Spending Habits

[Chatakinns]

How do you make your game purchases ? Planned decisions with budget in mind ? Impulse buying ? Finding out release dates and saving the money little by little ? Wait for them to go to greatest hits status ? Or max out that credit card when you go in the electronics department ?

( I hope I did this poll thingy right, if not ... can someone please fix it ? ) :oops:

[Buck]

Well, right now I buy what I want when I want, but seeing as I put in my 2 weeks notice yesterday and will be going back to school, I will have to start budgeting for my purchases

[Josh]

I usually know what I want or wait for a game, but in general I buy what I want when I want, usually to the demise of my bank account. I get a goofy, sweaty feeling when I walk into electronics and game stores, and I feel as though I just *have* to leave with something.

[Chatakinns]

I pretty much buy what I want when I want it. Sometimes that is helped by knowing what is coming out and setting aside the money, but over all, if I see something I really want, I can have it. That is why we have this God-Awful-Huge-In-The-Way Steel Battalion controller sitting here. 8)

[Chatakinns]

Originally posted by stencil@Sep 16 2003, 09:47 AM

I usually know what I want or wait for a game, but in general I buy what I want when I want, usually to the demise of my bank account. I get a goofy, sweaty feeling when I walk into electronics and game stores, and I feel as though I just *have* to leave with something.

Ummm .... then you picked the last option right ? The frenzied buying romp ? :lmfao:

[Orpheus]

I pretty much just buy as I want to right now, although I'm really picky about where my money goes and will often wait the week or so for it to show up in the used stores. I tend to do the same thing with DVD's as well. I have no problems walking out of Best Buy empty handed even if the temptaion is great.

[heavy liquid]

I plan ahead and budget, but will wait for certain games to go on sale or come down in price.

[Chris]

Here's a write-in vote for "All of the above". I've done everything on that list at one time or another.

 

For the most part I pick and choose. Certain games I must have on release day and others I know I won't buy until they have dropped in price. I don't like to be too structured, though, browsing through the stores for a bargain is half the fun.

[Angry the Clown]

I do plan ahead, as far as what titles I plan to buy in the near future are concerned, but I don't usualy grab something on release date. When it gets the the point all of you make fun of me for not owning a game (I STILL don't own Metroid Prime) then I usualy try to do something about it. It's the downside to owning all three consoles, you're spoilt for choice but you can't really have everything at any one time.

 

Daniel

[Mark E]

I picked the last one because I tend to impulse buy with horrible frequency. Luckily my budget constraints force me into some self-control once in a while or I'd be quite screwed.

 

Case in point, I was at Wal-Mart on Saturday and nearly walked out with a GBA SP that I have yet to receive the money required to buy it with. Being a student it is not a good thing when I start thinking like that .

 

Last time I bought something I ended up with Mario Golf for some reason. The time before it was a copy of Deus Ex and Thief 2. I am a dangerous man to take into any store...

[kelley]

it all goes to hell

[JTello]

-I target what games I might be interested pre-release, and wait for reviews and peer response (that's you guys, thanks :rock ). If I can wait for a price drop I will, other wise if I feel I 'need' to purchase right away I look for the best deal in town.

 

-Generally on a full price game, the Sunday Circulars preceding and/or following a game release might have a game at a reduced price, generally about $5 off. I will then take advantage of the Bestbuy Gamer Giftcard for the additional $5 off.

 

-Also, I will often take a hard look at the games I have and determine if they have more trade in value or play value to me, that's another route if there are no other deals available. An example, I traded in World Series Baseball for $30 after 3 months after having gotten it for $40 with another deal. $10 for a 3 month rental (basically) on a game I had played out/moved on from = good deal to me!

 

-So, short answer, on sale or at a reduced price!

[Angry the Clown]

I am prone to impulse buying when a store has a sale on, I should add.

 

Daniel

[iainl]

I've always got more games than I have time for anyway, but I'm horribly prone to the "ooh, its a bargain" thing. Hence me buying three new games (none particularly stunning, even) the day after GR:IT turned up, just because they were cheap.

[Angel P]

I like to wait for reviews in magazines and word-of-mouth online. I also try not to pick up too many $50 games so I may wait awhile for those to come down.

[blackcalx]

I give myself $25.00 per month for personal hobby spending. This means that I can either get one new game every other month or spend wisely in the bargain bin.

 

The release schedule of late has me all stressed out. There has been at least one game that I want/need every month for the last few months and it continues for at least two more months.

 

So I've been selling on eBay to obtain extra funding for my habit.

[Whooter]

Originally posted by Buck@Sep 16 2003, 09:45 AM

Well, right now I buy what I want when I want, but seeing as I put in my 2 weeks notice yesterday and will be going back to school, I will have to start budgeting for my purchases

That sounds very familiar to me. My old ways were "buy it when I want", but now that I'm at a considerably lower salary than I used to be, that's gonna have to change.

 

I'm giving Gamefly a trial run to see how that works out as a rental solution (there aren't any rental places convenient to me)...

[rustyjaw]

I'm all over the map. Some games I know I want from the moment I hear about them, like SMB2 or CMR4. Other games I wait and see what other people think of it.

 

Then there are days like a little over a week ago, when there's one game I know I want, but I walk out with 4 because I couldn't make up my mind.

[Sam P]

I tend to think things through, but if I wanted it bad enough I will find excuses to rationalize the purchase. Except, of course, when I'm severely lacking in funds...

[Guest Bryan]

What & When for me. I am much more liberal in the type of game I'll buy now, thanks to you knuckleheads. I put on my Lemming hat every time somebody says "I can't wait to get this game - see you on live!". :shock:

[dogbert]

How about "None of the above"?

 

I'm frugal when it comes to buying games at $49.99, as I don't have much discretionary cash, and two, there are too many "buzz" games at the moment - everyone jumps on a new XBL for a couple of weeks before moving onto the next, and I can't keep up with that.

 

Instead, I'm ultra picky & will frequently wait for a game to go on sale.

[Carlucci]

I'm particularly devious. I give my kids an allowance, and then let them save it and spend it on whatever games they want (heavily influenced by me, of course)

 

They get the satisfaction of earning the games themselves, and I get to teach lessons in savings, and the rewards of hard-work. (and oh yeah, I sometimes play the games too!)

 

Only drawback is we don't let them play the rated-M games yet, so those I have to buy myself, and my wife does the Marge Groan.

[adamsappel]

I also cannot avoid buying a good game if it's cheap enough, but I don't really buy new games at full price. I got burned by State of Emergency on release day and learned my lesson. I wait for new releases to go on sale at Best Buy and use the Gamers Gift Card for an additional $5 off, or buy them used with a discount card from EB, Gamestop, or Game Crazy. I tend to put off playing great games because I don't think I'll have the time to fully enjoy them. Panzer Dragoon Orta sits unopened for this reason. I also buy some games in the vain hope that my wife might like to play, but she is rarely interested, so Syberia waits. I easily have twenty games that have never seen the inside of their console. And yet I still buy.

[Gary P]

I was all set to click on 'what I want when I want'. Though, ever since the online revolution has started and I found a good group of people to game with, I find myself picking and choosing games depending on which is going to allow me to play with said friends on a regular basis.

 

This year especially, other than 'T'he Wind Waker', single-player games are almost an afterthought when I'm thinking about upcoming game purcahses, so right now I'm the lone vote for: 'I decide what games to buy depending on what my friends are playing. '

 

Gary

[Hank Scorpio]

I usually check the pre-order lists and budget accordingly. That being said, I don't mind waiting a little bit for the used shops to get stuff in. But I try to stay within a budget I can handle.