I’ve been an avid gamer ever since I bought my first Nintendo Entertainment System when I was ten. Today I have a Wii, an Xbox 360, and a PS3. My library of games includes major titles including the big Mario and Halo games, LittleBigPlanet, Batman: Arkham Asylum… you get the picture.
Even with a serious untreated gaming addiction, I manage to spend just a few hundred dollars a year on my gaming habit. (I’m not rich, after all.) I bought all three of the consoles mentioned above for a combined total of about $400 (today’s retail price: $800), and I rarely spend more than $20 on a game, despite the fact that most titles retail for $50 to $60. Here are a few of the tricks I use to indulge in my gaming habit without laying waste to my carefully-constructed budget.
Patience Pays
Exercising a little patience can pay off in a big way. After just six months, that $60 new release can often be found for $40 or less. A year after they hit the shelves, it’s not uncommon for me to find some games for $30.
Patience can also pay off especially well when you also keep an eye out for sales. CAG is your best friend here. Check out their forums, or set up a Google Alert that search the whole site if you’re looking for a specific title.
If you’re a PC gamer, it’s also worthwhile to keep an eye on Steam, where they frequently throw down major sales on all sorts of popular titles. Another trend that has cropped up lately is indie game companies teaming up to offer sweet discounts on bundles of great indie titles.
Tip: Patience pays off in another way, too. If you wait instead of buying a game the day it’s released, you have time to get reviews, both from the pros and from other users. This can keep you from spending on a highly-touted game that turns out to be a dud.
Buy Used, But Avoid the big chains.
While some prominent gamers have recently raised potentially valid philosophical arguments against buying used games, one thing you can’t argue with is that buying used saves you money.
Personally, I don’t waste my time with a certain major brick-and-mortar used-game shop since their used games are usually priced only a few bucks cheaper than new. Instead, I tend to find most of my used games on Glyde.com, where I am frequently able to pick up games in excellent condition for 50% or more off the new retail price. I have also used Glyde successfully to sell games that I no longer play, which is another great way to keep costs down.
Craigslist can also be a good place to find cheap used games, if you are patient and make heavy use of their RSS feeds. I picked up the original Assassin’s Creed for $20 from someone I found on Craigslist, while the game still retailed new for $60.
Can’t Give up the new releases?
If you’re not the patient type, you can still enjoy games as soon as they come out while still not paying full retail price. In order to get people in the doors, retailers will often offer gift cards with the purchase of a new release during its first week. I even saw some stores giving gift cards with Starcraft II when it came out a couple months ago.
Don’t forget indie games, either. New release games from independent developers are often much cheaper and just as fun as the big-name blockbuster titles. Two of my personal favorite developers are Telltale Games and Twisted Pixel, but your choices in indie gaming are nearly limitless.
Who Says You Have to BUY Your Games?
Another method that can work well for playing new releases when they’re still fresh is using a game rental service like Gamefly (essentially Netflix for video games). This has the added advantage of helping you avoid accumulating stuff.
Speaking of monthly subscriptions, don’t hesitate to drop a gaming subscription if you find you aren’t playing it enough to get your money’s worth out of it anymore. Got an MMO that’s debiting your savings account $6 every month for a game you haven’t touched in half a year? Cancel it!
Frugality is Not a Form of Asceticism
Just because you’re smart with money doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. If you’re into video gaming like me, there’s no need to resign yourself to breaking the budget to enjoy your entertainment. With a little patience, some smart shopping, and a sharp eye for discounts, gaming can be a relatively inexpensive hobby.
Tim Ellis is the founder of Seattle Bubble. His background in engineering and computer / internet technology, a fondness of data-based analysis of problems, and an addiction to spreadsheets all influence his perspective on the Seattle-area real estate market.
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There are 59 comments to "Gaming without breaking the bank".
Wil says02 March 2011 at 04:59
Our local library has started carrying video games. I prefer board games myself (like Pandemic), but the video gamers out there might want to check out their local library. (Actually some libraries also have board game collections.)
Another great way to reduce costs for gaming is Goozex.com. It is a game trading website where you earn points for games you have traded to get other titles. The only costs are shipping and a dollar per trade.
My favorite thing about being a board game “gamer” rather than video games, is that most of the “euro-games” hold their value, so if you get sick of a game you can often sell it for the same price you bought it for. Some of the games with time even increase in value. For example, the now out of print “Dune” Board Game can sell for at least hundreds of dollars. It is not a Euro game, but my wife and I bought Arkham Horror and had problems getting anyone else to play it. (it is not a great 2 player game). So we sold it for the same price we had purchased it for at an online website devoted to board games. As for video games, I had to give up video games when I got married and bought our dog, not enough time (in terms of my other priorities).
Checking CAG and Amazon daily deals really is a great way to score new games cheap, as long as you’re patient. I don’t think I have paid over $40 for a game in years, and most times I pick up the games for $20. Of course if you are really trying to be frugal used games are the way to go.
I would just like to point out that while selling your used games on glyde might be a little easier, I think the seller makes more profit using half.com. I have had much more success selling and getting more money for my games on half.com.
I keep forgetting about GameFly. My husband would probably save some of his fun money when he starts gaming again if he could just pay a monthly fee to test games out first.
Lately we’ve been boardgaming like Wil said, we really enjoy Power Grid. I’m surprised how little we actually have been using our gaming systems…
Thanks to game/movie trading site goozex.com and a little patience, I haven’t had to make a game purchase for over 2-years. Check it out if your like me and have a few toddlers running around and little time to get to a new release.
Awesome post! This is definitely something that strikes near and dear to many of our hearts, or at least our spouse’s hearts.
Over the years DH has definitely moved towards spending his allowance the way you suggest… not getting new releases, and so on.
Another nice thing about Euro board games is that even in small towns, there are gaming clubs so you don’t have to buy every game yourself. (And, unlike miniature games, you only need one game for a group of people to play.) DH loves Boardgamegeek for figuring out what to buy and what to play. He’s also hooked on some gaming podcasts (he now listens to them on 2x speed in the car or while lawnmowing so they sound like chipmunks).
@3 Kevin, please stop being a bully. Also, note the irony in your statement… did you contribute anything to the conversation except to distract and make me start the morning feeling negative rather than pleasant towards my fellow man (in this case, you), despite today’s novel and excellent post?
So, 2 posts on this topic makes me a comment troll, but LifeAndMyFinances posts short, meaningless comments on every topic, and it’s OK? Gotcha.
@Nicole:
I don’t mean to be a bully – I just want to elevate the quality of the discussions that follow the posts on this blog. As I said before, LaMF has been warned before, and no, not by me. By JD. He’s used the time JD was away to resume his obnoxious behaviour.
One of the popular tips on “How to Grow Your Blog” sites is “Comment often, everywhere, as near the top as possible.” LaMF has taken this to heart, and is spamming every post on GRS with short, shallow posts, just to spam a link back to his own blog. I understand that’s a popular – and even effective – tactic, but it’s also irritating to regular readers of the blogs being spammed. These comment sections are not just a feeding ground for spamming links to your own blogs – they’re supposed to be used for meaningful discussion. It’s fine to include a link back to your own blog if you’re actually adding something to the discussion, but LaMF never does. He barely even reads the articles. He just posts a short, barely on-topic comment, and tries to get as near the top as he can. It’s taking JD’s audience for granted, and frankly, I’m sick of it.
So was JD. That’s why LaMF was warned about his behaviour once before already.
J.D.’s note: Enough about this topic, folks. I’m back, and I’ll watch for inappropriate stuff. (I always like that Kevin’s e-mail address is “kombat” because sometimes he’s combative. It makes me smile.)
I still say that having an online gaming membership is a great and cheap form of entertainment. For ~$15 a month, you can play as many hours as you want on it. You would spend twice that going to one movie one weekend.
Playing video or computer games is a waste of time. Why not do something to improve yourself or to get out and experience life? Mostly it is just masturbation and fantasy and avoiding the real world.
You would be surprised, but the evidence is actually against you on the waste of time aspect of video and computer games.
We have a post on this in our queue that we’re not quite finished writing (we were hoping to link to the actual articles but haven’t gotten around to digging them up)…
But… there’s an optimal amount of video games to be played. Most people are either playing too many or too few.
Video games can be used with biofeedback to prevent violence in people who are naturally predisposed to it.
Video games can teach impatient people to be patient, and they can teach how to save.
(regular FPS and strategy) Video games can improve health and dexterity in older adults.
Video gamers are better at attentional tasks.
