(edit: Certain things detailed below are bit different, namely the availability of an ACE-EDGE bundle for $99.  Check out this more recent post.)

Right now, Fry's has a fine deal on Ace Combat 6 bundled with a Madcatz Aviator flight stick.  Gotta admit, $50 dollars makes for a pretty cool alternative to the original AC6 bundle with the Hori ACE-EDGE HOTAS (read: hot ass) system that's rarely discounted from its initial $150 dollar asking price.  I personally love the HOTAS setup, but I understand that for some people out there, a stick is a stick; as long as the functionality is the same, it's all cool.  So besides the design (and basically throwaway faceplate and DVD in that big old Namco packaging), what makes the $100 dollar difference?

Well, both of those sticks aren't original Madcatz or Hori creations.  If you want to see the source for the Madcatz Aviator, one need only look at the Saitek Aviator.  For the Hori ACE-EDGE system, look at the Saitek X45.  Yep, they're both Saiteks, likely made in the same factory and just given a different paint job at the end after adding that big Xbox dome button.

Let's see that pricing again.  Ace Combat 6 came out as a standard big budget $60 game.  Pair that with a HOTAS system that went for around $100 dollars... yeah, that justifies the $150 of the original bundle.  But now AC6 by itself can be had for $30 dollars new from many retailers.  Pair that with a $30 flight stick and now you've got: a nice deal that compares extremely favorably with a bundle that hasn't gone down in price to reflect the depreciation of a game that's more than a year old.

Me?  I'd still get the original Ace Combat 6 ACE-EDGE Flight Stick bundle.  The HOTAS just feels really darn good, while the single stick, with its throttle directly in front of the flight yoke and yaw on twist, feels like it can get in the way while in a nasty dog fight.  The ACE-EDGE Flight Stick bundle was pretty tough to get for a while, but Namco just reintroduced the box into the marketplace in time for this holiday season.  It may be an older game, but the single player campaign is fantastic, the multiplayer community is small but stalwart, the graphics and audio are still top of the line, and the game design just makes you FEEL AWESOME.  Right now, no game in my collection makes me feel like I have such an insanely ridiculous level of power while still providing me a great challenge.