GameStop's Black Friday deals on Xbox One and PS4 start Sunday, Nov. 18

GameStop's Black Friday has been revealed, and … it's pretty underwhelming. The game retailer is effectively offering the same baseline $ 199 PS4 and Xbox One as big under the sun. But GameStop's timing is significant Sunday, Nov. 18. That's 3 days before Walmart (Wednesday, Nov. 21) and 4 days before most other retailers.

Highlights are below. Note that:

• Sale prices do not start until Sunday, Nov. 18 and are in effect until Monday, Nov. 26 while supplies last.
• CNET can get a share of the income of the products featured below.

PlayStation 4

As shown above, GameStop is offering the same (great) 1TB PS4 + Spider-Man Bundle for $ 199 that's widely available elsewhere. But since it's at GameStop first – sure, you could take the plunge.

GameStop is also offering the PSVR bundle for $ 249 ($ 100 off): tea PSVR helmet, 2 Move controllers, the Playstation camera, Creed: Rise to Glory and superhot. Again, this one is widely available everywhere, but GameStop will have it first.

See it at GameStop

As for titles, it's a very nice selection of PS4 games at good prices. Some notable recommendations (all PS4 exclusive):

Xbox One

The Xbox story is much the same. GameStop is offering the same 1TB Xbox One Minecraft Bundle for $ 199 that is available at nearly every other retailer. But you'll find it here first.

As for the Xbox One GameStop is advertising games – they seem far less appealing than their PS4 equivalents, for this reason: All 4 titles highlighted in the GameStop circular – PUBG, Sea of ​​Thieves, Forza Horizon 4 and State of Decay 2 – Xbox Game Pass service, which is available to new users for $ 1 a month (to start) between now and the end of the year. If you have a fast Internet connection, that's the way to go. At least start with that to sample them, and then pay full price if you really fall in love with a particular title.

Meanwhile, avoid the $ 70 off Xbox promo for other Xbox One consoles. You can get the Xbox One X step-up for $ 100 off at plenty of other retailers later in the week.

"30 percent off whatever you can stuff into the $ 5 bag"

Weirdly, the Nintendo Switch is completely absent from the GameStop ad, so we want to make sure you know it Switch with Mario Kart 8 bundled in at no extra charge at many other retailers later in the Black Friday week.

Instead, GameStop is offering an oddball promo: You can get 30 percent off whatever "stuff" (with plenty of caveats) you can get into a tote bag. Oh, and you need to spend $ 5 on the bag, to boot. Personally, it does not look particularly fun to me – but you do you.

Black Friday 2018 deals in each category

Black Friday 2018 deals for specific devices

Black Friday 2018 deals by store

Black Friday 2018: CNET's complete coverage