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In this current climate of rising prices and cost of living, saving money is important. With most games costing £40 a shot, it would make sense to wait a while for a game to come down in price.
I’m as guilty as anyone else of getting excited about going to a shop to get a game at launch, but I can’t really explain why in a logical sense. Yes, it’s a thrill to play it before the masses and chat about it as a hot topic on gaming forums, but does that justify a £10 difference in getting it now or waiting a while?
The reason I’m questioning this is, I guess, due to my own finances. With a family to support it gets harder to justify spending money on games. I’ve already used trade-ins and had to part with titles I haven’t finished but probably wouldn’t play for a while. But even this has been in aid of buying another game at release, Little Big Planet in this case. Thinking about it, there is no real reason to get it now, other than the fact that I’ve seen it and I want it as soon as possible. Waiting a few weeks or even a month or two wouldn’t kill me.
Looking at my games collection, I wonder how many more games I’d have now if I waited to get them instead of getting new versions on release. But I know that when the next big game comes around (Saints Row 2 perhaps?) I’ll be down to trade in some more games for it or find some cash from somewhere. Maybe it’s an addiction we suffer from, but I don’t think I’m alone!
Nintendo are making it easier for me to miss games first time around - especially with the introduction of the re-release range of GameCube games on the Wii. I've already got Pikmin and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat but there may be one or two titles I can pick up that I missed first time around on the 'Cube.
I'm finding it harder now to get excited about games at launch and instead am buying twice as many games now than I did befor e yet with no extra cost to myself...just a bit later than release.
I can't justify buying every game I want at launch now. (maybe its an age thing...not growing out of games...just seeing the purchase of games under a different light...)
It has been literally years since gamers have had it so good and I'm at the stage now where I know for sure that a human lifetime isn't long enough to squeeze in all the gaming I want to do.
On the one hand that's a depressing thought, on the other it means I have to start getting really selective about which titles I buy. I'm still deciding whether or not to focus simply on a handful of games (I like my mmorpgs) or spread my time about by dabbling here and there in lots of them.
The online component is becoming very important and I'm sure publishers are aware of this, which is why there are very few offline only games out there on my 'to get' list.
What's even more depressing is that this is just the XBox 360 and World of Warcraft on the PC. I've got a PS2 sitting here with some fantastic titles that I've yet to get into/finish (Rogue Galaxy, Star Ocean 3, Dragon Quest VIII, FFXII), Sony is gradually building up a nice little pile of attractive PS3 exclusives and I haven't played a Nintendo game since the SNES. Not to mention the 160 Dreamcast games I've got stashed away in a couple of drawers 'for a rainy day'.
When I die I don't want to go to heaven, I want to get reincarnated as a basement dweller with a 50" plasma and a pumping Dolby surround system so I can carry on where I left off.
Please God hear my prayer. (Knowing my luck I'll come back as Jack Thompson).
But, yes, it does make sense which is why it's odd that many people, myself included, still get games at launch.
> The reason I’m questioning this is, I guess, due to my own
> finances. With a family to support it gets harder to justify
> spending money on games.
Everybody needs downtime and distractions though. If you're not a happy person then its harder to support your family isnt it. If you get some of that through getting the latest games then I think its justifiable to some degree.
Personally, I've always worked on a fixed budget, its made me more inclined to be prepared to wait for games. Being able to buy 1 game now or 2 games later for the same price is a powerful argument. I'm still buying some of last christmas' releases but I'm paying a third of the price for them sometimes.
For instance, I didnt get COD4 until april as it stayed full price for such a long time. In the end, I paid £12 though which meant I could afford something else too. Then again I have practically no interest in playing online. So getting a game 6 months later when online playing might have dropped alot doesnt effect me.
I still buy games on release date sometimes though, but gone are the days of every Oct-Dec ending up spending hundreds on new releases.
In this current climate of rising prices and cost of living, saving money is important. With most games costing £40 a shot, it would make sense to wait a while for a game to come down in price.
I’m as guilty as anyone else of getting excited about going to a shop to get a game at launch, but I can’t really explain why in a logical sense. Yes, it’s a thrill to play it before the masses and chat about it as a hot topic on gaming forums, but does that justify a £10 difference in getting it now or waiting a while?
The reason I’m questioning this is, I guess, due to my own finances. With a family to support it gets harder to justify spending money on games. I’ve already used trade-ins and had to part with titles I haven’t finished but probably wouldn’t play for a while. But even this has been in aid of buying another game at release, Little Big Planet in this case. Thinking about it, there is no real reason to get it now, other than the fact that I’ve seen it and I want it as soon as possible. Waiting a few weeks or even a month or two wouldn’t kill me.
Looking at my games collection, I wonder how many more games I’d have now if I waited to get them instead of getting new versions on release. But I know that when the next big game comes around (Saints Row 2 perhaps?) I’ll be down to trade in some more games for it or find some cash from somewhere. Maybe it’s an addiction we suffer from, but I don’t think I’m alone!