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• Walmart opens Gamecenter online store

  

  Walmart has opened a new online store for video games: "Gamecenter" (not to be confused with the GameFly mobile app of the same name). From the looks of it, Walmart is out to compete with Amazon, specifically in the online pre-order business. Gamecenter is offering lots of pre-order incentives, including e-credit and bonus game content, for several of the big releases this year. There don't appear to be many, if any price reductions on standard retail games if pre-ordered (compared to Amazon typically knocking several dollars off of the competition's price), and Walmart's shipping for a single game is set at just under a dollar.

  The best pre-order deal on Gamecenter currently offers a $50 eGift card when you pre-order three games together from a predefined list; and your choices must be for the same platform, Xbox 360 or PS3. Still, there are some noteworthy games on the list, including Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Crackdown 2, Dead Rising 2, Medal of Honor, Fallout: New Vegas and Final Fantasy XIV.

  There are also several offers on single pre-orders, with Call of Duty: Black Ops including a $20 eGift card. The Legendary and Limited Editions of Halo: Reach also come with $20 credits, and several other pre-orders include $10–20 cards.