Burning A Hole In Your Pocket: Impulse Buys

UnbreakableVow

Lousy economy be damned!

What is an impulse buy? Wikipedia defines it as such:

Wikipedia wrote:

An impulse purchase or impulse buy is an unplanned or otherwise spontaneous purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse purchaser or impulse buyer.

I am an impulse buyer. Unless a high-profile game is coming out and I have it pre-ordered, nearly all my game purchases are impulse. I have money and I have to spend it. It's like chicks with shoes, only I'm a man and games are better than shoes.

So what are your recent impulse buys? Anything that you regret? Anything you totally don't regret because your impulse served you well and the game turned out to be awesome?

I ask because today I fell into some money (tax return), and went to Wal-Mart to blow my cash. I saw a price tag under the PSP that said "PSP 2000", so I called the dude over, he opened the glass case, and I looked on the box to find it was a 3000. Saddened, I put it back.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Sure...I'll take that Folklore, Devil May Cry 4, and SmackDown vs. Raw 2009."

So now I'm stuck with three games that may not have been smart purchases. I liked the demo of Folklore, already beat DMC4 on 360 and haven't played a SmackDown game since SmackDown 2 on PS1.

UnbreakableVow

Darth_Mogs wrote: »

I used to be an impulse buyer, and I more or less had good luck with it until a little thing called "Generation of Chaos" for PSP came around.

Anymore, I have to go into a store wanting a game to actually buy one. Or I'll have a list in my head that's like, "If I see this, I'll think about getting it" etc.

Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 is pretty good. It's more solid in gameplay than a lot of them have been, but I think the Career mode is poop. Like, from a butt. The Road to Wrestlemania things, as limited as they are, are pretty enjoyable. But, uh, if making CAWs and getting them to 99 Superstar Status (or whatever it is) is your thing....

...er, well, good luck on that. I got to, like, 70 and said "Fuck this." Because I have all sorts of games I need to play instead of SvR2k9.

If I find a game that I want on sale, though? Instantly bought'd. No second thought. I saw Dead Space for PS3 for $35 the other day in Meijer and instantly went to the guy with the keys. So I am kind of impulsey or knee-jerk...y when it comes to games that aren't $60.

Well to be fair, SVR2K9 was the only $60 purchase tonight. Folklore and DMC4 were $30 each.

And if I had gotten the PSP, I would have gotten a traveling case, memory stick, Crisis Core and Star Ocean, so I still got away relatively cheap.

Mr_Grinch

I bought a new TV a few months back because Wipeout HD was coming out and my current tv didn't support 1080p.

That was the reasoning I gave myself anyway when I saw it on my lunch break at work.

I really shouldn't be allowed credit cards.

I also "impulse bought" 2 blurays recently just because they had 20% off (Son of Rambow and Army of Darkness)

UnbreakableVow

I hid away my credit cards from myself, but it doesn't help because once in a while I'll be in the PlayStation Store or on Amazon and...one of my contacts on my phone is "Funbucks", which is my credit card number, expiration date and security code in reverse. D:

Darth_Mogs

Which Star Ocean? Second Evolution just came out, I believe.

I haven't seen Folklore cheap, or else I probably would've bought it by now, but I got my SvR2k9 for $30 or $35 from a Best Buy sale. Again, referencing my earlier point.

I was just so happy for 2k9 because I -finally- got to use custom entrance music. Then I realized I had no frigging clue what I wanted to use.

UnbreakableVow

Darth_Mogs wrote: »

Which Star Ocean? Second Evolution just came out, I believe.

I haven't seen Folklore cheap, or else I probably would've bought it by now, but I got my SvR2k9 for $30 or $35 from a Best Buy sale. Again, referencing my earlier point.

I was just so happy for 2k9 because I -finally- got to use custom entrance music. Then I realized I had no frigging clue what I wanted to use.

"Cliffs of Dover," duh. I was wondering about that, does the song you pick play from the beginning or can you pick a section?

And it was the first Star Ocean.

Darth_Mogs

It starts from the beginning. If you'd want it to start somewhat into it, you'd have to take the song to a music editing program and cut it down. I actually didn't pick one in the end, as it's on my to-do list. I might just be lame and use on the the songs on there already, or throw on something that doesn't even fit, but I like it.

Skexis

Mine are pretty tame compared to some. Went to Circuit City to grab some point cards, then decided I needed a drum stool too. When I got home, I decided to buy Sega Genesis Collection 1 and Ecco Defender of the Future for PS2 online because I heard some recommendations for the Ecco series. Pretty much just hoping to see a return on those two.

