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Your game-getting strategy.
The Last Gent
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Couldn't really think of a better title, so bear with me here.
The recent slew of new releases for the Wii (my console of choice), plus the fact that my younger brother is now of the age and financial status to go buy games on his own, without waiting for christmas/birthdays, has gotten me thinking about when we get new games. Let me explain:
My bro's new game-getting policy is simply to get any new game he finds awesome right when it comes out. This is the opposite of the way I do it. My policy was always to get a couple of games I liked, and then not get any new ones until I had beaten the ones I was currently playing, to the extent that I intended to beat them (i.e. unlocking everything in Metroid Prime). The exception would be for something like Brawl, which is system defining. However, he doesn't play the way I do, he's the sort of gamer that just buys new releases, and rarely, if ever, actually BEATS a game, typically just stopping when he grows bored of it, or reaches a part he can't immediately pass. As a result, I've acquired a significant list of stuff to beat. I bought Metroid Prime 3 when it came out, and Transformers along with it. Had it been only me, I wouldn't have bought anything else until they were complete, and everything unlocked (to an extent of course. I wouldn't have bothered with the Friend Vouchers in MP3 or the bonuses you earn for doing stunts in Transformers), but my brother buys a slew of games. Before I knew it, we owned Resident Evil 4, Counter Force, and the legendarily rare Guitar Hero 3. And now we've also got Brawl, and a pre order for Mario Kart. It's beginning to feel overwhelming, and I'm essentially being forced into his style of game-getting, one with a short attention span, and a lack of desire to complete anything.
So, I ask you, fellow Penny Arcadians, what's your style of game-getting? Do you buy a couple and wait until you beat them? Do you just buy games when you feel like it? Do you complete them? Something in between?
The recent slew of new releases for the Wii (my console of choice), plus the fact that my younger brother is now of the age and financial status to go buy games on his own, without waiting for christmas/birthdays, has gotten me thinking about when we get new games. Let me explain:
My bro's new game-getting policy is simply to get any new game he finds awesome right when it comes out. This is the opposite of the way I do it. My policy was always to get a couple of games I liked, and then not get any new ones until I had beaten the ones I was currently playing, to the extent that I intended to beat them (i.e. unlocking everything in Metroid Prime). The exception would be for something like Brawl, which is system defining. However, he doesn't play the way I do, he's the sort of gamer that just buys new releases, and rarely, if ever, actually BEATS a game, typically just stopping when he grows bored of it, or reaches a part he can't immediately pass. As a result, I've acquired a significant list of stuff to beat. I bought Metroid Prime 3 when it came out, and Transformers along with it. Had it been only me, I wouldn't have bought anything else until they were complete, and everything unlocked (to an extent of course. I wouldn't have bothered with the Friend Vouchers in MP3 or the bonuses you earn for doing stunts in Transformers), but my brother buys a slew of games. Before I knew it, we owned Resident Evil 4, Counter Force, and the legendarily rare Guitar Hero 3. And now we've also got Brawl, and a pre order for Mario Kart. It's beginning to feel overwhelming, and I'm essentially being forced into his style of game-getting, one with a short attention span, and a lack of desire to complete anything.
So, I ask you, fellow Penny Arcadians, what's your style of game-getting? Do you buy a couple and wait until you beat them? Do you just buy games when you feel like it? Do you complete them? Something in between?
The Last Gent on
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Someone on this forum said once that very few games have gameplay engaging enough to justify their length, and I agree with that whole-heartedly. I generally try to beat the games that I buy, but I don't particularly care if I don't.
This is particularly the case with DS games. Since they're so cheap, I have few qualms about leaving a DS game partially or largely unfinished.
And while I would frequently concern myself with things like bonus content or collecting all 100 whatevers in a given game back in high school when I had tons of time to play, I virtually never bother with that kind of stuff now. The very, very rare exceptions are something like Mario Galaxy, which was fun enough to justify exploring it (although no way in hell would I go and do the whole thing again with Luigi), and Elite Beat Agents, which I played to death trying to S-rank every mission and improve my high score.
In general, the fact that I have very, very little time to play games means that I will have to leave some games unfinished out of necessity if I want to try them all.
I'm terrible at buying games. I buy them on a whim, bore quickly, then leave them. Only recently have I started completing games (not 100%, just end of story) and that's because I'm pretty much always broke.
At the moment I think there's only a few games that I actually own that I've left incomplete, but I'm always looking for new ones to poke at. I wish I bought one, then 100% then moved on.
You will never have time to complete every single good game out there, man. Don't succumb to this desire! Play through it until you beat it (or get bored of it) and move on. Seriously, there's just too many damn games out there for one person to play through literally everything about every game.
(Of course, I have a flexible definition of 'finish', which is either 'complete game in normal mode once' or 'I get bored of playing it')
Platinum FC: 2880 3245 5111
This policy helps during "dry" spells, since there's usually a few November / December blockbusters that I had to miss out on at the time. And hey, they've often dropped in price by then.
I think the worst part is I'm at the very end of several games, I just haven't brought myself to finish them.
