UPDATE: Now that Black Ops has released, head over to our Call of Duty Tracker to see is available.
Call of Duty: Black Ops is about to rear its head come November 9th, 2010 the official release date. So, what are your pre-order options from the top retailers out there, and what kind of delivery options are there? Like we recently broke down for Medal of Honor Pre-orders, we will do the same thing for you with COD: Black Ops.
Amazon Pre-order Deal
Game Deal: At the time of this writing, the pre-order cost for Black Ops is only $54.44. This is a guaranteed price, so it will not go up from here and if it happens to drop even more over the next 3 weeks, you will get it at the lowest advertised price until the actual released date. For example, if you pre-ordered it already at Amazon for the $59.99 price, then you will be getting it for $54.44 since that is the price today. If you have yet to pre-order and the price goes back up, then you will have to hope the price drops again before the release date.
Shipping Deal: You also have the option to get Release-Date Delivery. Release-Date Delivery costs a mere 99¢! This guarantees you will receive the item on the day the game is released. This 99¢ release-date delivery is also good on the other two game options, Hardened Edition and Prestige Edition… regardless of which version you order, you can get release-date delivery for 99¢.
Amazon UPDATE 11/8/10: The price of the game went up to $59.99. As a result, if you order at this price, and the price drops later today, then you will get the lower price.
GameStop Pre-order Deal
Game Deal: At GameStop the deal changes slightly from Amazon. GameStop is offering pre-orders of Black Ops for $59.99. GameStop is also offering a promotion only those who pre-order Black Ops which will afford them a CHANCE at winning some other prizes. When you pre-order from GameStop, you will have a daily opportunity to participate in “Surprize Attack” with quite a few prizes ranging from a Jeep to a free appetizer from T.G.I. Fridays. If this is your thing, then by all means preorder from GameStop.
Shipping Deal: There are no real shipping deals at GameStop when pre-ordering games through them. The deal is, pre-order the game, and select overnight shipping and they guarantee delivery on release-date. Overnight shipping costs $9.99 plus $1.50 more for each $50 over $75.
Target Pre-order Deal
Game Deal: There is no real pre-order deal for Black Ops at Target, the game costs $59.99.
Shipping Deal: there is also no guarantee of any sort with regards to release-date delivery.
Walmart Pre-order Deal
Game Deal: Walmart is virtually on par with Amazon when it comes to pre-order deals for COD: Black Ops, but with a one exception: The pre-order game cost is currently $59.99 from Walmart, $5 more than Amazon. The other two editions, Hardened Edition and Prestige Edition are also available at their respective costs of $79.99 and $139.99.
Shipping Deal: Like Amazon, Walmart also guarantees release-date delivery and at the bargain price of 97¢. One stipulation is that you must have your order placed 3 days prior to actual release date in order for you to receive this release-date delivery guarantee.
Walmart UPDATE: Walmart dropped their pre-order price to $53.96! Remember, to get release-date shipping you need to order 3 days prior to release-date (Nov. 9th, 2010)
COD: Black Ops Pre-order Recap:
Recapping the pre-order options from the various retailers:
Amazon: game cost is $54.44 (Guaranteed Price), shipping 99¢ for release-date delivery- Pre-Order Now
GameStop: game cost is $59.99 & contest, shipping is $9.99 for release-date delivery- Pre-Order Now
Target: game cost is $59.99, no shipping guarantees- Pre-Order Now
Walmart: game cost is $53.96 (Updated price), shipping 97¢ for release-date delivery (must order 3 days prior to release-date) – Pre-Order Now