Do you ever buy games just because they're cheap?

[DefaultGen]

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[strassy]

nice little slip-in implying that shoot-em-ups are more polished than football games...

[coreys429]

I know what you mean, I had 2 gift cards 1 for Game Stop the other for game crazy, I just picked out the cheap titles which I will play a few times before I will sell it off or keep with the system. I bought Tony Hawk 3 for a third time just because I enjoy the game and it was only a few bucks or so.

[dylan0228]

I do the same thing. Look for the deals! I`m sure the vast majority of collector`s on here do the same.

[DigitalSpace]

I do, but mostly only with the NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast, and racing titles. But I usually pass up the sports titles and crappy games that don't have any rarity or camp value.

[debian4life]

I try to buy the games that I want first for my collection and then my next criteria for game purchase is price, followed then by rarity. I have gotten a lot of cheap games that I found to be fun to play.

Regards,

Brian

[Sniderman]

I'm a bargin bin whore. I love 2-fer-1 sales. I love clearance bins and I love "please take this crap offa my hands" sales.

[smork]

I'll buy damn near anything $2 or under. I had to start limiting myself to $2 and complete and for a system I own. Sheesh. stupid addiction.

[Nebagram]

Quite often. I regularly browse the '4 for £10/£20' bins in the local stores, and will pick up any other game on my wanted list that's lower in price than usual.

[Nitrosport]

I generally walk up to a flea market table and pick up everything that I don't already have if the price is 1-2 bux a piece. Then I pressure the seller to give me a few free (it usually works).

[otaku]

I don't do this. I've bought games that cheap before but not something I already own (unless I could sell it and make money) or something I actually wanted to play

[cosmicpsycho]

i am also guilty of this, but i also pass on alot of stuff i see. i can live with buying an older game for a buck or two and it totaly sucking. i guess that's why i still haven't bought any systems passed the ps2. i just can't see throwing down 50$ for a game i might end up hating. i'm probably just cheap though.

[HYB]

I buy things I don't own. Picked up a complete copy of Spyro 2 in good condition from a winter flea market event today for 6 eur (even though it's GH). I bought Phoenix Wright a while ago for 10. I'm always grabbing everything I can if it's for sale.

[cyberfluxor]

I'll buy damn near anything $2 or under. I had to start limiting myself to $2 and complete and for a system I own. Sheesh. stupid addiction.

LOL

Same boat here. I now will only pick up a loose cart if it holds some higher trade-in or resell value. Just tired of the hundreds of loose carts I own, most games that can be bought complete for that extra dollar or two.

[7th lutz]

No. Most of the games I got are cheap, but they are games I want to play. I am more of a video game player then a collector despite the amount of games I own.

[AZ Legend]

I think everyone loves that cheap find even if it something that you are not going to play. For me it does 2 things, one i have another game i can trade away and two it puts a +1 in that game category. Although there are some people that would say quality over quantity.

[RJ]

I visited Fleet Farm yesterday (kindof a dept store for farmer/rural Midwest types) for some car stuff & was amazed at their selection of PS2 games! Sure they had a bunch of $10 bargain racing/driving & fishing games, but I saw Amplitude, Space Channel 5 pt 2 ($10), 6-8 Silpheeds ($10), & many more, priced either $10 or $18.

I got Endgame, a somewhat poorly reviewed Guncon/GC2 game. Hey, how bad can it be for $10? When the older cashier lady commented on it, I told her I marvelled at their surprising variety of games!

[coreys429]

I find I have the habit as well not just games but accessories as well. Like today I bought a Justifier that is the pink one. It was $2 but I do it with NES controllers if they are cheap. I have over 30 controllers but only like 5 systems or so.

[MeTmKnice]

Yes, one man's trast is another man's treasure. Cant have too much stuff.

[ScourDX]

I do it all the time. Ever week when I went out shopping, I always end up buying games below $5. It is an addiction unfortunately.

[Snapple]

Are you kidding? I haven't spent $50 for a game in ages. I bought a combination Alien Syndrome/Fantastic Four for the Wii on eBay, because I was able to get both games new and sealed for about $18 total. I don't want a movie game like Fantastic Four, but who can pass up a deal like that! And if I can get any DS games for under $5, fuhgeddaboudit. I do it.

The mantra to live by, I guess, is: Why get one game for $50, when you can get ten?

