Am I in the minority here?

[xochiquetzal]

I replay stuff all the time and I keep most of my games. the ones I like.
and the ones I didn't like I give to my friend and see if they like them, and they do the same with me. recently I traded medal of honor airborne with Alan Wake.

 

[chuckdm]

I feel like there are 2 types of games, "story games" and "gameplay games."

Story games are the ones that you play through because you just have to know "what happens next?!" These are games like Red Dead Redemption, or Bioshock. Games with average gameplay but a story compelling enough to keep you playing and make you want to finish.

Gameplay games are the ones that you play because the core mechanics of the game are really fun, and you want to keep playing the game because the fundamental gameplay elements are interesting and entertaining. These are games like Vanquish, or Borderlands.

For me the former of these two has less replay value, because once you've finished the story, that's it, there isn't much there to hold your attention during a second play through. You already know what's going to happen, and the gameplay isn't engaging enough to make you want to keep playing. After you already know what's going to happen, it's not as much fun to play through again and again.

I agree with this, but I also feel like I'm strange because what I would classify as a Mechanics game are often games others think of as Story games. Mass Effect, for example. I couldn't give a flying rat's ass about the story after I finished my first playthrough. After that, I broke out a coalesced editor (decreased bullet spread but also decreased ammo count - I try to cheat fairly, heh) and it was all about the gunplay, which was enough to last me through 3 more playthroughs and counting.

But to your point, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a game I still hate the Story of. Like even right now. I know I'm supposed to think it's got this great deep story, but the problem is that all the characters - even the non-Fae (i.e. the normal humans) just talk strangely. I don't mean they have a heavy accent or something, I mean their dialog seems like it was run through Babelfish (Not even Google Translate, it's not that good) from some other language AND from 300 years ago. If I didn't enjoy the weapon combos and the sheer feeling of awesome that come with Chakrams I wouldn't play it at all. Yet even now, playing my third character.

Anyhow...as to the OT, yeah, I play PC and NDS (and Android) exclusively. My Wii is nothing more than a glorified Netflix/DVD box these days (I have SSB and 1 other game that I play so seldom I don't remember what the other game even is.) So yeah, no returns for me. That said, I think I still have installed basically every game I've bought for the last 2 years. Except for New Vegas, which I love, but the bugs finally convinced me the 8GB of disk space would be better spent elsewhere - hence, Skyrim.

 

[Joccaren]

I have never traded in a game in my life.

Part of that is because I play PC exclusively these days, however prior to that I did play on the PS2 and N64 for a bit.
I just don't see any worth in trading in games unless there is a flat 0% chance of me ever replaying them, like half my PS2 games that I've though of trading in but really can't be bothered.

However, the "I had fun the first time" doesn't work for me and replaying games. Deus Ex: HR I loved the first run through, but I could never replay it. There'd be nothing to replay it for. I've already tried everything the game has to offer, and there are plenty of more interesting games out there for me to play.
The same goes for multiplayer. IMO its just replaying the same mission over and over, which is boring. I know some friends who will only buy a game if it has multiplayer, but I tend to avoid such games as the multiplayer really does nothing for me.
What gets me to replay a game is its story. If its a good story, I'll replay it. However these are few and far between these days. There are only a handful of books that I've read more than once, only a couple of movies I've watched twice, though there is a fairly large number of games that I've replayed a few times - usually because they're interactive, adding that slight extra element of randomness to the story that I can re-experience it slightly differently the next time, though the majority of my games never see a completed second unthrough.

 

[Mr Binary]

I used to trade in a lot of my games, but in the recent years I've found myself doing this less and less. I may never play them again, but I enjoy having them on display... almost like the amount of games is a 'nerd-worth' or something like that.