So, no, they’re not all bad. Some amount is good and they can be incredibly useful.
we get our games pretty inexpensively off of the used sellers from amazon- $20 is the most common price, and if we both end up playing 60hrs of a game- even at $60 a pop that’s a pretty good entertainment cost per hour (50c/hr).
I play a lot of video games not only because I love them, but also because I make them and this is a form of research. So I have a pretty large stock of PC, 360, PS3, and PS2 games.
I almost always only buy games after they are under $20, which allows me to buy 3-4 times as many for the same cost. One trick I use is to add games to my “Save for later” list in my Amazon shopping cart. Then, whenever I go to my cart, I get the notices about the price drops and move them into my cart when I like the price (and get free shipping, which is pretty important at these price points).
Since I work in the Games Industry, I also get a lot of free games, can buy newly-released games my publisher makes for $10-$15, and have friends who work for other publishers who buy games for me (as I do for them).
Partly inspired by JD, I started a blog the other day about gaming. Since my kids just started gaming, themselves, part of my focus will be on the parenting aspect, which may be especially useful for non-gamer parents. The site is http://theGamerDad.com. The interesting thing is that buying games at a reasonable price was going to be the subject of one of my first posts, and most of the games I plan to review will be at that price point (partly because of my purchase strategy, and partly because parents are going to want to save money)!
A bit surprised that free-to-play games aren’t mentioned. I’m not talking free online flash games, though those are nice if that’s what you like. There are great high-quality major titles which are free to play, and in pretty much any genre.
I’ve been playing The Lord of the Rings Online for a couple years now, and it’s by far my favorite MMO (big Tolkien geek here). Last September the game went free to play — the perfect price =) I had been debating getting my girlfriend an account while I was away at grad school, but now that’s an easy decision and it’s turning into a great way for us to spend time together despite the distance.
I’m also in the Battlefield Play4Free beta, and while I can’t say I’m a hardcore fps gamer, it’s every bit as good as the other Battlefield titles from my viewpoint. Reportedly, it’s releasing to the public this summer. Alternatively, Battlefield Heroes is f2p right now.
Racing? Need for Speed Online, Drift City, and Project Torque are f2p.
Air combat? ACE Online or Heroes in the Sky
I haven’t found a good f2p alternative to EVE Online yet, but one of my friends that plays isn’t paying — she’s profitable enough in the game that she buys game time with earned “ISK” (the in-game currency).
I also have an Xbox 360, and purchases are very carefully planned, and exclusively secondhand. The Bing Rewards program is worth mentioning as well; I’ve earned enough Microsoft points over the past few months to buy a couple of indie games off its marketplace. Otherwise, I’m content playing the demos 🙂
Great post! Very timely and relevant for me (as a poor gamer grad student).
For a few years my only gaming was an online subscription to an MMO, much cheaper than going to the movies or buying new games every few months like I used to do.
The past year I really realized how great Steam is for a frugal gamer. Indie games and digital distribution have renewed my excitement about the future for PC gaming. More games out there that don’t cost $60 at full price, and the opportunity for really fantastic sales through Steam if you are patient. And better for the environment and STUFF reduction too – no boxes to bring home, no DVDs to store.
CAG is a fantastic resource, as is keeping an eye on Slickdeals top deals. I was able to pick up a new game and controller bundle for 1/4 of the original retail price – less than the price of either the game or controller separately.
As others have said, gaming is a great hobby when both time and money invested are kept in check. Spending ~$8 to rent a great single player game that I wouldn’t otherwise play more than once is a far greater entertainment value than going to a movie.
Another bonus to patience that has not been mentioned, yet, is that this gives the developer plenty of time to patch bugs in the game that can be very frustrating.
A possible negative to patience is that the online community for the game may have gone away, making it hard to find matches. In the worst cases, the developer/publisher may no longer even run the servers that may be needed for multiplayer. Not all games require servers to play, but even ones that don’t often use servers to facilitate matching when you are looking for a game with a random stranger.
As someone who works in the video game industry, I have to make a very strong plea that you NOT buy used copies of video games. Wait for sales and coupons and other discounts rather than purchasing a pre-owned game.
Why would I make such a non-frugal suggestion? Because when you buy that used game, not a single penny of that purchase is going back to the people who made the game. Purchasing items on sale or at reduced price later ensures at least SOME piece of the money you spent will go to those who made the product. Used sales are entirely kept by the store.
Timely post. I’ve been looking at this topic for the past week and dipping my toes in.
A few observations:
* The VAAAAST majority of stuff for sale on craigslist is overpriced. It’s very easy to price stuff out online, so there’s little point to craigslist arbitrage.
* I don’t trust anything that doesn’t cash out. Goozex points, for example. Or Gamestaq until recently. If I can’t pay rent with it, I’m not interested.
* Depending on your appetite and backlog, it’s usually a better deal to buy from Gamefly than rent. An example: I bought Bioshock 2 from them for 18 bucks and can sell it for 10. It might be worth it though, if you’re after a game as soon as it comes out.
* Amazon regularly has preorder discounts. Under the cartel like rules of promotional fees for retailers, they’re not allowed to retail for less than MSRP. But apparently they’re allowed to give a discount on some future purchase. I bought Mario Galaxy 2 with a 20 dollar future discount, and it hasn’t moved in price. The result is only people who don’t have time to bargain hunt before release pay MSRP.
I think there hasn’t been a lot of mention for one of the most frugal ways to game: free games! There are lots of free games either online or for download. There are also some very good freemium games that can entertain for quite a long time without paying much if anything.
On a related note – While I develop mobile apps and not games, I do not agree that buying used games (or other software) damages developers. That’s like saying don’t buy a used car because not a penny goes back to the original manufacturer. Some people buy games because they know they can offload them at a later date and recoup some of the cost they paid initially. If the used market didn’t exist, I suspect overall games sales would actually decrease because potential buyers would be more reluctant to pull the trigger on a sale. If you’re thinking of buying a used game, go for it!
That is a very good point when it comes to the “wait for it” approach. Often times if the game isn’t extremely popular to begin with in the online community (think Halo, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Starcraft) it can be difficult to find a game even a year after launch. Therefore I find myself to be much more of a single player gamer most of the time with older games.
However I have started a kind of habit where about every year in the fall I will buy a game new that has a big multiplayer component (this year it was Halo:Reach) and will play it for a month or so, really about the point where I am “finished” with the multiplayer, then resell it on Amazon. Using Reach as an example i bought it for $40 at release (if you count $20 Amazon gift card as same as cash) and then sold it right before Christmas for $35. In that time I had played the singleplayer twice and had put over 40 hours into the multiplayer, well worth the money in my opinion. Should my collector’s urge hit me at some point in the future and I feel the need to have a copy of Reach for my collection I should be able to pick it up for <$20, but that rarely happens.
Another big thing that has saved me money with video games is getting rid of my collector's mentality, or as much of it as possible, there is no need to hold on to any game produced today if you aren't going to play it in the next year because you can almost always sell it or trade it for more than it can be acquired for in the future. Just selling/trading a game immediately after you finish with it can let you recoup a large amount of the purchase price (if you are speedy). I often find that games that I intended to replay and kept often didn't get replayed anyway because there are always other games out there that I want to play.
Goozex is something I have been using for awhile as well, after "seeding" my points with a few 1000 point new releases I am still trading on those 2000 points (with games constantly being received and traded) although now it is down to about 800 due to games reducing in point value as I held onto them.
Since I think I have reached the point of rambling I will now end this comment.
My husband cooks in a movie theatre restaurant so gets home very late at night. Video games on his PS3 allow him to “wind down” before going to bed. He plays many games, at least 20-25 a year but keeps his annual gaming costs down to make us both happy. He usually asks for gift certificates from family for his birthday and Christmas to GameStop. He also likes to be patient and wait for the prices to come down before purchasing his games, usually, but not always, buying if they are $15 or less. Now he combines his gift cards with buying and trading with my employer, AbundaTrade.com.
The company I work for, http://www.abundatrade.com, buys and sells used and new Video Games, CDs, DVDs and books. We consistently sell at the lowest prices anywhere and we guarantee the most value for your Video Games, Books, CDs and DVDs online. Come check out our trade calculator where you can get an estimate of how much we will pay for your trade at http://www.abundatrade.com and look up the prices for games you may be interested in. If you trade in games, you can either get cash back or an AbundaTrade store credit. When you choose store credit, you’ll get an additional 25% added to the trade value.
Factoring in the trade-in values, my husband more than pays for his gaming without cutting into our household budget. “They” say, “Happy wife, happy life.” But for us, video games at a very minimal cost mean both a happy husband and a happy wife!
