Getting a few pre-orders in for the year's biggest titles while you can might not such a bad idea from today, as Amazon, Argos and GAME have all confirmed that their prices have risen following the increase in VAT on almost everything from booze to DVDs, cigarettes and of course, games. A quick glance at GAME's website shows that pre-orders are holding their price for now however.

The chains have each confirmed to MCV that its prices on games have risen overnight, following the rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20%. What this translates to is that as of this morning, the retailer's prices have gone up from £39.99 to £40.99 on the majority of games, whereas hardware has also taken a hit, with Kinect now costing £132.76 on Argos' website, for instance. Amazon is also applying the increased VAT rate to "to all orders dispatched after January 4th 2011."

"We are working hard with our suppliers to minimise the impact of the VAT rise on product prices but from 4 January 2011, customers will see some increase in our in-store and online prices," said an official spokesperson for GAME. "However every week, customers will also see that we have a wide range of special deals and promotions that offer a greater discount than the VAT rise and offer incredible value for our customers. These will continue in 2011 and we are confident that customers will see that we provide value and expertise that they can not find anywhere else."