Find me a game!!! (gamestracker.com)

Member Name: MrTink12

Product:	gamestracker.com
Date:	22/01/07 (491 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Find cheap games, lots of features, site has good layout

Disadvantages: Might not always provide cheapest price, no interest in games = an irrelevent site

An ever-expanding Internet provides a great way for people to buy a wide range of products. Being a computer games fan I am always on the look out for a good deal on the latest software/hardware. Achieving this objective is helped by regularly visiting GamesTracker, a computer games price comparison website. After all, the site is bold enough to declare that they will ‘find the lowest price[s] on the web’.


--------Using the site--------
The home page includes the price cuts for that day. Each gaming format is shown in bold white letters, and below in smaller letters there is a list of the price-reduced games. It great how all the major formats are covered by the website; namely PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PC, PSP, Nintendo DS, Gameboy Advance, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The website shows the prices from numerous retailers (over 30), including the likes of play.com, hmv.co.uk, and amazon.co.uk. If you have doubts over a particular retailer, the site does include (succinct) user reviews to help decide if that store is a good one to purchase from. It is also worth mentioning that for each game, user reviews as well as links to press reviews can be looked at. Prices shown include postage and packing, and the site will tell you if a product is in stock. Upon clicking a product, an overview of the game is given which in my view is a nice inclusion. There is a search box facility that I would rate as adequate, but not great, because by misspelling what you are searching for, a ‘no results found’ message is displayed. I tend to pay a visit GamesTracker most days, and on a good number of occasions have purchased a game because the site has shown the price to be very economical. One can register with the site, free of charge. After clicking ‘Register’ on the homepage, a username, password, email address, name, gender, date of birth, country, and the formats you are interested have to be filled in. A useful feature of registering with the site is how a ‘watchlist’ can be created, and you can ask to receive emails when the games/consoles on the list are reduced in price.

GamesTracker should also be complimented for including a ‘release dates’ section, easily found at the top of the screen. A simplistic layout is used with each month shown in bold letters, underneath a list of games released during this period, and the opportunity to click on a game to check for pre-release prices. This section of the site is definitely handy, containing information for the entire year, but it must always be borne in mind that release dates are subject to change. A further feature of the site is that one can view game screenshots and trailers. The former are a decent size, whilst the latter are streamed in Windows Media format. Although not providing must interest for me, cheats for the latest games can be found on GamesTracker. I have never needed to do this, but there is the opportunity to ask a question on the site, and hope someone answers it. Although not something which assists me in making game purchases, the site allows you to check the official UK all format games chart (top 20)


--------Critical comments--------
The main complaint is that GamesTracker might not actually be providing the cheapest prices available on the market. Some retailers are excluded, and there is always the fact that you may prefer to hunt for deals on the high street (or ebay). Another criticism is that I find the forums rather pointless. Far enough, there are several forums, covering all the gaming formats, and well as non-gaming issues such as sport and music, but I find so much of what is written pointless in relation to the primary reason why I use the site: to come across cheap computer games.


--------Final comments--------
If computer games are something you have interest in purchasing, GamesTracker can without doubt be a valuable website. Including reviews, being able to track the games you want with a ‘watchlist’, featuring screen grabs, all add to overall quality of the site. Therefore in conclusion, I would certainly recommend this site.


--------Contact details--------
Website: http://uk.gamestracker.com/

Email: info@gamestracker.com

Address:
GamesTracker Ltd
Provincial House
Solly Street
Sheffield
S1 4BA

Telephone: 0845 0944 990

Fax: 0845 0944 991

Summary: Very good price comparison site devoted to computer games