I see this a lot online at Gogamer.com. Usually one of them is an import or in a slimline jewel case with only a electronic manual.

Also, I once got a copy of Starcraft: Broodwar for 1.49 instead of 14.99 because it was mislabled & it was obvious I wasn't swapping pricetags or anything.

Looks like the same SKU number, are we sure this isn't just a price change sticker that wasn't put on both copies?

Digital, by the way. Small typo, nothing more.

The game is called Digital Devil Saga, and 20$ is cheap considering I saw it for 54$ the other day. The same thing as above happened to me with FFIII, I paid 20$ for a used copy and there was a 24$ version right next to it.

They have the same UPC code, you'll pay the same for either. Given the fact that an EB has thousands of items which frequently undergo price changes, it's not hard to see why they might miss a copy while relabling.

All of that's beside the point, though, as they don't just punch the price in at the register, they scan the UPC. The box could be labeled at a million dollars, but you pay whatever the current price is. If anything, you'll pay less than the price on the label, as prices of games don't usually go up.

I don't really see why this is a story

This game dropped in price from $29.99 to $19.99 sometime within the past couple of weeks at GameStop/EB. This is just a simple case of them not changing the pricetag.

If you broght the more expensive copy to the counter it should ring up as the new cheaper price since it would be in the system.

This game was probably just overlooked during price changes.

This could also be a case of EB letting their workers "rent" a new game and then still selling it new even though it is used. I bought a game like that the other day (also a SMT game oddly enough) that was labeled new and was below regular price but had obviously been played before.

I've had games ring up cheaper several times at EB/gamestop. I've never been over charged or had them try to over charge me either. The ones I go to are pretty good at giving you the cheapest price.

@KidU:
It's not the case in this instance. A used copy of Digital Devil Saga is $17.99.

Nah. They just charge you the cheaper price. It happened when I bought Dragon Quest 8. It was only $20, but the price tag said $30 on some. When I went up to the counter with the $30 copy, they only charged me $20.

@shipwreck: DDS 2 I think you mean. DDS is rare as hell. I know they charged me $60 (USED!!!) for a similarly rare Atlus PS2 game (Nocturne).

@KidU:
Yes, I just forgot to put the 2 at the end, but I meant DDS2. A bunch of Atlus games dropped in price a couple of weeks ago at GameStop and DDS2 was one of them.

Wait.... why is he showing us his Verizon face?

These articles are worthless. Pricing mistakes do happen. All the time. I bet you could find similar examples every single time you walk into any store.

Happens all the time. Not news. Grab the cheap one and move along. I've seen it there, at Best Buy (surprise!), and other places. Simple mistake. Price changed, didn't get stuck on all packages.

Common occurence. Like seeing the pre-owned one at a more expensive price than the new one. Heck, its not even that major news. Explanation to why its news worthy?

That happens at the gamestop I work at. But regardless of what the sticker shows, the games will still ring up at a standard price. If you're curious as to which price is most recent, just look at the number to the right of the sku. It's actually the date that the sticker was printed off.

This is just human error and not nearly the problem of the "charge more for open-box" policy at some stores which is not an error but an oversight in the policy that can be corrected.

This is just a price drop that didn't make it on one copy. These aren't the dark ages. They scan it and you pay what's in the computer which in cases like this will always be the lower price. If for some reason it isn't, I've never had a problem getting it at the marked price and I think that's even the law here in Massachusetts.

What's the problem? So some kid making a few hairs above minimum wage forgot to tag one game with an updated price.

slow news day consumerist?

Yeah, this is totally common at Gamestop. The price drops and they're too lazy to re-mark the boxes. You'll often see used games going for more than new games, etc. Just make sure it rings you up for the lower price.

@KidU: That "we'll release a game in 2 parts that you need to play the first one to get the second" crap didn't work so well, I guess.

No one knew WTF DDS1 was until it was too late, and then no one bought DDS2 because they didn't play DDS1.

I am very familiar with Gamestop/EB's system. The price is changed by SKU # in the system. This is just a price tage issue. Very common problem as they have so many games and price drops are frequent.

Each price sticker at gamestop also includes the date it was printed, located in the top right corner. Usually, the lower price is the correct one and the fact that the 19.99 sticker has a more recent date confirms this.

Also, if they do charge the higher price, just show them the cheapest price sticker and tell them to give it to you at that price.

if you look on the right top side you can see a bunch of numbers, thats the date. the price of the 29.99 is in the month of november and the other in december. so the price did drop regardless of which one you scan.

At best buy a few days ago I noticed some DVD boxset for two different prices. Same exact thing, both brand new, different prices. Can't remember what dvd set it was, just that it was few over from Dr. Katz.

