Five $10 games, or one GOOD $50 game?

[Wavelflack]

What is your personal modus operandi when buying games? Quantity or quality?

I'm asking this (mostly) in the vein of current systems. For instance, would you buy five used/off rental games ($10 each) that are PROBABLY good, but you're not sure...or would you spend that $50 on a guaranteed good NEW game?

I have this internal debate all of the time. I'll see something I want that is new--say, Mechassault 2--for $50. I'll tell myself "No, it's too much. It's $50!"
Then I will visit Hastings and see a pile of "okay" titles for $10 each, and I'll buy 4-5 of them.

The truth of the matter is that I will probably get more enjoyment from the single $50 game than I will from all five of the $10 games, but I can't help it. It's the bargain that gets me!

Of course, I end up buying the $50 game anyway, and then I can tell myself that I've been foolish, and that I should have just bought it in the first place.

I guess it's the collector in me.

How do YOU operate?

[soniko_karuto]

w00!

something i can talk of. Without getting off topic.

I've been in the same dilemma you've been, but with old games. Here's an example:
I went into gamestop, so i'm looking to pick up circle of the moon, dodgeball advance, and maybe sega arcade.
So i take a look around, and see, circle of the moon for 29, dodgeball for 19, and sega arcade for 19.

So i ask about those same games used, and i get the prices of 12, 7 and 9 respectably.

So then you start having the dilemma of paying full price for something CIB or paying a lot less for the same game, but withouth the manual, box, etc.

[SoulBlazer]

Quality.

I'll happily pay (and often do) $50 for a game if I KNOW I'll play it a lot and get my money worth.

And if for some reason I don't? I sell it on Amazon and get 90 percent of my money back and use it to buy a new one. :D

[Cryomancer]

All the games I like for current gen are the cheaper ones. I bought Pacman Vs, godzilla, deathrow, timesplitters, parappa 2, super moneky ball 2, evolution worlds, sonic DX, evil dead, ect, all for under 20 each easily. Only current gen stuff i've paid the full 50 for would be Shenmue II and PSO xbox, which is more of a support thing.

[PDorr3]

Dpends on the spending mood I'm in. Like right now I know some quality games are coming out soon (wario ware touched, god of war) so I try not to buy much now.

But If I saw a $50 game I knew was good and I wanted and 5 shitty games for $10 each I knew I wouldent play I would pick the $50 game. I try not to buy $50 games anymore unless I am positive they will be good.

[-hellvin-]

Quality. Doesn't really matter what the price IMHO, you can usually find 5 ten dollar games that are equal or in some cases far supress the quality of a fifty dollar game.

[goatdan]

To me, price matters quite a bit. If a game comes out for $50.00 and I know I'll enjoy it, I know that I'll enjoy it in two years when it is $20.00 too. Right now, I have SUCH a backlog of games that I want to play that adding another one to the mix isn't fun to me -- it actually stresses me out because I feel like I'm wasting money.

I have only ever bought two games for full price, both launch day games -- Super Mario Brothers 3 which I feel was still a steal at $50.00, and Perfect Dark, which I am still okay with. I don't think that there is anything that will make me run out to purchase it for such a high price anymore, save for the possibility of really rare Dreamcast imports. Even when my favorite game series got a sequel (Headhunter), I didn't buy it until I found it for $17.00.

$20.00 is my limit usually. It isn't about quantity vs. quality as much as it is about I have too much quantity that I want to play to think about current gen things...

I will admit that if I find a game that I'm even vaguely interested in, if I see it for $6.00 or less, I will almost definitely purchase it. If it's new and $10.00 or less, then I'll also usually get it. I've got some interesting games with that rule of thumb... And a few that I really regret.

[retroman]

it would greatly depend on the game...but i would have to say go with the 50spot..because the 10$ game were not good enough to by then what makes them any better now...get the game u want.

[Berserker]

Do a little research, mostly just in the way of reading reviews, and buy yourself five good $10 games.

[Nez]

I'll buy the 5 ten dollar games. Why? Becouse theres many older titles I have yet to get.

Would I pick up Jak and Daxter for $7 or Jak 3 for $50? Why pay the money for San Andreas if I can get more for less? Theres plenty of great titles availible for cheap. You just have to know what to look for.

Hell the last time I got a 50 dollar game was becouse it came with its precurser title for free (Shadow Hearts).

