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How much research do you give a game before purchase?

If it's a series I like, I don't really do any research. If it's a new IP, I use GAF and reviews. The last time I didn't bother doing any research before buying I ended up with one of the worst games I've ever played; Knights Contract. Never again.
 
I read previews and decide what games look good, gauge Gaf impressions and interest, then before reviews come out I usually make the choice to buy or not based on a sixth sense type feeling. I can usually just "know" if I'll like a game or not.

Now when I get convinced to buy a game, or buy a game on an impulse usually it ends badly. This just happened when Gaf convinced me to buy Dead Island like 3 days before it came out when I was going to wait, and I ended up playing the 2nd worst game I played all year. Though it sometimes ends well too, I bought Darksiders when it came out while I was at Gamestop for a seperate reason despite never paying 1 ounce of attention to it previously and I liked it a lot.

Basically I just follow my original gut feeling on a game. It's right 90% of the time.
 
I'm very extensive. I usually follow good games before they are released so I see a lot of the videos/screens and I check how GAF/Reviewers feel about it. Haven't bought a game that actually sucked in what seems like years.
 
Not enough appearantly, I bought Crysis2 to play some "new and fresh" multiplayer.... Q#$@@#$@@#$%@$%@...Waste of Money.


However, I ignore most reviews, like the ones for WKC and WKCII because I know I will find something about those games I really like. Gut feeling.....
 
Depends on the game, but for games I might be interested in I try to generally keep up with news as it comes out. Usually I'll check out a demo/quick look/gameplay, read some reviews, talk to friends if any have said game. All in all, probably more than the average consumer but as I have less and less time to play games recently I've been moreso just buying/playing games I know I'll like.
 
for me, the research is half the fun! i usually read up not just on reviews from websites, but what people in the forums are saying. I also always look up gameplay on youtube.
 
Most times, I have an idea of how games will turn out in a series, and buy based on that. Sometimes, I'l follow a game from announcement to release, and if it interests me for that long, I'll probably get it. Other times, I'll look at a trailer for a game, and decide to buy it from that. If it gets enough hype (GAF, elsewhere), I'll look into it, but not necessarily buy.

Last game I went blind based on hype was DX:HR, which was excellent BTW.
 
I'm personally a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to researching my games. Often I'll read user reviews and browse the GAF response, and glance at overall review scores. I pretty much only ever read Eurogamer reviews because I actually find them well written and intelligible.

If I see a game of interest but is usually out of my general gaming 'comfort zone', I'll read one review giving it a high score, one review giving it a medium score, and one review giving it a low score to see if the grievances are well founded or bias.

And sometimes, I'll just pick up a game based on its cover design with literally no research.
 
None.

Genre I like/game I'm interested in and less than 15 € it's a deal.

Blizzard stuff it's best price I find on release.

(I'm a slow gamer. 10 hours into ME2 PC and just started AC2 PS3. Triple A for cheap!)
 
1) What does gaf say?
2) Does it work well on pc?
3) Do I have money?
4) Buy
 
For quite a while now, a mixture of "What GAF says about it/GAF OT" and "What team is responsible for that game". E.g. I'd probably blindly buy whatever is made by Platinum Games, the Persona-team and, lol, Team Ninja (yeah, I even bought that Dead or Alive Paradise game for PSP... so it's not a failure free progress :D).

Also, I'm playing games long enough now that I can usually see if I'm personally gonna like it when watching gameplay videos. If not sure, I wait a while for longtime impressions either on GAF, other forums or friends.

I bought many games that got destroyed in "gaming journalism" reviews that way and enjoyed them very much nevertheless.
 
Hardly any really.

Company, art and type of game are usually it.

I generally know what I will like and not like before hand. I've only been wrong a very few times and that is usually about a certain element and not the game overall.
 
I usually check the pedigree. Who developed the game, what else have they developed, etc. If I like the developer, and the game has decent buzz (and I have enough money/time) I take the plunge.
 
If it's about a franchise/series I already know of: I just buy it. Aside some pictures here and there; don't actually do any research. If I happen to be on a site/reading a magazine and there's info about it I read it; but I don't actually look for info about it. (Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted are examples of this... etc.)

If it's about a new franchise/series: I look around for more info across multiple places (forums/people's opinions, magazines, websites. Though, to actually be interested in this new game I have to be interested at least on the visual style/design. Not the amount of textures or polygons (i.e. Child of Eden = overall visuals, Assassin's Creed = Always loved Altair/main character's design, etc.) This was also the reason I gave Assassin's Creed (as a series) another chance (was really disappointed with the first game, but still liked Altair and liked Ezio's look too; so got #2. One of my favorite games from back then)
 
I watch a video review or two (Classic Game Room or Game Trailers) and read the GAF hype threads. That's usually enough. I'm pretty picky; I only buy about 8-10 games a year.
 