I only purchase used games from Gamestop now, and I always take a game right back there to trade it in when I’m finished. I NEVER used to do this. I also broke down and sold a buttload of my games on Ebay. Those classic RPG’s really give some good cash. I mean, was there any chance I was really going to replay FF7, FF8, FF Tactics, and Chrono Cross while I still try to play some relatively new games? Now I put in something in the range of 20-40 bucks a year on video games where it used to be 100’s.
And to anyone who says video games are a waste of time, well, I think you have to look at it like most things on this website. Moderation seems to be the best level for anything, and if you’re making the concious decision to spend your time playing then it’s good. Tough for me since I used to be a HUGE online gamer. I’ve stopped that now, and just play the games for the story mode. Opens TONS of free time for me, and I look at each game as an interactive story.
Heck, there’s one retailer that I go to that puts games on clearance, I picked up a Tomb Raider game for the PS3 for $7 while it was still retailing for $30. I have actually picked up 1/3 of my collection through used and clearanced games. I refuse to pay more than $30 for a video game, especially since I don’t pay online. In the end, it is the exact same gaming experience as if you had purchased a game when it first came out.
Also, another source for cheaper game purchases, new and used, is Half.com. It’s an Ebay site, but it can be a good place to find games at reasonable prices.
I love video games, but I don’t have time to play much anymore. I’m way behind on games and that make it a lot cheaper. 🙂
Craigslist is pretty good, but people there are just so flaky. These days, I just check CAG and go to Gamestop. My time is more valuable now.
I disagree with #13 Vern about games being a waste of time, or not useful, or masturbation or what not.
Before I address the main argument, let’s get masturbation out of the way. Nothing wrong with a natural and pleasurable activity, unless for some odd reason you feel guilty or ashamed about your body functions, in which case you should consult a psychologist immediately.
Now, about games: there are studies that show that computer games can make you smarter.
Also, there is an argument that the reason people are into computer games is because they are not sufficiently challenged in everyday life. The brain likes a challenge, and sure, we can make our life more challenging but often other people regulate our behavior (teachers, bosses, etc) and one needs to make up for it.
I don’t play console games because my eye-hand coordination is atrocious, and I am bad at them, so I don’t enjoy them, so I play more PC games. I personally love strategy games and have loved them since I first played Sid Meier’s “Civilization” (the first version, with the clunky graphics).
Strategy games are like chess but with a wider, more open board. Delicious, challenging, and they help me develop strategic thinking skills that I apply to my own life.
Nobody has a problem with chess these days, it’s even an activity promoted by schools, but I’ve read stuff from previous centuries making fun of chess players as idlers.
Sure, there are some games that are like having a part-time job without getting paid (usually those that require you to complete “quests” annoy me for that reason–they get boring fast), but everyone will play to a level where they feel positively challenged, which is good for the brain.
Also, in spite of the “wasted time” claim, games provide a huge bang for the buck in terms of recreation. Since recreation is a necessary part of life, consider the following: say you pay $40 for a game, you might end up playing that for 200 hours or even more. That’s about 20 cents an hour. On the other hand if you spend that money at the movies you get about 8 hours of fun. If you go to a bar, those $40 will buy you at most 4 drinks if you include tax and tip.
Of course, everything in moderation. Food is good but gluttony is harmful, a drink is nice but alcoholism is a horrid illness, and games are fun but being stuck in a basement playing 18 hours a day is a problem. So you could maybe backpedal a little and consider that games are a valid form of recreation than can be good for you.
Oh, and you may consider taking up masturbation to prevent cancer. That’s right:
Don’t knee jerk against the big chains right away. If you are a Best Buy rewards card member (like me, and it’s free) and you “join” the Gamers reward club (which is free) you get some sweet deals. I got a free copy of their gamer “magazine” and it had a $15 off coupon for Batman Arkham GOTY edition. I had to search 3 different stores, but I found a copy for $19.99 so with coupon I paid $5 for a brand new copy of a AAA title game. The key here, whatever strategies you use, is to shop around and be patient. Integrating a multilevel approach to game hunting is how you’ll always win.
I’m super-duper cheap; but I freely spend $60 on certain games the day they come out, such as Call of Duty, and will do in a few weeks when Crysis 2 comes out. To me, a game with a strong multiplayer aspect is the best entertainment “value” around. It might take 10-15 hours to finish a Call of Duty campaign, but I could spend 10 times that amount of time playing it online. If you wait too long, the number of online players drops, and those games because more of a pain to play, or become less enjoyable. I probably can’t justify spending $60 on the release-day of a game with no online play. But in some cases, I still think it’s more than worth it.
Something else to keep in mind — some stores, like Amazon, will run sales on game preorders, where you get, say, $20 off your next game purchase. You can keep rolling those over from one game to the next, saving quite that much each time. The problem is that some of those promo codes have a short expiration time, though, which I have been burned on befrore.
I used to buy all the new releases. Just to have them. What I found though, is I would play them all for about an hour, then I would only play the one or two that kept my attention. Wasted a ton of money.
Now, I buy one or two new releases, and rent the rest.
There are also a ton of sites out there that will let you earn free games and things like that. I use a couple of these sites to get things. Like, I got a free 1600 MS point card and a free Xbox 360 HD cable. Sure, it did not save me a ton of money, but it was 40 dollars that I can now put towards a new game purchase later.
A great site is this one: Gear-4-Free They have daily posts about free things all over the internet.
“As someone who works in the video game industry, I have to make a very strong plea that you NOT buy used copies of video games … Why would I make such a non-frugal suggestion? Because when you buy that used game, not a single penny of that purchase is going back to the people who made the game.”
Who cares? When I buy a used car, not a single penny of that purchase goes back to the car manufacturer, it all goes to the last guy who owned the car. Should I only buy brand new cars because of this?
What about houses? Only buy houses that are new construction as to make sure the developer gets a cut?
One thing i did with the kids is to be “behind” of the latest console maybe 2 generations and go on ebay and buy those incredible cheap. The kids dont really know the diffrence.
Another thing we are considering now is to join the local recreation center. They have pool,exercise etc. and a gaming room. With $120 per person /year it makes not only the recent games available it also gives them more healthy choices and most important their gaming time is limited by the time they are there
Gamefly is the way to go. It works really well for games that have great campaign or story modes, but not great multiplayer modes. The original assassin’s creed game, for example was $60 for PS3 and most people can “finish” it in twenty or thirty hours of playing. at $15/month for one game at a time, you only need to be able to play your rentals for more than 5-7 hrs/month for that to be worth while. I do buy some games though, like black ops, that I can play with friends right now, and log the dozens of hours I will want to play without paying a monthly rate.
My kids like video games—we have a deal: They can play them a couple hours every other day but only if their homework is done and they are getting good grades in school. And only if the games are free online and parent-approved (ie by me).
I honestly have no idea why anyone would spend $500 a year on video games with all the free stuff out there.
I thought it is worth noting here that Blockbuster is going out of business. If you have not already checked out your local blockbuster then now may be a good time. They are marking down prices on gams/movies up to 75% off. There are a lot of good deals.
What I was wondering is how the author got the game systems so cheaply.
I’ve been debating about getting a game system for a while because I can’t justify the expense in relation to the small amount of time I would have to play. There are some games out there for the Wii I would like to try (My last system was a Genesis. Yep, I’m old!), but I don’t want to buy a whole system just try out a few games. Are there any places that rent the systems, or are there cheaper ways to find a used one?
Also, agreed with Tyler on this one. People only buying new is the reason our natural resources are in sharp decline.
I also work in the games industry, but on the casual games side. Our core audience is 35-60 year old women, and most of our games are downloadable PC/Mac games. You can play a demo free for an hour, then choose to buy (or not) for anywhere from $2.99 to $20. There are also plenty of free facebook games (well, you can play for free, but it gets tedious after awhile).
The games are typically hidden object, light adventure games, or puzzle games. Our users tell us they primarily play to relax, and to keep their minds sharp (and studies back this up, as others have mentioned). I’ve worked in this industry for over ten years and I absolutely love it. People are passionate about games!
Those who dismiss videogames as useless or detrimental are often spending hours of their own time watching television, which is a passive escape. Games are interactive! I am convinced there is a game for everyone — and not all video games are about shooting or racing. I recently played an interactive story game (PC) which is based on the novels of Jane Austen. Quite a far cry from Halo: Reach. 🙂
I do agree, everything in moderation. But for most adults, how many regular activities are you doing that really challenge your brain, your reflexes, and let you truly PLAY? Most people seem to get locked into a routine at work, do their 25 minutes on a treadmill, and sit on a couch to watch TV or read. Whether it’s on a table, PC, or console, I believe games can bring a lot of value to life.
