60 Dollars? No can do chief

arod_77

This month I find myself confronted with an absolutely STELLAR lineup of games. Fallout, GH:WT, Rock Band 2, Dead Space, Fable, etc.

The problem?

I can't afford a single one of them. Times have gotten so tough that 60 dollars is simply a retarded expenditure when even 6 months ago I was secure enough to purchase a game or two a month. I work as a part timer contracting for a law firm to do courier work but the calls have become infrequent as less and less firms are willing to pay gas expenditures.

I always liked owning games but I think I am going to be turning to the Gamefly solution now even if their service is shit (I live in Florida)

Is anyone else having trouble? Are game sales going to be hurting this quarter?

Lave II

I've just become unemployed, so no new games for me for a while. It makes you thankful for a backlog.

Ganluan

Just so you know, GameFly has 4 warehouses now that they ship from. I don't recall where they all are, but one might be close to FL.

I've been using it in Arizona and it's been pretty great so far.

KKprofit

Lave II wrote: »

I've just become unemployed, so no new games for me for a while. It makes you thankful for a backlog.

This.

Lunker

I've definitely ratcheted down how much I gorge on new releases. Last fall I was insane enough to make a spreadsheet of all the cool shit I wanted (I own everything but PS3 and a good PC) and plan what I was getting, and I ended up using GameFly and also buying about 6-7 games within two months but barely put time into them because I spread myself too thin.

I'm limiting myself to very few Day 1 releases nowadays. I'm only picking up Sam & Max on Wii because it's $30, and Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts because the preorder comes with the XBLA B-K for free anyway. Aside from those two, I'm allowing myself one Day 1 purchase between now and Christmas (right now it's either Gears 2, Mirror's Edge or Prince of Persia), and then I'll just ask for one or two more games for the holidays.

Single-player games are still just as good regardless of when you get to them, so unless there's multiplayer pressure to buy on Day 1, just wait for price drops and gift cards.

SteevL

I always keep an eye on the cheapassgamer forums for deals that might show up from time to time.

Also, I was looking into Gamefly the other day, and it looks like they have a location in Tampa. I considered it since I'm in Florida too, but I have a feeling it wouldn't be worth it for me.

PeregrineFalcon

With the fears of the economy shitting all over itself, I imagine that gaming in general will suffer - but highly anticipated or high-quality titles will still do well *cough* Left4Dead *cough*

People will still buy games - just not as many or as often.

Six

I get most of my games from Goozex these days unless I absolutely need it on day 1, which is rare.

Ganluan

Another nice feature of going the GameFly route is that I tend to focus completely on one game until I finish it, then move on to another. Using a rental service I'm always getting a new game to play, but never a bunch of them at a time.

I make pretty good money, but at the $60 price point I still can't justify spending the cash unless it's an exceptional game that I know I'll get a LOT of time out (ToV being one example).

arod_77

Okay I just resubbed for GF--the only game on my queue that is even out is Dead Space, I hear that helps my chances whereas if I put a game that is easily available they will just send me that instead, right?

urahonky

One of the Gamefly warehouses is in Florida so you'll be set. And it's a great service.

arod_77

urahonky wrote: »

One of the Gamefly warehouses is in Florida so you'll be set. And it's a great service.

oh man good news thanks dude

Lunker

arod_77 wrote: »

Okay I just resubbed for GF--the only game on my queue that is even out is Dead Space, I hear that helps my chances whereas if I put a game that is easily available they will just send me that instead, right?

Yeah, if you desperately want one game, clear out everything else and leave it alone on your queue.

Six wrote:

I get most of my games from Goozex these days unless I absolutely need it on day 1, which is rare.

I completely forgot to mention this—I use it and love it. It's not the hottest for getting new releases, but if you're willing to wait a bit, it's a much better option for trading in used games and getting ones you want back. I have about 4500 points queued and ready to pick up all the other games this fall that I want.

Omeks

arod_77 wrote: »

Okay I just resubbed for GF--the only game on my queue that is even out is Dead Space, I hear that helps my chances whereas if I put a game that is easily available they will just send me that instead, right?

Yes. It's what I always do. Right now I have Viva Pinata: TIP and The Force Unleashed. I've planned it so that I send TFU back around the 20th so that it gets back right when Guitar Hero World Tour is released. Since it's the only game in my Q, I should get it no problem.

Gamefly is a great tool for someone who can't afford all the games coming out this year (or at any time). I'm cutting back on my video game purchases this year, with Red Alert 3 being the only game I'm really buying (since, you know, I can't rent it). It kills me that Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, etc., etc., etc. are going to be out and I can't really afford them, but Gamefly makes them all pretty affordable to rent.

cloudeagle

Oh yeah, Gamefly is awesome. You get to play fantastic games and there's no rush to send them back at a certain time. Then again, I've had GTA4 for two months and I've only put three hours into it. I should send it back since my reaction is "eh, this is the same old GTA I'm burned out on," but the other keeps thinking I'll finally get back to it one of these days and I'll regret sending it back in.

Shadowfire

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

With the fears of the economy shitting all over itself, I imagine that gaming in general will suffer - but highly anticipated or high-quality titles will still do well *cough* Left4Dead *cough*

People will still buy games - just not as many or as often.

