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Post by MGNoxa on Jul 24, 2016 18:21:13 GMT -5
I thought this would be a fun little topic for us to talk about, I know JMMREVIEW has done his fair share of this. Earlier today I was out in town and I decided to go to the GAME store, last time I was in this place was September 2015 and it was to pick up a game that was out of stock on Amazon. Before then GAME was my weekend go to place, I would go with friends, I would go on my own, I would chat with the employees but in 2013 after we entered the era of Xbox One and PS4 I found whenever I was in GAME it was only for new titles and I quickly stopped going when I found out you could trade in games to Amazon. Today was my return to GAME, I went with a goal. I'm going to spend this £15 in my wallet and get as many games as possible. I didn't want to get any extra cash, there's too many new expensive games coming out but I became fascinated with the idea of trying to get as many games as possible into this £15 budget. In order to fit games into this budget I found myself having to visit several stores. I spent roughly 3 hours in the various shops, I got hot and sweaty, but I left spending £14.30. Could've fitted one more game in but I really didn't want to buy whatever that crap looking hunting game was. The most expensive item was Enslaved for PS3. It cost me £5 but I've always wanted to play it, that put me at a disadvantage immediately because there was many other games for much cheaper that I know were at least of an alright quality. The next game I got was Ninja Gaiden Sigma for PS3. It cost me £2.70. This was a bit pricey considering when it released but it's a good game and I was a big fan of the original on Xbox and I knew it was something I'm interested in making a video on. It was worth it but at this stage I was questioning my ability to fit as many games into the budget as possible. After that I stumbled upon Heavenly Sword for PS3. I've nearly bought this game so many times so seeing it for £1.30 I couldn't help but fit it in. The fourth game was one I've nearly bought many times but held off due to the lack of local or online co-op. Clive Barker's Jericho for PS3. This was £0.40. I had to buy it at that price. I remember enjoying the demo but it got some shockingly bad reviews. My next purchase was probably my most stupid purchase. Conan for PS3. £3.50. This was a mistake, there's far cheaper and far better games but with the announcement of the new Conan Exiles game, I've been craving something Conan and with no new movies in sight I caved and added it to my purchases. The sixth game was Ninety Nine Nights for 360, £0.50 this was the first game I bought for 360, I really liked it but I made the mistake of buying Oblivion at the same time, as a result I just didn't give it enough time and it ended up being traded in unfinished. Something I've regretted for a long time. My seventh and final game was the original FEAR for PS3. £0.90. I threw this one in because it was cheap, I know it's good, and I wanted to avoid buying crap especially after committing to Conan. I haven't had a chance to play any of them yet but it felt oddly satisfying to leave buying SEVEN games for less than £15. Share your budget gaming stories with us, I for one definitely want to hear about any treasure troves you've discovered.
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Post by Blade Runner 07 on Jul 25, 2016 2:59:34 GMT -5
As far as gaming on a budget goes, ill get back to you. Ill edit this post.
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Post by JMMREVIEW on Jul 25, 2016 5:59:21 GMT -5
I lol'd at a budget gaming quest starting in Game of all places, the only place I ever find games cheaper than eBay is CEX but then I haven't set foot in a Game store since I pre-ordered Battlefield Bad Company 2 from them and got badly ripped off.
With that being said great idea with the post, I think I may take the £15 challenge someday too and see what I can get for my money. Maybe even document it on twitter or something. Maybe this could be a monthly thing we take in turns to do?
I remember reading an article in an old Xbox magazine where someone documented an all day gaming session so maybe we could do something similar, the challenge is to buy the best classic cheap games I think it would be interesting to pick a few of them to play for a bit and talk about that too but maybe that would take too long? Having a regular monthly post like that would give people a reason come back to the site.
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Post by MGNoxa on Jul 25, 2016 7:22:47 GMT -5
I lol'd at a budget gaming quest starting in Game of all places, the only place I ever find games cheaper than eBay is CEX but then I haven't set foot in a Game store since I pre-ordered Battlefield Bad Company 2 from them and got badly ripped off. Yeah started in GAME, went to CEX and Grainger Games. Some were actually cheaper in GAME. If you ignore delivery costs you could probably get that £15 to spread real far online but there was something about going on a quest that made me like searching for cheaper games even more. I'm down for that, really down for it. Especially if we can cheat with trade in money lol.