There are also communities around the internet that provide ways to swap games for ones you are looking for. The one that comes to mind with this is Reddit’s gameswap community (http://www.reddit.com/r/gameswap).
Thanks for all the great comments, everybody. I’d like to address a few things from above in one reply.
RE: Cole @ 2 – I tried to use Goozex, but the site often seemed to break entirely and the abstract points system was too confusing. When I found the polished, cost-friendly, clean experience at Glyde I forgot about the broken, confusing experience of Goozex entirely.
RE: brokeprofessionals @ 4 – I’m totally into board games, too. My favorite outlet for picking those up cheap (other than patiently watching Craigslist) is Cardhaus Games. Amazing prices and only a 10 minute drive from my house (so no shipping fees). Sweet.
RE: Michael @ 18 & Eric @ 32 – Good point. Free-to-play games are also a great way to game. I didn’t really bring that up because the thrust of this post was how to play games that ordinarily cost a lot of money on the cheap.
RE: MikeTheRed @ 22 – I followed that whole argument on Penny-Arcade a while back. The big thing the “only buy new” camp overlooks is that the ability to sell a game when you’re done playing it is a large part of the value proposition of buying new. If the used games market disappeared tomorrow, most of the people who exclusively buy full-priced brand new games today would likely balk at the $50-$60 price tag since they couldn’t recoup some of that cost down the road by selling it used.
RE: Chickybeth @ 43 – Let’s see… I bought my Wii when the system was a few months old and a super-hot commodity that you could barely find on store shelves anywhere. I happened to be able to find 4 systems, 3 of which I sold for a total of ~$200 profit, basically completely covering the cost of the one I kept.
I bought my 360 on Buy.com on sale and w/ an online coupon that gave me 20% off video game purchases.
I bought my PS3 from someone on Craigslist. I really wanted the fully backward-compatible version and I didn’t want to spend more than $200 on it. After patiently waiting for at least six months, I finally found one that met my criteria.
@Chickybeth – you can probably find a Wii to play with somewhere. We have a ton of friends with Wiis, but also our gym has one in the kids room that they break out occasionally – I bet if I said to the staff, hey, I’m thinking of buying a Wii, could I play that one for a few minutes when it’s slow in here? they would let me. Or in a store? We played a game on the newish Microsoft platform (the one you just move your body & a camera watches you) at the mall for a long time one day this summer. I think Best Buy does that too in some locations.
@Julie #37 – that’s exactly where we are. We have a Playstation 2 and a Gamecube. Games for them are cheap-to-free right now and I believe I bought the cube for $15 at a garage sale. (We got the Playstation new, so it was expensive.)
I am a huge fan of the Halo-series. I can’t begin to explain how immensely I enjoy spending a couple of hours each Sunday with my brother, playing co-op. It’s not just about the game, it’s a bonding thing as well. We’ve spent hundreds of hours in total playing the various Halo games and even though we’ve bought three Xboxes (one original and two 360’s) I can say with certainty that the time and money spent has been well worth it.
I have bought two of the last games from a big chain because I keep an eye out for deals and over here at least they often use cheap games to get you into the store and hope that once you’re there you will buy all sorts of other things (a new tv perhaps). Getting the games on the day of release is often cheaper than waiting even two years. Strange but true.
The thing is, I would gladly have paid full price for the Halo games we have played. I even budget for them six months in advance. That is how much I enjoy them and that is my whole philosophy when it comes to buying games; buy what you really like and will play and forget the rest. That way, even paying full price is not that bad, compared to the amount of joy I get.
louisa @ TheReallyGoodLife says03 March 2011 at 06:03
Don’t forget free & open source games.
One of my favourite games is OpenTTD – an free/open source version of Transport Tycoon from the mid-1990s. People who love the original game rebuilt the original engine, re-drew graphics and have added to it & extended it in all sorts of ways — and give it away for anyone to play for free. It’s got to the stage now where it is considerably better – in terms of game play and graphics – than the original.
There is also FreeCiv – a long established and very polished clone of Civilisation 2 from a similar era.
As for paid-for games, I occasionally have a couple of months in the World of Warcraft – there is a monthly subscription but for those months, the per-hour-of-play cost is very low — much cheaper than renting a film or a new game.
“I bought my Wii when the system was a few months old and a super-hot commodity that you could barely find on store shelves anywhere. I happened to be able to find 4 systems, 3 of which I sold for a total of ~$200 profit, basically completely covering the cost of the one I kept.”
If you bought it at retail price you bought it at retail price. If I bought a house for $250,000, sold it for $300,000 and then used the proceeds to buy a $50,000 BMW, it doesn’t mean I got a free BMW. I got a $50,000 BMW with money I made somewhere else.
I’m a gamer from back in the ’70s, and now as a college professor, I incorporate gaming concepts into my class. To do this, I’ve had the chance to do some research on gaming, and as some earlier posts had said, games and gaming is everywhere, played by everyone. Get it out of your head about pimply 21 & Under boys playing war or fantasy games–that does happen but the fastest segment of growth is in older adults playing “casual games” found on places like facebook. Moreover, the gaming industry is one of the largest entertainment businesses in the world, as large as Hollywood (maybe even larger by now).
And, Steam is available for the Mac as well as the PC. The author wrote about steam, and he may have meant “If you are a desktop computer player…keep an eye on Steam.” But, in case he just meant the PC side of computers, Steam opened up to Apple/Mac last year.
Blockbuster is bankrupt, but that doesn’t mean gamers can’t benefit from what they have. Although they don’t have instant streaming like Netflix, the have an online mailing plan that meshes Netflix & Gamefly — plus, Blu Ray is not an extra charge! To me, this has been the greatest way to keep costs down – I get Blu Ray vids or the newest games, whatever I feel like getting. It’s comparable in price to Gamefly, but with DVDs/Blu Ray. I think the cheapest plan is like $11/month.
Blockbuster’s online business will rent games the same price as movies. You can rent games from them for $11.99 a month, which isabout $4 less a month than Gamefly, but you also get streaming movies and blu-rays for that price.
Gamefly is too much $$$ as a rental option. I have Blockbuster Video by mail. For $5+tax/month, I get 2 games a month, 1 at a time. Who needs many games at once, anyway? I’d rather finish one game, then move on.
To score that deal, just do a trial subscription. At the end of it, cancel, and they’ll show you their cheaper options. Note that you can’t do the free in store exchange, but since I don’t live near one, who need. it.
RE: Tyler Karaszewski @ 52 – You can look at it whatever way you want, but the fact of the matter is that the only reason I searched so hard for multiple Wiis on the store shelves was so I could sell some at a profit to make enough money to break even after keeping one for myself.
In other words, I started the process with $600 and no Wii, and ended the process with $600 and a Wii. End result: Free Wii (less my time brokering the deals).
Back in 2009, I was in a small financial bind when fall rolled around, which is usually the biggest “buy time” for gamers. I took an honest look at things, and did the following:
1) How many games are coming out in the next 3 months that I want? The answer then was 10.
2) Realize there’s NO WAY you’re going to play all those games in that time span. Given my usual habits, I figured 4 out of the 10 would be sufficient, and allowed parlay on a 5th if Black Friday sales were good.
The results were better than I imagined. I bought the four games I told myself I could, and finished three of them, and got to 50% on a fourth. I allowed myself a fifth (Dragon Age: Origins was nearly half off at Best Buy on Black Friday), but traded it in a few months later to get most of it back when I wasn’t satisfied.
The other games on that list? Never bought them, never played them, haven’t missed them.
I also told myself it was high time to trade in games I no longer played. I would always tell myself, “I may want to play it again someday,” but then it hit me that I’d been saying this for over 5 years with most of them, and never actually did it. I cleared out at least half of my personal collection of games, and snagged a good number of titles pretty cheap. Red Dead Redemption for $20 ON LAUNCH DAY because I traded in both L4D games to get $40 off (which I re-bought on Steam for $10 anyway)? Yes please!
Then I started noticing that tons of games I would buy new would go on sale for $20 or more less within months of hitting shelves, and not used copies, brand new copies. Sure Bayonetta was a blast, but I never finished it, and it went on sale at GameStop for $30 within 4 months of hitting retail. I would have gladly waited that long to save 50% on it, or by that time wouldn’t have cared enough, or just borrowed it from a friend. Same thing with BioShock 2 and Final Fantasy XIII. Never finished, and they both went on sale for 40 to 50 percent off within months of hitting.
