Yes. You either want one or you don't. Pretty simple.

The hard-drive gives you the option to install games onto it. You still need the disc to start it, but once you do it runs off the HD.
I've installed and played all the games listed except Dead Rising, and the only one that made any substantial difference to me was Fable 2. The shortened load times between areas and ESPECIALLY for loading the inventory/map screen were pretty nice. Obviously, its not unplayable or has any worse presentation, but it can be a nice performance boost.
In Mass Effect, I think the elevator rides were maybe like 1-2 seconds shorter, not a big deal.

In other words, no.

The best reason to install games is reduce wear and tear on the DVD drive.

Silence is golden (playing from the HD versus the roaring DVD drive).

My 360 arcade shipped on Tuesday and is expected to arrive today, Thursday. This was with the free saver shipping. I Also recieved my $100 credit this morning. Way to come through amazon! Now if only they would extend the laptop deal as well.....

Mine shipped Monday, got it Tuesday. Also got the promo code this morning

Now time to turn that into XBL points! Looks like I need to actually order several 1600 point cards since they're the only ones below MSRP ($19.49 instead of $19.99). Free 2-day shipping with Prime and I'll be ok.

Question about multiple promo codes on the account:

I currently have a $40 promo for a 360/PS3/Wii game. And I'm about to add this $100 credit for anything.

If I leave a portion of the $100 on my account and then buy a game, how can I be sure it pulls from the specialized $40 pool first instead of the remainder of the general $100 pool?

This absolutely happened to me. I had never owned an Xbox of any kind, or even played one that I can remember, until April of this year. I had always been PS-exclusive, from the original PS through PS2 and PS3. The only reason I bought one initially was in order to get the Fallout 3 DLC that was exclusive to Xbox at the time, because I had fallen desperately in love with the game after getting it for PS3.

I now own about 50 Xbox games, and that includes rebuying all the multiplatform games I had originally owned for PS3.

My PS3 is almost exclusively a BluRay player these days, and my Wii is still a dust collector, not that that's any different from the pre-Xbox days.

Thanks. I think I'll order it and get a couple of $20 games with the voucher.

Reason I'm going through with it: I don't think I'll ever find it much cheaper

Oblivion is like night and day when you install it on your hard drive....Mass effect there is also a good reduction in those stutters that happen all the time in the game, but you would think Oblivion is being run on a different system after you install it....

Does anyone know what Amazon is doing with these pre-owned games? Will we eventually be able to buy them? Also, does anyone think another bonus trade in credit promotion is coming? I have 7 games I can trade for good money, so I'm weighing waiting for a bonus vs. the credit dropping by then.

Their site states it's going to a third party merchant. They don't say the name of this third party merchant. For all we know, they are probably being sold already in Amazon Marketplace by this merchant.

They are being sold in Amazon's marketplace...They are usually the ones with free shipping with prime...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...d_i=B000ZKDOUI

Get $20 off an $80 purchase.

Looks like they're matching TRU on that one. (Buy 2 $40+ and save $20)

TRU is still the better deal though, if you have the ad you can get an additional $10 GC with a $75 purchase and another $10 with the purchase of Assassin's Creed 2.

TRU's deal can be even better, depending on what you buy ...

For Xmas gifts, I bought Spongebob Truth or Square and LPS: Friends both for the Wii for my niece (each is $39.99).

I bought $15 in filler stuff in the store for other things that I needed and would be used.

Got the $10 GC for $75 purchase AND a $15 iTunes GC with the purchase of the Spongebob game for the Wii.

So, got $95 in games and other stuff for $50 (after subtracting the GCs).

Okay Countdown to Blackfriday Deal.

http://www.amazon.com/Outlet/b/ref=a...pf_rd_i=468642

Buy a Wii and Wii Fit Plus Bundle and get a $50 GC to Amazon.

You have to pay for the Wii Fit Plus Bundle. It is not free.

Yep. You are saving $10 and getting a $50 gift card.

Thanks. Fixed it. My bad.

I think it says this if you follow the link, but just fyi, the games you buy have to be on the list they provide.

I was going to use this, but Band Hero isn't on this list. Which is odd, because GH:WT is (which I also wanted to get). Lego RB is on the list, so you'd think Band Hero would be there.

Thanks for posting the deal, it's good til 11/21, fyi.

Sorry this already expired, but Amazon just had some special "lightning deals" at noon EST for Brutal Legend (360 only), Halo 3:ODST, and the new Ratchet & Clank...each one only $29.98 apiece...they sold out in seconds...I wonder if they will continue to do these every day?
I managed to get in on a copy of A Crack In Time...had a $10 promo credit from New Super Mario Wii, so I only paid $19.98 shipped!

Crap, I would have liked Brutal Legend at that price. Of course, it'll only be $5 more at Best Buy next Friday, if I can bear the crowds there.

Got both the ps3 ones today...

Got Madden 2010 and R&C: A crack in time for 37 bucks total... not bad.

I clicked on Ratchet the absolute SECOND the fucking button appeared and didn't get in. All three were gone inside of 10 seconds.

I also had a $10 credit to use. Ratchet for $20? Oh well.