General Video Game Deals Thread

[prettyunsmart]

I've found biking to be super expensive, though it's mostly an upfront cost situation.

 

Re: the privilege thing, I think there's definitely a ton of ways to game inexpensively. I always see people in GameStop who at least outwardly seem less to-do than myself (I'm lower-middle class) doing just fine buying games from last generation or letting their kids buy one game under $20 per visit. Every time I visit a local Redbox nearly every game is rented out.

 

Beside the point but the quintessential example, I've played Fallout 3 like 200+ hours so around a three dimes per hour of fun is pretty ridiculous in terms of cost per time. Obviously not every game is like that and not everyone is interested in games like that, but unless you go out of your way to find low playtime games I suspect its cheaper per hour to play games than to go to the movies on a regular basis not to mention resale value/used market.

 

I didn't mean to doubt you, or to say that games are unattainable for all but the super-rich. Mostly I mean to chastise myself for being like "there is no excuse for not playing this game I love" when in fact there are a multitude of reasons someone couldn't/wouldn't want to.

[JonCole]

I think it's a little silly to feel bad about having the free time and means to play games. Undoubtedly you earn money to afford it by working at a job? I'm sure there are people less fortunate than you, but you shouldn't feel bad because things worked out for you unless you're secretly some kind of public housing baron or gang leader that literally takes money out of people's pockets to fund your personal gaming empire.

[Winnipeg Fats]

Just quickly want to say that this is a funny conversation to have in the thread about finding cheap games.

 

Also you're not supposed to talk about the gaming empire baron gang.

[Bjorn]

As far as the cost of gaming goes compared to other hobbies, I go through spats of being a golfer.  Even going to the cheap course is likely to cost me $20 for a couple of hours of golfing, and if I want to go to a nicer course on the weekend, I'm looking at $40-$80 for a few hours.  Plus the cost of balls, tees, the occasional new club, a beer or two.  I have friends who easily spend $5K+ a year on golfing. 

 

I also do some carpentry occasionally, and I've spent far more on my tools than I have on all my gaming hardware in the last 6 or 7 years.  But I get the joy of having some really nice things in my house that I know I built. 

 

My wife's two big hobbies are gardening and sewing.   The amount she spends on plants and sewing material per year blows my gaming budget out of the water.  Her yearly spring plant purchase alone is probably equal to my entire gaming budget. 

 

Gaming is probably our cheapest hobby, honestly.  Not counting reading, we buy a lot of books used. 

[Justin Leego]

I also do some carpentry occasionally, and I've spent far more on my tools than I have on all my gaming hardware in the last 6 or 7 years.  But I get the joy of having some really nice things in my house that I know I built.

 

Plus you can come round and build me a house. Please?

 

Anyway, speaking of cheap games, humblebundle is doing a new daily bundle every day for two weeks. Or "new" as in today's Deep Silver re-Bundle.

 

Saints Row 2, SR3, Risen 2, Sacred 2 Gold

Dead Island GOTY, SR3 Full Package, Metro 2033, Risen, Sacred Citadel (over the average)

Dead Island Riptide ($8)

 

For a mini-moment I thought SR3 The Full Package was actually Saints Row IV and got excited. Interested to see what the days will bring. They could easily do two weeks of re-bundles given there are 48 others to chose from.

[Winnipeg Fats]

As far as the cost of gaming goes compared to other hobbies, I go through spats of being a golfer.  Even going to the cheap course is likely to cost me $20 for a couple of hours of golfing, and if I want to go to a nicer course on the weekend, I'm looking at $40-$80 for a few hours.  Plus the cost of balls, tees, the occasional new club, a beer or two.  I have friends who easily spend $5K+ a year on golfing. 

 

God every time I decide to pick my clubs up again I add a year to my mortgage and lose a year from my life.

 

I say that now, but the sun is starting to shine during the day and it's almost t-shirt weather out there and I know I'll be on the course this year.

[Bjorn]

Plus you can come round and build me a house. Please?

 

I basically did that once and am never doing it again.  Gutted a 109 year old farm house completely (all electrical, plumbing, walls, windows, doors, ceilings, flooring, just left the frame and roof).   It was a great experience, and I love our house, but I basically worked two 50 hour a week jobs for almost a year.  Worked all day at my real job, then easily put in 50+ hours every week redoing the house.   It might have actually been less work to just build a new house than to fix all the problems we discovered in this one.  Our original plan did not involve gutting it as badly as we did. 

