Best Bundles of Fun

So 2009 is going to be a bad year for video games, at least relative to 2008. I'm sure other industries are playing tiny violins given the amazing overall industry growth since 2000 with CAGR since then somewhere close to 12 or 13%. Ok that number may be down by year end to something like 10% or less, but still that's not bad. In the long run (ie, hopefully 2010) things will turn up, even if an ever increasing percentage of sales goes digital and away from retail. We (DFC) made some interesting forecasts about exactly that.

Meanwhile, every holiday season retailers offer bundles of consoles and game products specifically manufactured by 1st parties. For example, this November saw the release of exclusive Xbox 360 Elite Modern Warfare 2 bundles that was coceived of in a partnership between Microsoft and Activision. This year also saw a PS3 Slim with both Uncharted and Ratchet & Clank games. The consumer is used to these official bunndles at specialty gaming and big box retailers like Gamestop and Best Buy.

Then there are the distribution retailers - meaning retailers that buy through distributors rather than directly from manufacturers - that make their own bundles. This means they get games, get consoles and somehow bundle them all together with shrink wrap, duct tape, glue or whatever. When the Wii was new, many mom and pop type retailers were selling Wii consoles with an extra Wii-mote plus five or six games for an incredible price of over $1000. That's like Ebay pricing. As time went on and the high markup aftermarket for next gen consoles died off, these absurd bundles disappeared from stores, too.

But all along some larger distributor retailers, particularly Fry's on the West Coast, continued with their own custom assembled bundles though with reasonable pricing where the bundle might actually make sense to buy. Best Buy, however, always went with the official manufacturer offerings and only offered the standard bundles.

That is until now.

In the days before Christmas in Best Buy I discovered all three 1st party manufacturers had custom bundles held together by big rubber bands. Each of the first party had at least one bundle and for Best Buy, this looked a step closer to the distribution retailer type "at store shrink wrap" variety of bundle. I'm sure Best Buy funded these and probably got official backing from each 1st party to do so, but it's just interesting that this is the first time I've seen the leading electronics specialty store do this. At the right you can see the Xbox 360 retailer bundle offering an extra controller which was also offered at other retailers. The only difference here was that Best Buy was throwing in a $50 Best Buy gift card. To most gamers or games shoppers this is as good as cash. Also notice that the start of the bundle is actually an official Microsoft manufactured bundle of an Xbox 360 console with two games, LEGO Batman and Disney's racing game Pure.



Next up is a Sony PS3 bundle. In the next photo we see a new PS3 Slim (120gb) combined with a second DualShock 3 controller, an HDMI cable and a Rocketfish PS3 Wired Headset...all for only $389.96. The flyer even tells you you will save $15. Hmm...that doesn't sound like the greatest of savings considering to really utilize this you would need (1) a high likelihood of a second person playing next to you, (2) a high definition TV with HDMI inputs and (3) a need to play online multiplayer games where you want to talk to the other players. So this implies the ideal consumer of this bundle is either (a) a sports gamer or (b) someone with enough money to have a good enough television to support HDMI or (c) someone who is really into online shooters...or possibly sports...again... In any event, would saving $15 persuade you to buy this bundle? If you are really a cost conscious PS3 shopper - and if you are considering buying one at this point in the PS3 life cycle you are a defacto cost conscious PS3 shopper - then you might take pause at reading how you can save $15 with the bundle and instead consider you could save more if you un-bundle what you don't need. If you don't ever play with anyone else in the same room on the same console, the extra controller is useless and negates value of the bundle for you right there. Or if you don't have an HDMI capable TV, same thing. The good thing about this bundle is that it would not be hard for Best Buy to simply remove the rubberband and sell the individual items as originally intended. If the items were shrink wrapped together it would be tougher but still not impossible. If this were a pre-packaged bundle in one box, Best Buy would be hosed.

Sticking with Sony, we have an "old school" PSP bundle. Forget the PSPGO, this bundle contains a PSP3000, a car charger, a travel case and a Rocketfish screen protector...all for $199.96. You save a whoping $12. Like the PS3 bundle, there are no games included. Hmm...another bundle with no games that includes a Sony system. If I am investing in a system for the first time, I'd sure want at least a game to play with it. Why would bestbuy not include any games? Maybe they figure you'll use the savings from he bundle on additional purchases, ie, the games?

Also interesting his how Rocketfish had a product in this Sony bundle like it did with the Best Buy's PS3 bundle.

Last up is Nintendo with a DSi bundle pictured below. In this rubberbanded-ed package you get a DSi, a case, a Rocketfish screen protector and a Rocketfish PowerPack...all for $195.96 which saves you an astounding $5. Seriously, Best Buy, is that enough value? And again, no games.