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Have you considered getting off the new release wagon?

One thing to consider if the major decision factor is the price, many of the pc games are so cheap when released, its no idea to wait for discounts. Just look at the prices that games like World of Goo, Torchlight, Tales of Monkey Island, Machinarium were released at.

Yes, some of the were discounted during the holiday, but in no way did you have to feel stupid if you bought them on day 1.

For me, its more a backlog question than an economic one.
 
Starwolf_UK said:
-Rhythm Paradise £24.99, £9.99 (8 months I think)
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Fuck, I remember being burned by this one. I was thinking: "Hmm, it's a Nintendo game and it's gonna be the next big thing like Nintendogs and Brain Training. It's gonna be at least a year before the price drops."

How fucking wrong I was. It dropped to about ~£18 within 2 weeks of launch, and then to ~£10 within 3 months.

Madworld was another game that burned me on release. Bought for ~£25, dropped to ~£18 within 3 weeks and could have been bought for ~£5 yesterday. Strangely though, this is one of the few games I managed to profit from with some wheeling and dealing (got about ~£60 worth of GAME vouchers for this).
 
I've been off the new release wagon for a while. I've bought maybe ten full-priced Wii games and only one full-priced 360 game. Though this is more due to not having money than any conscious effort.

Still, even if I did have money, game prices drop so fast these days that I'd probably wait for all but my most anticipated games to drop in price or go on sale before buying them.
 
I'm on it for certain games, the rest i'll wait till they're cheaper, either reduced price or second hand. £40 - £45 is not a price i'm willing to pay for many games, and even for the ones that I do, i feel annoyed with myself for wasting so much money on one thing.
 
The only thing I'm day 1 on is fighters, and there it's because waiting too long makes the game worse.

Only fighter I didn't get day 1 this year was Tekken, and that was in protest.

PC games from Stardock/Paradox I'll buy day 1 also.
 
Games like Mass Effect 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction must be bought on release. I like to support those that earn it, so i dont mind.
 
I wish I was more on the wagon than I am, mainly because there are a bunch of games that I've bought over the past two years that dropped in price, and I've hardly played the games at all. If its a game that I'm going to play straight out of the gate, like Mass Effect 2 or FF XIII, I don't mind day one releases. If I'm buying it just because I want something new, but I have no idea when I'll play it, I need to chill on that stuff. I fI look back at my 2008 and 2009 purchases and see what I haven't played versus how much they sell for now...I'll be sick.
 
I only purchase about 2 or 3 brand new releases a year anyway. Most of the money on games I spend are for older titles on older systems or downloadables.
 
Used to be buying everything day 1. I have low resistance to hype.

Nowadays not so much anymore. Goozex has been excellent, and thanks to that service my backlog increased massivly overnight. I simply don't have the time for new releases right now, because there is already too much good stuff on my pile.

Also buying a PS3 recently gave me the chance to play through the library of that system. No use buying Uncharted 2 before I have completed the first part! And now having a blast with Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction.

After that: Gears of War 2 (thank you Goozex), Metal Gear Solid 4 (Also thanks to Goozex) and a spot of Halo Wars (yeah, Goozex).

I don't even have the time for Bayonetta and Darksiders yet in my schedule :D

It still burns though... oh how the hype burns...
 
The only thing I bought day one last year was MW2 as shops over here were selling it for £26. Everything else I tend to wait as prices go down to £20 quite quickly in the Uk, making the full price cost hard to justify, especially with my backlog.
 
I try to supports certain games with day 1 purchases because I know they need the sales and I want sequels ie Dot 3D hero and Yakuza 3. Then games I'm Super hype for I obviously buy day one bioshock 2, GoW3, and FFXIII.

But other games I want but don't need I'm going to start waiting for the $30 mark starting this year instead of buying them day 1 like I normally do because I'm a massive customer whore :D
 
I never really got on the new release wagon to begin with. Usually I only preorder or pick up new games if it's something reeeaaaally good or something that I'm not sure will be available later for a much cheaper price (some Atlus and NISA games). Otherwise I wait and buy used or during sales and price drops.
 
I've tried, it doesn't work out.

Realistically I shouldn't even be buying most games. If I rented games I'd probably experience about 5 times as many games, and there's not many that you can't beat in a week nowadays. Obviously I'd still buy games with a decent campaign length or a solid multiplayer portion. But despite the fact that I do like to support [good] developers, I can't help but feel somewhat ripped-off when I pay $60 for a game and beat it in 8 hours.
 
Archie said:
Been off the wagon for a long time, and not by choice. :| Unemployment hurts my vidya buying ability.
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Same here. I'll get one big title (which for me was MW2 back in Nov.) but there's so many games I want to catch up on that are at a discounted price now.

I finally start working again, there's at least 4-5 titles I want that'll cost me the price of two new games when all is said and done.
 