I bought Castle Crashers later, but I can't really call it an impulse buy, because if you're not going to spend microsoft points on Castle Crashers, you might as well be dead. D:

I've been impulse buying more often lately, which is to say I hear about something I might like and buy it on that same chance. I don't usually buy stuff out of the blue unless I think it makes practical sense for me to. Course, on my budget, even practical sense can take a lot out of the wallet.

edit: oh, and I also bought Folklore on ebay recently. Go Team Impulse RPG!

Jurg

Persona 1, Star Ocean 2, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, and a bunch of other RPGs in one shot is the biggest one I remember. (Ended up being around $250 worth.)

I am a gambler when it comes to games, because my personal preferences are pretty far from most reviewers. (For example, I love the SaGa series, which routinely gets awful scores.) It also helps that I have a lot of disposable income, but I have terrible luck with DS games. The vast majority I purchase are either really bad, really hard, or both.

Norfair

I'm too much of a tightwad in some ways to blow large amounts of money on impulse, but with games...? If it's $15 or less, not in a genre I dislike, and not obvious shovelware, I'll pretty much have to buy it on the spot if I have enough money. I can't resist bargains at all.

Case in point. I wasn't a big fan of Blue Dragon when I tried it a couple of months ago. However, today I came across another copy, sealed, for $5. Grabbed it because, eh, why not. I'm pretty sure I can get $5 worth of enjoyment out of it.

(Bless you and your inability to properly price anything, Kmart.)

freakish light

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

I hid away my credit cards from myself, but it doesn't help because once in a while I'll be in the PlayStation Store or on Amazon and...one of my contacts on my phone is "Funbucks", which is my credit card number, expiration date and security code in reverse. D:

I know mine by heart, because I use it so much.

That's a bad sign, isn't it?

Snare

My last impulse buy was Jet Set Radio Future, played it for about 5 hours then never picked it up again.

But that's the fun of gaming...... that's what I tell myself anyway.

JamesKeenan

I can never Impulse buy. I always have to have reasons. Researched reasons for what I buy.

Mr_Grinch

I did that with Grid, Dirt and GT5

And the Driving Force Ex wheel I bought.

I must have used the wheel about 6 times, played GT5 a fair bit and only briefly touched the other two games.

I MUST stop spending.

Dehumanized

Steam sales end up in a lot of impulse buys for me. There's at least a dozen games on the platform that I own and have actually never, ever gotten around to booting up.

CarbonFire

Well, I legitimately needed an additional hard drive with more space, but I impulse purchased one of these instead of a regular 7,200 RPM drive:

Spoiler:

Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10,000 RPM Hard Drive

Also bought iFluid for $5 on Steam during the Winter Sale, though that registers pretty low on the "impulse buy" list (fun little game at least)

Dehumanized

To me, $5 is effectively $0. Which means that a good steam sale represents mortal danger to me.

UnbreakableVow

CarbonFire: Is that for your PS3? If so, how much did it run you?

Chance

-I've heard nothing but praise for Folklore
-I don't know why you'd want 2 copies of DMC4, unless you prefer the Dualshock.
-I have no opinion on SvR, aside from an instictive avoidance of any licensed game. So yeah - it may be just awesome and I'll never know what I'm missing.


I'm not sure if 'impulse buy' is really the word. In my head, there's a Rollodex of games I want in my library, and what I'm willing to pay for them. Right now Dead Space and Bioshock are up there for $60 each, so you can bet your booty I'd pay $30 in a heartbeat if I found 'em somewhere.

On the other hand, this also allows me to walk into a pawn shop and flip through 150 games and not make a purchase, because even if they're all $7.00, they're not on my List of PS2 Titles to Own.

I only end up coming out with copies of ICO or Psychonauts or MGS3:S. That said, this past year I did buy Conan (PS3) for $15 'cause I liked the demo - I suppose it was worth it, just to discover I don't want Conan in my library.

CarbonFire

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

CarbonFire: Is that for your PS3? If so, how much did it run you?

well, I got it for $179 (w/Rebate) but it's for my PC.

It's physically too tall to fit into the PS3, even without the heatsink (plus I'm not sure a 10,000 RPM drive would even work properly in one )

UnbreakableVow

CarbonFire wrote: »

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

CarbonFire: Is that for your PS3? If so, how much did it run you?

well, I got it for $179 (w/Rebate) but it's for my PC.

