effect 2 on the Xbox 360. I will head over there tomorrow hopefully and confirm this as it only says on the website.

The Mass Effect 2 Collector's Edition includes:

* Tin Case Packaging
* Ltd Edition Dark Horse Comic
* Bonus DVD
* Dragon's Age Blood Armour Unlock
* Art Book
* Specialized Cerberus Network Access Card granting access to bonus content

EB Games exclusives:
* Bonus Mass Effect 2 Terminus Armour & M-490 Blackstorm Unlock!

After having the 1st one on 360 and the option of continuing your story with the 360 save I really wanted to get it on 360 but the better controls (likely graphics) and much cheaper price on pc means I am converting to the pc and tossing out my old character choices.

So on pc there is the option between the standard and deluxe version and when looking at it closely there is nothing in the list that really stands out as a must have.  You can get the inferno armour for the standard version if u pre-order on steam and likely in a few other places.  I also have some item I can grab from buying dragon's age.

Price wise cd-wow looks to be the cheapest at $45 for standard and $53 for deluxe but you need to wait for them to arrive.  Personally I just grabbed it off steam, price $49 and $59 and you can pre download and have it instantly.

By the way the Cerberus Network Access Card is in all new copies(even standard). It's like the Shale DLC for Dragon Age.

Can't find PS3 price anywhere.... :P

If only EA would live up to their reputation and whore out the franchise to anyone DS, Wii, Game Gear, 3DO invcluded. Oh well.

I also would like to welcome the return of the mighty Price Round Ups

JB Hi-Fi has bonus armour if you pre-order. They are also having it on trade 3-1 when its released or so I read.

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/game/xbox-360/mass-effect-2-bonus-unlock-code/464176

Is it possible to do a 3 for 1 as a preorder?

No it's not. You can go in, pre-order for $5, then take in your trade bait on release day and get your $5 back. Anyone have a good line on some trade bait for ME2? I'm having trouble finding some since JB updated the exclusion list.

I didn't realise you could do this, I might preorder it today. I wasn't planning on it since I have games to trade but if I can get the preorder bonus AND trade the games it would be nice. Thanks for the heads up!

Well, CDWow has ME2 for $44.95, free delivery:
http://www.cdwow.com.au/games/Mass-Effect-2-Us-PC/dp/7069443

Sounds pretty good.

It's worth it for games with preorder bonuses. I did it with Dragon Age and MW2.

That's BRILLIANT! I think I know what I'll be doing! I've only started playing the firest one recently and it's awesome, I really like the idea that you can port across you character too.

dont bother with that pre order bull****, for 360 its free on the marketplace right now!

Follow the link to ign where they link every dlc on the xbox.com marketplace.

http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/106/1063174p1.html

Don't no if they pushed the wrong button so it may only last a day or something, so get in quick and que it up!

Game has it for $89 normal edition. You wont have to buy the collectors since the content is FREE (limited time?)

Does anyone know if ME2 will have a good trade-in value? With the current EB clearance sale, It looks like it could be a good climate for a trade-in exploit providing the value is decent.

Oh damn...all of them are dead except for the first one.   Get a "This item is not available for purchase from Xbox LIVE Marketplace on the Web."  notice when I try to add them. 

All of them work for me fine. Have you logged in before downloading them?

I got the first two last night and then got errors for the rest - same thing today - None of the others are working for me, but I'm pretty happy with what I got

its all been nuked, so for the people who missed out, better luck next time :p

I managed to get most of them

damn to late

Mass Effect 2 on release day at JB Hi Fi will be as follows:

STANDARD EDITION:
Xbox 360- $99

PC- $89

Bugger... well I missed out on the free content.... makes me REALLY pissed off with Microsoft (if it's already gone out for free and a considerable number of people have downloaded ALL the "exclusive" content for free why bother taking it down at all?) I paid for the collector's edition (I love steelbook cases) and am pleased to get some content with it... but thanks to an error and a delay in correcting it there's quite a few people who got all that content for free!
dodgy move microsoft.

I neeeeed to get this game tomorrow and there's no KMart/BigW price yet! I was hoping for $79!!

For those that can wait ~1 week - http://www.cheapgames.com.au/mass-effect-region-free-xbox-p-2842.html

Don't even bother mate. The trade-in value of ME2 is only $45 at EBgames and $52 at GAME. Not worth the effort IMO.