I've been off the bandwagon ever since $60 became the new $50, and it's been pretty great. I'll spend $60 on a new game probably twice this year (ME2 and Crackdown 2), and I might buy a game that comes out new for $30 or $40. Other than that, I just try to keep track of everything I want to play and then spend like $100 on ebay or half.com for 4 or 5 games.
 
It's now going to depend on story for me. If there's a good chance of there being a story worth playing, I'll play it quickly just so I can't have it ruined for me by other people talking about it. Otherwise I'm going to leave it a while from release.
 
Considering it? I made it part of my new years resolution. In past years, I would have already purchased Darksiders, Bayonetta etc... So far, I've been able to hold off. I'll end up getting these titles at some point, TRU/BB deals this fall. The easiest way to get off the wagon, is by cutting your must buy list in half.. Be more critical on the games you're considering buying, question their value. It's amazing how fast that list will shrink.
 
arstal said:
The only thing I'm day 1 on is fighters, and there it's because waiting too long makes the game worse.

Only fighter I didn't get day 1 this year was Tekken, and that was in protest.

PC games from Stardock/Paradox I'll buy day 1 also.
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Yeah, I think Elemental from Stardock and Mafia 2 are the only day 1s for me this year.

Other than that I'm on the Steam train. Woo woo.

edit: Oh, and the next red orchestra will be day 1 as well. Tripwire is a day 1 dev for me.
 
Odoul said:
I usually make it a point not to buy 60 dollar games anymore.

50 bucks was a standard price for a decade and these companies just jack it up like they're Marlo Stanfield.

Unless it's a game I GOTTA have I'm gonna wait and pay $20 MAYBE $30 new.
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It's actually beginning to make me angry and frustrated at how many people don't understand concepts as simple as inflation. YOUR MONEY IS WORTH SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN IT WAS A DECADE AGO, THUS PRICES GO UP. The dollar being particularly weak right now due to competing currencies and skyrocketing US debt does not help this, either.


it's not that hard. Gamers who whine about prices this way (especially when costs to produce games have gone up, not down) come off a little like grandma whining about how bread used to cost a nickel back in "her day."
 
in 2009 I stopped buying games altogheter, except for XBLA releases.

I borrow all new games from co-workers. They all buy the new games each week, and they dont mind lending them to me when they are done.

Im actually saving lots of money
 
I've been doing this since....Day 1 of this gen in 2005 :D

I only buy games at launch that I know I'm going to play immediately. For all other games, I wait until I've cleared at least one game from my backlog so I trade it in. These are the game I bought on Day1 this gen:
  • Gears 1 & 2
  • Halo3
  • Halo3 ODST
  • MW2
  • GTA IV
  • Zelda TP (camped out for Wii)
  • Mario Kart Wii
  • Madden / NCAA (for $20 from EA friend)
  • Ninja Gaiden 2


The only games I'll get at launch in 2010 are God of War 3, Halo REACH and some EA games for $20 (Mass Effect2, Dante's Inferno, Madden11 and NCAA 11)
 
I buy pretty much all my games new, but unless I'm desperate to play it (there's maybe one or two of these per quarter) then I'll wait and get it on offer a month or so later.

Manmademan said:
It's actually beginning to make me angry and frustrated at how many people don't understand concepts as simple as inflation. YOUR MONEY IS WORTH SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN IT WAS A DECADE AGO, THUS PRICES GO UP. The dollar being particularly weak right now due to competing currencies and skyrocketing US debt does not help this, either.
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Not to mention the vast increase in production costs.
 
Off it in '08 and '09, back on for '10. I have quit drinking entirely (waste of money) and quit eating all meat (much cheaper) and put a moratorium on golf playing (pisses you off too much to be fun) so I can do it. So far, I know that Bayonetta is worth $60. Hopefully ME2 and MAG will be too. Trying to resist picking up Army of Two today but it's a losing battle. Because of the weather I didn't leave the house at all in the last two weeks and have spent nary a dime.
 
I'm off it for the most part, I'll make a few exceptions but I'll wait until I can get it for $40 or less. I've been burned one too many times.
 
I only buy a couple new games a year. Right now I'm looking at Bad Company 2 as the only game I'm buying new early this year. I've also got a lot of goozex points though so I'll probably try and get Mass Effect 2 from that. Looking right now to rent Splinter Cell, Dante's Inferno, and Bayonetta. After that Red Dead Redemption is the next big game I'm interested in buying.
 
