Not paying full price for games any more

[Fallschirmjager]

I did a little bit of budgeting back in the fall and realized just how much I was spending on games each year. It was a lot.
Most of it was paying full price for new console releases. I built a new computer back last spring after letting mine get too old. I then started using Steam, GOG, GamersGate etc. and playing on the PC a lot more than any of my consoles.
I started buying almost all of my games when they were on sale though digital distribution platforms. I also almost completely stopped buying console games unless they were old and heavily marked down.
It turns out that I ended up buying even more games than in the past but also spending a whole lot less. I got $150 in pre paid gift cards for Christmas and bought almost 50 games with it.

It has been a little bit 'tough' doing without some brand new releases like Shogun 2 and the upcoming LA Noire. But I simply became tired of paying top dollar for new games only to literally see them much much cheaper 3 months later.
The breaking point came last summer when I purchase Victoria 2 on pre order for $40 in August and then with Steams Holiday sale it was sold for $5

Maybe I am a bit weird. But one reason I started this thread is I actually feel a bit bad about my buying practices. Not so much for the big time games. But for the smaller companies like the Paradox's and Matrix's.
What if everyone adopted my approach? Games would no longer be made.

[sabre1]

That's so true, but the economy is tight, and people are losing jobs, and spending your money the way you see fit is nothing you should feel bad about. You earned it, you get to decide how to spend it. UUUUUUUU, could I take this one to another whole level, and get the thread locked down. [;)]

It's Matrix's job to determine how to market, so you part with your hard earned money.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

That's so true, but the economy is tight, and people are losing jobs, and spending your money the way you see fit is nothing you should feel bad about. You earned it, you get to decide how to spend it. UUUUUUUU, could I take this one to another whole level, and get the thread locked down. [;)]

It's Matrix's job to determine how to market, so you part with your hard earned money.

Well that is another thing. Money is not really a problem for me. I am by no means rich. But I am in my mid 20s and single with no children and gaming is my primary hobby. I am recently graduated from college and doing better than most people my age but I don't have an endless supply of money.
I can't afford my gaming habit of buying games at full price. But I am being spoiled by the likes of Steam and the GamersGate. If I can be patient for a few months almost every game I could possible want I can buy at a massive discount.
Digital delivery is a great thing for me because I can play more games than ever at a much cheaper price. But is it good for the gaming industry as a whole?
I will admit that I don't really know how Steam and the like works. Maybe when they run sales Steam is the one to take a loss or less profit when they put a game on sale. But I just can't see a company like Paradox making the same amount of money on someone buying Victoria 2 on pre order vs waiting 4 short months and getting it for 5 dollars on a Christmas sale.
I have already decided that I want Crusader Kings 2 but there is no way I am going to buy it upon release since I am almost 100% sure that if I wait for 6 months I can get it for 20% of the price. Or if I wait 12 months I can get it along with the inevitable expansion pack.
Yet at the same time I want companies like Paradox to do well. But my penny pinching habits certainly can't be good for them.

I mentioned earlier about the AAA companies. Even they would begin to feel the pinch if a large portion of their customer base began to buy like I do. They already release too many cookie cutter games and sequels. If they begin to feel that original titles will not sell and are not worth the investment then I think we all lose.
Games like Grand Theft Auto IV are big budget on par with modern movies. GTA IV cost $110 million to make [X(]
As games get better and their budgets increase so does the risk.
Console games are more resistant to how I buy games now. I have to wait much longer for the price to drop on them but they eventually do.
I used to buy sports games from year to year, but this year I have pledged to myself to wait 6-9 months and then get them at a discount. It will be hard not to have Fifa and the NBA 2K series at the beginning of the season but I just can't see myself paying $60 for a new game now that I have experienced gaming on the cheap.
I mentioned LA Noire at the beginning of the thread. I am looking forward to the game but I imagine it will be 12 months or so before I get to play it due to refusing to buy it at full price. There is also no PC version currently planned so there is no chance to get it on the cheap through a sale.