People are pretty sure that the gaming market won't be harmed too badly. Not that it's recession proof, but it's taken over the entertainment industry so hard, and people still need to be entertained (i.e. they want to "escape" from their problems) that the purchases will still be made.

That said, my wife and I have cut back some. We each picked just a couple of games for us to get for the rest of the year (Wrath of the Lich King for both of us, then Prince of Persia for me, and Castlevania and Chrono Trigger for her).

We've decided to wait on a lot of others, and pick up some older titles that we've missed out on. I just grabbed Resistance (for $25), and Dark Sector ($20), and those two games will likely give me more playtime than a single $60 title. :^:

Lunker

cloudeagle wrote: »

Oh yeah, Gamefly is awesome. You get to play fantastic games and there's no rush to send them back at a certain time. Then again, I've had GTA4 for two months and I've only put three hours into it. I should send it back since my reaction is "eh, this is the same old GTA I'm burned out on," but the other keeps thinking I'll finally get back to it one of these days and I'll regret sending it back in.

I actually cancelled GameFly specifically because I felt pressured to send stuff back. It's the Netflix Guilt Complex: I felt like I needed to squeeze more use out of my subscription, so instead of taking games at a typical pace I'd go through a little faster in order to make room for the next game I wanted. It's entirely psychological, but it got to me.

Dodge Aspen

Okay, so how does Gamefly work? Do you pay a monthly fee and get one or two games of your choice at a time. When you're done you send it back? Or do you pay per game and time used, or what? Also, is it available in Canada?

cloudeagle

Shadowfire wrote: »

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

With the fears of the economy shitting all over itself, I imagine that gaming in general will suffer - but highly anticipated or high-quality titles will still do well *cough* Left4Dead *cough*

People will still buy games - just not as many or as often.

People are pretty sure that the gaming market won't be harmed too badly. Not that it's recession proof, but it's taken over the entertainment industry so hard, and people still need to be entertained (i.e. they want to "escape" from their problems) that the purchases will still be made.

I'm not so worried that sales will go down drastically, I'm more worried that more developers/publishers will go under. It's vastly more expensive to develop for the HD consoles now, and a lot of devs/pubs were struggling to make it even before the crap of this year. Even if overall sales drop just 10%, that could be enough to kill a few of them.

urahonky

Lunker wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Oh yeah, Gamefly is awesome. You get to play fantastic games and there's no rush to send them back at a certain time. Then again, I've had GTA4 for two months and I've only put three hours into it. I should send it back since my reaction is "eh, this is the same old GTA I'm burned out on," but the other keeps thinking I'll finally get back to it one of these days and I'll regret sending it back in.

I actually cancelled GameFly specifically because I felt pressured to send stuff back. It's the Netflix Guilt Complex: I felt like I needed to squeeze more use out of my subscription, so instead of taking games at a typical pace I'd go through a little faster in order to make room for the next game I wanted. It's entirely psychological, but it got to me.

Bah it shouldn't. I kept DragonQuest IV till I beat the entire game, which took about 31 hours. Just remember, if it saves you from buying the game... Then you saved yourself $60, which is about 2-3 months worth of gamefly subscription time.

arod_77

Ill' probably be comfortable canceling again after november until we get back into busy game season.

Ganluan

Dodge Aspen wrote: »

Okay, so how does Gamefly work? Do you pay a monthly fee and get one or two games of your choice at a time. When you're done you send it back? Or do you pay per game and time used, or what? Also, is it available in Canada?

Monthly fee, the fee is based on whether you want 1 or 2 (and after being a member for a bit, 3) games out at a time. You keep them as long as you want since you're charged regardless of how many games you've had sent out that month.

Unfortunately I don't think it's available in Canada, but there's probably a similar service.

PeregrineFalcon

Shadowfire wrote: »

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

With the fears of the economy shitting all over itself, I imagine that gaming in general will suffer - but highly anticipated or high-quality titles will still do well *cough* Left4Dead *cough*

People will still buy games - just not as many or as often.

People are pretty sure that the gaming market won't be harmed too badly. Not that it's recession proof, but it's taken over the entertainment industry so hard, and people still need to be entertained (i.e. they want to "escape" from their problems) that the purchases will still be made.

Well, there will be some reduction in growth, but I don't think the gaming industry is going to collapse on itself. It's probably going to hurt smaller developers though, at least those who haven't already carved out a name for themselves. And while that's a bad thing, maybe the death of a few shovelware developers will help the industry out a little.

That said, my wife and I have cut back some. We each picked just a couple of games for us to get for the rest of the year (Wrath of the Lich King for both of us, then Prince of Persia for me, and Castlevania and Chrono Trigger for her).

We've decided to wait on a lot of others, and pick up some older titles that we've missed out on. I just grabbed Resistance (for $25), and Dark Sector ($20), and those two games will likely give me more playtime than a single $60 title. :^:

I'm thinking of picking up a subscription service (GameAccess, being Canadian) just to get a chance to check out the deluge of new console games coming. I tend to get bored quickly unless I really, really like the game, so it's right up my alley.

