With the bulk of Black Friday deals starting on Thanksgiving Day, we here at SmashPad wanted to make some recommendations for the best games and deals that you should consider when making the rounds this weekend.

Despite technically being Black Friday deals, many of these deals will probably be available on what we like to call Brown Thursday to give you a chance to get the shopping out of the way early so you can enjoy the festivities, food, friends, and family this weekend. Your best bet is obviously to do all of the shopping online so you don’t have endure the crowds and the long waits that come with the territory, so I’ll stick to the national and online retailers as best as I can. These deals come from the excellent reporting at CheapAssGamer, like this thread and this thread, who does a great job each year compiling as many of the Black Friday deals as they can as early as possible so we can make our plan of attack ahead of time.

The themes I’ve seen among all of these deals is that everybody seems to be all in on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games and hardware, which isn’t a surprise with how well they’ve sold in their first year on the market and how aggressive Microsoft is in pricing their many console bundles. The other consistency is that Best Buy is frequently the best place to get many of these deals and the Gamer Club Unlocked bonus 20% off discount adds a nice layer of whipped cream on top of the sweet desserts that they’re offering this year. Amazon is an obvious dark horse because they probably will match the prices everybody else is offering and Amazon Prime members will get first dibs on some of these deals.

Retailers

Amazon Holiday Deal Calendar

Advice: Amazon at least shows us what will be on sale and when, but you’ll have to stay tuned on your computer to see what the prices will be.

Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition – Xbox One – $24.99 @ Best Buy – Review

Advice: This edition of Dead Rising 3 adds all of the DLC to the main game for the best version of this game for the Xbox One.

Diablo III Reaper of Souls: Ultimate Evil Edition – PlayStation 4, Xbox One – $29.99 @ Best Buy | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 – $19.99 @ GameStop & Walmart – PC Reaper of Souls Expansion Review

Advice: This latest version of Diablo III for all of the Sony and Microsoft consoles adds all of the content of the expansion along with more stuff to make it a great experience on any of these consoles.

Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved – Xbox One – $29.99 @ Best Buy – Review

Advice: What may be the last big Kinect exclusive game for Xbox One is at least a really cool experience that is one of the best family-friendly options on this list.

The Evil Within – PlayStation 4, Xbox One – $24.99 @ Best Buy

Advice: The Evil Within may have some flaws, but it’s more than half-off a few weeks after launch to make it easier to get past the game’s rough points for a cheap way to scare yourself as the year winds down.

Forza 5: Racing Game of the Year Edition – Xbox One – $24.99 @ Best Buy, Target, & Walmart – Review

Advice: The title of this DLC-packed edition of Forza 5 might be ridiculous, but this is the best racing sim of the generation so far and it’s a good price to see what your Xbox One can do.

Infamous: Second Son – PlayStation 4 – $19.99 @ Best Buy – Review

Advice: Second Son was a great start for the series on the PS4 and $20 is a good price to pay while we wait for some of the heavy hitting open world games coming in 2015 like Just Cause 3.

Killer Instinct Combo Breaker Pack – Xbox One – $14.99 @ Best Buy – Review

Advice: Get all of the fighters in season one of this surprisingly good return of the cult favorite fighting game that was the biggest surprise of the Xbox One launch last year.

Mario Kart 8 – Wii U – $34.99 @Walmart – Review

Advice: Mario Kart made its debut on the Wii U in grand fashion with gorgeous visuals, good online multiplayer, and some new DLC on the eShop that adds Link to the cast of kart racers.

MLB 14 The Show – PlayStation 4 – $19.99 @ Best Buy

Advice: Sony’s excellent MLB The Show series had a great debut on the PS4 this year and $20 is a good price to pay for some off-season baseball with the ability to continue your franchise and career mode progress to next year’s game with its innovative forward compatible saves.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – PlayStation 4, Xbox One – $24.99 @ Best Buy, Target, Walmart

Advice: This sandbox action/stealth game takes the Assassin’s Creed formula and throws out some of the jank that plagues Ubisoft’s series and adds an amazing Nemesis system that gives the AI an awareness about past battles to change how they react to your presence in fights.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call – 3DS – $19.99 @ GameStop – Review

Advice: The great rhythm game that released a few years ago returns with more songs, characters, and fan service to make this a fun way to relive memories from this huge franchise.

Titanfall – Xbox One – $24.99 @ Best Buy, $19.99 @ K-Mart – Review

Advice: Titanfall is one of the better multiplayer shooters out there and $20 is a good price if you want some cheap multiplayer fun for the holiday season with the recent free addition of a Horde-style co-op mode.

Watch Dogs – PlayStation 4, Xbox One – $29.99 @ Best Buy – Review

Advice: Assassin’s Creed Unity might not have been as good as we expected it to be, so you can get a much better open world game from Ubisoft for half of the price.

Wolfenstein: The New Order – PlayStation 4, Xbox One – $24.99 @ Best Buy – Review

Advice: Wolfenstein may be the biggest surprise of the year as this series is known for numerous attempts to revive the classic shooter IP for a new generation, but The New Order actually succeeded in providing a fun experience with some nods for fans of the original games.

Digital Marketplaces

Nintendo eShop Cards – 15% Off @ Best Buy

Advice: Nintendo probably won’t have huge sales on the Wii U or 3DS eShop, but you can at least prepare for any good sales that are bound to show up at some point with this deal on credit at Best Buy. The one good deal that is there right now is Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies for 3DS for $14.99 for this weekend.

Xbox Live Black Friday

Advice: Microsoft has some decent deals on Xbox Live for some Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles and should have more appearing later this week, so keep an eye out for developments on this front. The current Xbox 360 deals are better than Xbox One, but Peggle 2 for just under $5 is a nice price for a great game.

PlayStation Network

Advice: It looks like PlayStation Network will have a Black Friday Flash Sale that isn’t live yet, but the current deals for this week has some nice options like Rayman Legends for under $20 and Borderlands 2 for PS3 for under $5.

Steam Exploration Sale

Advice: Last, but not least, is a new Steam holiday sale that features great daily sales and more discounts on tons of games to offer you the chance to buy games for ridiculously cheap prices that add to this digital pile of PC games that you will never actually get through. At least the thrill of the deals provides enough fun to make up for most of it.

Feel free to let us know where you’re looking to spend your money this weekend in the comments below.