Christmas morning is just a bit over 48 hours away, and you still haven't gotten that new video game console that Santa promised your little one (or that you maybe promised yourself)?! It seems waiting until the last minute may actually pay off this time if you manage to take advantage of some especially good console deals available now at Wal-Mart and Best Buy.
For those in the market for a PS4, Wal-Mart is currently listing the system for $329, easily the lowest price for a console that has rarely if ever dipped below the $400 MSRP at major retailers (even during Black Friday). That offer started yesterday, and it only applies to in-store pickup of online orders. So if your local retailers are out of stock, you might be out of luck. The offer also doesn't seem to include the choice from among four free game downloads that Sony recently added to the standard PS4 package, but at this reduced price you can choose whatever "free" game you want and still end up paying less than $400.
If you'd rather pick up an Xbox One, Best Buy is currently offering one of the best package deals we've seen for the system. For $350, you get the standard Xbox One package with Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, and Best Buy will also throw in a copy of Destiny and a $50 gift card. Going by MSRP, that's $185 in free software and gift cards to go with a system that until quite recently cost $400 all by itself.
It's possible that some post-Christmas closeout deals will match these offers, but it seems unlikely you're going to see a better deal on a new console before 2015. So if you've been waiting to upgrade your console, now is a good time to jump into the next generation.