Your Spending Habits With Games?

[Interdimensional Observer]

Video games are relatively speaking to some other interests, not that expensive. A new system every couple years for a few hundred, paid online if you're into that, maybe some extra controllers and data storage, otherwise it is just the cost of games and DLC, which are pretty stable.

Still, games are a luxury purchase, and as few people ever have all they money they could want to buy everything. Thus, we all have to have some sort of reason internal logic to our buys.

So getting past my high school essay worthy opening sentences.  

What are your behaviors when it comes to buying video games?

Do you alway buy at release full price for anything you're interested in? Are you a miser patiently waiting all the time for just the right sale? Do you stick to what you know you'll like? Or do you experiment and take a lot of risks in your purchases? Do you keep your backlog small and buy only as you complete games? Or do you just keep buying more and more? Pre-ordering? Special editions that cost extra? What about buying the same game multiple times on different systems? How much DLC? Do you read a lot of reviews/discussion and or watch a lot of videos before you buy a game? Do you prefer to avoid reading too much about them before you buy? 

 

For myself, I tend to wait a while nowadays before I buy for games I'm not absolutely set on getting, I never do preorders anymore. I tend to keep my DLC purchases light, never anything cosmetic nor grinding, nor super challenges that exist just for their own sake. Nonetheless I do tend to buy more than I should given what else I have laying around. Still, as I complete more and more games from yesteryear, I think it might hit the point where I just play new stuff and can't find anything old and cheap to have in my backlog. I also tend to read a lot of reviews and really hesitate over my purchases, even for things I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy.

[MacLovin]

GOG/Steam sales for PC games.

Used carts/etc. for the current gen stuff

Careful limitations on gacha spending because it's easy to get around to the abyss with FEH/FGO.

 

[Kazuya]

I will buy a game at full price if I know what it is and enjoy what I seen, luckily I got away with getting Ultra Moon for free so the immeasurable garbage didn't completely disappoint me :/

I rarely rebuy games unless they are worth it. Got Bayo 2 again and enjoyed getting back to Shuraba combos. I used to buy a bunch of Pokemon games that I already had for multiple challenge run playthroughs. 

Reviews are worthless to me, as they should be. I only judge by what I see and what is presented to me. Reviews say that garbage like Detroit: Become Mormon is a good game. Of course it isn't, and a lot of these reviewers are too scared to review a game negatively due to numerous reasons (Like blacklistings, being invited to press events, etc). Massive Ass Andromeda got a 7/10 by a bunch of people last I checked. ORAS got a 7/10 and higher by a lot of reviewer and that sucked MEGA ASS. 

Depends on the DLC for me. If it's by the sleazy disgusting greedy bastards at Koei Tecmo, then no unless I really want it for some ungodly reason. Speaking of Kunt Tecmo, don't support them, please. I'll only buy DLC if it interests me and I know it wasn't just cut out of the game for extra money (KOEI TECMO). 

[Zera]

Considering that games should cost about $100 nowadays with inflation, I try to buy games from my favorite devs at full price, so they can eat. Nonetheless, I take a deal when I get one.

Edited June 23, 2018 by Zera

[Affinity]

I will buy games from my favorite franchises on day 1, or games that I want that I feel may become rare or more expensive in the future (mainly CE's of games I want).

Other than that, I will buy cheap digital games that I have a very marginal interest in, or pre-owned/new titles that may be older, but heavily discounted that I am moderately interested in.

I tend to have spurts where I will buy several games in a short period of time, and then I will hit a dry spell for a bit. Through the end of the year, I have approximately 10 games on my radar that will be day 1 purchases. Unfortunately, I have a huge backlog and it doesn't seem to be getting shorter anytime soon!

[Reality]

The thing about my video game purchases... I spend the vast majority of my time with older consoles, so I rarely have to spend much for most games expect RPGs, which are always price gouged  . Some games have fairly cheap official emulator ports on consoles or in the case of PC, GoG... With Modern day stufff, I mostly purchase Platformers, Puzzle Games, and the occasional FPS (the latter usually only once per 5~ years due to me being able to stay in a single game's community for long time).

Sales are good I'm always gobbling up classics so I have a kind of psedo backlog ontop of my "set" backlog, and it helps me to decide what to move up ahead. I'm perfectly willing to buy things at release price, but A: I take a long time to decide something is worth buying quality wise, and B: Although the difference between a release game and a game on sale isn't REALLY a big deal in the scope of my entertainment budget, the sales do help with my indecisveness caused by te volume of games that I consider playing it's easier to remember to think about a game or read up about it during a sale. 

