It's hard now to buy games at full price!!!!!

[Anthony1]

I've been Retro Gaming since late May, and I've gotten accustomed to paying a very small amount for my games. Of all the games that I've acquired recently, the vast majority have been for less than 10 bucks per game. And alot of those have even been less than 5 bucks per game.

A few TurboGrafx-16 games went over the 10 dollar amount, Night Trap for the 3DO was over the 10 buck amount, but other than that, I really have tried to pay as low as 4 bucks per game. I've been going to lots of thrift stores, and I've been very patient on Ebay, looking for the diamonds in the rough that slip by the veteran snipers.

But the reality of this, is that it's made it nearly impossible for me to buy a brand new video game. Even a game like Starfox Adventures on the GameCube for only $9.99 seems to be priced to high for me! Actually, $9.99 is a damn good price for a solid game like Starfox Adventures, but I just can't see spending the $10.75 with tax that it would cost to get the game. That money could buy me 3 retro games if I used it really wisely!

Recently I got Plok! for the Super Nintendo at a GameCrazy for $2.99. I got Robotica for the Sega Saturn for $1.99.

So, it's just really damn hard for me to spend too much on a game now. Retro Gaming has basically ruined any logical idea that I had in terms of how much to pay for games. I haven't bought a single modern day game, since I've started Retro Gaming.

Kicking down $53.86 ($49.99 plus tax) for a brand new game, just doesn't make sense to me anymore. That kind of money could buy me 12 classic Genesis games!

Plus I have so many games right now, that I need to play, that I just don't have this overwhelming impulse to rush out and get the latest game for the XBOX or the GameCube.

Even with the Toy's R Us buy 2 Cube games, get 1 free deal, I still can't bring myself to go get a modern game. It's a good deal, but in the end, the amount of money that would be leaving my hands to get the 3 Cube games, could buy me a ton of Saturn games, or PSone games.

I wonder if this will pass, and I will be able to go drop $53.86 on a game again, without feeling guilty about what I could have gotten on Ebay for that money, or on our very own "Buying and Selling" forum.

[buttasuperb]

Opposite for me, I've been buying MVS and CPS2 kits recently which sometimes cost way more than $50.

I actually bought Crimson Skies today though, first next-gen game I've bought in a long time.

[Zubiac666]

I have a similar prob:
I go out to buy a Gamecube game but then I see some boxed NES games and I think to myself: "Well,the Gamecube game will still be there in a year, but these babies(Nes-games) will not!" and so I always buy old stuff cause for fear of not finding it again.
argh :D

[BHvrd]

The only game as of recent that I have payed the full $50 price tag for is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox), and it was worth every red cent! 8-)

[Darth Sensei]

The only game as of recent that I have payed the full $50 price tag for is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox), and it was worth every red cent! 8-)

I'm trying to decide to either buy it for the XBOX version or wait to play this on the PC.

Dave

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, I look at the $50 GameCube games out there (new ones of course) and that seems way too high for me. Then I go out and buy $100+ items...heh.

[digitalpress]

I hear that, Anthony1.

I haven't actually bought a game at full prince in almost a year, though. At one time I was on top of the latest and greatest but it's not that important to me anymore. It took a long time but I finally learned that what's best for me is to "sit it out" and wait for the prices to drop, which they inevitably always do. Also with pretty much every game ever available now available USED, buying a game on launch day seems fairly ridiculous, though I was part of that "line to the counter" so many times that I'd dare not estimate the number.

I guess my advice would be ... "sit it out". Keep up with your retro-game playing and check back on a new title a month after it's released, or a year. or two. And watch how much money you save in the process. Money that can now be put toward more slightly out of date games that are just as much fun as the latest and greatest.

[Griking]

I never buy games new.

Practically any new games that comes out will be available used for a pretty nice discount within a month or so of release. Why should I buy new?

So I'll wait the month or so for Castlevania. I'm just now playing Disgaea which I bought used in mint condition for $20 at a pawn shop.

