Of course the machine needs to be under warranty (three years for red ring defects, pretty good bet it is) and you should keep your receipts in just such an instance. But if you (or, if it's a gift, whomever gets it) lives near where it was bought, this is loads better than waiting the two weeks to a month to get your refurb unit from Microsoft's brain replacement facility.

This doesn't surprise me, actually. I recall my Dad swapping out a defective chainsaw at a Walmart once, no questions asked. He explained that it was more profitable for them to take on the hassle of a defective, warrantied unit, figuring the customer satisfaction benefit would definitely bring them back and result in word-of-mouth recommendation. Which is what's happening here. So, good on Sam's Club. Anyone know of any other retailers who'll do this for free, tell us in the comments.

Sam's Club Lets You Swap Out Red-Ringed Xbox Hassle-Free [Consumerist]

That's the same price as the standard 80 GB model PS3 that Sony's offering sans packed-in game and $100 less than the new 160 GB SKU bundled with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Quantities may actually be genuinely limited this time and the offer appears to be online only, so if you're feeling froggy, we'd recommend jumpin'.

PlayStation 3 40GB Limited Edition Kojima Silver Bundle w/ Metal Gear Solid 4 [Walmart - thanks, Shaun!]

TechCrunch got a C&D from the retailer's attorneys, demanding they take down the fake ad and, furthermore, help them find out who shooped it and sent it around. Um, no. Besides, they already linked to their source. TechCrunch is righteously touting the two-page threat and telling Walmart to suck it. I think a great resolution to all this would be for Walmart to go ahead and sell the Wii, the three Wiimotes, three Nunchuks, three games, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree for the super-fake price, so we can all flip them for about 60 percent more on Craigslist. There's your economic stimulus.

Just to be clear, so I don't get a nastygram from some poor bastard associate (that was redundant) chained to his desk on a Saturday, this will cost $425. You read it anywhere else that it's less, that is fake.

Walmart Wants it Both Ways, We Say No [TechCrunch via BoingBoing Gadgets]

The controller bundle, which is packed with a wired headset fancier than the one we have at Kotaku Towers West, is available now for just shy of fifty bucks. Jump, if you're feeling froggy, just don't ask us to explain why it has an antique candlestick-style telephone screened on there.

Microsoft Wireless Controller - Dragon w/ Headset (Xbox 360) [Walmart]

Developing software and hardware that allows us to save the game so we do not have to leave it on would allow us to turn it off during a meal break or overnight without loosing our place. Additionally, come clever programming would allow the console to go into a lower power, standby mode when not in use.

Holy shit that's brilliant! If only every game that's come out over the past 12 years had had some sort of save function...why just think about what a better place the world would be! We'd be able to leave our games and come back to them, and power outages would no longer cause us to lose hours and hours of progress. Seriously Walmart, you're starting a revolution here.

I hereby urge all game developers to work some kind of save function into their games, if not for us, then for our planet. And while I'm at it, if the console makers could create some sort of screen dimmer for their systems in case we leave the game alone for while, that would be amazing too.

As a way of saying thanks to Walmart for this great revelation, I hereby offer an idea I've been kicking around. What if we had giant, soulless stores filled with every kind of merchandise available to man, where people could go at all hours of the day and night to satiate their every shopping need? It would be completely awesome! We could force people out of their homes to make room for the stores, and what the hell, even prop up a near-dead elderly person out in front, dress them in a blue vest and call them a greeter!

No no, don't thank me. You helped our industry save the planet. It's the least I could do.

Green Gaming? YUP! [Walmart Check Out Blog - Thanks Uncle Bob!]

I actually held one in my hands at a local Walmart nearly two weeks ago, with the ever-friendly electronics clerk (one of the few at a Walmart who knows what he is on about) even offered to sell it to me early, if the computer let him. Sadly it did not, once again flashing the message warning not to sell the game until the 21st. If Nintendo changed up the release date on retailers they didn't do it in enough time to change the box stickers and POS system fail-safes.

Don't even bother looking for one today. As far as the retail world is concerned you can get your Wii Fit on tomorrow. We've been lazy this long, another day won't kill us.

Other deals I saw included the DS lite starter kits with some kind of system cover and your choice of games (Elite Beat Agents, Polarium, or True Swing Golf) discounted to $9, and the Nintendo Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training at an extremely respectable $12.