 

 

God every time I decide to pick my clubs up again I add a year to my mortgage and lose a year from my life.

I say that now, but the sun is starting to shine during the day and it's almost t-shirt weather out there and I know I'll be on the course this year.

 

 

My main golfing buddy moved to Houston last year, and I'm not really motivated enough to go out by myself.  I need to sucker someone else into picking up the game, or find a new golfing buddy.

[Griddlelol]

I don't feel bad about being able to afford a rather cheap hobby compared to many. Some of my buddies are shocked when I make a big purchase like my PC or more recently my vita, but they spend £50/week on alcohol. I know what I'd rather spend my cash on.

It's not like I'm loaded anyway, I can't afford a ps4/xbone and won't for a while, but I've spent a good 7 years in university, there's no way I'm feeling bad that I now have a little extra time to play some games.

Man, I've never understood golfing. It's about as far from my sport of choice (rugby) as it's possible to get. Different strokes etc.

[Bjorn]

Man, I've never understood golfing. It's about as far from my sport of choice (rugby) as it's possible to get. Different strokes etc.

 

It's a nice way to spend an afternoon hanging out with a friend outside drinking beer while you do something. 

[Zeusthecat]

It's a nice way to spend an afternoon hanging out with a friend outside drinking beer while you do something. 

 

Yes, playing horseshoes is fun as hell!

[Bjorn]

Yes, playing horseshoes is fun as hell!

 

 

Badminton is my jam.  There's no better way to spend a summer afternoon than knocking the cock about.

[miffy495]

I've gone a bit nuts with my spending since getting a career job this year, which has left me with a salary that is 3 times what I was making as a (working full time at shit jobs) student coupled with no longer having to pay tuition. I have tried to spread the love around a bit, dropping money on surprise gifts for friends and family and such, but also felt pretty guilty when I bought a new guitar. I don't know why the guilt, especially as I'm working in a fairly beneficial field to society (I am definitely NOT a slum lord), but it's there, so I'm with you. In terms of the cost of gaming vs other hobbies, it's definitely my most expensive. While I dropped $1000 on a musical instrument, otherwise all I need to spend is like $10 every few months when I need new strings. Reading is, as others have mentioned, pretty cheap. Board games can run a lot, but it's easy to share that cost among a gaming group. Oddly, I feel like most of my board gaming cost comes from the beer that goes along with the sessions, as everyone brings something to contribute to the common pool on our board game nights (and sometimes we'll just straight-up bring our game to a table at a pub). Video games, between buying a new console this year, subscriptions to services, new games, and DLC for things that I play regularly (looking at you, Rocksmith), are probably my biggest money sink.

 

 

...and yeah, I buy almost everything on sale. Last thing I bought that was not hugely discounted was InFamous 3, and before that I think it was Saint's Row 4.

[SecretAsianMan]

Gaming can be expensive if you want to keep up the latest and greatest.  But if the zeitgeist isn't particularly important to you, I think it can be managed fairly cheaply.  I played both Bioshock Infinite and Batman: Arkham City this year.  I got both for less than $20.  Bioshock I didn't enjoy as much but Batman was great and I think I more than got my money's worth out of both.  Stuff like Steam sales, GOG, GMG, etc. are great if you're willing to wait a bit.  Keeping up with the newest thing will be expensive for any hobby but there are ways to stretch a budget.  Time is the real enemy.

 

Of course this really only holds true for single player stuff.  Multiplayer obviously has a much shorter shelf life.

[clyde]

I gave myself a gaming allowance of $40 a month; it's awesome. I really enjoy picking and choosing based on limited resources. Steam sales don't hit me as hard as they used to because I look at all those games and realize that I have 50 that I haven't even begun to play. I enjoy buying no games for two months so I can have enough for a big release, or having extra and deciding to put it towards my oculus savings. It's become an enjoyable meta-game for me.

[Winnipeg Fats]

Definitely true.  The only games that get me early for zeitgeist are the souls games.  I hate being left behind on that stuff... of course I am playing DS2 on the PC so there goes that sentiment out the window...