[maxlords]

See, it's almost impossible to get used games in new condition where I'm currently at, and they're usually $5 less than the brand new ones....and stay that way for well over a year easily, so I end up HAVING to buy them new if I want a mint complete game. Otherwise, I'll have a trashed one sitting around, and it drives me nuts. I usually buy around 40 brand new titles a year right now, way up from when I lived in Oregon and could get used titles in mint for $20-30. I miss being able to do that, but I'd rather have the games in mint if I can help it. I figure what's the point in buying a new title if it's already trashed?

Not to mention I've bought most all the cheap retro games I want.....I'm at the point where older games usually cost me MORE than the newer ones! :)

[Flack]

I just bought 7 Atari 2600 games off of eBay for .06 cents. That's less than a penny a game!

There are very, very few games I've bought at full price. In fact, other than the PS2, there are very few consoles I've bought at full price. It comes from being in the computer game for so long -- today's "hot processor" is tomorrow's old news. I got tired of paying top dollar every time some new gigashit processor came out and just decided that what I had was good enough. I bought a P2 when the P3 came out, and a P3 when the P4 was released.

That being said, I bought my SNES in '95 and my PSX in '97 I believe. I'll probably buy an xbox and a gamecube when the new stuff comes out (although I can't imagine the GC getting much cheaper). The only exception to all of this has been the PS2. I was one of the idiots camped out overnight for that thing. Bought 2, in fact, and sold one.

Flack

[Bratwurst]

That is a credo I adhere to as well, but in the case of the Gameboy Advance games, all the good ones linger at full price untill they are gone. I never saw Sonic Advance on clearance, and even loose, used copies at Gamestop etc. command the same amount as when they were friggin new at retail.

At least in this case I will pay the full price, but wait up to a week to see if five bucks or so is knock off during the initial introduction of new titles. Lots of competing stores do that.

[Sniderman]

When new games are relased, here's a good rule of thumb:

If everyone and their mother wants a copy (the Zeldas or the hottest new game), sit it out and wait, as the game will be found in mass quantities used in a few months. Foilks buy 'em, race home, play them, then turn them in for the next hotness. And, if you wait long enough, the game will be released at a Greatest Hits or something and you can buy it NEW for the cost of a used game. (Just saw that Kingdom Hearts was released as a Greatest Hits - $19.99 new - and GTA: Vice City is in the starting gate for a similar release).

However, if it's a game that isn't ballyhooed and no-one seems to be buying it (Rez, Ico, Futurama), pick it up NOW before they disappear. You'll end up paying a pretty penny later as you try to find someone - anyone - who bought it initially at release.

The more the hype, the less I care. But if I walk in and say to myself , "They released THAT?!? I never knew they were working on it!" - I'll buy it immediately.

[Oobgarm]

Sniderman makes an excellent point here.

However, that only applies if you're of type of person that can wait. I'm not. Rather, haven't been. I find myself buying new games all the time, and rarely having the time to play through them. I've got games on the shelf that are still sealed.

It's not that I have to be the first person to get the game, or to be a part of "launch day", with the exception of systems, but there's just something that says "OK, you're buying this." I've got a thing for small releases, mini games, gameplay gimmicks, and innovation. Including those in a game makes me want it ASAP.

I wish I could wait. :o

[ddockery]

GBA games can be an exception, but I have yet to find any game that I can't wait on a while and get cheaper. If it's not marked down in stores, or I can't find a good used copy locally, I hit eBay. There's always good condition copies of the newer stuff on there. If not there, the Buy/Sell forums here are great at times too. I have a new rule that I will never buy a new game for more than $30 again. I don't even let the family do it either. There's too many good games that I need that are cheaper to waste money like that. Yes, there are a few exceptions like REZ that's going for $70 sealed now, but if you look hard enough you can get them in greta used shape for $50, so I still didn't lose ou thee. I'm sure there's a few games that you could lose money on by doing this, but I have yet to find one of those I'm actually interetsed in.

I did pre-order Windwaker for the bonus disc. I suppose really good pre-order bonuses will be my only exception, and a demo disc doesn't cut it with me any more.

Drew