[TwinChargers]

I unfortunately fall into the trap of getting those sports games in the 2 for $5 bin at my local Gamestop. I like playing around with the old rosters, and seeing what updates they had throughout the years. Sure, it pads my collection with alot of fluff, but I still enjoy the games and to me thats all that matters.

[calthaer]

I used to do this. I never, ever pay full price for a game (unless I get several good recommendations from people whose tastes I agree with - i.e., no "professional" game review site), but most games I like never see $5, either.

I used to rationalize that the $5-10 games gave me a cheap thrill, but some of them are just so ho-hum that I'd rather pitch in the extra $20 or so to catch a real winner. Some of the blasé $5 games I've only moderately enjoyed include things like that Skittles game...what was it called? Darkened Skye? Or some mediocre PS2 game like "Summoner" or "The Hobbit" or "Haven" or something. Or a dorky little game like "Moonbase Commander," which was definitely worth the price.

But nowadays, I never go into a game store or see something online and just pick up a $5 game. I won't ever have the time to play it and don't have the storage space, either.

[bangtango]

When it comes to video games, I'll buy about anything for a dollar or less. As long as I own the system anyway. If I don't own the system then I do take its resale or trade value into consideration because I've stopped my old habit of keeping games for a system I don't own.

As a bonafide sports game fan (my favorite genre), hitting the clearance bin at Gamestop gives me a feeling like a pig in mud when I see the PS2/XBox sports stuff. 90% of the stuff is $3 or less. Sure, plenty of them have banged up cases, generic Gamestop cases, damaged manuals or missing manuals but there are also a lot with near mint cases/manuals. Not to mention the fact that I've bought a lot of $1-2 stuff at Gamestop to get a manual or case I needed because a copy I already had at home might have been disc (or disc & case) only. It just makes sense for someone like me to relax for half an hour and go through that bin. If Gamestop would let me pull up a chair while I go through it, well.......you get the idea.

Default, I may be crazy like you but I know what you mean about seeing a recent game (i.e. XBox/PS2) with a nice case for $1. I actually have doubles of a ton of XBox/PS2 sports games just because I either don't want to leave stores empty handed if there is nothing else I want or I do want to get a good haul of games for my time/trouble. For $1, why the hell not? I see your point completely. It is not like I have a full blown Room of Doom with thousands of games like other members here (my collection is under 500 games) so I don't mind paying a few bucks for a pile of dirt cheap sports games (including some I already own) at around $1-2 each and I have no qualms about storing them either since I've got the room.

[DefaultGen]

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[spoon]

I used to. After watching people I know add crap like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen to their collection, I decided I didn't want to be "that guy."

I will buy them if I am trying to make a complete collection, if I want the case, or, they will make good trade bait.

[Retromangia]

Hey Man I'm with ya on this one! man, I thought i was the only one with this so called "addiction" =).. reading this post is like an AA meeting for cheap gamer addicts. Anyway, for the past month I've been picking up dirt cheap games, mostly each one less than a $fiver... you'd be surprised how many dirt cheap games there are for Ps2/gamcube/xbox that are surprisingly good. I won't just buy any game however, I make sure to check the ratings first to see if it's even worth my time. but shit, if it gets an overall score of 65% or higher on Gamerankings, I say why the hell not give it a shot??

My strategy is to buy a game when i think it's hit the rock bottom lowest price, before it goes back up in price and becomes rare (which most good titles do)

and if my $5 game does turn out to be a stinker... gamestop gives you 7 days to try it out, and get a full refund! BAM!

Shit I must of bought over 50 games these past 2 months.

indulge people! =) :rocker:

[winniethepujols]

Oh, hell yes I do! Or, did, at least.

When I got my first job I was 18 and in high school. My parents made me get a job to pay for gas and whatnot. Anyway, aside from that, I really had no expenses at all... and so the money I made was pure spending money. I was, obviously, too dumb to even consider saving money...

Anyway, around that time is when I discovered Cheap Ass Gamer. I would basically order any deals they advertised on the first page. I also had an EBGames.com card that gave me an additional 10% off used games (on top of the 10% off deal they regularly ran [PLUS free shipping]), and so I ordered a lot of games that were cheap (like $5-10).

What eventually happened was my collection grew, but it was mostly comprised of crappy or mediocre games. I mean, I love collecting, but we gotta go for quality over quantity here!