...I'll also note that as I was writing the above, I was like...... "...did I list my copy of Eternal Sonata on eBay and then forget about it?" and had a very significant panic moment. Eek!
This month is an exception as I got both Ace Attorney 4 and Smash Bros. I justify it to myself by saying that Smash Bros is more of a long term investment than a game purchase.
or Brawl. 4854.6102.3895 Name: NU..
However, I did run into issues with game purchases on PC over the last several years. In general, I found that two out of every three games I bought would get played for a few weeks, then put in the closet, later to be sold.
I'm attempting to avoid that on the 360 -- if I have even the slightest doubt that I won't get more than one play through on a given game, or that I won't have the time to devote to enjoying or completing the game, I won't buy it.
My Nintendo game set is incredibly small. Wii Sports, Wii Fit (soon), and LEGO Star Wars are the only physical games I own for it. The rest of my collection has been entirely VC.
My PC collection has gone through several purges, and to my chagrin, I have rebought some of the games I sold. I don't want to repeat that mistake with either of my consoles. Once Spore is released, my PC collection will freeze as is until Civ 5.
That last part is important; there's a difference between "finishing a game" and "being done with a game," and I've learned to accept far more of the latter than I ever did when I was younger. It's also worth noting that my taste in games has also changed along with it, and I'm honestly not sure which was the cause and which was the effect: I trend toward very pick-up-and-play, short-burst twitch gameplay, like rhythm games and shmups, instead of longer, more narrative-driven affairs like RPGs. Things where the actual act of playing is the main drive of enjoyment, not so much about seeing a build-up of conflict and resolution over time.
I overloaded myself on trying to buy/experience too many games at once last fall, as I'm sure a ton of gamers did. Games like Zack & Wiki and Trauma Center: New Blood lie on the top of my Pile of Shame, but I also grossly underestimated how much of a hold Rock Band would take on the entirety of my being. So I'm shaving down my backlog (The Backloggery helps a ton in that regard) because there are just too many games I own that I haven't gotten enough out of.
I do that. Mass Effect was the latest game I bought. Really great, engaging, interesting story.
I stopped playing after the third planet.
I've realised that I'm not much better than a Pirate to any company that sells it consoles at a loss to make it back on software.
I bought a massively discounted new 360 in sale (£35 under RRP AND came with a free game), and thats is after they alread took a loss on the hardware assuming my game purchases would net them a profit.
But I only buy 2nd hand games, or new games when they are typically being sold on a loss leading promotion. Bioshock? £20 new within a month of release. Same for Assassin's Creed (£25) and CoD4 (£22.50).
I won't spend over £25 on a new 360 game period. Because that is what they are worth to me. If Microsoft want to stick a £50 price tag on them, thats fine. They just won't get my money (directly). I'll wait.
For my DS and Wii thats not been a problem for Nintendo because they made a profit on hardware, but I still by my software when I can get it cheap. Trauma Centre? £15 new. Sonic ATSR and Excite Truck £20 new, at release.
The only time I buy a game new and at RRP is if I feel it needs support. Like Zack and Wiki.
And most DS games I now import, because fuck it, if you can manufacture in the cheapest possible country then I've ever right to buy from the cheapest country possible. Hence Space Invaders Extreme and Prof Layton.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
Publishers benefit from retailers being able to discount games.
By shopping around and buying from the cheapest places, you are also rewarding those retailers which are most efficient and pass those savings on to consumers. Essentially increasing the profitability of any retailer who offers good prices, thus making retailers more inclined to lower prices.
I like to think of Lunker as the American version of me.
Just remove my Top Hat and monocle and add a trucker cap and a string vest.
Oh. And Rock Band.
The Cunt.
But, yeah, my experience is very much the same. A defining experience was with Oblivion, which is, for the first time in about 5 years, an RPG I enjoyed, but I've still given up on it because it needs at least a two hour sessions to produce that feeling of achievement that I can get in twenty minutes picking up a new star on Mario Galaxy, or completing another set of levels on N+. Or bumping my score up on Pac Man CE.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
Mass Effect is actually a grand argument against completionism. If you're too hung up in completing all of the fetch-quest subplots on the Citadel or mindlessly landing on every single uncharted planet you find, you're going to sink 40+ hours and be bored for two-thirds of it. Instead, if you only do the stuff that's interesting and focus mostly on the "story" planets (the main quest), it's a 12-15 hour game that's all killer, no filler. I started ignoring all non-story related items halfway through the game, and I wish I had done it sooner because the last 4-5 hours proper of the game are just fantastic.
I try to buy cheap/used as much as possible unless it's a game I have to have -now-, like Rock Band or Crisis Core, and soon to be MGS4 and FF13.
Lately I've been buying more games since I have a job, but I still don't buy very many games. I don't understand how you guys can buy so many games and just leave them sitting around for so long while you play other stuff. Wouldn't it be cheaper to finish the stuff you have first, and then buy the other games when their prices drop?
Now that I'm signed up on Goozex, I'm buying even fewer new games and mostly trying to fill up my PS1 collection (goddammit FFVII, Xenogears and Bushido Blade, be available now and cheaper!).
Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
Forget it...
