2026 Top Tech and Game Deals: Black Friday Edition

One of the busiest shopping seasons is here, and retailers will be marking down prices on video games and other gadgets. What video games should you look for? What’s the best way to save money and get the most value out of tech? I spoke with Sarah Goodrum, the senior deals editor at ClarkDeals.com, on the best methods to save money on tech and how to avoid a scam. I’m also joined by Aubrey Quinn, the senior vice president at the Entertainment Software Association, on what parents should be on the lookout for when buying games and keeping kids safe, and by esteemed video game reviewer and host of Electric Playground, Victor Lucas, on some of the best games this year.

“Number one, before you buy a specific game, make sure you know the ESRB rating. So just like movies and TV shows are rated based on their content to say what age something is appropriate for, the ESRB has been rating video games for over 30 years,” said Aubrey Quinn, the senior vice president of the Entertainment Software Association. “So E stands for Everyone, E10+ is everyone 10 and older, T is for Teen, and watch for those M Mature ratings; those are really meant for 18 and older players. So if your kid is asking for a specific title, check the rating and make sure you’re comfortable with the content and age-appropriateness for the kids in your household.”

You can find more tips at the ESA’s website and in the full interview with Aubrey Quinn.

While our Consumer Warrior Clark Howard typically recommends buying your tech used, there are some exceptions. “We are really big on buying refurbished on Clark Deals, but there are some things that we don’t really recommend you buy refurbished, and that would probably be like Chromebooks, because the software updates do not continue for older Chromebooks, so you are going to pay for something that you won’t be able to use for much longer. And then also, tech that has small batteries like wireless earbuds, because those batteries are really hard to replace, so when you’re buying something like that refurbished, the battery life is not going to last you very long, so it’s worth it to buy new,” said Sarah Goodrum, the senior deals editor of ClarkDeals.com.

You can find more money-saving tips at ClarkDeals.com and in the full interview with Sarah Goodrum.

If you haven’t purchased a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S, Victor Lucas, the host of Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run, recommends getting one of the consoles, despite the price increases. However, Lucas recommends finding one used with a reputable seller and with a warranty. “I mean, at this point, historically, this is the best time to recommend picking up one of these machines because the library for each of these consoles is quite substantial, and that’s true, but the investments are hard to be ignored. The cost to get in is going to be more expensive than it should be, but that’s the state of the world. You can’t really blame the game companies; they’re dealing with tariffs, they’re dealing with supply chain issues, they’re dealing with the ramifications of COVID still, and they’re dealing with all of the RAM-pocalypse, the chip shortages, and all the tech memory shortages, all the other stuff that every part of the tech industry is dealing with right now.”

You can find out which games Victor recommends as well as what he thinks about PC handhelds, and HD versions of the Nintendo 64 in the full interview. You can find more of his reviews in the Electric Playground Network YouTube Channel.

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