I think that video game reviews get a worse rap than they  deserve. Personally, I treat most of them as "previews" and not actual reviews, and this helps me see past ther somewhat less detailed analysis. I usually decide to buy game's basesd on the reputation of Full-on collectors (eg Richie), and I'm not really attuned to suggestions from most mass-media or from my friends. I don't personally believe in spoilers because as I'm concerned, experining a story through a medium is fundamentally different and adds several layers of dimensions to it that a text only experience (even to the point of academia or wikis) cannot hurt.... Videos I avoid for puzzle games however.

I try to fufill things on my back log before buying anything. I finish a pretty large amount of games every year, and it seems wasteful to have  games purchased while unable to complete what I already have on hand. I tend to make exceptions for Very High Quality puzzle games, and for Medium to High Platformers, which can be played wihtout interfering too much with the backlog and are immediately enjoyable to me, with no real "slow burn" kind of quality. 

Pre-ordering - No. Special Editions - No. Same game multiple times - I've done it a few times, might continue to do so. generall it's because of low-expense 3-4th gen ports or indie games.  DLC - As far as I'm concerned DLC should come in the form of expansion packs that technically have similiar amount of volume to the original AND have difficulty mostly alligned on the assumption that you've played/mastered the original. Age of Empires 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Star Craft are the best examples/ I did pay some DLC for contraption Maker in recent memory though. I tend not to get RPG DLC even if it does fit the critea of being both content and late-game oriented. 

[DMan64]

I myself like to take a wait and see approach, if I like what I see, then it'll be a purchase.  If I'm unsure, I'll usually wait to hear what other people say.  Otherwise, I usually don't spend too much on games these days seeing as I have to pay for college so...yeah.  Doesn't really matter if the game is older or newer, so long as I hear that it's good or something that appeals to me, that's all that matters.

[Ertrick36]

I have a few behaviors depending on conditions:

• If it's a game I really love (e.g. Valkyria Chronicles, FE, MGS), I go all in - I may preorder the games, their special editions, purchase all the DLC/Season Pass...  Spin-offs of those games are a different story; I'll likely buy them, but not spend money on them beyond that.  In terms of Fire Emblem Heroes, I never once paid for orbs.  In terms of Valkyria Revolution, I never even bought it because I knew it was drastically different from the other games.  I also didn't bother with Metal Gear Survive because that game was run through the dirt.  That's probably due to me being more mature, more cynical, and all around more cautious recently, though that being said I'm instantly buying VC4, will probably buy FE: 3H, and would buy another MGS if Kojima returned to do work on it.  Or, you know... if they just established on already tried and true parts of the series.  Seriously, they could've just gotten away with remaking/remastering the older games, or doing more Rising Revengeance.  Or even Acid would've been better, just anything but shitty-ass crystal meth zombies.
• I tend to not buy the same version game unless it was initially on a console but later got ported to PC.  Or in the case of Fallout 3/New Vegas, I previously had it on PS3 (as a gift, more than anything), but then bought them on the PC when I started saving up my own money.
• If it's a game based on a franchise I know (e.g. Star Wars) and I've heard that the game is good, I will try to snipe it on a sale.  That's how I got KotOR.
• If it's a franchise I'm only lukewarm on (maybe I really like the games, but am just not the biggest fan overall), I'll listen to fan reactions to any new games before getting it myself.
• If it's a game recommended to me by a close friend/my sister (I don't listen to anyone else on this matter, really), I'll look at it before buying.  It'll mostly depend on my mood.  Sometimes even my friends and sister don't always pinpoint my tastes, and other times it may take a while for me to come around to something (e.g. The Last of Us, Stardew Valley, etc.).  If either my friends or my sister get me the game, I tend to play it automatically even if it's only for one time.
• Anything I'm unfamiliar with, I just don't bother.  Relatively close-minded, I know, but I've got enough games to be satisfied, and I like how little I tend to spend on video games.  If they're of genres I love (SRPG, simulation - meaning Sims or Cities: Skylines, not Goat Sim or Airport Sim or whatever the hell - tactical stealth, etc.) I'll maybe look into them if they show up on my screen enough times.
• Any games advertised to me through banner ads - especially ones with "cutesy" girls or that say something like "wARniNG, oNLy plAY IF u R 18" - are instant red flags.  Any games that use sex appeal as a major selling point send red flags to me.  Because I know with utmost certainty that most of the time these games are gonna be 90% sex appeal and 10% actual game.  Or if they're visual novels, they'll be 80% sex appeal, 15% mary sue garbage, and 5% actual good writing.  inb4 "dur hur, isn't that just Fates?"

[Slumber]

I generally buy at release for games I'm interested, and looks for deals(Amazon's 20% off New releases for physical games, Green Man Gaming for PC, stuff like that). 

For everything else, I'm comfortable waiting for a good deal. I'm a huge FF fan, and the PC version of XV is 60% off right now, and I am still sitting here like "Man, am I going to like this enough to justify $25?". 