Kmart - $99.00
Big W - $88.00
Toys R Us - $100.00
Harvey Norman - 109.95

MASS EFFECT 2 TRADE IN VALUES

EB GAMES - MASS EFFECT 2

TRADE BY 03/02/10 - $85
TRADE BY 12/02/10 - $70
TRADE BY 17/02/10 - $60

Its $58 at GAME but they beat trade offers so they will do the EB prices as well if asked.

EB seem to have the trade-in value for ME2 in their system as $45, at least at the WA store that I attended to. Likely some sort of error, as by now all the EB stores should have the appropriate posters etc up with regards to ME2 true trade-in values. Topped up with an Edge+ card, I got my Collector's Edition for ~$100 less than usual for <$35 tradebait.

So then with EDGE it'd be $94.50, right? Making it fairly worth it I guess, if we can find alright trade-bait. Unless this is only NZ price like with Darksiders. I'll try today, although it's gonna be a little rude trading it in mere hours after it's released. Need a good excuse. ;-)

Do you think being honest works? Like saying "Oh I'm just interested in the bonus credit"?

Depending on which edge card you use it'll be either $97.75 (15%) or $93.5 (10%)

Ok I did trading. Works, plenty of Trade-bait. Made $78 or so, which is not much, but couldn't be bothered after the way I was treated. I got treated like a freaking criminal. It seems the game has changed, figuratively speaking. They're VERY weary of it. The people in JB-Hifi photocopied my ID right off the bat. They said it was so that they could check with police if games are stolen, but I've heard on here that it means you're banned. The EB people allowed it, but told me not to come back.

It's not like I've even done it much. I'd say it was foolish of me to do it on the day it came out, as it's so obvious, but it was the only day I had free. I've learnt my lesson. I'd suggest not doing it.



So yeah, just be careful, I think our days doing this are numbered. 
On the flip-side, I have a spare pre-order bonus "Inferno Armour" code if anyone's interested. I don't even have an Xbox, so I have no use for it.

I didn't know JB banned people from trading or photocopied ID but I know EB flags people.

Can you PM the Inferno code please? :P

lol did you get the money from ME2 on Gift Card?

What happens if you do a few copies at different stores and then purchase a PS3 with say 5 gift cards?
You reckon will go down sweet?

I'm pretty sure JB photocopy ID for every tradein from every customer, since its their store policy.  Don't think it means they think u're a potential crook or want to particularly check if the games are stolen.  Maybe something about the way u approached it rubbed them off the wrong way. 

I've traded so many games at several JBs lately,  one session included 9 games at once.  They are really nice to me still and I don't get the feeling I'm not welcomed at any of the JBs at all.  They do photocopy my ID everytime but I didn't mind since its their policy.  I'm no crook so I have nothing to be worried about :)     

As a side note, I was talking to the JB storeperson today during my trading and he said they don't keep ur account on their computer system, they only keep the per-trade details along with the photocopied photo ID.   He really wished their computer would allow keeping of customer details, so they don't have to do the painstakingly long task of photocopying and physically writing down the details of each trade. 

I'm guessing that this policy must vary state to state in line with different legislation (I've done a lot of trading with JB and they never photocopy my ID, just copy down the licence number, and ask for a phone number- all of which they enter into the computer, however they don't keep the details on record as customer details (they just keep them as details of the trade).

Hey,

I was at other stores doing it and they didn't copy the ID, and then this store, which hasn't done it before, did copy the ID. Which I thought was odd because it seemed like they were wise to what I was doing on their system. Hopefully it's all good.

On a side note, one EB copied my details into their computer rather than me just filling out the receipt form. I'm sure that's fine as the person behind the counter seemed new and didn't know what was going on, but it seemed like a possible problem as now they have it in the system if I were to do it again. I mean, I don't think they really check those receipts unless they're stolen, but if in the computer they can track it, right? Is that normal conduct or is it a new thing?

I'm sure i'm being paranoid about the whole thing, but it seems to me like they're really gonna start cracking down on what we're doing soon.

Oh, and the Armour Code is gone now. Sorry guys!!