Case in point: Amazon recently had all versions of Bulletstorm on sale for $40 ($20 off console versions, $10 off PC). The game hadn’t even been out two weeks.
So now I prioritize my purchases. New Zelda game coming out? Day one buy, because I know I’ll play it from start to finish within weeks of getting it. Something I’m interested in but on a more casual basis? Wait for it to go on sale.
I did this with two PC games last fall: StarCraft II, and Civilization V. I had to wait an AGONIZING 1.5 months after each was released before they both dropped to $40 and $30 respectively.
I also hold off for collections and Steam’s annual year end sales. I managed to snag around 14 games for ~$200 this past holiday season, which should last me a good portion of the year.
Also, screw collectors editions. Granted, if collecting games is your hobby, then go for it, but if you’re like me, all of the extra crap you get will just end up gathering dust in your closet. Boy, I’m so glad I bought that super duper version of Modern Warfare 2 with the night vision goggles for $150! I totally use them all the time! Oh wait, no I don’t, and I’m $90 poorer for it.
There are 59 comments to "Gaming without breaking the bank".
Our local library has started carrying video games. I prefer board games myself (like Pandemic), but the video gamers out there might want to check out their local library. (Actually some libraries also have board game collections.)
Another great way to reduce costs for gaming is Goozex.com. It is a game trading website where you earn points for games you have traded to get other titles. The only costs are shipping and a dollar per trade.
Cue the short, pointless comment from LifeAndMyFinances just to get another link to his blog near the top of another GRS post in 3 … 2 … 1 …
My favorite thing about being a board game “gamer” rather than video games, is that most of the “euro-games” hold their value, so if you get sick of a game you can often sell it for the same price you bought it for. Some of the games with time even increase in value. For example, the now out of print “Dune” Board Game can sell for at least hundreds of dollars. It is not a Euro game, but my wife and I bought Arkham Horror and had problems getting anyone else to play it. (it is not a great 2 player game). So we sold it for the same price we had purchased it for at an online website devoted to board games. As for video games, I had to give up video games when I got married and bought our dog, not enough time (in terms of my other priorities).
Checking CAG and Amazon daily deals really is a great way to score new games cheap, as long as you’re patient. I don’t think I have paid over $40 for a game in years, and most times I pick up the games for $20. Of course if you are really trying to be frugal used games are the way to go.
I would just like to point out that while selling your used games on glyde might be a little easier, I think the seller makes more profit using half.com. I have had much more success selling and getting more money for my games on half.com.
My local library has video games as well. I have borrowed many games that I’m so glad I did not spend any money on.
I keep forgetting about GameFly. My husband would probably save some of his fun money when he starts gaming again if he could just pay a monthly fee to test games out first.
Lately we’ve been boardgaming like Wil said, we really enjoy Power Grid. I’m surprised how little we actually have been using our gaming systems…
Thanks to game/movie trading site goozex.com and a little patience, I haven’t had to make a game purchase for over 2-years. Check it out if your like me and have a few toddlers running around and little time to get to a new release.
Awesome post! This is definitely something that strikes near and dear to many of our hearts, or at least our spouse’s hearts.
Over the years DH has definitely moved towards spending his allowance the way you suggest… not getting new releases, and so on.
Another nice thing about Euro board games is that even in small towns, there are gaming clubs so you don’t have to buy every game yourself. (And, unlike miniature games, you only need one game for a group of people to play.) DH loves Boardgamegeek for figuring out what to buy and what to play. He’s also hooked on some gaming podcasts (he now listens to them on 2x speed in the car or while lawnmowing so they sound like chipmunks).
@3 Kevin, please stop being a bully. Also, note the irony in your statement… did you contribute anything to the conversation except to distract and make me start the morning feeling negative rather than pleasant towards my fellow man (in this case, you), despite today’s novel and excellent post?
Kevin at this point you are turning into a comment troll.
@ali:
So, 2 posts on this topic makes me a comment troll, but LifeAndMyFinances posts short, meaningless comments on every topic, and it’s OK? Gotcha.
@Nicole:
I don’t mean to be a bully – I just want to elevate the quality of the discussions that follow the posts on this blog. As I said before, LaMF has been warned before, and no, not by me. By JD. He’s used the time JD was away to resume his obnoxious behaviour.
One of the popular tips on “How to Grow Your Blog” sites is “Comment often, everywhere, as near the top as possible.” LaMF has taken this to heart, and is spamming every post on GRS with short, shallow posts, just to spam a link back to his own blog. I understand that’s a popular – and even effective – tactic, but it’s also irritating to regular readers of the blogs being spammed. These comment sections are not just a feeding ground for spamming links to your own blogs – they’re supposed to be used for meaningful discussion. It’s fine to include a link back to your own blog if you’re actually adding something to the discussion, but LaMF never does. He barely even reads the articles. He just posts a short, barely on-topic comment, and tries to get as near the top as he can. It’s taking JD’s audience for granted, and frankly, I’m sick of it.
So was JD. That’s why LaMF was warned about his behaviour once before already.
I still say that having an online gaming membership is a great and cheap form of entertainment. For ~$15 a month, you can play as many hours as you want on it. You would spend twice that going to one movie one weekend.
Playing video or computer games is a waste of time. Why not do something to improve yourself or to get out and experience life? Mostly it is just masturbation and fantasy and avoiding the real world.
Or here’s an idea: Man up and stop playing video games. Real men (and women) over the age of 18 don’t play with that crap.
@13 Vern
You would be surprised, but the evidence is actually against you on the waste of time aspect of video and computer games.
We have a post on this in our queue that we’re not quite finished writing (we were hoping to link to the actual articles but haven’t gotten around to digging them up)…
But… there’s an optimal amount of video games to be played. Most people are either playing too many or too few.
Video games can be used with biofeedback to prevent violence in people who are naturally predisposed to it.
Video games can teach impatient people to be patient, and they can teach how to save.
(regular FPS and strategy) Video games can improve health and dexterity in older adults.
Video gamers are better at attentional tasks.
So, no, they’re not all bad. Some amount is good and they can be incredibly useful.
we get our games pretty inexpensively off of the used sellers from amazon- $20 is the most common price, and if we both end up playing 60hrs of a game- even at $60 a pop that’s a pretty good entertainment cost per hour (50c/hr).
I play a lot of video games not only because I love them, but also because I make them and this is a form of research. So I have a pretty large stock of PC, 360, PS3, and PS2 games.
I almost always only buy games after they are under $20, which allows me to buy 3-4 times as many for the same cost. One trick I use is to add games to my “Save for later” list in my Amazon shopping cart. Then, whenever I go to my cart, I get the notices about the price drops and move them into my cart when I like the price (and get free shipping, which is pretty important at these price points).
Since I work in the Games Industry, I also get a lot of free games, can buy newly-released games my publisher makes for $10-$15, and have friends who work for other publishers who buy games for me (as I do for them).
Partly inspired by JD, I started a blog the other day about gaming. Since my kids just started gaming, themselves, part of my focus will be on the parenting aspect, which may be especially useful for non-gamer parents. The site is http://theGamerDad.com. The interesting thing is that buying games at a reasonable price was going to be the subject of one of my first posts, and most of the games I plan to review will be at that price point (partly because of my purchase strategy, and partly because parents are going to want to save money)!
A bit surprised that free-to-play games aren’t mentioned. I’m not talking free online flash games, though those are nice if that’s what you like. There are great high-quality major titles which are free to play, and in pretty much any genre.
I’ve been playing The Lord of the Rings Online for a couple years now, and it’s by far my favorite MMO (big Tolkien geek here). Last September the game went free to play — the perfect price =) I had been debating getting my girlfriend an account while I was away at grad school, but now that’s an easy decision and it’s turning into a great way for us to spend time together despite the distance.
I’m also in the Battlefield Play4Free beta, and while I can’t say I’m a hardcore fps gamer, it’s every bit as good as the other Battlefield titles from my viewpoint. Reportedly, it’s releasing to the public this summer. Alternatively, Battlefield Heroes is f2p right now.
Racing? Need for Speed Online, Drift City, and Project Torque are f2p.
Air combat? ACE Online or Heroes in the Sky
I haven’t found a good f2p alternative to EVE Online yet, but one of my friends that plays isn’t paying — she’s profitable enough in the game that she buys game time with earned “ISK” (the in-game currency).