Heck, I loved Persona 3 for the first 20-30 hours, but around that time, the game started to become a chore for me. Off it went to Goozex.
In general, my game-getting strategy is to buy the occasional game supplemented by Goozex trades & GameTap. Recently, I had an anomaly as we got a ton of money back for our tax refund and I went a little wild. In the course of about a week, I bought:
Lost Odyssey (360)
Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
A year subscription to GameTap ($60)
$75 worth of MS points for buying XBLA games (bought Triggerheart Exelica, N+, Rocketmen, and Poker Smash so far)
Wild Arms 5 (PS2 - Found it new for under $30 since I really like WA4)
Raiden III (PS2 - Found it new for $15 - Really fun straightforward shmup)
But that's an exception to the rule.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
I'd like to say I'm a completionist like you, that I buy a game and don't get another until I finish it, because I wish that I could be that way. But I'm totally like your brother. I play a game until it starts to bore me and then move on. Most of the time they're great games too. I always end up coming back at some point for the great ones, and if I'm really involved in the game (usually RPGs or Adventure-types) then I'll end up finishing it, like I did most recently with Mass Effect. That game caught a hold of my nuts and wouldn't let go.
The other exception for me is short games, and they tend to end up being some of my favorites for some reason. Sure, I can play Jak 3 to 100% in 10 hours or so, but I LIKE it that way. Also, games that I can play in short bursts without worrying about progress, like Rock Band or Smash, are a win.
Wait. Did I just admit to loving Jak 3?
Plus it's not like the publishers aren't getting paid when the retailer has a sale. The retailer just makes a smaller profit per sale. Gamestop doesn't want to give up that margin, but Fry's, Lion Games, and Family Video are constantly discounting new and pre-order games that I'm sure they're paying full wholesale price for. Now Circuit City and Toys R Us are getting into the act - Toys R Us this week was offering SSBB + GH3 bundle for ~$110. Even Best Buy is constantly circulating 10% off coupons, knocking $6 off 360/PS3 games and $5 off Wii games.
I don't think I've paid full price at release since Diablo 2.
And to be honest, I don't really care if I hurt the monopoly that is game any more.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
If I don't, then I wait 'till I can find it used.
I generally play a game until I beat it, then dig into multiplayer.
Only games I've purchased and NOT completed fully are The Orange Box (Stopped in HL2 somewhere, beat Portal, haven't touched the Episodes), and New Super Mario Brothers (lost interest).
Otherwise, I rent. If I like it, I might buy it.
Like COD4, I liked it alot when I rented it, so I know to eventually buy it. (And DMC4, Army of Two, etc...)
This means soon I'll be poorer than a poor thing. But thankfully I've a pretty sizeable back log of games to keep me going (not that I'll have time to play them). As such I'm not buying any game unless:
Watch me fail.
*Extremely unlikely.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
I'll take the case
Edit: did you ninja edit that in, or am I blind?
Interestingly NSMB is the only game since, er, forever that I've 100%'ed.
Beautiful.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
N+ for life baby.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
I tend to hold off on buying new games until I've at least beaten (first playthrough) one of my two current games.
That way I feel comfortable shelving one of the two 'current' games and starting the new one. And if I feel like digging back into the previous one for replay value, I can do so, without feeling like I'm missing anything.
I try to get the most out of my games and enjoy them to the fullest without ending up with 'too many games' to ultimately not ever finish any of them.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
But crucially I've not done that thing where you play the first few hours. If I do that, I'll rarely come back to a game. So it's sitting their. Wrapped. Tempting me.
And thats special and better and fun.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx
Right now, it's Brawl, with Contra IV and Professor Layton. Now, I have a problem coming up in April, when Mario Kart and GTA IV come out in the same week. Also, Bionic Commando: Rearmed and the HD Street Fighter II Remix should hit around that time. I think I'll definitely be picking up Mario Kart, and wait a month or two for GTA, since MK will likely be shorter to get through initially, and then be nice to go back to whenever friends are over. That's kind of what I'm hoping Brawl will be like. I want to be able to set it aside by the end of April, knowing it will still be there when I want it for battles with buddies. The online component makes it tough, though.
EDIT: I've had to hold off on No More Heroes and Bully: Scholarship Edition. I'll probably pick them up near the end of the year, if I can still find them.
Switch - SW-3699-5063-5018
I like that. That's what I'm doing with Mass Effect. I got it from Goozex about a week ago, but I'm not going to play it (aside from briefly sticking it in the system to make sure that it works) until I'm done with Lost Odyssey.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
There are a few games that I'll buy on opening day (Bioware games and "western-style" RPGs in general, and probably Resident Evil 5 since I liked 4 so much), but generally I just wait a few months until I can find them for half price on EBay.
On the new side, I'll get games that I really want at launch, or games that I see tons of replay in (SSBB or Rock Band).
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
As a result, I switched over to doing almost all of my gaming through Gamefly. I make exceptions for multiplayer games, and I can always pick up a game I rented and do want to replay later on when it becomes really cheap. Now I can play pretty much any game I want and not worry about cost, or wasting money, or having a pile of games I never touch. It also reduces the pressure to keep playing a game I don't like in order to get my money's worth. I just return it.