Poll: Do you buy videogames to be part of the crowd?

[Tuxedoman]

I think i've been convinced to buy something I was tossing up about, but aside from that im usually the one trying to get other people to buy the games I play.

"You know how Sins of a Solar Empire is only $10 now?"
""You know how you're going to play it once and then never touch it again?""
"So that's a yes?"

If someone doesn't like a game you like, who cares? And if you dislike a super popular game that everyone loves, again, why does it matter? Everyone has their own opinions.
Although I guess all of my friends share that sentiment, so we all kind of just buy whatever we think looks cool then try convincing everyone else to get it.

 

[Raikas]

I answered "no" to the poll, but I think the specific situation that's described in the first post is actually a little less simplistic.

If you have an interest in two games (similarly two books, two TV series, two movies) and you're interested in both, I can see playing/reading/watching the more popular one first if only because you're more likely to hear about it socially. That's not so much making the choice purely to be part of the crowd since it sounds like there was some interest to begin with, and frankly you're more likely to end up spoiled by people talking about the popular stuff, so if avoiding that matters to you, I don't see what's so sneer-worthy about timing your choices to minimize that.

I don't hang around with enough people who devote heavy time to gaming to worry about this specific situation myself, but I've definitely finished certain new books quickly because I didn't want friends to spoil the endings for me since the content was likely to come up in conversation.

 

[Snotnarok]

Uhhhh.....No? I can't say I have or understand why someone would do that. I did buy and play Modern Warfare 2 to play with my brother and his friend but that's about it? Didn't really think the game was great but had fun with co-op levels, sometimes multiplayer was fun, wouldn't play it again however.
But no I don't really think I went out and got a game to be in 'the crowd'. I come off with this tone because I just find that idea a bit weird ...but unnerving that I know there's those that HAVE done this...

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

What crowd?

I buy videogames, cause i'm a hoarder. No, really, i have this pile of boxes with games i'll probably never finish til my death. Luckily technology marches on so the pile is growing slower, unlike my Steam, GOG etc. libraries.

 

[lunavixen]

I've never been part of the crowd, I have no loyalty to (or hatred against) any specific companies, when I buy a game, it's because the game appealed to me and intrigued me. I don't care what anyone else plays, and I won't be dictated to by people about what games I play or my opinion of them. Of all my friends, I'm the only serious gamer, so fortunately I don't get pushed into buying or playing games that much.

 

[Gamer_152]

Nope and I wouldn't want to. There are plenty of popular games that a lot of people have been talking about over the past year or so that I just haven't bought.

 

[Rad Party God]

If you do something, anything, to be "part of the crowd", you're a sad human being.

I buy videogames, because I want to and I highly enjoy them. I never buy something just because it's popular, if it's a high quality product I think I might enjoy, even if it's popular, then I buy it because I want to, not because "everyone is doing it".

 

[Soundwave]

I voted no, but only because I almost never do that. I did in the case of bioshock infinite, and regretted it about halfway in.

 

[Vausch]

No not really. I buy games if they interest me of if someone who's judgement I trust suggests I'd like it.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Depends. Does the game sound good? If yes, then I might try the flavor of the week. But I'm talking about a game like the Stanley Parable which people are talking about and like but I want to play it for myself to find out what it's about. Not GTAV or CoD, I don't usually talk to people about popular games nor do I like multiplayer games. That's not to say I don't play "mainstream" games, but if I'm not curious about a game then I usually won't get around to buying it. The last time I bought a game like that was Borderlands 2 because it looked fun and 2 of my friends had it and we were going to play on Steam together. That never happened cause we're too busy to organize stuff so I probably won't be doing that again unless the game is cheap or free to play

 

[omega 616]

I think I was on the tail end of games are only for dorks thing, nobody played games at the level I did and only a handful played the "casual" games (you know, things like fifa). So playing to fit in is a bit alien to me but I know what you mean.

People always cave to peer pressure, I think it takes a strong person to go against the grain (not to self praise too much) but standing around your mates as they chat about gta 5 and you have no clue what is going on is awkward as fuck.... Not to mention the spoilers. What are you going to do? "Sorry guys, I can't hang out with you for awhile 'cos I've not finished gta5".