The Officially Licenced Wii Tower Gaming Station [The Wiicast]

XBOX 360 $50 price drop - walmart ad [CheapAssgamer]
[Thanks, OGHowie]

I pray that no one gets their undersized noggin trapped within this thing. Michael McWhertor

The Halo 3 Legendary Spartan Mjolnir Helmet [Kotaku]

Didn't get that Wii pre-order? Don't worry. Walmart's got you covered. CheapyD at CheapAssGamer confirmed that starting today, the retailer will be taking pre-orders for the new Nintendo console. So if you're worried, open up the Walmart page and get your clicker finger ready. Brian Ashcraft

Walmart Wii Pre-Orders [CAG, Thanks Fernando!]

At least one Wal-Mart in Arkansas has decided to start selling Guitar Hero 2 nearly two weeks early, according to Neo-Gafers.

This picture of stacks of Guitar Hero II excited me so much I actually considered risking the near blizzard conditions of Denver to go buy one at my local Wal-Mart. Fortunately, I called first. The guy in the electronics department said they weren't out yet, but that would be probably next week. This despite the fact that the game isn't supposed to ship until Nov. 7

I wouldn't be so worked up about getting a copy of the game, despite my love of it, if it weren't for the fact that my review is technically due tomorrow and the promised review build still hasn't shown up. Oh noooooes! Brian Crecente

CyberNet news reports that a WalMart website screwup listed the Zune's price in advance: $284.00.

With the new 30g iPods going for $249, this is not an especially competitive price point, despite the new features. Perhaps the price was pulled because it isn't the final price at all, but I may be overly optimistic on this point.

And with the new iPod gaming abilities, Microsoft better be taking a hard look at the further possibilities offered by such a neato little device. Unused hardware possibilities, as all PSP owners learned, only end in tears. There is a simmering resentment inherent in knowing a piece of hardware can do more, but not being given the means to use it.

I know they told us the Zune would not be a games machine, but rethinking that decision might be a good move at this point. Eliza Gauger

[CyberNet News]

A moderator over at Cheap Ass Gamer stumbled across a mother-load of DS Lites at an American Target retailer. Not wanting to alert the cashier that the Lites shouldn't go on sale until June 11th, he asked if he could buy the portable. "Sure, enough," he writes, "they are selling them early." The receipt simply says "Nintendo DS" with no indication of it being a Lite.

Other CAGs report that the same is happening at other Targets and Walmart outlets. Chalk it up to not knowing any better, these stores continue to shift product. Whether it is a nationwide thing, isn't known—this could be several isolated incidents. Some US launch, huh? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [CAG]

You know a console has to be getting closer to launch when Wal-Mart opens its product page for the item.

The killer of small town America and everything over-priced has officially launched its webpages for the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Revolution. Granted, all either page does so far is give you the specs from last year's E3, but it's something.

Actually, the Playstation 3 site does have the trailer of game play from the show plus a bunch of screen shots for games and pictures of the console itself.

The page for the Revolution has some dated specs and images of the console as well as a line saying to check back soon to find out when you can reserve the console.

Pre-order and Buy the Nintendo Revolution Soon [Gadget Madness]

So ignoring your serious consumer electronics consumption issues, we're going to try and help you snag a 360 post-haste. Hit up your ATM and clear off some space from your high-interest credit cards—we're about to get spendy.

No, fucking seriously, come on. I'm sick of convincing you to buy this thing. Jesus, your room smells like the pickle aisle at Foot Locker.

Best Buy

While Kotaku has given a disproportionate amount of coverage to Best Buy's launch plans, I can safely say that you'd be sort of dumb to try to grab one from Best Buy this evening. Each store is going to have around 50 of the full, 'Premium,' or 'Not Retarded' systems and maybe 20-ish of the 'Core' systems. (We don't have to tell you that it's better to wait for a full system than get the heavily-neutered Core system, right?)

The problem is, these stores are going to be packed tighter than R. Kelly Summer Camp. They're going to have a healthy amount of consoles, games, and peripherals—that's good. And you're going to be able to stand in line and play PSP and DS games with all the other nerds waiting around. (I'm thinking early-adopters are going to be playing a lot of Mario Kart DS, for some reason.) But you're going to have get in line early and get in line often. With unit counts varying from store to store, there's really no way to guarantee your spot unless you budget a few extra hours before midnight. Hope the weather holds, suckers.