I also have an Xbox 360, and purchases are very carefully planned, and exclusively secondhand. The Bing Rewards program is worth mentioning as well; I’ve earned enough Microsoft points over the past few months to buy a couple of indie games off its marketplace. Otherwise, I’m content playing the demos 🙂
Great post! Very timely and relevant for me (as a poor gamer grad student).
For a few years my only gaming was an online subscription to an MMO, much cheaper than going to the movies or buying new games every few months like I used to do.
The past year I really realized how great Steam is for a frugal gamer. Indie games and digital distribution have renewed my excitement about the future for PC gaming. More games out there that don’t cost $60 at full price, and the opportunity for really fantastic sales through Steam if you are patient. And better for the environment and STUFF reduction too – no boxes to bring home, no DVDs to store.
CAG is a fantastic resource, as is keeping an eye on Slickdeals top deals. I was able to pick up a new game and controller bundle for 1/4 of the original retail price – less than the price of either the game or controller separately.
As others have said, gaming is a great hobby when both time and money invested are kept in check. Spending ~$8 to rent a great single player game that I wouldn’t otherwise play more than once is a far greater entertainment value than going to a movie.
Another bonus to patience that has not been mentioned, yet, is that this gives the developer plenty of time to patch bugs in the game that can be very frustrating.
A possible negative to patience is that the online community for the game may have gone away, making it hard to find matches. In the worst cases, the developer/publisher may no longer even run the servers that may be needed for multiplayer. Not all games require servers to play, but even ones that don’t often use servers to facilitate matching when you are looking for a game with a random stranger.
As someone who works in the video game industry, I have to make a very strong plea that you NOT buy used copies of video games. Wait for sales and coupons and other discounts rather than purchasing a pre-owned game.
Why would I make such a non-frugal suggestion? Because when you buy that used game, not a single penny of that purchase is going back to the people who made the game. Purchasing items on sale or at reduced price later ensures at least SOME piece of the money you spent will go to those who made the product. Used sales are entirely kept by the store.
I appreciate the shout out to gamers from GRS. Its nice to see other gamers out there that like to save a couple bucks here and there.
Timely post. I’ve been looking at this topic for the past week and dipping my toes in.
A few observations:
* The VAAAAST majority of stuff for sale on craigslist is overpriced. It’s very easy to price stuff out online, so there’s little point to craigslist arbitrage.
* I don’t trust anything that doesn’t cash out. Goozex points, for example. Or Gamestaq until recently. If I can’t pay rent with it, I’m not interested.
* Depending on your appetite and backlog, it’s usually a better deal to buy from Gamefly than rent. An example: I bought Bioshock 2 from them for 18 bucks and can sell it for 10. It might be worth it though, if you’re after a game as soon as it comes out.
* Amazon regularly has preorder discounts. Under the cartel like rules of promotional fees for retailers, they’re not allowed to retail for less than MSRP. But apparently they’re allowed to give a discount on some future purchase. I bought Mario Galaxy 2 with a 20 dollar future discount, and it hasn’t moved in price. The result is only people who don’t have time to bargain hunt before release pay MSRP.
I think there hasn’t been a lot of mention for one of the most frugal ways to game: free games! There are lots of free games either online or for download. There are also some very good freemium games that can entertain for quite a long time without paying much if anything.
On a related note – While I develop mobile apps and not games, I do not agree that buying used games (or other software) damages developers. That’s like saying don’t buy a used car because not a penny goes back to the original manufacturer. Some people buy games because they know they can offload them at a later date and recoup some of the cost they paid initially. If the used market didn’t exist, I suspect overall games sales would actually decrease because potential buyers would be more reluctant to pull the trigger on a sale. If you’re thinking of buying a used game, go for it!
@Tom #19
That is a very good point when it comes to the “wait for it” approach. Often times if the game isn’t extremely popular to begin with in the online community (think Halo, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Starcraft) it can be difficult to find a game even a year after launch. Therefore I find myself to be much more of a single player gamer most of the time with older games.
However I have started a kind of habit where about every year in the fall I will buy a game new that has a big multiplayer component (this year it was Halo:Reach) and will play it for a month or so, really about the point where I am “finished” with the multiplayer, then resell it on Amazon. Using Reach as an example i bought it for $40 at release (if you count $20 Amazon gift card as same as cash) and then sold it right before Christmas for $35. In that time I had played the singleplayer twice and had put over 40 hours into the multiplayer, well worth the money in my opinion. Should my collector’s urge hit me at some point in the future and I feel the need to have a copy of Reach for my collection I should be able to pick it up for <$20, but that rarely happens.
Another big thing that has saved me money with video games is getting rid of my collector's mentality, or as much of it as possible, there is no need to hold on to any game produced today if you aren't going to play it in the next year because you can almost always sell it or trade it for more than it can be acquired for in the future. Just selling/trading a game immediately after you finish with it can let you recoup a large amount of the purchase price (if you are speedy). I often find that games that I intended to replay and kept often didn't get replayed anyway because there are always other games out there that I want to play.
Goozex is something I have been using for awhile as well, after "seeding" my points with a few 1000 point new releases I am still trading on those 2000 points (with games constantly being received and traded) although now it is down to about 800 due to games reducing in point value as I held onto them.
Since I think I have reached the point of rambling I will now end this comment.
My husband cooks in a movie theatre restaurant so gets home very late at night. Video games on his PS3 allow him to “wind down” before going to bed. He plays many games, at least 20-25 a year but keeps his annual gaming costs down to make us both happy. He usually asks for gift certificates from family for his birthday and Christmas to GameStop. He also likes to be patient and wait for the prices to come down before purchasing his games, usually, but not always, buying if they are $15 or less. Now he combines his gift cards with buying and trading with my employer, AbundaTrade.com.
The company I work for, http://www.abundatrade.com, buys and sells used and new Video Games, CDs, DVDs and books. We consistently sell at the lowest prices anywhere and we guarantee the most value for your Video Games, Books, CDs and DVDs online. Come check out our trade calculator where you can get an estimate of how much we will pay for your trade at http://www.abundatrade.com and look up the prices for games you may be interested in. If you trade in games, you can either get cash back or an AbundaTrade store credit. When you choose store credit, you’ll get an additional 25% added to the trade value.
Factoring in the trade-in values, my husband more than pays for his gaming without cutting into our household budget. “They” say, “Happy wife, happy life.” But for us, video games at a very minimal cost mean both a happy husband and a happy wife!
I only purchase used games from Gamestop now, and I always take a game right back there to trade it in when I’m finished. I NEVER used to do this. I also broke down and sold a buttload of my games on Ebay. Those classic RPG’s really give some good cash. I mean, was there any chance I was really going to replay FF7, FF8, FF Tactics, and Chrono Cross while I still try to play some relatively new games? Now I put in something in the range of 20-40 bucks a year on video games where it used to be 100’s.
And to anyone who says video games are a waste of time, well, I think you have to look at it like most things on this website. Moderation seems to be the best level for anything, and if you’re making the concious decision to spend your time playing then it’s good. Tough for me since I used to be a HUGE online gamer. I’ve stopped that now, and just play the games for the story mode. Opens TONS of free time for me, and I look at each game as an interactive story.
Heck, there’s one retailer that I go to that puts games on clearance, I picked up a Tomb Raider game for the PS3 for $7 while it was still retailing for $30. I have actually picked up 1/3 of my collection through used and clearanced games. I refuse to pay more than $30 for a video game, especially since I don’t pay online. In the end, it is the exact same gaming experience as if you had purchased a game when it first came out.
Also, another source for cheaper game purchases, new and used, is Half.com. It’s an Ebay site, but it can be a good place to find games at reasonable prices.
I love video games, but I don’t have time to play much anymore. I’m way behind on games and that make it a lot cheaper. 🙂
Craigslist is pretty good, but people there are just so flaky. These days, I just check CAG and go to Gamestop. My time is more valuable now.
I disagree with #13 Vern about games being a waste of time, or not useful, or masturbation or what not.
Before I address the main argument, let’s get masturbation out of the way. Nothing wrong with a natural and pleasurable activity, unless for some odd reason you feel guilty or ashamed about your body functions, in which case you should consult a psychologist immediately.
Now, about games: there are studies that show that computer games can make you smarter.
Here, check it out: http://www.hulu.com/watch/36424/howcast-how-to-justify-your-video-game-obsession
Also, there is an argument that the reason people are into computer games is because they are not sufficiently challenged in everyday life. The brain likes a challenge, and sure, we can make our life more challenging but often other people regulate our behavior (teachers, bosses, etc) and one needs to make up for it.