Oh yeah, the other problem was I realized how silly it was to buy all these games while only playing them for like 10 minutes each. I rarely buy games at all anymore... my backlog is so large, there's just no point to.

[boatofcar]

I'll buy any non-sports video game out there for under a dollar.

[murdoc rose]

I generally walk up to a flea market table and pick up everything that I don't already have if the price is 1-2 bux a piece. Then I pressure the seller to give me a few free (it usually works).

same here

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Only if they're new. Last time I did this was when CC was running a special on their clearance games. Cold Fear & Advent Rising were less than $10 with tax. If I could find used games for this price I would be inclined to buy more.

[drdrew1469]

one word needed for your question: "only". that is my final answer...

[DefaultGen]

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[exit]

When Gamestop had their liquidation on their older games, I was lucky enough to catch it in time to get a few games and I pretty much grabbed whatever NES cart that was in good condition. If I had known about it sooner, I probably would've cleared them and my bank account out within minutes.

[Moo Cow]

I usally wait for games to lower down in price. Gamestop was having a 3 for 2 sale, so I grabbed Xenogears 1 and 2, Deus Ex, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, the first Maximo, Freaky Flyers, Oni, Red Faction, and Timesplitters for 35 bucks. I'd been mening to pick them al up for a while, and this was the perfect opportunity.

[DefaultGen]

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[Fuyukaze]

I want to say only for games I'd want to play but as I look at my copy of Trolls for the NES, I find myself hanging my head in shame wanting to muble how it was only $2.

[cyberfluxor]

I'll buy any non-sports video game out there for under a dollar.

So how much are sports games in your book? Free only?

I actually find that currious because although sports are at the bottom of my playability list there are a few like (NES) Blades of Steel, Open Golf or Bowl I'll actually pay a few bucks on to have complete. Of course the average game I've never played is generally $1 in my book because I don't want to spend too much money on something I'll dislike. $2 for 32/64-bit games is a decent bargin but once it's $5 it'll need to be something I actually want. The PS2/GC/Xbox generation sometimes has good titles for $3-5 so I knab them when available.

So yeah, I'm a cheap gamer/collector but it's mainly due to the bulk purchases. If everything costs $1/game then more can be bought than $5/game, very simple and it's what many others go by as well. Cheap is fantastic!

[thetoxicone]

I used to be a lot worse about it, but now I try to keep a list of games I want for each system but if there is a game under $5 that I even have a slight interest in playing once I'll buy it.

[Kevincal]

I was in that buy everything cheap mode a couple years ago. Now I'm trying to sell all that stuff and it's kind of a BITCH to sell. ;) I mean ya, I got most of it for cheap great prices, but that also means down the road it will only be worth...crap. :)

[Press_Start]

When it comes to game collecting, cheap becomes a necessity especially with the increase of various expenses, including gasoline. But doesn't mean I go out and buy the cheapest games out there like a blind shopping fool.

I do my RESEARCH before attempting to buy any game or system, because, as a student, maintaining your finances is essential.

Anyway I'm waiting for Gamestop to have a sale of 50% of Gamecube and PS2 games. Most of their stores are cluttered with last-gen games and definitely need the room for next-gen consoles. It's just a matter of time.

[Dreamc@sting]

I won't just buy any game thats cheap. Usually if theres a game id normally not spend money on but is interesting while on clarence for $4.99 then I'd totally pick it up

[Steve W]

I love buying cheap games. I can't stop myself sometimes. But there has to be some kind of value to the purchase. I personally cannot stand sports games... that kind of thing is for 'casual gamers', which to me means idiots who can't wrap their heads around anything more complicated than football. I have bought a few sports titles in the past, if there's a good reason to. I bought MLB Slam! for the Nokia N-Gage because I found a sealed one in a thrift for $3, and that was the first N-Gage game I'd ever seen outside a game store. But usually I won't buy sports games for any reason, no matter how cheap. But if it's something that sounds remotely interesting, I'll bite the hook.

I hardly ever bought Xbox games while the system was in it's prime. But then, as the system began to wane, I'd start to find a few games cheap here and there. Then a local computer store went out of business, and I started picked up new Xbox games by the armload for $4 or so. Stores started marking down games to clear up room for the next generation machines, game prices started getting slashed. Last year, I picked up probably 150 games. I bought a few at Best Buy of all places for $1.99 each! The Xbox has become my severe weakness when it comes to cheap games.