Meanwhile I see Dragon Quest XI on GMG for $47 and I'm like "Pssssh. Steal.", and whip out my credit card so fast it rips my wallet in half and sets my pants on fire... and then I have to go out any buy a new wallet and new pants, and it adds up to like an extra $100, and I am still fine with it. 

Edited June 23, 2018 by Slumber

[SoulWeaver]

2 hours ago, Kazuya said:

ORAS got a 7/10 and higher by a lot of reviewer and that sucked

That would be a personal opinion, I loved Alpha Sapphire. Perhaps not as much as OG Sapphire, but I still greatly enjoyed it. Wish they hadn't made Contests look so glammy, I liked the simpler visual of OG Sapphire's Contests.

As for the actual question,

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

What are your behaviors when it comes to buying video games?

This depends on the game - I found myself enjoying Bowser's Inside Story enough to go ahead and give Paper Jam a chance without checking anything out about it(or playing Dream Team so I skipped an entry without realizing it), and same for Gunvolt and Gunvolt 2, but I looked up a lot of info on Samus Returns and still haven't gotten around to going for it(RIP that eShop sale for only lasting like a week) since Metroid isn't really my thing most of the time.

For multiple copies of the same game, almost always no. There are three exceptions: I own three copies of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and two copies of Metroid Prime Hunters, both for multiplayer purposes - they're obscure enough games that when someone finds me playing it and asks about it, I can mention multiplayer and ask if they'd like to go a round in Hunters or try out some Missions in Days, then when they say they don't have the game I can say no prob, I got you covered. The third exception that I don't really count most of the time is Sm4sh on the 3DS - I have two systems since I wanted to play games with my brother, who couldn't afford a 2DS so I just bought a second one and let him use it like it's his, and we got Sm4sh twice so we could play since we don't have a WiiU.

The only preorders I've ever got was for Fates because I wanted the little rubber keychains GameStop had for getting both, and for Roy's Amiibo because so help me if I missed Our Boi™'s Amiibo things would have been destroyed. Other than that, I've yet to see a preorder that interested me enough.

DLC also depends on the game - sometimes I like the little aesthetic things, like Conception 2's alternate costumes, and sometimes I want to support the series, like Fire Emblem(though I don't usually pay for extra story content like the Deliverance DLC or Heirs of Fate since I believe those should be either free or in the base game), or Sm4sh 3DS(On my cartridge I got all Fighters except Bayonetta because I don't support the idea of her being in the game, I think all Stages, and a couple Mii Costumes, while on my download I got Roy and I think Cloud and maybe one stage and one Mii Costume).

[Zanarkin]

Generally only buy during online sales. Can't beat Humble bundle, but i do buy during some steam sales. Console games are a little different since there isn't usually that many sales (and they are rather weak sales at that, damn it nintendo). I will usually buy them at full-price, but only for games i really want. If, however, there is a game that i have been waiting for I will buy right away. The next game i plan to do that for is Monster Hunter World (provided it can run on my laptop...)

Edited June 23, 2018 by SlayerX

[Shadow Mir]

In general, it depends on several factors - but if it appeals to me, that is usually all it takes. As for preorders, I might bite if there's something that appeals to me. DLC... If it's extra stages, or even cosmetic stuff, like costumes, again, if it appeals to me, I'll bite.

[Sire]

I try to stick to $50 a month ($100 a month when employed) for spending on video games. How this is spent varies. Sometimes I pick up stuff on sale, other times I pick up expansions and DLC, maybe I'll purchase some microtransations, or I'll put in a preorder for a game I really want. However, while this is a guideline, on occasion I go without buying any video games because of expenses and the like. This is where the F2P games and my backlog comes into play. (I will never have enough time and money to play absolutely everything I want to, and I'm already falling behind as is!)

At the moment I am really hyped for Octopath Traveler in July and this will definitely be a day one purchase. I am also thinking about picking Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate in August. September will be a pain since Valkyria Chronicles 4 and Code Vein come out, and there's Smash Brothers in December...

[MacLovin]

3 minutes ago, Sire said:

I try to stick to $50 a month ($100 a month when employed) for spending on video games. How this is spent varies. Sometimes I pick up stuff on sale, other times I pick up expansions and DLC, maybe I'll purchase some microtransations, or I'll put in a preorder for a game I really want. However, while this is a guideline, on occasion I go without buying any video games because of expenses and the like. This is where the F2P games and my backlog comes into play. (I will never have enough time and money to play absolutely everything I want to, and I'm already falling behind as is!)

At the moment I am really hyped for Octopath Traveler in July and this will definitely be a day one purchase. I am also thinking about picking Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate in August. September will be a pain since Valkyria Chronicles 4 and Code Vein come out, and there's Smash Brothers in December...

fgo gacha is hell

wait were you the one who spent money just to get scatach here or was that the geek.

oh well

 

 

more on topic: I usually spend money in chunks. sometimes there's sales and I get a little something. Sometimes I've budgeted my cash and get something, and sometimes I go with alternative routes.