Hi there,

At EBGames, Trading in stuff is pretty simple. We put your details into the system, however it doesn't get saved into the system. All it does is it sorts it out on the receipt. Then it prints out 2 receipts, one is the store copy, which requires you to sign. The other is a customer copy, which you keep.

Note: It does NOT get stored into the system, it gets printed onto a receipt. We normally don't check it, but if we find that if lets say, a game that was traded in and we don't have the game itself, we could contact you for it, or if theft has happened, we have his details.

can someone tell me what happens if i try and use 4 gift cards in one transaction?

Can EB look and find out where the gift cards came from?

Thanks in advance

Hi there,

No we cannot look where it has came from. All we do is scan the barcode which puts the money into the gift card. So if you use 4, all we see is just the money thats on the gift card, however if we see like a repetitive amount in all 4, it does look a bit suss.

would i get stung if i did that and all four had the same amount? or you think i will be all good?

Thanks for your help

They might stop you trading in games in the future but they have to take your gift cards.

cool so you probably do it once and never again ...

@InitialDRulz

I have no problems with having ID recorded all the time during tradeins, but I am wondering how it would help with theft solving regarding to:


If u traded the games in then leave the store, how can u still be responsible or why would they want to contact u, if those games were stolen at a later date? 


I understand this one, since if a store reported they lost 10 copies of a game, and they found somebody in record that traded in 10 copies during one week, then they have a lead for the cops to investigate into. 
 

$56 for region-free English version at Play-Asia - http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-4kjy-71-fc-49-en-84-j-70-3dh7.html (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-4kjy-71-fc-49-en-84-j-70-3dh7.html)

Hey, just to answer everybody's questions.

Implsv: it really depends on who is serving you. Some people will do it and just say ok, some will be very suspicious and just let it slide.

CaptainOrgazmo: I think you misunderstood me when i said that so i'll rephrase and apologize.

Lets say i had a stack of 5-6 games i wanted to trade in. The person serving you tells you the amount its worth in which you accept and do the trade. But when they check for the game, they noticed that a disc is missing (most likely because i left it in my machine). We would notify you within the day if its missing. If theft has happened, its our fault, however we store the trade games in the back room so theft is highly an unlikely option.

So to clarify, some people check to see if they have the game inside, and others just scan the box itself not thinking to check inside until we start stickering. The details are not exactly used to counter theft. It is used so we have the mobile details to get into contact with the trader. Of course, if you refuse to trade in the said game, then thats stealing in a way, because it's like trading a box of nothing.

Also by law, it is required that we have ID, hence why we have to have Address etc etc. 99% of the time, nothing happens, its only 1% we ever check it.

We do have a blacklist, so when you are trading in games, you may think that you got away with it, but it could be the chance that every EB is on alert for your name. It has happened.

Hope that answers everybody's questions. If you have more, don't be afraid to ask.

useful information thanks for your help...

just want to try and get a ps3 by using some of my trade bait with copies of Mass Effect 2..

Hopefully i will be ok..

not trying to pull off $1000S+ games...

just enough to get 1 ps3

@InitialDRulz

Thanks for taking the time to explain it :D  Really appreciate it!!

I noticed that most staff I traded with, did not actually check if the discs were inside.  Out of the recent members I traded in with, only 2 of them checked to see if the disc and manual were inside.     

@InitialDRulz

Cheers for the useful info dude, got a question if you don't mind answering.
How would one get onto a blacklist? I understand by obviously doing dodgy stuff but in terms of trading, using credit etc. What would get one flagged?

Shouldn't this be a store policy to check games? Other stores always check for the manual and the disc's condition. Also I thought all games have the same barcode, so how can they tell who traded in that specific copy if multiple people have traded in copies?

Thanks for the info though, do you know if the Edge + card makes trading easier? e.g. your info is stored on the card so when you trade in games you just swipe the card without needing to provide identification.

It probably is store policy but employees are often in a hurry and sometimes just trust that you put the game in the case.  Of course some are the opposite and carefully examine the disc for scratches.

You still have to provide ID. The Edge+ does make it easier for EB to keep track of your trades.

if i traded a couple of copies of Mass effect 2 and used my edge card at different stores, can you tell me if they would be able to know if i had been to another store and traded??

