Poll: Do You Regularly Buy Games On/during the First Few Weeks of Launch Day?

[FireAza]

This was just something I was thinking about recently, mostly when I saw that this week's episode of The Big Picture had Bioshock Infinite spoilers, which I had to leave unwatched since I don't own the game yet. I then realized that the last time I brought a new game on launch day was Ocarina of Time 3D (though technically I brought it a week before launch due to EB Games selling it early). I still don't own Skyrim (meanwhile Bethesda is saying they're ready to drop support for the game and move on to a new title) and I only just brought The Walking Dead last week. I was thinking about buying the new SimCity on launch day, as I love the SimCity series and the trailers made the new game look really exciting. But I didn't, and as I'm sure you all would be aware, I'm glad I didn't.

I started to think about why this is. I think it comes down to two reasons:
1) I know that the longer I wait, the cheaper and cheaper the game gets both in-store, but especially on Steam.

2) There's still so many games I own that I haven't finished or even played. I really don't need anymore new games, let alone spending over $80 for this privilege.

3) I'm heavily into retro gaming, and I know that the games I want to add to my collection are only going to get rarer and more expensive as time passes, so if I'm going to be spending money on games, it should be retro games, especially if I've found a really good deal.

What about you guys? Do you buy games on launch day or sometime during the first week of launch? Or do you buy new games long after the fact? Why?

 

[DoPo]

Very rarely do I buy games soon after launch. It doesn't offer anything, really, aside from early access to the story. It doesn't matter if I play something today or in a month or two - I'd still play it, after all.

 

[Eleuthera]

I only very rarely buy games in the first month. I tend to wait for either the price to drop, or the bugs to be fixed (or both). I got ME3 last month, when I finally was able to find it for a reasonable price.

I got X-com full price (3 months after release) only because I got a bunch of vouchers. The last game (expansions) I got shortly after release were, Mists of Pandaria (about 3 weeks after release), and Gods & Kings (on launch day).

 

[tippy2k2]

Games come out so quickly and now drop in price so fast that unless I am "baby-punching" excited to get the game or it has a built-in time limit (like Call of Duty/Madden), I will allow it to drop in price.

This year, unless something sneaks up on me while I'm not looking, "The Last of Us" is the only game that has the "I would punch a baby right now to get the game early" criteria met. Along with that, a lot of these big games are $20 off if you pre-order them from Best Buy (Last of Us is one of them). I have such a backlog of games I want to play so there's virtually no reason to buy a game that I won't get to for a month or two and by then, someone will have had it on sale by then. There are a few games that I'll pay $40 for (Tomb Raider and Bioshock are likely candidates) but generally I won't get a game until it drops below $30.

The other games I will get makes me sound like such a "Dude-Bro!" gamer but I don't care so take that! The Madden series and the Call of Duty series are both franchises that I play with friends and they adopt them right away. I could wait like other series but I like playing with my friends enough that I'll pay the little extra to have the game right away.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

No, never. I don't own current generation consoles and my PC isn't very high tech. Plus there's no money, Lebowski.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

I don't usually, the exception being games I've been hyping for months prior. The next Amnesia is a case of this, particularly because I want to beat the game before the playthroughs start springing up on Youtube(and specifically before Day9 streams it).

 

[Tom_green_day]

I wait until they're quite old- that way they're cheaper. I just can't afford to buy new games often, so I save my money for games I really really look forward to.

 

[MopBox]

I use to try to make a habit of buying games well after their launch date, but I admit I would buy first day releases, and then... Colonial Marines happened.

Now under no circumstance will I touch a game unless it's been sitting for six months. Anyday now I'm going to pick up Dishonored.

 

[go-10]

I usually wait until the game goes on sale, but lately my backlog has gotten a nice number of games, like 8 or 9 so I figured I won't buy anything until I'm done with all of them

 

[ultrabiome]

i have paid AAA launch prices only a few times in the last few years, and i can name all of them (and all were physical copies):

starcraft 2: WoL and HotS (the latter on launch)
diablo 3

and

3 games for my 3DS:
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario 3D Land
Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy

the former two will have high costs forever, and the latter was probably a limited run, so i don't feel too bad.

and outside of Mario and Zelda, i don't pay launch prices due to the knowledge that the price will fall to the $20 range eventually (although i slipped on MK9 for ps3, paid $40 for a new copy on ebay and spent $20 on dlc...). every other PS3, Wii or PC game has been bought for <$30, probably more like <$20, either sale or ebay and mostly new. so what if i have to wait 3-6 months. i have PS+, hard difficulty playthroughs on current gen games, older generation gems i want to replay, sale games from steam (mainly ones i have PS3 that look so much better on my PC - i'm looking at you DX:HR), and starcraft 2 multiplayer to keep me going.

it makes so much more sense: 1 $60 game now = 3 $20 games in 3-6 months = 4-8 steam or PSN games whenever

there are so many options, barring lack of patience, to save money. i don't play grey shooters online and the fighters i play are for my enjoyment, not to play online, so there is zero reason to pay now.

 

[MetalDooley]

No I tend to wait several months for the simple reason that a lot of games simply aren't worth the price at launch.I recently played Lollipop Chainsaw and while it was a fun game it was also really short maybe 5hrs long in total.I would have been pretty pissed if I'd payed ?50 for that instead of the ?10 I did pay

There are certain exceptions that I know I'll enjoy and get my monies worth from such as CoD,Zelda Mario but thats about it

 

[J Tyran]

Not sure which one to vote for, I do both. I often pre order or buy games at launch but I also wait, I would say I wait more often than than buy at launch but I do buy at launch quite a lot.

I got Bioshock: Infinite at launch and have Metro: Last Light and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon pre ordered for example. Not to sure where to vote.

 

[Doom972]

No, because I think that video games are overpriced. I only pre-order or buy early games that I'm VERY excited for - there is usually one of those in a year, sometimes two. Usually, I just wait for a Steam sale and won't pay more than $20 for a game.

 

[porous_shield]

I never buy games new since I rarely sit down and power through a game that I just bought. It sometimes takes me years to beat games because I only play a few hours at a time. The bigger problem I think is that games are overpriced for what you are actually getting and to buy them day one you are paying an even higher premium than what you would pay in a few months time.

 

[everythingbeeps]

Yep. If it's something I really want to play, I'll buy it day one.

And yeah, I have a big backlog, but when a game like Bioshock Infinite or Tomb Raider comes out, there's just nothing in my backlog I want to play more than those games.

I also don't think games are overpriced, because I'm older than like 15 and realize that games have always cost this much, if not more.

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

unless I'm incredibly interested in a game and/or there are preorders too good to pass up, I tend to wait