[Sire]

1 minute ago, Mister Rogers said:

fgo gacha is hell

wait were you the one who spent money just to get scatach here or was that the geek.

oh well

I only spent money on the guaranteed gacha and got Tamamo Caster out of it and I don't remember who spent for Scáthach. I do not have the luxury to become a magnificent whale. // MHX did show up for me three times though for some inexplicable reason...

Now I'm reminded that FGO's anniversary gacha is coming up. I wonder if I'll end up spending anything on that.

[MacLovin]

1 minute ago, Sire said:

I only spent money on the guaranteed gacha and got Tamamo Caster out of it and I don't remember who spent for Scáthach. I do not have the luxury to become a magnificent whale. // MHX did show up for me three times though for some inexplicable reason...

Now I'm reminded that FGO's anniversary gacha is coming up. I wonder if I'll end up spending anything on that.

hey yeah it's 30 bucks

I'm probably gonna do it and go for the knight pool. I literally don't have any of them so yeah.

I did spend google cash, but i won 200 bucks off an fgo fb group raffle. Got myself 2 sr units and an ssr for my troubles. should have spent half of it on FEH

 

i should really check on my steam wishlist to see if there's anything i want to play after my internship finishes.

[DragonFlames]

On 25.6.2018 at 2:59 AM, Levant Mir Celestia said:

In general, it depends on several factors - but if it appeals to me, that is usually all it takes. As for preorders, I might bite if there's something that appeals to me. DLC... If it's extra stages, or even cosmetic stuff, like costumes, again, if it appeals to me, I'll bite.

It's mostly the same for me. When there's a game that interests me, I'll pick it up. I have gotten to experience some really great games by basically purchasing them on a whim, some of them even became instant favourites of mine (Stella Glow, Nights of Azure and 7th Dragon III, to name a few). Though I stay away from pre-ordering anything these days, mostly due to Amazon being as shady as a coal cellar during a lunar eclipse.
As for DLC: I'll fork over more money if I believe the product is worth it and I want to support it and the developer. I stay far, far, far away from anything with any kind of microtransaction or loot boxes, though.

[KymilliaWIN]

If it's a game series I love, I usually buy it at release. However, I've recently been burnt twice by this, with Breath of the Wilds and Dynasty Warriors 9. 

Aside from game series I love, I usually research quite a bit, watch some early-game gameplay to get a sense of the gameplay without risking too many spoilers, and take recommendations from friends with a lot of consideration for how their tastes compare to mine. But even then, it's hard to tell - my friend loved BotW and Horizon, and I love Horizon but not BotW. After a lot of consideration, my decision making is helped along by reduced prices. It's a lot less shitty feeling when you don't like a game and it only cost you 20 dollars instead of 80 dollars. And when I find a game I loved at a cheap price it just feels awesome to me.

So now I tend to research them, watch a bit of early gameplay (spoiler free), read a few reviews, listen to friends, consider the source's tastes and compare them to mine, and buy things on sale. I'm also a lot more patient now and tend to be exposed to spoilers a lot less than I was as a teenager so I have no problem waiting a year for price drops. But then sometimes I just get impulsive and buy things with next to no research. I don't know.

[henrymidfields]

I almost always buy them secondhand from EBay, with reduced prices. Especially if it is a game that Nintendo's going to do well anyway like Zelda or Pokemon or any FE games past Awakening. And I usually buy them as I finish previous games.

Atlus games are probably going to be the exception where I'll get a new copy when I can without breaking my bank. Their copies are harder to find, and I specifically would like to support them as they make an effort to write good stories. I've specifically bought new copies of Persona 4 Golden and Dancing All Night for that reason. I had a friend who gave me her copy of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, but I might actually get a new copy to support it too.

Edited July 24, 2018 by henrymidfields

[Faustino]

I buy my games at full price but thanks to the Best Buy Gamers Club membership card that I have, I get a $12 discount for all the new games I buy...well specifically the ones that cost $60. Games that are around $40 I get an $8 discount for those. The same applies for any games I preorder.

As for Steam, if there's a game that I want to download and play, I would wait until it's on sale before I make my purchase.

Old games from past system I find on eBay, I look for the cheapest one possible as long as it's in great or like new condition.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Most games are bought when they're on sale (mainly digital); means I hardly buy games on day of release. Exceptions were Tales of and Fire Emblem games. With my saved money I can buy more. However I don't really play much atm. I haven't even bought one single game in this year yet since I have a backlog and I don't like playing much in warm months. 

As for Gacha and DLC games I did not spend one single cent except for three characters in Smash 4 (15 € in total).