< $2 - no research buy immediately
< $5 - Check Gaf, if there's a single good review I buy.
< $10 - Only if it's a studio I like.
< $20 - Studio I really like or has ridiculous number of suggestions to buy on the forums I like
Full Price - It is a racing game/sim otherwise I wait until one of the above price points.
 
since i usually buy 12-18 months after release theres there a good chance i've heard enough about the game to warrant a purchase, rent, or skip.

review sites come down to neogaf, metacritic, and ign ( force of habit) - don't take reviews too seriously though. it's more general word of mouth, demo influence, intrests me.

the little time i get to play and years of backlog have taught me well how to narrow my selections.
 
I'm a college student. You don't just throw $60 bones around unless you're stinking rich.
I have an allotted amount of games that I get per year, I always do plenty of research on them, and I've now decided to never buy/pre-order new IPs that I'm not 100% sure I would enjoy on launch day. LA Noire burned me hard.

I'm getting Uncharted 3, Zelda, Dark Souls, and Ico/SOTC Collection this fall, and that's it (partially paid through promotions and gift cards). That's all I have money and/or time for as an engineering student.
 
If it's a series I like, I'll buy it. Examples include Gears of War 3, Halo: Reach, and Monster Hunter: Portable 3rd.

If it's a series I don't know but looks like it could be interesting, I'll look at media of the game and decide from that. Stuff like Grand Knights History, Catherine, and Valkyria Chronicles.

If it's a series I don't know and doesn't look interesting at first, I'll look for media and read impressions. I picked up Shadows of the Damned and Gunstringer after some good impressions of each game in their OTs.
 
If it's already on my radar, just reading whatever articles and such.

If it's a lesser known thing to me; Neogaf, friends, Metacritic and if available, a giantbomb Quick Look.

I don't go by just the score on Metacritic, but it's a handy way to view most of the reviews available.
 
If it's a game from a developer I trust, I usually don't do much research to avoid spoilers and such. For Steam sale buys, I usually just take a quick look at GAF to see the general opinion on the game. For purchases in genres or series which I have never played before, I look for opinions from people who had similar situations to mine or know a lot about the game.
 
If I'm new to the series then I might check out a review first but at this point I know what I'm into so I'm willing to pull the trigger on games I know I will enjoy. Price is a big factor now as well. I've learned to hold off on a lot of day one purchases since they usually go cheap real fast.
 
I learned not to buy into GAF hype though. The first few weeks are way more positive than what the consensus eventually become.

Check the FFXIII thread right after the US release for proof. Hell, the JP release thread was not nearly as negative as well.
 
If its a game I am pretty sure about, or know the developer is a good/great developer then I will buy blindly.

If its a new IP or game I am not sure about I will look at giantbomb, OT on gaf, and gamespot.
 
Calcaneus said:
I learned not to buy into GAF hype though. The first few weeks are way more positive than what the consensus eventually become.
Click to expand...



so true...

you really gotta find a happy medium between gaf hype and media hype.

in fact it just comes down to you knowing yourself
 
if it's made by a developer i like or trust, i buy it without much, if any, research. ditto for series i enjoy. otherwise, i dunno, i see if the premise intrigues me. i don't play many games that i don't like because i know my tastes.
 
As much as I can honestly. I've been burned by GAF hype more than once, and burned by sequels that remove favorite features from previous titles.

So nowadays I'll check previews, gameplay videos, dev diaries, podcast impressions and keep a watchful eye on feature lists and performance issues.

The trickiest part is knowing just when to go on a media blackout, and trying to avoid getting spoiled in GAF OT threads before the game is released.

Then again, if its less than 5 bucks on Steam I'll probably pick it up on a whim fueled purely by a few notable GAF recommendations. Its good to know which Gaffers share your particular tastes.
 
I do my research in steps. Since I'm always online, always on GAF. I start following games from the moment they're announced. My research begins with the very first trailer for a game. I follow that up by reading snipits of previews, watching gameplay videos to see the overall style of the game is something I'd be interested in. If I'm still not sure I look to GAF and make my decision from there.
 
If a series I've played before then I'll just get the new game if I liked previous ones.

If it's something I've never played, I'll look at GAF, a couple reviews, and if it's pretty positive I'll give it a try. If it's something that really interests me, and it only gets average reviews, I'll get it after the price drops a bit.
 
I don't do much research anymore, I wait for every single game to drop below 20 dollars unless it's from a developer I like. Developers I don't know about, I wait until it drops to $7.50, like I got Batman AA for $7.50 on steam since I didn't know much about Rocksteady.

I usually just try the demo for myself, if the demo don't grab me and make me play it a few times, I'll probably just wait.
 
I used to be terrible for research... but I found out this always made the game lackluster. Knowing what was coming, knowing what to expect...

Now I don't even bother with trailers or gameplay videos. Just pick the game up on release and hope for the best.
 
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