[Half Japanese]

It all depends. Lately, though, I'm tempted more by the quality. Case in point: I just traded in a large portion of my Gamecube and Xbox backlog (I know, trading is stupid, blah blah blah) so I could get some other stuff, namely, some DVDs and Resident Evil 4. I'm enjoying RE4 more than I ever enjoyed Go Go Hypergrind, Armed & Dangerous and whatever the hell else I traded in (see how much I cared?). Resident Evil 4 is fucking great and I'm enjoying it more than I ever would have any of the other games I traded in. Still though, I can't resist a bargain and regularly snatch up cheap games regardless of whether or not they're good.

[Neil Koch]

Quality for me.

For example, I just got the GTA double-pack for Xbox. I already have GTAIII/VC for my PS2, but I love the GTA games and it's worth it to me to buy the games with better graphics/custom soundtrack. I could have taken the $40 and bought 5 or 6 cheap games, but I probably wouldn't have played all 6 of them half as much as I'm playing this new version of GTAIII.

On the other hand, I never let the price determine if a game is a worthy buy or not. A lot of the games in my collection were gotten out of the bargain bin (or at least the "greatest hits" bin).

[imanerd0011]

Just because a game is cheap, doesn't mean it isn't great. I mean, in around a year that $50 new game will become one of the cheaper $20 or under games. I would easily take 5 $10 games (as long as they are fun) over 1 newly released $50 game. The only newly released game I will pay $50 for is the next Legend of Zelda, everything else I will wait a year until it's under $20 and get it then.

[drwily008]

I would rather buy 5 $10 games. Or even better yet one $20 (great title), one $15 (loads of fun), and a few $5 items (8/16 bit, magazine, crazy little mario candy, whatever!). I love breaking up my money like that. As a matter of fact I just (today) bought Tork [XB] $19.99, Kingdom Under Fire [xb]$17.99, bought new issue of play $6.99, and preordered WarioWare DS for $5. I left feeling very fulfilled and with many hours of entertainment!

[drewbrim]

To me, price matters quite a bit. If a game comes out for $50.00 and I know I'll enjoy it, I know that I'll enjoy it in two years when it is $20.00 too. Right now, I have SUCH a backlog of games that I want to play that adding another one to the mix isn't fun to me -- it actually stresses me out because I feel like I'm wasting money.

I'm with this guy. there are so many games that I already have that I haven't gotten a chance to play yet. That there is basically no reason for me to buy a $50 game. For example, all of you on this thread and many others really make me want to go out and buy RE4, but I have 2 and 3 for the dreamcast, the directors cut for the playstation, and code veronica for the PS2 and I haven't played a single one of them yet. So by the time I finally get around to playing them I'm sure RE5 will be out and then I can pick up my copy of RE4 for $10 and enjoy it then just as much as you all do now.

[Steven]

I never buy $50 new release games. I wait til they get to like $20, $15, hell in some cases they're under $10

I got too many good games to play now that I have time to wait on $50 new releases. I don't see why I should pay $50 for a game that just came out when I can wait 8 months and it'll drop to like $20.

So, I'd take 5 good 10 dollar games over one great $50 game, simply because I know one day that great $50 game will be a great $10 game. :D

[goatdan]

For example, all of you on this thread and many others really make me want to go out and buy RE4, but I have 2 and 3 for the dreamcast, the directors cut for the playstation, and code veronica for the PS2 and I haven't played a single one of them yet. So by the time I finally get around to playing them I'm sure RE5 will be out and then I can pick up my copy of RE4 for $10 and enjoy it then just as much as you all do now.

Heh, we are pretty darn alike. I was reading the RE4 threads and thinking that it would be great to get that game, so I picked up RE0 and RE1 in a Pure Evil pack about a week ago. I plan on playing RE0 (GC), RE1 (GC) then RE2 (DC), RE3 (DC), RE: CV (DC) and then I'll get RE4. Knowing how quickly I play these games, I'll just be getting to RE4 when RE10 or so is coming out...

[vincewy]

Almost, always 5 $10 games, actually I've not spent over $20 for the current generation games for a long time, I'd not fork out $50, not even $40 for a game now, knowing they'll drop in value, some of the games ended up in bargain bin for $5 a year later like Max Payne 2, Devils May Cry.

There're a few exceptions to this rule, namely Capcom and SNK fighters, get them while they're still available at retail floor.

[RJ]

5 games @ $10. $50 is too much to pay for a game.

[suppafly]

One gem is better than 10 regular stones....

[GobopopRevisited]

One gem is better than 10 regular stones....