Maybe I am way over-thinking this issue. But lately I have been thinking about the video game industry and how it has changed. I do fear that original and unique games are not being made and that small companies are being squeezed out of business.
I don't know the economics behind it, but I do see one bright light at the end of the tunnel is that in some way digital distribution is a good thing for the industry. Maybe it will cheapen the distribution part of games.
I wish that consoles would go this way and completely get rid of physical format discs and flaah cards and go pure digital. But I don't see that happening in the next generation.

Also, I do make myself feel better about my new buying habits by telling myself that is companies really are losing money on these huge sales that Steam and GG are able put on, then they would not give their permission for their games to be discounted this much.

One last thing. I also think that digital distribution platforms also extend the life of a product. Just in the past month I have purchases Jagged Alliance 2 Gold and Temple of Elemntal Evil. JA2 from Steam and ToEE from GOG. Even though I paid next to nothing for them it is still a tiny bit of income that the developers get for the product that they otherwise would not have gotten.

I am interested in other peoples thoughts of this issue.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager
I have already decided that I want Crusader Kings 2 but there is no way I am going to buy it upon release since I am almost 100% sure that if I wait for 6 months I can get it for 20% of the price. Or if I wait 12 months I can get it along with the inevitable expansion pack.

The question is : do you want to play the game now, when it's hot - or not ? It's the same with movies. You can go see it in a theater right now or wait 6 months for it to appear on cheaper channels (dvd, cable tv, ...)

As long as enough people want the new hot game/movie *right now* there's not a problem and I don't see any signs of wargame companies not getting enough business.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[ilovestrategy]

For me, I just don't have the money to buy a game at full price. It's that simple. 

[jomni]

I will adopt this policy as well so I am skipping CMBN for now.  I will wait for expansions and a bundle.
But not Matrix games as these don't seem to drop drastically.  Maybe only during the holidays.

[diablo1]

What if everyone adopted my approach? Games would no longer be made.

Don't worry Barnum said there's a fool born every minute and most of them live so there's plenty to keep paying those full retail prices for you. Enjoy the savings I've been doing it for years since 2003 and saved $1000's of dollars. Be careful though what you might end up doing is buying everything below $10 but many of them will be fails and that's still wasted dollars. Even buying frugally I still spend upwards of $400-$600 a year in gaming but like you I got loads of games for my money. I might buy 1 or 2 retail games a year if they are really popular and the reviews are solid.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: diablo1

What if everyone adopted my approach? Games would no longer be made.

........ Even buying frugally I still spend upwards of $400-$600 a year in gaming.......

Warspite1

How many games do you buy a year?! And more to the point, how do you find time to play them all?? Diablo1 are you the Imelda Marcos of the gaming world? [;)]

[diablo1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: diablo1

What if everyone adopted my approach? Games would no longer be made.

........ Even buying frugally I still spend upwards of $400-$600 a year in gaming.......

Warspite1

How many games do you buy a year?! And more to the point, how do you find time to play them all?? Diablo1 are you the Imelda Marcos of the gaming world? [;)]

That's not just PC games warspite, it includes monthly sub rates for MMO's. Plus hardware upgrades are included in gaming budget. I did buy 47 games last year though just checked my budget report. Who's Imelda Marcos? Oh and I'm semi-retired so I have plenty of hours to play them. Wives are gone (somebody else is footing their bills and GF's cost a lot less and you get a lot more at my age from them). Children are way grown and have their own family and headaches. So it's just me an my pups and a handful of ladies who like to cook for me. [:)]

[ilovestrategy]

Imelda Marcos was Ferdinand Marcos' wife. She was infamous for collecting shoes. I would post a link but I'm on my phone ATM.

[Phatguy]

In the last year I only bought two full price games from the "big" companies.Shogun II and Victoria II.. And maybe 3 or 4 from Matrix.....The rest? Cheap bargain basement stuff or Steam. In the last few years I've gradually shifted over to board wargames and LOTRO....

[carnifex]

You pay how much you want to pay. There are thousands of free games out there, and there are many many people willing to trade.