Bonus Best Buy Tip: Many stores already have the peripherals and games out for sale (some stores are putting the extra 360 controllers over in the PC gamepad section, for instance). Take a whirl though early today and get the other crap you're going to need. You can always sell it to someone else if you don't end up getting a system tonight. Bonus Bonus Best Buy Tip: Google "site:kotaku.com best buy" may offer up a wealth of otherwise hidden treasures.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart, where the devil himself shops for socks, is a pretty decent place to pick up a 360 if you don't have a preorder. Our sources are saying around 50 units per store total, but bear in mind those numbers tend to vary depending on the overall sales of each store. Wal-Mart's the genital-crushing colossus of American retail, however, so Microsoft isn't going to short them.

The 'official' word we have is that most Wal-Marts will not be allowing lines to form in the store (or, for that matter, outside the store). Instead, tickets will be given out in the Electronics department store on a first-come, first-serve basis. These tickets will be redeemed for a chance for one fun-filled byproduct of American hegemony at the Lay Away window at Midnight. We're not joking—the Law Away window, last seen holding a Jolly Rancher for use in a joke about Your Mama.

But it gets worse/better: Wal-Mart won't allow you to form a line at the Lay Away window. So those tickets that you get from the Electronics department don't really get you anything but a chance to mill aimlessly around the store, where you may just happen to linger near the Law Away window, ready to trap or maim anyone else nearby.

Bonus Wal-Mart Tip: Wal-Mart is one of America's leading retailers of shotguns.

Toys R Us

TRU has infamously boned people by saying they weren't going to do pre-orders, then switching gears at the last minute. If you don't have a pre-order, don't bother.

Bonus Toys R Us Tip: Toys R Us (most of them, anyway), have pretty lenient return policies. That means you can get one of those insultingly expensive $1,000 bundles, then walk right over and return what you don't want.

Buying Tomorrow

Target, Circuit City, and CompUSA all get a fair amount of consoles, but won't be putting them on the shelves until tomorrow morning. If you can stand waiting another 10 hours, showing up at those locations on the morning on the 22nd will probably be just as likely (and more
convenient) than waiting up all night tonight.

Unlikely Sources

You can be headstrong and wait it out at one of the big retailers, or you can play it smart and—did you hear a gong?—strike where the crowd is not. Sears, for instance, has a 'Funtronics' section. They usually get a few units. FYE and other music stores like Suncoast often get in a few units. Local electronics retailers and home theater stores might have a few. And all of these places, with just a few units, might be willing to sell you one tonight (or today,
even) if you slip them a twenty, since they aren't going to be under the scrutinous eye of Allard and his goblins.

Final Tips Recap

• Waiting in line is for sucks, but if you're going to do it, bring some water, warm clothes, and your DS and PSP. • Try and return unwanted, bundled games and accessories. Some stores will allow this, and it does not make you an asshole. • Be prepared to spend upwards of $1,000, especially at stores that force bundles. • If you can't be arsed to stand in line until midnight, try other stores tomorrow. • Small retailers have smaller crowds (and smaller allocations of inventory).

And the final, most important tip:

• Product shortages, while possible, are often engineered as a marketing stunt. (See: the Sony PSP, which "sold out" while thousands sat on store shelves.) If you don't get an Xbox 360 in the next 24 hours, don't worry. I promise you that Microsoft will be happy to sell you one for the next, say, four years. And if you wait, you'll even be able to buy an Xbox 360 plus a game you actually want, not one of the many launch titles that will have to do.

Cnet News' Gaming Blog found a cool deal going on at Wal-Mart on Black Friday. The super chain will be selling the Game Boy Advance for $48.88, down from the regular $79. That's about 40 percent off. The deal only includes Cobalt, Platinum, Flame, or Onyx colored handhelds. No word on if they are the newer GBA SP models or the original ones. Either way it's still a great deal. Don't know if it's worth risking the frenzied throngs of shopping undead on Friday, but could be.

Cnet found the deal on a website called Black Friday 2005, which has advanced ads from a bunch of stories for the sacred shopping day. It's worth a perusal. The site has a spot for EB Games, though it hasn't been filled in yet.

A Price Cut for Game Boy Advance in the Offing? [Gaming Blog]