 

Luckily for me I found League of Legends a while ago, and while I've probably dumped a hundred bucks or more into it, that's been over two years, and it holds my attention enough that I feel okay waiting for the newest AAA game to go on sale before I get it.

[Griddlelol]

Wow, on topic...sort of. If you live in the UK

http://direct.asda.com/Polaroid-P50LED14---50%22-LED-backlit-LCD-TV/000527630,default,pd.html?awc=2925_1400062860_f2baa97f9ecbdeb514bf230de079881e&cmpid=afc-_-geor-_-awin-_-95750-_-generic&cm_mmc=geor-aff-_-awin-_-Save%20the%20Student-_-95750

A great tv for under £300. Not the best brand, but still quite reliable. I'm seriously considering picking one up this weekend.

[Ben X]

Man, I've never understood golfing ... Different strokes etc.

 

So you do understand it!

[Winnipeg Fats]

yessss...I was waiting for this joke.

[Architecture]

Has anyone here ordered from NCIX before? I'm trying to get an SSD through them, and I'm a bit confused by everything I've seen so far. Apparently my order is undergoing "Shipping Info Verification" or some such nonsense.

[undermind9]

in case someone isnt on their mailing list -

 

Humble Bundle is in the middle of their late spring/early summer sale

 

Today is Banner saga & the stand alone multiplayer components for $15

[undermind9]

on the same topic, i have been interested in Banner Saga since release but knew couldnt dedicate the time to starting.  anyone with opinion on the appropriate price point for it? i imagine it'll be 15 or less on the impending steam sale

 

also stanley parable is the midweek madness sale for 10$.  the game seems timeless, so i dont think theres any rush to jump until <$5.

 

 

additionally to the topic, and a longer discussion I'm sure, does anyone have specific metrics to determine when its a "good time to buy"? i keep a GoogleSheet for my most desired games; i also track their price, lowest price recorded to date, and what my perceived price point/value is.  when the sale price matches i usually pull the trigger

[clyde]

I have a pretty good metric on when to buy. I wait until I've had two or three moments where I literally would have played that specifici game, if I had access to it. Moments when I just think about wanting it for other reasons do not count; I have to have actually been willing to play it at that specific moment. Once this happens two or three times, it's a good time to buy.

I have enjoyed my time with Banner Saga. I actually never finished it. I think the multiplayer is really fun too.

[JonCole]

on the same topic, i have been interested in Banner Saga since release but knew couldnt dedicate the time to starting.  anyone with opinion on the appropriate price point for it? i imagine it'll be 15 or less on the impending steam sale

 

also stanley parable is the midweek madness sale for 10$.  the game seems timeless, so i dont think theres any rush to jump until <$5.

 

 

additionally to the topic, and a longer discussion I'm sure, does anyone have specific metrics to determine when its a "good time to buy"? i keep a GoogleSheet for my most desired games; i also track their price, lowest price recorded to date, and what my perceived price point/value is.  when the sale price matches i usually pull the trigger

 

Specific metrics? Not really. I mostly just internalize what studios tend to drop game prices faster (Square Enix, Nordic Games, etc) and those I usually wait for <$10 pricing on original $60 games. Games like Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed, which are annual titles that tend of hold price fairly well, I usually wait for $40 or something like that. In general, <$5 is impulse price for just about any game for me. I buy just about every Humble Bundle unless I own 80% of the games or something like that, and I also buy a lot of games on Amazon Warehouse Deals (which consistently gives me extremely lightly used games for 20-40% off weeks after release).

 

Anyways, back to deals. This is a weird one, the Android version of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is $7 on the Amazon App Store. Not a remarkable price in itself, but it comes with $20 worth of "Amazon Coins" which can be used for any apps/games on the Amazon App Store or even in-app purchases for such apps -

 

http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Theft-Auto-San-Andreas/dp/B00HCU7OCI/

 

Considering I'm likely to get a Fire TV sometime soon, I'm probably going to grab it.

[Tanukitsune]

I'm debating whether to get the Banner Saga or not... I'm slowing getting into strategy games, I usually could only play Civ, but now I can kinda play Age of Empires II HD, since The Banner Saga is turned based, I might actually dare play it. I'm still on my strategy training wheels here. :|

[Architecture]

Is Antichamber worth $3? You have an hour to let me know.