You want the latest and the greatest, it's strictly a voluntary thing.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: apathetic lurker
In the last year I only bought two full price games from the "big" companies.Shogun II and Victoria II.. And maybe 3 or 4 from Matrix.....The rest? Cheap bargain basement stuff or Steam. In the last few years I've gradually shifted over to board wargames and LOTRO....

In the pc world releases I even want to play are few and far between - just 3 games last year, so I don't mind paying full price for them. It's May and the counter is still at 0 for this year.

Where I spend 90% of my entertainment budget (and time) these days is boardgames and tabletop stuff - that's where the interesting and innovative stuff is getting produced.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: apathetic lurker

In the last few years I've gradually shifted over to board wargames and LOTRO....

I made a kin with my alts. I named it The Law Office of Smeagol and Gamgee. [:D]

[Canoerebel]

I've bought three games since 2002 and gladly paid full price for each: Uncommon Valor, War in the Pacific, and WitP: Admiral's Edition. That's about $20 a year spent on computer games. I doubt I'll purchase another game until WitP II is created (if that should ever happen). If it's created, I'll gladly pay full price for it and thank Matrix for the chance to do so.

[SuluSea]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I've bought three games since 2002 and gladly paid full price for each: Uncommon Valor, War in the Pacific, and WitP: Admiral's Edition. That's about $20 a year spent on computer games. I doubt I'll purchase another game until WitP II is created (if that should ever happen). If it's created, I'll gladly pay full price for it and thank Matrix for the chance to do so.

What no WPO, you're no fan of the series[;)][:D] Joking of course. I'm taking this approach as well for the most part, my next game I'll buy is WITP2 or Carrier Force (which from what I understand is not happening), I have too many great games that I bought that see little to no play time.

I started playing the Japanese is AE so now I have a whole new game.[:)]

[DuckofTindalos]

I wouldn't feel bad for Paradox. They're hardly "small" anymore.

[d0mbo]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I've bought three games since 2002 and gladly paid full price for each: Uncommon Valor, War in the Pacific, and WitP: Admiral's Edition. That's about $20 a year spent on computer games. I doubt I'll purchase another game until WitP II is created (if that should ever happen). If it's created, I'll gladly pay full price for it and thank Matrix for the chance to do so.

Where can we sign the WITP II petition to get things moving?

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

Maybe I am a bit weird. But one reason I started this thread is I actually feel a bit bad about my buying practices. Not so much for the big time games. But for the smaller companies like the Paradox's and Matrix's.
What if everyone adopted my approach? Games would no longer be made.

I wouldn't worry, it's a complex market and it keeps changing.

I guess I'd group the games (PC only, not having a console) I buy into four catagories;

1. Wargames. Now Battlefront have managed to p*ss me off to the 'never again' extent, that pretty much just means Matrix plus the odd indie if one should happen along. I grouch about the price sometimes, but usually end up paying it. Maybe five a year; depends on the year. It's a niche market and that means you don't pay the same prices as games with a much bigger potential market.

2. Mainstream stuff I want. Pre-order stuff. Maybe four or five a year; this year probably only Portal 2, F.E.A.R 3, SotS 2.

3. Stuff I'd quite like, but.. will wait for the Steam/GG sale. The Christmas ones just get crazier and crazier.. like 30 quid for the whole Paradox catalog last Christmas?! That was insane, even if you had a few already. That's also when I buy 'adventure' games; I've always liked the genre but a reply value of nil means I never pay full whack for them. I've got half-a-dozen queued up; I doubt the lost cost me more than £20.

4. Impulse buys. Mainly the £10 or less stuff on Steam. Hit and miss, but as many turn out to be gems as full price releases these days; that's the sector where all the freshness and originality is. It's also where a lot of the quality is as well; as the 'full price' market is more and more dominated by a few publishers and even just a few franchises, everybody else is moving to mid/cheap price to sell (hopefully) in volume online.

I probably spend too much on games. As it's nothing like what I used to spend on booze and fags in my younger days (I now neither drink nor smoke) I don't much care.

[andym]

Having got burned several times last year with games being released that had such promise then turning out to be shite,i now wait untill at least 2 months go by,looking at various forums and then seeing what new games are being returned to game stores,THEN i will get a game i have my eye on.