A Gamer’s Guide To More Savings
by MahmoudEm, HSM guest contributor
Any legitimate gamer knows that the multi-billion dollar gaming industry has to compete for your business. With December already here, there are many stores and websites that are having sales just in time for Christmas.
Yes they do offer trade-ins, discounts and rentals, as well as plenty of free online games and downloadable titles, but when certain games are released, they may be nearly impossible to buy cheap. Still, with a little hope, you may be able to beat this industry at their own game. As a PlayStation 3 owner – or with any current market gaming console – it’s really hard to be the one with every new video game title.
Every year, dozens of five star games are released, such as Uncharted 3, Assassins Creed: Revelations, Battlefield 3, Forza Motorsport 4, and so many other titles that I as a core gamer absolutely love, but are unfortunately sixty dollars apiece. Many video game publishers splash out millions of dollars just to make a video game blockbuster, yet in a gaming community it’s extremely hard shelling out sixty dollars for a game every three months — and, on top of that, purchasing downloadable content to enrich and freshen up the gaming experience for the gamer.
The ultimate season of games comes in late fall/early winter, where you have about five or six box-office-busting games hitting the shelves, which means at $60 each it’s $300 just to purchase five of them, less tax. Remember, there’s also the DLC, which is at a median price of ten to twenty dollars to purchase to keep the game “fresh.” So if you spend twenty dollars on each of those five games, you’ll be spending around $400 every November.
If you don’t make your own income and usually have parents purchase games for you, then hooray for you; but in this economy, you’ll likely have to have a job for your own discretionary purchases. Even if you’re a working adult and make a decent amount of money each month, you’ll probably be able to buy two-thirds of the games that come out every year, varying on your budget.
As a gamer I appreciate and have gratitude for gaming developers, but I don’t have $300 lying in my wallet after purchasing a $300 gaming system, buying accessories and miscellany, which can equal up to $400 or more, varying on if it’s a gaming console or a high-end gaming computer. Luckily, many retail game distributers give consumers the option to either purchase the game at full retail price, trade in an old game you don’t play as much for in store credit, sell your game, or even buy a pre-owned copy of the game. So here’s a couple of tips that you should consider!
Window Shopping
Before going out and buying a “must have” video game your friends just bought, check some game review websites such as IGN, Game Informer, Eurogamer, GameSpot, or any other reliable game review/news websites. REMINDER: Always and I mean ALWAYS compare ratings and prices on select videogames. They do their best to give honest opinions on newly released video games, but if you don’t feel like reading, you should (read: must) look at gameplay videos and go to a local GameStop or Best Buy and test-play the game. You may say that’s what renting is for, so I’ll be discussing that next.
Renting
GameFly, Netflix, iTunes, Origin, and — yes — the “old school” Blockbuster are just a few of the several services that let you rent games. You can always check their monthly plans. There are still a few online retailers that will send games via mail. Most game distributers have switched to online methods or will do so soon since internet technology grows larger every day. You can also visit your public library to see if they allow you to check out video games. If you return them on time, then you’ll have a full and happy wallet.
Patience, Young One
Many video game companies marketing strategies make you want the game eagerly within release – that’s why they have midnight releases to encourage the consumer to purchase the game. That’s a part of the marketing life. If you can (which you should), wait for the video game to at least drop down ten bucks, or sometimes twenty! For instance, L.A Noire was released in May for a full price of $60. Now GameStop lets you purchase the game for $39.99 new!
With saving twenty dollars you’re now able to buy the game and a DLC Pack for $60 instead of $80. A year ago, I remember when Call of Duty: Black Ops came out for $60, yet around Thanksgiving weekend they dropped the price to $50 for a limited time. Always check for deals at a local GameStop or other video game distributors.
Go PC
If you have a laptop or even desktop that can run “required” performance then you’ll be paying ten dollars less for most video games and still have the same gaming experience. Even though I own a PlayStation 3 I still tend to buy PC games that work like a charm on my E6410 Dell Latitude, such as Sims 3, Spore, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and many other mainstream titles without a hiccup. Even though this laptop wasn’t created for gaming, it still plays like a PS3 just with a little graphic difference. It’s convenient when you’re on a long road-trip, flight, lunch hour, or just on a coffee break at work. As long as you have a required computer like Alienware then you’re good to go!