Don't want to throw that priceless gem at the glass house... 10 regular stones will do 10 times the damage anyways... Buy Both! Just keep trading in the "Regular Stones" until you end up with 10 common "Priceless Gems"

[djbeatmongrel]

for me its a game by game basis. if its something i've been looking for to enjoy i'm usually willing to pay higher than normal, unless its new obviously. if its something i am buying for the hell of it, it better be cheap

[qbertandernie]

id go for multiple cheapies....

you may never see the $10 games again for $10(if they are good or sought after), but chances are great that youll find the $50 game cheaper later down the line. with the current disk based systems i almost never find games that arent complete, so thats not as big a deal anymore.

[Muscelli]

id go for a game at full price if it was a limited edition (resident evil 4 CE- WELL worth the 60 dollars, or the hundred its going for on ebay)

Classic games are a whole different deal, i gladly dropped 100 for dream para para even though dreamcast is about dead

[Bronty-2]

If we're talking about gameplay values and/or current gen consoles, you can def. do way better buying 5 $10 games IMO.

If we're talking about cpllecting the classics, the $50 games beat the $10 crap hands down. I.e. way rather have flintstones 2 or a sealed games then 5 random $10 nes titles.

[swlovinist]

let me see.....

I depends on your own preferances, but for me these days one friggin awsome game is better than 5 meh games. I would easily spend $50 on a excellent title or a game that would be harder to find to complete one of my sets. For current systems, If I didnt have Halo 2 already, then it would be a slam dunk...It is true that you save money by buying used, but the truth of the matter is that some games are worthy of buying day one.

[Retsudo]

I would say Quality

I only pay full price for a game if it's something I know I will play for a good while. The game has to be something special too me. For instance, Im going to pay $50 for Tekken 5 when it comes out.

Buying 5 games because they are cheap is not for me. I prolly would'nt get around to playing them all anyway.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

The only games I buy at full price are ones I have a feeling may become rare, or ones that have some sort of pre-order bonus i'm interested in. Other then that I just wait and hope for a price drop.

[mezrabad]

I can't remember the last game I bought for more than $30! If it's $50 now, it'll be $30 or less in 18 months, most of the time.

Rarely and unfortunately sometimes it won't be anywhere at all after 18 months which can be a real bummer. RE 2 and 3 for the GC come to mind. Fatal Frame for the PS2 also took me a while to dig up.

I'd say that even less frequent are the games that are available used but still cost just as much used as they did when new copies were still out. Disgaia is an example of this I would say and I still see that for $45, used in some places.

I'm in the crowd of having more games than I can play. To buy something at $50 it would have to be a very special game. I'd rather have 5 cheap games for the same amount. Yes, I see the contradiction here, but that's what's happening.

[Falcon]

get one or two games. If you end up getting quantity over quality you will regret it within time. Then you will have a bunch of useless games that dont mean as much to you or others. And also, if you buy just one game, you dont have to choose which game to play and will provide you with more replay value then playing 10 different games at once which can get confusing..

[bargora]

it would greatly depend on the game...but i would have to say go with the 50spot..because the 10$ game were not good enough to by then what makes them any better now...get the game u want.
Whew. It must be nice to have enough money that any game you didn't buy when it cost $50 isn't worth buying at all.

[Putney]

I'd have to lean towards the $10 games myself...I catch myself grabbing multiple games for cheap prices, sometimes up to $50, while I balk at spending $50 for a new game. I always make exceptions though, some games I really have no problem shelling out the full price for if I know they're going to be worth it (Tekken 5 is a big one coming up), but if I'm not convinced I'll get $50 worth of entertainment out of it immediately, I wait.

Then again, like a lot of others, I'll drop around that much for a rare game I've been searching for pretty easily, like this past weekend's Suikoden II without manual for $40...

[SegaAges]

for me, it all depends. i get bored with a game extremely easily, so sometimes i actually plan on buying at least 2 games. if you check my posts for my finds, it is extremely rare for me to post that i only bought 1 game

i am about quality though, but never sell the crappy games. well, sometimes i am not about quality and just want a few new games to play, so i go for price. hell, i bought syphon filter for ps2 for 15, and i haven't even touched it yet.

it will all depends, do i just want some new games to play regardless of quality, or am i looking for a game in particular. when i am looking for a game in particular, i do pay 50 for a single game. hell, i bought san andreas, thug 2, and battlefront all for 40 or over.

[grayejectbutton]

I have only ever bought 2 $50 games... Halo 2 and Burnout 3. I wanted BG&E desperately but waited until it was $20 although, to be honest, it's a game I would have gladly paid $50 for. I often have a number of games that I would like but aren't "must haves". e.g. I waited until the local Wal-Mart sold off a load of their stock and picked up Dead or Alive 3 for $15 and RTCW for $13 (both originals, not Platinum). They also had Platinum versions of Agent Under Fire and loads more for lke $7 each but I passed.

