Best New Game Purchase Strategy?

[Ransom]

What's the best new game purchase strategy?

 

I haven't bought games for a current system in a long time, and the $60 price tag seems crazy to me.

 

What do you do -- wait a year or so until the price comes down? Or is it like with movies, where you can usually get a significant discount by preordering through Amazon?

 

[cimerians]

Games go on sale really soon after release you just need to keep an eye out for deals. Cheapassgamer is pretty good and I follow them on twitter. Amazon has a wishlist feature that I check.

 

I usually only buy a new game if its a series I enjoy a lot (Borderlands, Elder Scrolls etc) especially if its got a nice bonus for ordering it on day one (like a cloth map). Otherwise I definitely wait for a price drop.

 

My target price for AAA games is 29.99 or under but I sometimes bite on 39.99 (what I paid for the new Wolfenstein) or 34.99 (what I paid for the new PS4 Tomb Raider).

 

For indies I try and stay under 10 bucks.

[Ransom]

Ah, OK. If it doesn't take long for them to drop in price, I'll just wait then (unless they have some sort of compelling launch-day exclusive). Thanks!

[+save2600]

Recently got into the PS3 and have been snagging games up left and right (new/sealed) for between $6-$20. Up around 60 games now and only a couple of them exceeded $20-$30.

 

Waiting is definitely the way to go!

[xenomorpher]

For console games I usually get it on eBay from a reputable seller to avoid any headaches. For PC games I just wait for a 60% price drop or better on Steam during their sales. I haven't preordered anything for a long time, but whenever I did it was for the extras I cared about. This year the only game I'm preordering is Alien Isolation for PC from Gamestop for the extra DLC. Since I've been following the game really closely, I have faith it won't be a disappointment like Aliens Colonial Marines which I DID preorder on PC. But if you want to wait for a couple months there are usually nice price drops. You can also buy from Gamefly. A lot of their prices are good and the games are complete.

Edited July 22, 2014 by xenomorpher

[cybercylon]

Wait for sales via Steam?

 

To answer the question... never buy a mainstream game on release unless you really have to have it. By waiting, you will save a lot of money, DLC will be on sale, etc. And if it is a non-sports title that sells very well and has DLC, there is always a chance there will be a game of the year edition that will also go on sale.

 

Exceptions to these are niche genre games, rpgs, etc that may have a low print run, or if there will be limited run collectors edition that you really want to have. But think first. At one point, I really wanted the collectors edition of Tales of Xillia and almost plopped down the $120+ to get it. I decided at the last second that I really didn't need more clutter, so I simply bought the regular game once it went on sale.

[Reaperman]

My strategy is that I pay absolute full retail for only one or two new games a year that I am legitimately excited about. This isn't some kind of 'strategy' as much as recent years haven't produced more than 2 awesome games for me. These are games that I would purchase at pretty much any price--indeed I would buy a whole system (if need be) just to play that game. They're my system movers, killer apps, etc. Last year was Gran Turismo 6, this year (so far) is Star Citizen. Xcom, deus ex, fallout all come to mind recent years.

 

Everything else I let filter down to the 'week long fling' price point at the $20 level. For example, I'll often spend $20 on a battlefield game to enjoy in the month before the next installment comes out. $20 and under is pretty much my lowest tier. I'm like a light switch--either I'm in 'take my money' mode or 'meh, $20' mode. Pricing a game I pass on at $20 at, say $4 in a steam sale isn't very likely to move me.

 

There is one exception--bundles. Thank you so much humble bundle, bundlestars, etc. I will buy an absolute ton of crap I'd never normally play (and indeed still usually don't) for the princely sum of $1, it seems. The opposite of 'take my money' seems to be 'please somebody, play my game.'

Edited July 22, 2014 by Reaperman

[Unbeliever]

Well, I'm excited about the Smash Bros game coming out in October for the 3DS, so I'll gladly pay full price for it. Probably in the next few weeks put down some money and pre order it. I haven't done that in years. I keep hearing, "My God, man, you absolutely NEED to pre order this title! It will be sold out on day one! Then you won't be able to get one until next year!". Thoughts?

 

Steve

[cimerians]

"My God, man, you absolutely NEED to pre order this title! It will be sold out on day one! Then you won't be able to get one until next year!". Thoughts?

 

Steve

 

lol that's false. Games will always be on that store shelf waiting. It may take a few weeks for really popular games to re-stock (Animal Crossing). Although some offbeat JRPGS do not last long on shelves but popular games I wouldn't worry about.

 

For Nintendo my day 1 buys are Mario Kart, Animal Crossing and Metroid although if Koei\Tecmo is doing Metroid I may wait on that. It all depends on what I read and stuff before the game comes out.

 

I got burned before on day 1 buys. Resident Evil 6 and Dragon Age II come to mind. Those games aren't worth more than 20 bucks IMO and I paid $60 for each!

 

Everyone has their own budget and whats worth the money and whats not.

[+Gemintronic]

Yep. Two factors make me wait for the "Game of the Year" editions:

 

* $60+ dollars for a game is unacceptable.

* New games intentionally withhold content that should be there.