I don’t play console games because my eye-hand coordination is atrocious, and I am bad at them, so I don’t enjoy them, so I play more PC games. I personally love strategy games and have loved them since I first played Sid Meier’s “Civilization” (the first version, with the clunky graphics).
Strategy games are like chess but with a wider, more open board. Delicious, challenging, and they help me develop strategic thinking skills that I apply to my own life.
Nobody has a problem with chess these days, it’s even an activity promoted by schools, but I’ve read stuff from previous centuries making fun of chess players as idlers.
Sure, there are some games that are like having a part-time job without getting paid (usually those that require you to complete “quests” annoy me for that reason–they get boring fast), but everyone will play to a level where they feel positively challenged, which is good for the brain.
Also, in spite of the “wasted time” claim, games provide a huge bang for the buck in terms of recreation. Since recreation is a necessary part of life, consider the following: say you pay $40 for a game, you might end up playing that for 200 hours or even more. That’s about 20 cents an hour. On the other hand if you spend that money at the movies you get about 8 hours of fun. If you go to a bar, those $40 will buy you at most 4 drinks if you include tax and tip.
Of course, everything in moderation. Food is good but gluttony is harmful, a drink is nice but alcoholism is a horrid illness, and games are fun but being stuck in a basement playing 18 hours a day is a problem. So you could maybe backpedal a little and consider that games are a valid form of recreation than can be good for you.
Oh, and you may consider taking up masturbation to prevent cancer. That’s right:
http://razqa.com/masturbation-can-prevent-prostate-cancer
Have fun today.
Free MMORPGs are also a nice frugal option. Off the top of my head, there is:
* Champions Online ( http://www.champions-online.com/ )
* Lord of the Rings Online ( http://www.lotro.com/ )
* Dungeons and Dragons Online ( http://www.ddo.com/ )
* And I’m sure there are tons more…
Don’t knee jerk against the big chains right away. If you are a Best Buy rewards card member (like me, and it’s free) and you “join” the Gamers reward club (which is free) you get some sweet deals. I got a free copy of their gamer “magazine” and it had a $15 off coupon for Batman Arkham GOTY edition. I had to search 3 different stores, but I found a copy for $19.99 so with coupon I paid $5 for a brand new copy of a AAA title game. The key here, whatever strategies you use, is to shop around and be patient. Integrating a multilevel approach to game hunting is how you’ll always win.
I’m super-duper cheap; but I freely spend $60 on certain games the day they come out, such as Call of Duty, and will do in a few weeks when Crysis 2 comes out. To me, a game with a strong multiplayer aspect is the best entertainment “value” around. It might take 10-15 hours to finish a Call of Duty campaign, but I could spend 10 times that amount of time playing it online. If you wait too long, the number of online players drops, and those games because more of a pain to play, or become less enjoyable. I probably can’t justify spending $60 on the release-day of a game with no online play. But in some cases, I still think it’s more than worth it.
Something else to keep in mind — some stores, like Amazon, will run sales on game preorders, where you get, say, $20 off your next game purchase. You can keep rolling those over from one game to the next, saving quite that much each time. The problem is that some of those promo codes have a short expiration time, though, which I have been burned on befrore.
I used to buy all the new releases. Just to have them. What I found though, is I would play them all for about an hour, then I would only play the one or two that kept my attention. Wasted a ton of money.
Now, I buy one or two new releases, and rent the rest.
There are also a ton of sites out there that will let you earn free games and things like that. I use a couple of these sites to get things. Like, I got a free 1600 MS point card and a free Xbox 360 HD cable. Sure, it did not save me a ton of money, but it was 40 dollars that I can now put towards a new game purchase later.
A great site is this one: Gear-4-Free They have daily posts about free things all over the internet.
@MikeTheRed:
“As someone who works in the video game industry, I have to make a very strong plea that you NOT buy used copies of video games … Why would I make such a non-frugal suggestion? Because when you buy that used game, not a single penny of that purchase is going back to the people who made the game.”
Who cares? When I buy a used car, not a single penny of that purchase goes back to the car manufacturer, it all goes to the last guy who owned the car. Should I only buy brand new cars because of this?
What about houses? Only buy houses that are new construction as to make sure the developer gets a cut?
One thing i did with the kids is to be “behind” of the latest console maybe 2 generations and go on ebay and buy those incredible cheap. The kids dont really know the diffrence.
Another thing we are considering now is to join the local recreation center. They have pool,exercise etc. and a gaming room. With $120 per person /year it makes not only the recent games available it also gives them more healthy choices and most important their gaming time is limited by the time they are there
Gamefly is the way to go. It works really well for games that have great campaign or story modes, but not great multiplayer modes. The original assassin’s creed game, for example was $60 for PS3 and most people can “finish” it in twenty or thirty hours of playing. at $15/month for one game at a time, you only need to be able to play your rentals for more than 5-7 hrs/month for that to be worth while. I do buy some games though, like black ops, that I can play with friends right now, and log the dozens of hours I will want to play without paying a monthly rate.
My kids like video games—we have a deal: They can play them a couple hours every other day but only if their homework is done and they are getting good grades in school. And only if the games are free online and parent-approved (ie by me).
I honestly have no idea why anyone would spend $500 a year on video games with all the free stuff out there.
@Tyler K
I agree. Good comment.
I thought it is worth noting here that Blockbuster is going out of business. If you have not already checked out your local blockbuster then now may be a good time. They are marking down prices on gams/movies up to 75% off. There are a lot of good deals.
If you have to try new games all the time, renting is a great option.
Pat
http://compoundingreturns.blogspot.com
What I was wondering is how the author got the game systems so cheaply.
I’ve been debating about getting a game system for a while because I can’t justify the expense in relation to the small amount of time I would have to play. There are some games out there for the Wii I would like to try (My last system was a Genesis. Yep, I’m old!), but I don’t want to buy a whole system just try out a few games. Are there any places that rent the systems, or are there cheaper ways to find a used one?
Also, agreed with Tyler on this one. People only buying new is the reason our natural resources are in sharp decline.
Man, Steam is great. I know I’ve gotten games at their sales that have provided me with 80 hours of gameplay, for $5.
I also work in the games industry, but on the casual games side. Our core audience is 35-60 year old women, and most of our games are downloadable PC/Mac games. You can play a demo free for an hour, then choose to buy (or not) for anywhere from $2.99 to $20. There are also plenty of free facebook games (well, you can play for free, but it gets tedious after awhile).
The games are typically hidden object, light adventure games, or puzzle games. Our users tell us they primarily play to relax, and to keep their minds sharp (and studies back this up, as others have mentioned). I’ve worked in this industry for over ten years and I absolutely love it. People are passionate about games!
Those who dismiss videogames as useless or detrimental are often spending hours of their own time watching television, which is a passive escape. Games are interactive! I am convinced there is a game for everyone — and not all video games are about shooting or racing. I recently played an interactive story game (PC) which is based on the novels of Jane Austen. Quite a far cry from Halo: Reach. 🙂
I do agree, everything in moderation. But for most adults, how many regular activities are you doing that really challenge your brain, your reflexes, and let you truly PLAY? Most people seem to get locked into a routine at work, do their 25 minutes on a treadmill, and sit on a couch to watch TV or read. Whether it’s on a table, PC, or console, I believe games can bring a lot of value to life.
I wait on new releases often to drop in the $20-$30 range, except for Nintendo games because they rarely drop in price.
I keep this site in my RSS reader to watch for price drops: http:dailygamedeals.com Just picked up Uncharted 2 because it finally dropped to $30.
There are also communities around the internet that provide ways to swap games for ones you are looking for. The one that comes to mind with this is Reddit’s gameswap community (http://www.reddit.com/r/gameswap).
Thanks for all the great comments, everybody. I’d like to address a few things from above in one reply.
RE: Cole @ 2 – I tried to use Goozex, but the site often seemed to break entirely and the abstract points system was too confusing. When I found the polished, cost-friendly, clean experience at Glyde I forgot about the broken, confusing experience of Goozex entirely.
RE: brokeprofessionals @ 4 – I’m totally into board games, too. My favorite outlet for picking those up cheap (other than patiently watching Craigslist) is Cardhaus Games. Amazing prices and only a 10 minute drive from my house (so no shipping fees). Sweet.
RE: Vern @ 13 & Gwen @ 14 – Wow, you sure told me.
RE: Michael @ 18 & Eric @ 32 – Good point. Free-to-play games are also a great way to game. I didn’t really bring that up because the thrust of this post was how to play games that ordinarily cost a lot of money on the cheap.