Manmademan said:
It's actually beginning to make me angry and frustrated at how many people don't understand concepts as simple as inflation. YOUR MONEY IS WORTH SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN IT WAS A DECADE AGO, THUS PRICES GO UP. The dollar being particularly weak right now due to competing currencies and skyrocketing US debt does not help this, either.


it's not that hard. Gamers who whine about prices this way (especially when costs to produce games have gone up, not down) come off a little like grandma whining about how bread used to cost a nickel back in "her day."
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Yea I don't understand it either, if anything game prices haven't kept up with inflation. I can't be the only one that remembers paying $70 bucks for carts back in the day.
 
onken said:
I buy pretty much all my games new, but unless I'm desperate to play it (there's maybe one or two of these per quarter) then I'll wait and get it on offer a month or so later.



Not to mention the vast increase in production costs.
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yeah, I tried to touch on that a little bit as well, but seriously- attempt to find ANYTHING that's stayed the exact same price over a ten year period. It's nearly impossible. Milk, gasoline, gold, movie tickets, you name it. all have gone up to varying degrees yet some cheap pieces of shit on this board seem to feel that games should still cost what they did back in 1999, production cost increases be damned.
 
I generally wait awhile for the price to go down unless it is a game with a major online component and I want to get in on day one for that. But single-player games, I usually can wait. Also, if I wait to buy, I can get on youtube and get some help if I get to a hard part, lol.
 
There are a few games that I'll buy immediately upon release, but for the most part I'm on the "first price drop" bandwagon.

For PC games, this usually means $39.99 or less, which seems reasonable to me.
 
There are a few games that I have picked as Day One purchases in the coming months; Heavy Rain and No More Heroes 2, namely, though it seems like there's one I'm forgetting.

I tell myself I'm not going to day one anything else until I get through my backlog, but more likely I'm just going to get myself to stop buying games at full price then not playing them for months/years. The talk about Bayonetta and Darksiders has me really interested in those, for example, and while I could hold out I'm thinking of picking up one or the other anyway.

So, I alternate between planning to not buy a single game for half a year and planning to only buy games I will start up the day of or next day after purchase.
 
I jumped off early last year for most releases.

From the confirmed release line-up for 2010, the only games I'm getting at launch are Mass Effect 2 and Halo: Reach (both pre-ordered for £29.99). Last year ODST was the only game I bought at launch (pre-ordered for £19.99).

If a new Gears or Elder Scrolls come along I'd get those at launch too.
 
Manmademan said:
It's actually beginning to make me angry and frustrated at how many people don't understand concepts as simple as inflation. YOUR MONEY IS WORTH SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN IT WAS A DECADE AGO, THUS PRICES GO UP. The dollar being particularly weak right now due to competing currencies and skyrocketing US debt does not help this, either.


it's not that hard. Gamers who whine about prices this way (especially when costs to produce games have gone up, not down) come off a little like grandma whining about how bread used to cost a nickel back in "her day."
Click to expand...

Real wages have declined in America since the 70s, so the argument kind of collapses.
 
I still buy the occasional super-hyped game at release, but it's a small minority. I'll wait for a good sale if I strongly want it, otherwise I wait for a great deal. Helps that my backlog is insanely long.
 
I don't buy that many games period, but the ones that have online components that I'm interested in are definitely the ones I'd buy close to launch if not day 1 as those things tend to drop in usage over time, with a few exceptions. But I also buy stuff day 1 that are either exclusives or from a studio that has earned my trust over several games.

The rest of it, I buy stuff when it's at least half of the original cost. During the past few months, I've actually bought far more games than I'm used to and have spent much more than I wanted, but I've loved the experiences, so I can't say I'm upset with myself for that.
 
I only buy a AAA game for full price. I recently bought Uncharted 2, RE5, Killzone 2...all games that I knew I would enjoy right away for $60 and would provide me with a ton of value. And even then, I got $20 gift cards with all of them, so I ended up saving quite a bit.

Suckers pay full price for games. Suckers and people with enough money. The pickup thread should be changed to the God bless America thread.
 
I got pretty pissed last year because a lot of the games I bought went down in price a month later. This year only Pokemon Soul Silver will be bought at release.
 
Manmademan said:
yeah, I tried to touch on that a little bit as well, but seriously- attempt to find ANYTHING that's stayed the exact same price over a ten year period. It's nearly impossible. Milk, gasoline, gold, movie tickets, you name it. all have gone up to varying degrees yet some cheap pieces of shit on this board seem to feel that games should still cost what they did back in 1999, production cost increases be damned.
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Yup I remember Mega Drive games back in the day costing 50 quid a pop, I guess that's something like $110-120 in today's money. Considering these games were made by a handful of people in a matter of months, we're getting a pretty sweet deal these days.
 
I buy in the release window somewhat infrequently - and only with particular titles. I'm buying MAG at launch simply because I fear there won't be a community to play it with actively if I wait too long.
 
SonicMegaDrive said:
I only purchase about 2 or 3 brand new releases a year anyway. Most of the money on games I spend are for older titles on older systems or downloadables.
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This is what I do. Plus, my backlog is huge and I'd rather clear that out first.
 
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