It's physically too tall to fit into the PS3, even without the heatsink (plus I'm not sure a 10,000 RPM drive would even work properly in one )

Ah, never mind then. I'm in the market to upgrade to a new HD for my PS3.

Chance: I no longer own my 360, so this is my only current copy of DMC4.

mastrius

I only ever Impulse Buy anything when its like...a small thing like an arcade game on the 360. I do that often. I just feel the need to use up my points and play something. I guess I do that with actual games often too though....whenever I have money Im constantly like "Must get games" and then I do sortly thereafter....its not good (haha yeah right, yes it is.)

Recently though I spent the last of my points on the Arcade Game that just came out on the 360 called The Maw. I fucking LOVE this game. Im so happy I bought it.

CarbonFire

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

CarbonFire wrote: »

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

CarbonFire: Is that for your PS3? If so, how much did it run you?

well, I got it for $179 (w/Rebate) but it's for my PC.

It's physically too tall to fit into the PS3, even without the heatsink (plus I'm not sure a 10,000 RPM drive would even work properly in one )

Ah, never mind then. I'm in the market to upgrade to a new HD for my PS3.

Chance: I no longer own my 360, so this is my only current copy of DMC4.

You may want to look at one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280

That'll pretty much give you top-in-class performance and a very large storage capacity for your PS3. Should slightly improve hard drive load times along with overall system speed (nothing earth-shattering though).

Or if space is your only concern, one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16822136314

They don't get any bigger than this (currently).

Engage Impulse Engines!

Mr_Grinch

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

CarbonFire wrote: »

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

CarbonFire: Is that for your PS3? If so, how much did it run you?

well, I got it for $179 (w/Rebate) but it's for my PC.

It's physically too tall to fit into the PS3, even without the heatsink (plus I'm not sure a 10,000 RPM drive would even work properly in one )

Ah, never mind then. I'm in the market to upgrade to a new HD for my PS3.

Chance: I no longer own my 360, so this is my only current copy of DMC4.

Bit off topic but I hear that 5400rpm drives work better than 7200upwards because of the heat the drives run at in the enclosure. 7200 are supposed to be very unreliable and cause crashes (some people have no problems, others do. There's a very very slight performance gain but for reliability I'm sticking to a 5400 when I upgrade).

Smurph

I impulse bought a 360 a few days ago. I got a deal though: around $280 for a 60 GB Pro with Kung Fu Panda, Lego Indiana Jones, and Tom Clancy's Endwar.

Scotty

JamesKeenan wrote: »

I can never Impulse buy. I always have to have reasons. Researched reasons for what I buy.

Reznik

I have had mostly good luck with impulse buys, but I've been let down a few times.

Good:
-Okami
-Yakuza 2
-Rogue Galaxy
-Just Cause (it is the best bad game I have ever played)
-Warhawk

Bad:
-Oblivion
-GTA4

I don't really impulse buy that much anymore, what with being a college student and needing to save money. Gaming is way too expensive of a hobby

Kate of Lokys

Up here in Canada, pretty much everyone uses Kijiji instead of Craigslist. wasted pixels and I have spent so much money on impulse stuff, just because it is a) awesome, b) cheap, and c) available for local pick-up immediately.

Highlights include:

• a 25-30 year old vintage Stratocaster copy with absolutely gorgeous sound, made by a company that went out of business in the 80s, complete with brand-new pickups worth about $150 ($100)
• a Sega Genesis with two controllers and a dozen games ($25)
• a Commodore 64 with a ton of software (free)
• various XBox 360 games (none more than $20-30 each)
• a Wacom Intuos 6x8, brand new ($35)
• a chipped oXBox with a 120GB hard drive ($80)
• a chipped fatty PS2 with the network adapter and about 20 retail games ($80)
• a Vox 15W practice amp ($40)
• assorted electronics and computer parts including a router, a DSL modem, and a 19" studio-grade CRT monitor ($10-25)

We buy stuff we haven't even used yet, just because we can. I'm still keeping an eye out for a Dreamcast and an Atari 1040ST, and I know pixels keeps checking the musical instruments section. Some of the things on Kijiji are ludicrously overpriced (no, your two year old Macbook is not worth $1200, I can buy a new one directly from Apple for less than $1100), but there are some absolute treasures hidden here and there, and when we have money in our pockets, that's where we go to spend it.

Yellow Ranger

In store impulse buys don't seem to be a big problem with me.