RE: MikeTheRed @ 22 – I followed that whole argument on Penny-Arcade a while back. The big thing the “only buy new” camp overlooks is that the ability to sell a game when you’re done playing it is a large part of the value proposition of buying new. If the used games market disappeared tomorrow, most of the people who exclusively buy full-priced brand new games today would likely balk at the $50-$60 price tag since they couldn’t recoup some of that cost down the road by selling it used.
RE: Chickybeth @ 43 – Let’s see… I bought my Wii when the system was a few months old and a super-hot commodity that you could barely find on store shelves anywhere. I happened to be able to find 4 systems, 3 of which I sold for a total of ~$200 profit, basically completely covering the cost of the one I kept.
I bought my 360 on Buy.com on sale and w/ an online coupon that gave me 20% off video game purchases.
I bought my PS3 from someone on Craigslist. I really wanted the fully backward-compatible version and I didn’t want to spend more than $200 on it. After patiently waiting for at least six months, I finally found one that met my criteria.
@Chickybeth – you can probably find a Wii to play with somewhere. We have a ton of friends with Wiis, but also our gym has one in the kids room that they break out occasionally – I bet if I said to the staff, hey, I’m thinking of buying a Wii, could I play that one for a few minutes when it’s slow in here? they would let me. Or in a store? We played a game on the newish Microsoft platform (the one you just move your body & a camera watches you) at the mall for a long time one day this summer. I think Best Buy does that too in some locations.
@Julie #37 – that’s exactly where we are. We have a Playstation 2 and a Gamecube. Games for them are cheap-to-free right now and I believe I bought the cube for $15 at a garage sale. (We got the Playstation new, so it was expensive.)
I am a huge fan of the Halo-series. I can’t begin to explain how immensely I enjoy spending a couple of hours each Sunday with my brother, playing co-op. It’s not just about the game, it’s a bonding thing as well. We’ve spent hundreds of hours in total playing the various Halo games and even though we’ve bought three Xboxes (one original and two 360’s) I can say with certainty that the time and money spent has been well worth it.
I have bought two of the last games from a big chain because I keep an eye out for deals and over here at least they often use cheap games to get you into the store and hope that once you’re there you will buy all sorts of other things (a new tv perhaps). Getting the games on the day of release is often cheaper than waiting even two years. Strange but true.
The thing is, I would gladly have paid full price for the Halo games we have played. I even budget for them six months in advance. That is how much I enjoy them and that is my whole philosophy when it comes to buying games; buy what you really like and will play and forget the rest. That way, even paying full price is not that bad, compared to the amount of joy I get.
Don’t forget free & open source games.
One of my favourite games is OpenTTD – an free/open source version of Transport Tycoon from the mid-1990s. People who love the original game rebuilt the original engine, re-drew graphics and have added to it & extended it in all sorts of ways — and give it away for anyone to play for free. It’s got to the stage now where it is considerably better – in terms of game play and graphics – than the original.
There is also FreeCiv – a long established and very polished clone of Civilisation 2 from a similar era.
As for paid-for games, I occasionally have a couple of months in the World of Warcraft – there is a monthly subscription but for those months, the per-hour-of-play cost is very low — much cheaper than renting a film or a new game.
@The Tim:
“I bought my Wii when the system was a few months old and a super-hot commodity that you could barely find on store shelves anywhere. I happened to be able to find 4 systems, 3 of which I sold for a total of ~$200 profit, basically completely covering the cost of the one I kept.”
If you bought it at retail price you bought it at retail price. If I bought a house for $250,000, sold it for $300,000 and then used the proceeds to buy a $50,000 BMW, it doesn’t mean I got a free BMW. I got a $50,000 BMW with money I made somewhere else.
I’m a gamer from back in the ’70s, and now as a college professor, I incorporate gaming concepts into my class. To do this, I’ve had the chance to do some research on gaming, and as some earlier posts had said, games and gaming is everywhere, played by everyone. Get it out of your head about pimply 21 & Under boys playing war or fantasy games–that does happen but the fastest segment of growth is in older adults playing “casual games” found on places like facebook. Moreover, the gaming industry is one of the largest entertainment businesses in the world, as large as Hollywood (maybe even larger by now).
And, Steam is available for the Mac as well as the PC. The author wrote about steam, and he may have meant “If you are a desktop computer player…keep an eye on Steam.” But, in case he just meant the PC side of computers, Steam opened up to Apple/Mac last year.
Great article.
Blockbuster is bankrupt, but that doesn’t mean gamers can’t benefit from what they have. Although they don’t have instant streaming like Netflix, the have an online mailing plan that meshes Netflix & Gamefly — plus, Blu Ray is not an extra charge! To me, this has been the greatest way to keep costs down – I get Blu Ray vids or the newest games, whatever I feel like getting. It’s comparable in price to Gamefly, but with DVDs/Blu Ray. I think the cheapest plan is like $11/month.
Blockbuster’s online business will rent games the same price as movies. You can rent games from them for $11.99 a month, which isabout $4 less a month than Gamefly, but you also get streaming movies and blu-rays for that price.
For free new games, check out Swap.com. Here you can trade your old games for new ones
Gamefly is too much $$$ as a rental option. I have Blockbuster Video by mail. For $5+tax/month, I get 2 games a month, 1 at a time. Who needs many games at once, anyway? I’d rather finish one game, then move on.
To score that deal, just do a trial subscription. At the end of it, cancel, and they’ll show you their cheaper options. Note that you can’t do the free in store exchange, but since I don’t live near one, who need. it.
RE: Tyler Karaszewski @ 52 – You can look at it whatever way you want, but the fact of the matter is that the only reason I searched so hard for multiple Wiis on the store shelves was so I could sell some at a profit to make enough money to break even after keeping one for myself.
In other words, I started the process with $600 and no Wii, and ended the process with $600 and a Wii. End result: Free Wii (less my time brokering the deals).
Back in 2009, I was in a small financial bind when fall rolled around, which is usually the biggest “buy time” for gamers. I took an honest look at things, and did the following:
1) How many games are coming out in the next 3 months that I want? The answer then was 10.
2) Realize there’s NO WAY you’re going to play all those games in that time span. Given my usual habits, I figured 4 out of the 10 would be sufficient, and allowed parlay on a 5th if Black Friday sales were good.
The results were better than I imagined. I bought the four games I told myself I could, and finished three of them, and got to 50% on a fourth. I allowed myself a fifth (Dragon Age: Origins was nearly half off at Best Buy on Black Friday), but traded it in a few months later to get most of it back when I wasn’t satisfied.
The other games on that list? Never bought them, never played them, haven’t missed them.
I also told myself it was high time to trade in games I no longer played. I would always tell myself, “I may want to play it again someday,” but then it hit me that I’d been saying this for over 5 years with most of them, and never actually did it. I cleared out at least half of my personal collection of games, and snagged a good number of titles pretty cheap. Red Dead Redemption for $20 ON LAUNCH DAY because I traded in both L4D games to get $40 off (which I re-bought on Steam for $10 anyway)? Yes please!
Then I started noticing that tons of games I would buy new would go on sale for $20 or more less within months of hitting shelves, and not used copies, brand new copies. Sure Bayonetta was a blast, but I never finished it, and it went on sale at GameStop for $30 within 4 months of hitting retail. I would have gladly waited that long to save 50% on it, or by that time wouldn’t have cared enough, or just borrowed it from a friend. Same thing with BioShock 2 and Final Fantasy XIII. Never finished, and they both went on sale for 40 to 50 percent off within months of hitting.
Case in point: Amazon recently had all versions of Bulletstorm on sale for $40 ($20 off console versions, $10 off PC). The game hadn’t even been out two weeks.
So now I prioritize my purchases. New Zelda game coming out? Day one buy, because I know I’ll play it from start to finish within weeks of getting it. Something I’m interested in but on a more casual basis? Wait for it to go on sale.
I did this with two PC games last fall: StarCraft II, and Civilization V. I had to wait an AGONIZING 1.5 months after each was released before they both dropped to $40 and $30 respectively.
I also hold off for collections and Steam’s annual year end sales. I managed to snag around 14 games for ~$200 this past holiday season, which should last me a good portion of the year.
Also, screw collectors editions. Granted, if collecting games is your hobby, then go for it, but if you’re like me, all of the extra crap you get will just end up gathering dust in your closet. Boy, I’m so glad I bought that super duper version of Modern Warfare 2 with the night vision goggles for $150! I totally use them all the time! Oh wait, no I don’t, and I’m $90 poorer for it.