Are gas prices impacting your video game collecting?

[Porkchop]

The price of gas this afternoon in Maryland it $3.19 most places and I saw one station with a price of $3.49. The prices have been going up several times a day. On Monday the price was $2.56.

I live in the country so the nearest thrift store is 10 miles away the closest town with three thrift stores is another 15 miles beyond that and the next place I got is about 20 beyond that. With prices so high I had already stopped going to a group of Thrift stores about 45 Miles away over a month ago. Now I'm thinking about cutting back on trips to the ones 25 miles away.

Are gas prices cutting into your game collecting road trips?

[njiska]

Well it would be affecting mine if i was still employeed. Nearest Game store is 100 klicks away. Even though i drive a shity, shitty Escort (in great condition mind you) that's still a costly trip.

Current Price in CAD $1.488/L
Current Price in USD $4.717/Gallon. (As noted in my off topic thread.)

Hopefully i'll be employeed again soon, but even when i am i think i'm sticking to getting stuff on Ebay and here on DP.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Big time, today I saw $2.99 for regular...and $3.11 for Premium....$40 down the crapper to survive 2 weeks...so $80 a month pretty much

[Cmosfm]

Well, yes. The shortage means I'm conserving a lot, so that means no yard saling this weekend. Other than that, the prices are keeping people from spending at my store, so no extra money to buy games with.

It will be fine in a couple weeks, but now I gotta be a little cautious. :)

I'M ALWAYS OPTIMISTIC AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO! LOLLY POPS AND GUMMI BEARS FOR ALL!

[Slimedog]

I'm in Florida and I'm almost out of gas. Many of the gas stations don't have any now, so I'm keeping close to the house until the gas situation gets more back to normal. This means I've got to cancel my weekend foraging expedition. I've got enough to make it to the first few stations around here, but if it becomes a liquid scavenger hunt, it could be trouble. So for me its less the price and more the availability of gas.

[imanerd0011]

Damn, I wish I lived near all you guys (that live in the U.S that is). It is $3.59 in my town. I think the cheapest is $3.29.
I was never much of a hunter as far as collecting games goes, so it isn't affecting me very much. When I go out to buy games I only drive around 10 miles tops.

[donkeykong1]

It does not affect me at all. there are many thrift stores around my neighborhood and many on my way home from work. Speaking of gas prices, over in New Orleans they are charging upwards of 6 to 7 dollars a gallon. Now that's bad.

[cyberfluxor]

I can't say it's hurting my purchases. Most of my buys are on Ebay anyways, but besides that... I'm most likely hitting up a few pawn shops tomorrow on my way back from the beach, so it's like doing 2 things with a tank of gas since the shops are on the route to/from the beach. Maybe doubling up on tasks would conserve and keep you on a roll with collecting. There's a few shops a good distance from my school as well, and on the way back from classes I can swing by to them. So rather than just dedicating 100% to those shops, plan on doing other things or tie it in with other activities you decide to do. OR you can be like some of my friends and jack a free ride with me.

I'd hate to go on a rant, but how many of you out there have friends that because of the recent gas hikes they want you to drive them around places because YOU can actually afford the gas?!

[Simply Dave]

Yes.

I will not be going to the flea market or yard saling this weekend.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Not in the slightest bit for a few reasons:

Most of my collection comes from people online (you guys), which doesn't require me to use gas.
I still live with my parents, and I'm lucky enough that they pay for gas for me.

[Chuplayer]

Gas prices have affected my gaming for months already! If the gas prices get any higher, I'm going to be cutting out comic books, too :(

[downfall]

Yeah.

A quarter of my paycheck is now going to gas every time I'm paid. I can't afford to move closer, and I can't afford to buy a new car, so I'm stuck either way.

So blam to the video games. I'm probably going to have to sell some more until things level out or I finally get those raises that I'm owed.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

Yeah. As in, I'm saving a couple weeks paychecks in order to buy games I want. The whole driving 20 miles to school each way every day kindof.... sucks, really bad.

[roushimsx]

Not at all. I conserve fuel as it is, so a small bump in the price of gas doesn't really bother me at all. So I have to spend another $10 a week on gas (at the most)...big deal.

What I really need is more time so that I can play through all of these damn games I have.

[Mattiekrome]

here in NC gas is between 2.99 - 3.29 per gallon. I sat in line for 25 minutes to fill up earlier this week because we were supposed to be running out of gas here in NC. This is bullshit!

[Push Upstairs]

I'm not buying alot of games at this time so the price of gas isnt affecting my gaming habit.

But look at this as a positive thing, the price of gas keeps you home and now you can play games you couldn't before because you were out looking for game deals. :D



P.S. I hope the prices return to a more "normal" (ie: much, much lower) price.

[MegaManFan]

Well I used to drive to the local game store to browse on a weekday when I was done with my work early and bored, but at three + a gallon I don't go anywhere "because I'm bored" any more. Every trip in my car is planned ahead of time and I make sure to hit every errand on the way so I don't have to drive again for 2-3 days, and if I don't remember to hit the game store while I was out I don't go back. Of course the best deals have always been online at sites like this anyway. ;)

[Lord Contaminous]

Yeah but I don't mind. I stopped going to Gamestop and EB and flea markets cuz there's nothing I want there anymore.

Even though I want more imports, I'm happy with the same stuff I've had for the past 3 months now.

[Tron 2.0]

Not much due to my health problems.

I think i use the internet more to buy video games.

I don't have the urge like i use to, shop at every store when i'm looking for a game i want.

Still i do need to cut back on it.... though speding for it is getting out of hand for me @_@

[classicb]

the gas isn't since I don't mind using public transportation but I find it hard to spend money on video games in the aftermath of hurricane katrina.

Hard to spend money on video games when people can't eat. Everytime I get the urge to buy a game I tell myself if I have the money to spare I should donate it to the relief effort after all its litterally the least I can do.

[Nesmaster]

well lately i havent been looking around for games because of lack of money but the gas prices sure don't help :(

[calthaer]

No, not yet. I drive a Honda. It now costs me $25 instead of $20 each time I fill up, and I do that roughly once a week. Once I move into the townhome I'm fixing up, I will bike to work, so that will likely become filling up once every 2-3 weeks. The Honda gets 35-38 MPG.

I'm not crying too hard for people who choose to drive gas-guzzlers - they knew the risk when they bought the thing. The writing has been on the wall for years now.

[Sinteres]

Unfortunately yes.

I'm lucky as it is if I can stretch a 15 gallon tank of gas through 7 days and thats if I really don't make any trips outside of my most neccessary of trips, and I drive a sensible car as it is (99 Accord Sedan)

I've looked at scooters, which purport to get up to 110 miles on a gallon, but they also aren't exactly the best things to ride down a road at their blazing 35 mph speed limit.

Here in NW ohio gas is now just about double of what it was only a few months ago (3.20 now, it was around 1.60 in fall/winter as prices went down from summer peaks) and that definitely means less games for me.

And of course, all of this right before the expected release of the 3 next gen consoles within a 12 month or less timeframe. Combined with plans to expect 60 or more for premiere releaes (I lack the willpower to wait on my favorite RPG series among others) and that as other prices on all manner of goods will rise to cover shipping costs for businesses, people's wages will stay the same. Funny how that works.

[jajaja]

Here 1 gallon cost about $8

[josekortez]

Even the gas shortage can't keep me from the half-off sale at K-Mart this weekend.

[AFGiant]

I'm 16 and I don't drive yet. So, no.