Grudge

Cod4 is still $69.99 + VAT on Steam here in Euroland, which means $89.99 here in Sweden, and it's what, a year old by now?

Fuck that.

I make pretty good money, but hell no I ain't paying that.

arod_77

CoD4 on PC was a disappointment anyway

urahonky

arod_77 wrote: »

CoD4 on PC was a disappointment anyway

Really? I own it for PC and I enjoy it.

arod_77

I own it for both but its always felt much tighter for me on console (and im' a PC fps enthusiast)

maybe im' just getting older and less twitchy

PeregrineFalcon

arod_77 wrote: »

I own it for both but its always felt much tighter for me on console (and im' a PC fps enthusiast)

maybe im' just getting older and less twitchy

o_O

Yeah, you're old.

Dr Mario Kart

Time to start hitting that backlog is what I say. You do have one of those, right?

Spoit

Tighter...on the consoles...o_O

Man, I still have some backlog from last year, mostly wii games

arod_77

Just interface wise and all that I guess....bah whatever


I do want Far Cry 2 for PC though--but I guess ill gamefly xbox version first

LockedOnTarget

I deliver pizza, which is easy and nets me anywhere from 13-20 bucks an hour after tips. I can easily afford all my expenses while buying pretty much any game I want at any time.

So yeah...deliver pizza.

h8b1llg8ts

Just came across this today and found it relative:

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3170634

Spoit

But yeah, CAG is actually a bad idea if you're low on money. I keep buying things just because they're on a huge sale. For example, this TRU deal, I was only going to get RB2 this month, but this made me get LBP too

shanis

Picked up Dead Space last night and feeling pressure to finish it before Red Alert 3 and Fallout 3 hit, because I need both of those. And then, of course, when WotLK comes out I'll have to drop everything to experience it with the guild, and that will seque directly into the endgame. Left4Dead has to fit in there somewhere, and I'm a fan of Guitar Hero so I hope to grab that at some point, too. On top of that, I have to drop EVERYTHING in Feb because of military obligations that's going to put me "out of action" gaming-wise for at least 3 months.

Yeah, something's gotta give. Damn this gaming addiction. I need a new hobby, like checkers.

Would..... would someone like to play checkers? With me?

Ganluan

LockedOnTarget wrote: »

I deliver pizza, which is easy and nets me anywhere from 13-20 bucks an hour after tips. I can easily afford all my expenses while buying pretty much any game I want at any time.

So yeah...deliver pizza.

You must live in a very low-cost area or not have many bills to have a lot of discretionary income with that kind of hourly wage :P

I do agree though, I really enjoyed delivering pizza - perfect job while I was in college.

Zace

Games in Australia still retail anywhere from $80-$120 dollars for a day one release. I'm planning on picking up a few games in Canada just before I head back. Oh and DS and PSP retail for $70.

SageinaRage

Buying games at full price is for chumps! I say that, even though I picked up the galactic edition of Spore, and have fully preordered the special edition of Fallout 3, but those are both extremely special cases. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine waiting til prices drop down to 20-30 bucks.

shanis

Oh and on top of all of that, I still have never picked up Civ4, even though I tried the demo and enjoyed it. I'm so afraid of dropping $60 on Steam for the package and then letting it own my soul like Sins of a Solar Empire did/does.

Kris_xK

Yeah I'm certainly not buying as many games as I used to.

It really pisses me off that a lot of developers release the "big" games around this time of year. How much money do you think we have?

As it stands now, Ill get Fable 2 and Fallout 3, and then pick up NHL09, SR2, Dead Space, and all those other quality titles I want once they're cheaper.

Or I can just win the lottery. I think I'll do that.

freakish light

Lunker wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Oh yeah, Gamefly is awesome. You get to play fantastic games and there's no rush to send them back at a certain time. Then again, I've had GTA4 for two months and I've only put three hours into it. I should send it back since my reaction is "eh, this is the same old GTA I'm burned out on," but the other keeps thinking I'll finally get back to it one of these days and I'll regret sending it back in.

I actually cancelled GameFly specifically because I felt pressured to send stuff back. It's the Netflix Guilt Complex: I felt like I needed to squeeze more use out of my subscription, so instead of taking games at a typical pace I'd go through a little faster in order to make room for the next game I wanted. It's entirely psychological, but it got to me.

That, combined with the high monthly fee, is why I couldn't get GameFly. I'm one of those people who gets their Netflix movies, watches them that day, and puts them back in the mail. Gotta squeeze every last cent I can out of them.

Ganluan wrote: »

LockedOnTarget wrote: »

I deliver pizza, which is easy and nets me anywhere from 13-20 bucks an hour after tips. I can easily afford all my expenses while buying pretty much any game I want at any time.

So yeah...deliver pizza.

You must live in a very low-cost area or not have many bills to have a lot of discretionary income with that kind of hourly wage :P

I do agree though, I really enjoyed delivering pizza - perfect job while I was in college.

For my two cents, people around here would kill to get $13, let alone $20. My stepdad does maintenance at a hotel, incredibly hard worker, running around all night and basically keeps the place from falling apart while he's there, and he gets $11.