I love Amazon to bits, but I can’t help but shake my head at this… Their scratch ‘n’ dent discount site Warehouse Deals is selling an original model PS2 with “cosmetic blemishes” (read: scratches, dings, dents, or who knows what else) for the low, low bargain basement price of $133.13. And that doesn’t even include the original box. But hey, shipping is free.

Maybe they can dig me up a dirty N64 for 10% off MSRP?

With the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 a couple of weeks ago, the Metal Gear Solid Essential Collection suddenly evaporated from Amazon and Gamestop. The box, released in March, includes Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance, and Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence at an absolute steal of a price, $29.99. Prices in the past 2 weeks have been climbing over $50 on eBay and one opened set even fetched a ridiculous $81.

The Metal Gear Solid Essential Collection just came back into stock at Amazon this afternoon for $29.99 and is the perfect way to catch up on the series.

User “Randam_Hajile” at the NeoGAF forums was able to snag a Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bundle today at Wal-Mart, breaking the street date by nearly a week. Here’s his photo for proof:

In related news, the MGS4 bundles went on sale less than an hour ago from Amazon, beginning at 10:00 AM PST. The demand is so high that Amazon’s servers — yes, the entire site — have crashed. I’ve taken a screenshot of this unusual and somewhat historic moment…

Update: It appears the Amazon crash was unrelated to MGS4, except that it coincidentally occurred within a half hour of putting the bundle on sale.