I did buy some SNES games for full price back in the day but, since I have been more "into" video gaming/collecting, the most I have paid for a SNES game is probably $15 for Mario Kart.

[Aussie2B]

I can't remember the last time I bought an American game brand new for $50. Might've been Wind Waker, which was a birthday present for my boyfriend, and he wanted the preorder bonus disc. I know he's bought a lot of our GameCube games when they were brand new, but for the most part, I just don't do that anymore. However, I will pay 60-80 bucks to get a new Japanese tri-Ace game as soon as it's out, but that's mostly because I gotta play them as soon as I possibly can. With those games, I know I'm going to play through them as soon as I get them, so it's worth the price. With most other games, I won't get to them right away, so there's no point in paying big bucks just to have it sit around the house and depreciate.

However, as for the quantity vs. quality question, I always go for the game that interests me the most. I won't just buy up loads of games I know nothing about and likely won't enjoy just because the price is low. If we're talking older games that cost a buck or two, sure, I'll take a chance, but I'm not forking out 5-10 bucks for a game that will likely be worth even less than that in the future. I'd much rather pay something like 20-60 bucks to get some older game that really interests me and is holding onto its value, like older RPGs and such.

[WanganRunner]

I don't generally buy games new at $50, but I do it for some. These are the ones I can remember in the last few years:

-Mario Sunshine
-Wind Waker
-Virtua Fighter 4
-MGS3
-Halo 2
-GT4 (preorder)

Generally stuff that I just can't bear to wait on.

[Nature Boy]

In the scenario given I'd buy the $50 game every time. Spending $10 on a game I might like is a *way* bigger waste of money than $50 on one I'm gonna love.

[ddockery]

How about quality AND price? I don't care how god a game is it will be available for $30 within a few months if you look for it, so you can save $20 and still get the same enjoyment. I don't buy into the day 1 junk. 3 months from now, the game will be just as good.

[josekortez]

Personally, I prefer 10 games at $5 each if I can help it. That's why I currently have about 15 or so Xbox games that I haven't opened back from when Circuit City had their sale. GameCube is only slightly less of a backlog, and PS2 has a generous backlog only because I ran out of memory card space.

Why pay $50 if you can wait a couple of months after the hype dies down to get a game for less?

[Wavelflack]

Well, one thing in favor of the $50 game is online play. Some games will not have much of an online presence a year after their release.
I got PSO (DC) WAY late, and had no one to play with as a result. Same with some other "lesser" titles, like Next Tetris and such.

It's something I take into consideration. Burnout 3 is a good example. I wasn't sure if people would be playing it much online a year from now, so I shelled out now.

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

it depends wether or not im on get a good game or get any game hunt

[jdc]

Lately, there have been very few games that are worth the higher price tags. Mediocre....or disappointing.... seems to be the rule these days.

I'd rather pick up the tried-and-true lower priced games and wait for the higher one to go down in price. It doesn't seem to take long for prices to drop.

For me, a full priced game MUST have replay value in order for me to buy it. I'm looking forward to Norrath 2 and Turismo 4....mainly because you can be guaranteed that you get tons of gameplay for your money and the franchises have a proven track record. I'll always buy a dungeon crawler or racer for a bit more money.

[Rogmeister]

I made a decision to buy no more than 20 games this year so I'm trying to be very choosy about what I buy and also try to get a bargain when I can. Who says I can't do both? With that said, I know there are a few games I really want right away (like the next MVP Baseball) that I have no qualms about paying a full $50 for. Usually, though, I'll try not to buy something right away and hope the price comes down before too long.

[josekortez]

I found this thread and apparently things haven't changed for me since 2005.

I still prefer to buy several cheap games instead of buying one $50 (or in today's terms, $60) game.

And I still have a major backlog.

[murdoc rose]

have the same problem but it really just depends on the games most of the time.

[rscaramelo]

If you had asked me a year ago I would have said the 50 buck game. I've bought quite a few crap titles (Iron Man and virtually every other Wii title) recently so I'm more inclined to research slightly older games and buy off a list. I also have been on a retro kick lately so trading in some of my newer games fetches me a good number of PS2, PS1 and Dreamcast titles at some sites. The main exception to this for me are games like FIFA that I "need" on release day.

Go to metacritic.com, research, make a list, buy cheap.

RC

[Daria]

Whew. It must be nice to have enough money that any game you didn't buy when it cost $50 isn't worth buying at all.

Wow. This thread's kind of depressing. :/

[BydoEmpire]

I fall for this trap ALL the time and walk away with cheap games I rarely play, and often regret not getting one game I'd actually enjoy. So I'd tend to say "go for quality over quantity."