Edge+ yes (it's contains your ID and can be used to viw your entire trade/buying history at EB)
Edge no, all transactions are anonymous
EB credit store cards - yes, the history of transactions against the card are stored on it.  ie: what you traded in for the store credit etc.

so far as I know, anyways

I just fired this one up last night, played about 3 hours, this game is so freaking awesome!!!! Gives the feel of a true Space Opera type of game. It feels a bit like Gears of War + Dead space (minus the scary atmosphere) with RPG elements added in and more character interaction.

Can't put the controller down after I started it. Definitely living up to the hype so far, for me.

Hey everyone. Just to answer some more questions.

The Edge+ consists of 2 things. A card, and a paper that is stuck onto the card. The card has your name and expiry date (on the back of the card). The Paper itself, is a subscription for 12 months to Game Informer. So no, the Edge+ does NOT keep track of your trades. We still have to input ID into the machine, and then scan the barcode on the card, which we manually have to add 15% to each trade. So it does not save your information.

EB's Gift Card's do NOT have a history of transactions, i'm fairly certain with this one. All we can see is the balance on the card, nothing else.

@impulsv: There is no way to track you down, but this action can be very risky. Read ahead.

@Neo: we get an Email saying to look out of these names during trades, and if we do, reject automatically. To get flagged, it would be trading in high amounts of the same game (such as 5x Mass Effect 2 in 1 transaction), hold multiple gift cards with high amounts, or trade in high amounts of uncased games (known as the Manual and Game). There is probably more, but those are the main ones that i see.

@Good Evening: if you look at the back of any preowned box, you would see that there is a Register Number and the Transaction number, thats how we know which customer traded what.

AKA the thing you peel off before you trade it in at JB. ;-)

That gift card thing is silly though, as what if you had a birthday or something? My little bro had heaps of gift cards when it was his birthday, it's like THE thing to get children for birthdays nowadays it seems. Sure, they each had only about $20 on, but still....mine have random values leftover from different purchases, lowest I've had is about 10c on a giftcard.

And the high amounts of one game? Can this be solved by going to different EBs each time?

Edge+ seems pointless until the standard Edge expires, since you save buying preowned and save again by boosting the trade-in value. And thinking with my tin-foil hat on, i'd prefer not to have something that has my details, regardless of what's said it's used for, as they *could* track me in theory even though they say they don't, right?

The email thing sounds interesting, as most of the stores I go to know me anyway since i'm an extremely regular customer...which is sad as up until recently I was lying to them to try and sound legit, saying "oh yeah this game was great, stayed up all night finishing it" and adding in comments about the game based on the reviews I read and they always used to chat with me until recently another customer worked it out and told them what I was doing, and now it's awkward... (wow it sounds like a reverse Cable Guy...how depressing ;-) )

Forgot all about those stickers lol

Fido you can always do the JB only method of getting credit, simply get the game from the trade in and return the game in a couple days, bingo you get credit, the amount of whatever the game was worth which is usually more then what EB would offer and JB's games are cheaper and lastly you aren't limited to game products, there's audio, TV's etc.

Has anyone seen this game cheap locally? I checked local JB Hifi, Kmart, Dick Smith and EBs over the weekend and the lowest I saw was $99.00.

It's not a mass market release so the big stores won't be discounting to get you in the door.

Hrmmm...didn't think that worked. Might try it.

Just remember that you can only return sealed games.

$78 @ Kmart from Thursday (Bioshock 2 as well)

I knew being patient would yield some slight discounts. I've found a direct link to the page in the catalogue for those who want to print it for price-matching purposes.

http://www.kmart.com.au/Catalogue/Catalogue.aspx?CatalogueID=228&PageNo=21

I just picked this up at Big W in Watergardens for $78.
Was advertised at $88 but when you scan it they have it on special.

Mind you the Cerberus Network code it came with had already been used so I had to drive back again get angry and they gave me another that thank god actually hadn't been used.

Collector's Edition from Fishpond $90 - anywhere I can get it cheaper?

Hey all, first post..
found this on OzBargains and thought i'd share it here

Mass Effect 2 - Xbox360
Gameplay.co.uk
GBP21.98 + (GBP4.95 shipping to Aus) = AU$44.20

http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/productpage.asp?productcode=XT1555&title=mass_effect_2