301: The Mysteries of the Bin

[Brendan Main]

The Mysteries of the Bin

Treasure awaits those who dare explore the depths of the bargain bin, where games go to die.

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[Gxas]

Oh god... The Bargain Bin... My worst enemy. I too root through it time and time again, but I haven't found anything worthwhile since Primal Rage for my computer (was it Windows 95?).

I always feel disheartened when I look at any bin though. The games just thrown around and in no particular order. No rhyme or reason to the way they are dumped into the bin. It hurts to look at for me. The worst pain comes from book bargain bins though. I love books, and seeing them torn apart with pages and covers bent or missing just makes me lose faith.

One man's trash though, as you've obviously seen with your lucky Watchmen catch.

 

[Valate_v1legacy]

Ahh the bin. Seeing as I have *Rummages through pocket* seven cents to my name, I always go to the bin. And, oddly, I always find something. This week it was a 5$ copy of Brain Age which creeps me out yet beckons intently. My favourite all time find was a 3$ game I had never heard of, S.L.A.I. I played it and was mesmerised. "How could this not get noticed!?"


(Of course my opinion is a really wacky thing)

 

[Jinjiro]

Great article, and I love the bargain bin. It's like free gambling, sifting through the myriads of shovelware with the small chance of finding that one golden deal. My most memorable find was a copy of Burnout 2, which I hadn't heard of until then. I think it was like five quid, and I spent DAYS on it. DAYS.

 

[DJDarque]

Oh, the bins. I prefer the movie bargain bin to the video game one. I always find something good in there.

 

[Xanthious]

What a timely article! I just found a mint copy of Record of Lodoss War for Dreamcast about three days ago at a game shop here in town for all of $0.99. The shrink wrap had been taken off but I would wager the actual game had never been removed from the case. I doubt I will ever seriously play but it's one of a very select few Dreamcast games I don't actually own. Now if only I can find Project Justice, a SegaGaGa Boxset, and a special Hello Kitty skinned Dreamcast next . . . .

 

[Erlec]

I've always went to the bin whenever I got to a shop where there are video games.
Ever since I was ten and only had 10 $ to spend a month, I tended to find some hidden gems. These gems were:

The longest journey
Worms
Theme hosputal
Giants citizen kabuto
Gabriel Knight

Very good games, but when I try the bin nowadays: I find nothing. That's why I do most of my shopping over the net nowadays, but even when I'm just helping someone find something; I still look through the bin.

 

[Plinglebob]

Oh, the bins. I prefer the movie bargain bin to the video game one. I always find something good in there.

I admit I'm the same but mainly due to Game bargain bins not really existing near me. My 600+ film collection (a 3rd of which I've never seen) is testament to this.

However, I have had 2 bargain bin finds. One was a copy of Startopia for 99p and the other was the PC version of FFVII about a year after it was release when I was on Holiday in the USA.

 

[fletch_talon]

Not a proper bargain bin, but I once found a decent condition copy of Ico, with slip cover and cards and manual, few-no scratches in a second hand store.

For $7...
Australian...

Needless to say I was a very happy man that day.

 

[Rigs83]

My best Bin find was Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic for $30. I have been hooked on Bioware crack ever since.

 

[ccesarano]

I keep up with the industry well enough that I'm usually buying a brand new game for $60 every other week. April is my only safe haven thus far, with the exception of Portal 2 coming out.

Nonetheless, I've discovered the future of bargain bins. Amazon.com (and for PC gamers, I KNOW Steam sales are pretty much the equivalent). A few weeks ago I nabbed DeBlob 2 and what turned out to be the Epic Edition of Bulletstorm for cheap via Lightning Deals, and last week I got hold of Yakuza 4 for just $30. It is the bargain bin that is always there and present.

I miss finding bargains, though. On occasion I'd give a cheap $15 game a chance, and sometimes I'd find myself amazed. I still remember how surprised I was at Viking: Battle for Asgard.

I think the real detriment to gaming is that they only ship so many copies, and then no more. Unless you're willing to purchase used (I typically am not), then the only games you get to see are the shovelware that never sold. Otherwise everything is either owned or cursed to the Used wall.

Even though I have over a dozen games I need to play and beat, I might stop by the bargain bin this weekend nonetheless, just to see what's around.

 

[theaceplaya]

Viewtiful Joe, $4.

The bargain bin is always worth a look.

 

[Deviluk]

Yeah I know this. I was in a long queue at GAME with my mate before christmas, and the queue snaked around the bargain bin. We were so shocked to find utter gems from our childhood, PS2 games, in there for less than £5 each! Games that we'd never part with, and played to death. I wanted to buy it just so I could give it to my younger brother who would never experience it probably.

 

[RevRaptor]

Gotta admit I'm a bin addict and I'm totally not ashamed of it. I found a copy of burnout paradise for the 360 for 20 bucks NZ, that about as low as prices get round here with out resorting to the fast talking man on the corner that reacts really badly to the colour blue. Also found a copy of far cry 2 for ten bucks and down here ten bucks is worth nothing, a happy meal costs ten bucks.
Loved both games.
Always check the bins

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Yeah, like the writer, I find myself almost offended by the state of these bins.

Surely, the basic rule of sales is that items on sale have be seen to be sold, and a jumbled pile helps no-one, and I wonder if I'm alone, that when I'm looking thru properly I'll often leave the bin sorted into rows of organised spines facing upwards, tho I won't let the potential OCD let me alphabetise them

Really how are you going to know what's at the bottom if you don't get down there tho That's where any bargains will be, as casual browser will, at the most, flick over the top layer.

 

[Discon]

I've been hooked to this since I found a bin that contained not ONE, but THREE versions of the Orange Box for the equivalent of two dollars each. I bought all the copies for gifts

Later on I visisted that same town and found three copies of CoD 4 for PC for two dollars per copy, and I bought two of them.

I've also found Unreal Tournament 3 for two dollars in my home town once, but I didn't end up buying it.

 

[Tempest13]

The bin is my comrade, I've literally got an entire library of PS2 games from the bin.

 

[alandavidson]

I got "Kid Kool and the Quest for the Seven Wonder Herbs" out of the bin. The title made me laugh so hard that I had to buy it. And I loved the game.