 

[prophecy2514]

The only time I'll ever trade in games is if I'm desperately in need of money to pay off something. I always regret doing it a couple of months later, but desperate times call for desperate measures. There are certain games in my collection though I'll never sell even if the repossess everything else I have

 

[Folji]

I don't really have any opportunity or reason to trade in any games. I bought them on Steam for a fraction of the original retail price. It'd be like trading in a chocolate bar once I feel like I've had enough. So I tend to fish out old games from my game list and replay them on a semi-regular basis, providing there's not half a billion other games on that list waiting for their first playthrough.

 

[Dandark]

I used to trade in games a lot but ended up regretting it as I traded in a lot of games that I liked and wanted to play again at a later date.

I usaully just keep them now and don't trade them in, I may eventully want to play them even if it's years down the line.

 

[Scrustle]

I think you are in a minority, but I'm with you in that. Usually when I replay a game I do so simply because I want to relive the experience, not because of multiplayer or a new game + mode. Those things do help, but they're not necessary. If there's a game I didn't want to replay without considering those features, they won't make me come back to it.

But despite that I think it's not unusual for gamers (especially those like us) to not sell on games. We like nostalgia and we're kind of sentimental towards our games, whether we play them or not. we want to keep hold of them. Although it certainly happens, I think it's rare for a gamer to sell on every single game once they're done with it. Almost all gamers will have at least some games they keep forever.

I can't remember who said this, but I remember hearing someone say a piece of entertainment is good (I think they were talking about a TV series as the time) when once you're done you feel like you want more, but not that you need more. I think that is a good way of looking at the replayability issue too. We don't need MP and what not. We don't need features that are supposed to make us feel like there's yet more of the game to experience, like we're not really finished. Like we need to experience these things to properly finish the game. The game simply needs to be good enough that we want to see it again. So that it doesn't matter what box-ticking features the game has. We simply want to go through what the game has a second time because it's that good.

 

[Anystic]

I never trade in games for a variety of reasons.
1: You're getting ripped off.
2: I like to consider all the games I have as something to be proud of...sort of like a hunter collecting trophies to hang up.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Yes, I revisit games that I enjoyed... I have plaed FFIX multiple times, and FFV a few times as well!
I also repeated revisit FF:T games!

Then there are games like Enslaved: Oddessy to the West, and The Darkness, and Little Big Adventure 2 that whilst they are pretty much exactly the same each time, I still will play again every so often!

And finally there are games like The Sims, C&C, Age of Empires and Civilisation that of course are completely different each time you play... meaning that you are not really 'replaying', but just revisiting and still having new experiences!

 

[GundamSentinel]

I never trade in games to begin with. But the games I replay are just the games I've enjoyed playing the first time. I don't need new game modes or multiplayer to keep me interested. There are some purely singleplayer games I've finished over a dozen times just because I enjoyed them.

 

[Starik20X6]

I have only traded in one game, and that was an N64 game that I swapped for a better one. Even if the chances of me replaying a game are near zero, I still like to keep ahold of them incase I do happen to want to play them again, or just as a memento of the good times I had with it.

 

[Olas]

I've played most of the games I own more than once, I've played some more than 5 times. I still have all my old NES and SNES games.

Never trade a game back to gamestop, they won't pay you jack shit. I went in to trade some old gamecube games a few years back and they wanted to me 60 cents per game. I was so insulted by the amount I didn't even bother responding to the guy, I just grabbed my games and walked out.

If you have any old games you don't want anymore, just give them away to someone. Don't dishonor them by trading them to Gamestop for pocket change and scraps.

Edit: Also, as far as replayability goes, I'd say that puzzle games have the least, since it's all about finding the solution and once you do so you can do it again with ease since you already know the trick. That being said I'm sure we've all played portal more than once.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Yeah I never trade in games now, I yearn to play Summoner so much, but I traded it in! The PS2 as well! Gah, I am a silly man...

 

[DugMachine]

I normally don't trade games because I always get random urges to play my old games at the oddest times.

 

[SomethingWorse]

I replay games after about...8-10 years and feel nostalgic, or just to test if they held up over the years.

I'm usually pleasantly surprised.