Has the $60 USD price tag of games changed your buying habits?

[hyp]

i would probably have a larger next-gen library if game prices were still $49.99 and less.  i can't help but be a little cautious these days due to the inflation of game prices.  as much as i'd like to have everything, i tend to rely on folks who have similar tastes to mine and word of mouth.  or even better, seek out some kind of deal, and in some cases trade games in.  i've even subscribed to gamefly to take a "try-before-buy" approach.   risks are taken here and there when it comes to titles that are love/hate, and for the most part i buy up so-called "AAA" exclusives just to see what the fuss is about.

but lately, i've been much more discriminating.  the process goes:

1. do i really want this game?
2. what are the chances i'll complete it?
3. am i buying into hype?

damn the $59.99 price point... it's my childhood all over again, but at least now i can purchase more than 1 game a year.  this hobby is fuck-expensive.  even the downloadable games are raping my wallet.   :'(

[Mupepe]

the price tag didn't change anything...

but I can honestly say I've spent more money on hardware, accessories and games than any other generation.

Hell, after selling all my games I bought with my first 360 (17 games), I've actually started rebuying them all in addition to all the new shit that has come out.

[Mr. Gundam]

I try to buy my games for less than MSRP if I can, but if I have to shell out $60, I'll do it.

I've got Devil May Cry 4 preordered for $45, and I got Warhawk and Heavenly Sword for $40 each. I'm paying full price for Call of Duty 4, though.

[Mupepe]

How do you pull that off?  i end up paying full price on fucking everything (i don't buy used games).

[Mr. Gundam]

How do you pull that off?  i end up paying full price on fucking everything (i don't buy used games).

I check out online retailers, and read the boards at Cheap Ass Gamer three or four times a day.

Since June, I've purchased Ninja Gaiden Sigma for $45, Warhawk (w/headset) for $40, Lair for $37, Heavenly Sword for $40, Phantom Hourglass for $25, and Devil May Cry 4 for $45, all thanks to CAG.

I'm still hoping that my $5 preorder of Stranglehold (PS3) goes through...

[Mupepe]

holy shit.  i need to start visiting them more often.

[CajoleJuice]

I managed to get the 360 version of Bioshock for $40.

[Ichirou]

I remember during the 16-bit era when some games were $90.  Count your lucky stars it's only $60 nowadays.

[Shuri]

paid 99$ for SSF2 snes 

[Mondain]

hell yeah, it's true that not too long ago Canadians had to pay 89/99 dollars or more for every game, for such reasons it always felt silly to me to see Americans complaining about the cost of 59$ games, in Canada there's never been such a thing as 49$ for brand new titles-- not to mention that in the rest of the world it's so expensive that it's not even funny

editors can hardly be blamed for that pricing level when it's true that most projects don't ever break even, when the development cycles are longer, require bigger teams, and exquisite production values... it's still a fair deal in the end, especially when clever consumers with an Internet connection have so many outlets available to them to hear about special deals

anyhow I'm happy because when going to stores I finally start seeing PS3 and 360 games that are priced at 59$ from the get-go, which never happened at all in the PSOne or PS2 eras

[GilloD]

It made me join Gamefly. There are a couple of games that seem worth the pricetag, but I'm definitley not a collect-a-holic, so 60 bucks is way too much to snag a game and then let it sit on a shelf for months.

[hyp]

paid 99$ for SSF2 snes 

i paid $150 for an import version of the same game. i was about 11 or 12 at the time.  traded a lot of shit  in and did a shitload of car washes for it.

[MrAngryFace]

Games would have to hit 100 for me to do double takes.

[Robo]

Between first week sales and Best Buy reward coupons, I don't think I've paid a full $60 yet.

[Smooth Groove]

I remember paying around 70 bucks for NBA Hangtime on the N64. 

[bluemax]

Only slightly. I avoid games I want that I know aren't $60 good and wait for the quick an inevitable price drop, or I just buy them "used" from Gamefly a month later when they're %50 off.

[hyp]

speaking of used games... we really need an evilbore buy/sell thread. 

[brawndolicious]

not really, I'm buying games more this gen actually.

[demi]

I'm always looking out for him :wub

[hyp]

it's such a pain in the ass to find deals sometimes... and not getting games on release day is a bummer if you're an early adopter.  even gamefly pisses me off sometimes.

[Mupepe]

I will usually forget about a game until the day it comes out or a few days after it comes out.  Then by that time I'm so excited that it came out that I don't give a fuck what i pay for it.

[hyp]

I will usually forget about a game until the day it comes out or a few days after it comes out.  Then by that time I'm so excited that it came out that I don't give a fuck what i pay for it.

impulse buyer huh?  i've learned to curb that a little bit... but if i'm at fry's casually, i'll end up buying shit.  i think i'm just in denial.

[Himu]

Yes. I mean, I rarely buy new games to begin with. Most games aren't worth 50 dollars. At 60 dollars, that makes even less games worth the price tag.

The only games I see myself buying at full price that are currently announced:

GTA4
MGS4
Brutal Legend
Blue Dragon
Mass Effect

That's pretty much it.

[bork]

Yes, how quickly we forget that at one point, the prices of games were around the $70-$99 level...that "rare genre" in particular, RPGs, always being priced at $99. 

$10 more for games doesn't bother me.  Certainly $50 is better, but if I want a game, I'm going to get it no matter what the price is.  I used to buy Neo-Geo games up until the end of 2003, so $60 is pocket change in comparison. 

This is why I like having a Japanese 360, though, since I can get Asian games from online stores like Play-Asia; instead of paying $60, the games are priced for $40-$45. 

[hyp]

I used to buy Neo-Geo games up until the end of 2003, so $60 is pocket change in comparison. 

you rich fucking bastard.

[Mr. Gundam]

it's such a pain in the ass to find deals sometimes... and not getting games on release day is a bummer if you're an early adopter.  even gamefly pisses me off sometimes.

I have no problem waiting another week for games if I can save $10-$20 off MSRP.

[hyp]

but you're a patient guy... i'm not.

[bork]

I used to buy Neo-Geo games up until the end of 2003, so $60 is pocket change in comparison. 

you rich fucking bastard.

Rich?  Haha, I was buying these games while working my crappy video game store clerk job and making like $7 an hour.

[hyp]

cup o' noodles and soda eh?

[TVC15]

I don't mind the price.  I *do* mind the general trend towards short games for tentpole releases.