Cleaning The Shelves
Many gamers have games that have either been outdated or just lost that puppy love for the game. Yes, GameStop does take trade-ins, but usually not for a “bang for your buck” price. Earlier this year, I remember going to buy L.A Noire, but when I asked what the trade-in price for my GTA – IV was they told me fourteen bucks. Then after that disappointing answer, I asked, “If I bought L.A Noire and wanted to sell it after two weeks of gaming, how much would I get for it?”
They responded with thirty bucks.
I was lucky to even get that price, since I knew the guy very well, but usually some other employee would say twenty-four bucks! It’s good to trade in, but you do lose a lot of value. It’s like buying a new car, as loon as that car hits the asphalt you just blew ten percent of its value into the air. Just remember trading in isn’t always the best way to buy a new game.
Grandpa’s Collection
Financially speaking, it’s ideal to get a newly released game used. Some can be six to twenty dollars cheaper than the tag on a retail priced game, but is a great way to save. Most retail gaming stores such as GameStop give you an option to purchase a used game, and return it within seven days of purchase with a full money back guarantee. If you have a friend (which I hope you do) then you can ask them if you’ll be able to borrow their game for a day or two. Just don’t turn it into a month.
This image has little to do with the topic at hand. It's just very funny.
Gaming Consoles Vary
Depending on which gaming console you buy, you’ll get cheaper or high-priced games. When a new and “big” game is released (The ones with midnight releases) you’d be praying hard just to get a price drop within the next month. Usually that tends to happen with games that are released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. If you opt for a Wii then you can hop on the “savings” band wagon since most of their games are usually $50 or under.
Kickbacks
If you own one of those phones that let you tappity-tap-tap on its touch screen, then you’re in luck. Marketplaces such as the Android Market, App Store, & Windows Marketplace let you not only purchase or download free apps, but it applies to games as well. On my iPhone I have numerous games that I play when I’m “on the go” such as Angry Birds and other games I can fiddle with. One of the great things as a PS3 owner is the social gaming platform we all know and love called PlayStation Home, which enables anyone with a PlayStation Network Account to join for absolutely no cost!
Seasonal Sales
During the days and weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas many retail stores offer discounts and a lot of great offers for video games at a reasonable price. When Black Friday struck last year, I set an ultimatum to buy all the games I wanted for a cheap price. After getting back home from Wal-Mart at 8 A.M. I found out that for $89 I was able to snatch up Medal of Honor: LE ($20) , Uncharted2: Drake’s Fortune ($10), Little Big Planet: CE (30$), FIFA ’11 ($10), a good ol’ Call of Duty Shirt ($9.99), and a PlayStation Network Card ($10). The usual price of those would have been well over $120 at that time.
So there you have most of it. If you’re looking for a great console that suits you then always test them out and remember to know what additional costs you may have to pay for.
December 7th, 2011 by MahmoudEm | 2 comments
Mahmoud is male teenager who has a passion for PS3 games and an addiction to Home.
haaaarrrr! you forget “STEAM” for the PC!
personaly i never buy games day one, for two reason: first ,because the 95% of my ludotech come from PC and with experiences i know than price decrease very quickly on this platform, and 2d because gamesz are full of “bugs” i wait the devs create patchs to have the best experience! and (yes it’s 3!^^)the MOD’s!
the best thing that exist on PC(for those who use them, i recomend the excellent NEXUSmod’s for oblivion , fallout; and so many games…
wait to play a game at the right price, what a real satisfaction for me!^^
Great read and good advice. There are a few other avenues to go when it comes to renting too. There is Red Box which you will find popping up on every other corner nowadays. Red Box offers you a one day rental of many of the newer games for only $1.50 a day, much cheaper than elsewhere. Also in my area we have Family Video, who tends to be a bit cheaper than Blockbuster.
When it comes to buying games I tend to get them used a lot, you can also buy them on Ebay, I have gotten some brand new games there for a very good price once the newness wears off. I bought Red Dead Redemption used for only $37.00 on Ebay when it was still $50.00 in Gamestop.
There are bargains out there you just have to look around. And I agree in this economy every penny counts.