@Jigen: Astounding, now that you've weighed in on the matter we have the evidence we need to stick it to the establishment and their so-called "Pricing mistakes." Thank you Jigen, thank you.

eb games is terrible

Okay, well, I worked at a Game Crazy for the better part of the year and as it turns out, when price changes come through in the morning print-outs, the responsible people might not be on duty, and the irresponsible people might just not care enough to re-price the existing copies on the wall. Under the proper UPC it should scan at the lower price regardless so there isn't such a big issue other than misguidance, and even then it's the fault of one or two incompetent employees, not the whole store.

dear lord. What is wrong w/ his eyes? they're looking into my soul.

Regardless of what the "Price" says on it, the UPC is what matters, and it will ring up for the actual price "Lowest", this is just a case of the employee on duty during the price change / ticket print not putting it on the existing copies. Hardly article worthy, and standard pretty much at any retail store.

yea how the hell is this a story? they have the same UPC so it'll always take on the cheaper price... it's just that employees there are too lazy to print out a sticker and put on a new one, just check the dates on the right hand side of the sticker

EB Games would have gone with the higher price.

Uh...the dates on those barcodes represent a 1-month spread. Most likely the case is that a copy went un-changed between November and December, as the December price sticker is 19.99. As others have already stated it wouldn't make a difference in the end...scan'em both and they'd both come up at 19.99. It's not that uncommon to see this, nor strange. Slow news day I guess...

FU MANCHU!!!!!

@sarusa: Too... lazy? Really? You had to go there? I mean... really?

Blame the corporation, not the employees. There are too few hours to go around, and the stores can't get all the work done. There's two cases out there, they tagged one, didn't see the other one, and didn't have the time to thoroughly check the entire store for extra display copies. It happens, and you're being kind of a cock.

Picked up Final Fantasy Tactics Advance at an EB in 2005. It was labelled $15.99 on the price tag which elicited a WTF from the employee. The other ones on the shelf were labelled $39.99.

You know what I've seen recently? A shop here in Montréal (Game Buzz) selling Sneak King for 19,99$.

I see this ALL the time at my local GameStops. I always make sure to locate a few copies of the game before purchasing it to compare prices. You should too.

@TechnoDestructo:And then there's people like me that knew what it was but were out of the country or otherwise unable to buy the game and watched it slip through their fingers..and had to pay lots to get it.

I've seen the price thing too, I just grab the lower priced one and continue on if it's busy. If it's dead in the store i'll take the higher priced one over to show the manager.

uh....it's the lower price. don't be stupid.

it's easy to tell, look at the dates.

LoL!!! Earlier I was at EB Games and saw the Motorstorm for 39.99 and 49.99 lmfao...

I hate to jump on the "this isn't news" bandwagon but, well, it's not. It's not even particularly interesting. Prices change. Sometimes the tags, by accident, don't. People make mistakes, even at stores that are generally despised for shady business practices and poor customer service. There's a bar code on the sticker. You're going to pay the lower price. In the exceedingly rare instances where the price of a game has risen, you can probably convince them to sell it to you for the price on the sticker.

Everybody wins, except for the people who take...unfortunate...pics of themselves and are immortalized on popular consumer rights websites. Oh, and those of us who have to look at them.

@kingme: soooooooooo funny.

I think this is pretty bad reporting. Look at the picture. The tags are nearly a month a part. And if you have ever been to a Gamestop or EB Games, then you have seen this before in Used games. All you do is ask the clerk why the prices are different and they flat out tell you, the lowest price is the price for both of them. They just missed the update on the higher priced one. 1 simple call to any Gamestop or EB Games would have told you that.

But whatever, just continue this "shock n awe" reporting to get people to visit your site more. Just gets smart people like myself to visit you less. Hope for your sake that evens out.

PS- for those who have bad eyes, the date on the $29.99 game says 111007 and the $19.99 game says 120707. Since the sku is obviously on the left (281205?) that makes those other numbers obviously dates.

This isn't news or even interesting. Someone trades in a game, the price has dropped - gets a sticker with a lower price than previous copies. Same thing will happen with shipments of new games - same sku; the lower price prevails despite sticker. It's just a matter of being unable to update every copy of a game sometimes (except employees are really supposed to do it)

@justcrim: Yeahhh, this article is like "A Current Affair." Remember that ol' chestnut? Anyway, I call bullshit, and I'm disappointed that Kotaku linked it.

I've found GAME DISCS in open display boxes, and rather than rip off a crappy company, I just quietly hand them to the clerk, who usually hasn't been on the job more than a couple months. Wanna launch a 3-part investigation into that?