Now get me and my credit cards/paypal account on eBay......... Well, lets just say I need to stay the hell off eBay D:

Cameron_Talley

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

I hid away my credit cards from myself, but it doesn't help because once in a while I'll be in the PlayStation Store or on Amazon and...one of my contacts on my phone is "Funbucks", which is my credit card number, expiration date and security code in reverse. D:

I'm no security expert, but that seems like an extremely good way to get your CC number stolen.

Especially since you just told the world about it.

PeregrineFalcon

Kate of Lokys wrote: »

Up here in Canada, pretty much everyone uses Kijiji instead of Craigslist.

...

Some of the things on Kijiji are ludicrously overpriced (no, your two year old Macbook is not worth $1200, I can buy a new one directly from Apple for less than $1100), but there are some absolute treasures hidden here and there, and when we have money in our pockets, that's where we go to spend it.

The idiocy doesn't just extend to sellers. I was trying to sell a laptop there (MSRP$500, asking $300, pretty much mint w/receipt, boxes, and 8 months left on factory warranty) and I had some idiots asking me if I'd take $150.

But yeah, other than that, there's some awesome stuff on Kijiji. And speaking of impulse buys, I went to pick up a portable dishwasher for $200 (same model was $600 in stores) - the guy was moving, so he had a nice surround sound system that he didn't want to bring. Ended up buying that too.

Lunker

Smurph wrote: »

I impulse bought a 360 a few days ago. I got a deal though: around $280 for a 60 GB Pro with Kung Fu Panda, Lego Indiana Jones, and Tom Clancy's Endwar.

Was that the Dell.com deal? I saw that on CAG and was really tempted to replace my ancient Core (Feb 06 manufacture date, but still going strong ... for now) for a Jasper Arcade with HDMI.

Now, if you want to talk impulse buys ... I'm a chronic Wooter, which is the king site of impulse buys.

Buttcleft

i stopped impulse buying when i came home with Resident Evil Code Veronica X

my god what a terribad game.

Cameron_Talley

As for impulse buys themselves, I've really only done that with NES games and/or used games. Never new games. The last time I bought a new game on impulse was Batman Forever for the SNES. $10 and I still felt I got ripped off.

Smurph

Lunker wrote: »

Smurph wrote: »

I impulse bought a 360 a few days ago. I got a deal though: around $280 for a 60 GB Pro with Kung Fu Panda, Lego Indiana Jones, and Tom Clancy's Endwar.

Was that the Dell.com deal? I saw that on CAG and was really tempted to replace my ancient Core (Feb 06 manufacture date, but still going strong ... for now) for a Jasper Arcade with HDMI.

Now, if you want to talk impulse buys ... I'm a chronic Wooter, which is the king site of impulse buys.

Yeah it was from dell. I'm wondering if I should have gone with the Arcade deal for $150 plus buy a refurb 20GB hard drive from MS for $30.

PhoneBone

I impulse buy all the time. In stores as well as online.
Online is purely for comics, games and blu-rays and stores mostly for larger equipment (which I still don't feel comfortable buying online).

In the last month, I think I've bought maybe 7-8 blu-rays and around 150 euros worth of comics. I can't resist a good deal and with the british pound being pretty low, I can import lots of stuff extremely cheap.

My last big impulse buy was 900 euro's worth of audio equipment. After buying it, I felt a bit guilty about spending so much, so casually. After playing a few movies and especially games with it set up, however, I feel completely justified about my purchase .

Yeah, I probably shouldn't own creditcards or a paypal account.

Dodge Aspen

About a year ago, I bought a bunch of Gamecube games on the cheap out of a bin at Superstore. I got Killer 7, Pikmin 1, Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions and Star Fox: Assault all for real cheap on impulse. I also buy the occasional DS game on impulse. Brain Age 2, Professor Layton, and Advance Wars were all impulse buys.

acidlacedpenguin

my last impulse buy was a PS3 with LittleBigPlanet. It was a brand new in box 60gb model and I told myself I'd never see another one in the wild.

Now I'm in the hole $600 with no current income.

Spoiler:

I regret nothing!

Larka

Buying unopened Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 for an ungodly sum.
but have a pretty sweet case that holds both of them now

greeble

acidlacedpenguin wrote: »

my last impulse buy was a PS3 with LittleBigPlanet. It was a brand new in box 60gb model and I told myself I'd never see another one in the wild.

Now I'm in the hole $600 with no current income.

Spoiler:

I regret nothing!

Where the hell did you find a 60Gb ps3 this late in the game?

Speed Racer

The only thing I really buy on impulse is Rock Band songs. If I have MS Points, and I go into the music store, I'm not going to have MS Points anymore.