These days, however, I find myself enjoying cheaper games more than the big-budget blockbusters so it's getting harder to go by price along. For instance, I played Pinball Hall of Fame 10x more than Smash Brothers even though it was half the price. I played and enjoyed Strangleshold (got for $20) waaaay more than Halo 3 (which I ended up selling because it was such a letdown).

[miaandjohnrule]

Wow. This thread's kind of depressing. :/
Yeah , I really hate reading some of these old threads. :-(

[Steven]

Easy answer to topic's question: whichever I desire most at the moment. It's a case-by-case question that's hard for me to answer definitively. In general? I still couldn't say. Is the $50 game the average going rate? Or is it a pretty good deal from what it goes on average? (i.e. $60). Then I'd probably not pass up on it. Lots of extraneous factors that come into play.

Hell, eventually I'll buy both the $50 game AND the five $10 games. Now if that isn't a diehard game buyer's answer... :p

(But thankfully those days are over for moi)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Personally, I ususally WAIT till the quote-unquote "good" games decrease in MSRP and hit the $10 (sometimes slightly more) price point ...

... so, for me it's 5 GOOD $10 games.

[Kamisama]

since I have so many games and so many I haven't really played I'd choose the 50$ game. The backlog does not need to grow so much ;)

[Steve W]

The nice thing is, if you have a whole lot of patience, you can wait out the full price cycle and pick up a game cheaper. That's pretty much all I do nowadays. Sure, I love playing a great game demo on the Xbox 360, but I can wait until the game's gotten a bit long in the tooth before picking it up. Sure, I can buy Lost Planet for $60, or I can wait a year and catch it on sale for $15. I prefer buying games this way, that's how you separate the junk games from the good ones. If you buy a game right after release, you can't find out by word of mouth whether it's really good and will have a decent amount of replay value. I'd rather wait a year.

I was never too much into the original Xbox until after it was dead in the market. Then I started picking up games dirt cheap. $1.99 new at Best Buy for Counterstrike? Heck yes! A good bargain hunter can pick up a proverbial crapload of good games for the price of a modern full cost release. I'd rather have five or six good-to-middling games for the same price as an over-hyped new $60 title that will turn out to be a letdown.

[wfnjstallion]

I have had this debate with several friends and I find myself in the minority. I would much rather spend $50 on 5 games I will enjoy than 1 game for $50 that I will enjoy. My logic is by the time I beat the 5 games the other game will be down to $30 or less and then I buy it. I am def. not what you would call an early adapter, as I did not own GTA III and Vice City until they were released real cheap in the dual pack. IMO I would much rather save the $ then be part of the initial hoopla surrounding a new game. Exceptions to the rule are anything Zelda, Mario Kart, usually Madden although my interest is dipping, and now Guitar Hero.

[emceelokey]

You know, recently it's paid off to just wait for a good game to drop because prices seem to drop fairly fast nowadays. Like Bioshock for instance. 2007 game of the year from many sources. That game can still sell at at least $50 but now it's down to $30 brand new. It's only been about 7-8 months since it's release. And this is a GREAT game. Many mediocre to good games that don't sell that well drop even faster.

My poeronal best example of this was my recent purchse of Guitar Hero 3 w/ guitar for the 360 for $60 from Amazon. The game is still under a year old and not only that but any game that has some sort of accessory with it usually doesn't drop for a long time but not in this case. I got the game + guitar for the price of just the game.

[NES_Rules]

For me, if a game is $10 or more, it had better be a damn good game, I try to not spend more than $5 per game. The only exceptions to my rule are the small handful of Wii games I've bought, but I knew I'd enjoy them. But usually I'd rather buy 50 $1 games than 1 $50 game, even if I know I won't play them.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[ShinobiMan]

I would definitely pay $50 for a VERY good game. Stuff like that lasts with you forever. You create wonderful memories. A game like Goldeneye 64 would beat any five 3rd party titles back in 1998. To miss out on Goldeneye 64 would be a crime against gaming.

[The 1 2 P]

I'd usually say 5 good $10 games but there are rare exceptions. Halo 2 was the best $50 I ever spent, considering that I beat the main storyline several times and still play it online.....4 years later.

[Ed Oscuro]

One good $50 game, because it takes less to move that $50 game down the road if it comes to that (I'm talking about retro stuff, which is where almost all of my $30+ purchases lie currently)

[FrakAttack]

If you're patient and selective, you can easily get 5 good games for $50. Just because they're a little older doesn't mean they aren't good.