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Post by Blade Runner 07 on Jul 25, 2016 13:16:10 GMT -5
I'll say my "Budget Quest" almost always starts at craigslist.... I don't know how widespread that is but it's pretty much like ebay but limited to your general location. You know what it is. There is always someone with a greater agenda trying to get rid of games for next to nothing. It was about a year ago I picked up a once played copy of FFIX for $5, and Sonics Genesis Collection for $2. After that I'm all about Ebay and Amazon. If want a game New the fist place I go is Amazon because they stay competitive with the general market, if it's too expensive there I go to ebay, if it's comparable on ebay, I look for "like new" copies and I usually get what I want that way.
This is another discussion but I hate putting used games on the shelf next to my new ones. Something about the way they feel to the touch and the general feeling of grime on the cases when you buy used just makes me feel uncomfortable. Like putting last xmas' dusty, moldy caramel corn in a bowl of freshly popped and buttered popcorn.
Very rare that I come home with more than one game at a time. Budget gaming for me, is more about actually adhering to a budget strictly than buying alot of things because they are a "steal" in relation to their normal price. I might buy one game at full price a year.
----- Most recently I decided Star Wars Battlefront EA was worth picking up. I weighed the pros and cons and realized there is roughly $20 worth of content there, and I wouldnt mind diving into a new Star Wars FPS for a few hours, especially with the game FINALLY playable offline! Anyway, so a digital copy was on Xbox Live for $26, I put down the money for it and two days later a physical copy was going for $20 on Amazon. Luckily I was able to get a full refund from Microsoft, and I am now happier for getting the physical copy for six dollars less. At the very least, I can turn around and sell this still-popular shooter for maybe $15 in it's like-new condition if I want. Physical copies forever.
Overall I just cyber-stalk the crap out of the things I want. In the last three months: $70 LOTR BluRay Extended Trilogy - $20 $60 DRKNIGHT BluRay Trilogy - $20 $25 It Follows Bluray Steelbook - $7 $90 Mario Party 9 (Wii) - Free via 2-week loan from library
Above all: Patience pays. Don't buy-in to hype. Never pre-order.
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Post by MGNoxa on Jul 25, 2016 16:13:10 GMT -5
If want a game New the fist place I go is Amazon because they stay competitive with the general market, if it's too expensive there I go to ebay, if it's comparable on ebay, I look for "like new" copies and I usually get what I want that way. Like New on Amazon in the UK usually guarantees it to be just as good as New but with older games people will sell Like New games on Amazon UK for a ridiculous price. First thing I did was wipe down all the cases, I don't care if they look clean, the thought of germ ridden hands groping them grosses me out. That's a shame because it really was a lot of fun buying all those games. I felt like one of those idiots on those reality TV shows with loud Americans shouting all the time when they go looking for deals to sell for a profit, but I was British, quiet and overly polite.
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Post by Blade Runner 07 on Jul 26, 2016 16:08:43 GMT -5
I just find that buying one game at a time affords me the opportunity not to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of games at my disposal. Bouncing back and forth between them mares the experience.
I absorb a game best when I'm not half way through two others. It's great that when I go to buy the next game, it's been on the shelf long enough that's it's only 1/3 the price it was when it came out. I haven't gotten to 3 other games yet just because I'm still playing some older games on 360.
Personally I'm only really interested in physical copies of games im interested in if I expect to be playing long after any possible digital rights fiascos break out. My wife and I are big on moving so the less clutter the better too. We have eliminated 1/3 the physical bulk of our shelf-space just by buying those blurays at a discount and selling the dvds. We love that.
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Post by JMMREVIEW on Jul 27, 2016 6:06:42 GMT -5
I am all about access to the game, I have away too many physical games, so many that in my life time I couldn't play them all the way through. But I still like having them all because some day I might just want to play Hitman 2 again and if I don't have a copy I cant. Also it is important for me to have a collection because sometimes in my videos I talk about certain parts in other games and I need to go and record footage of it.
As for 2nd hand games feeling "germ ridden" I definitely never fell like that.lol The odd time I have bought something on eBay and it arrives with a coffee cup stain on it so I wipe that off but other than that as long as the disc is in good/playable condition that is all I care about.
I do know what you are talking about but for me there is just less sentimental attachment with the games I have bought 2nd hand sometimes and other times it feels like I am being reunited with my original copy even know it obviously isn't!
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Post by MGNoxa on Jul 27, 2016 7:58:05 GMT -5
I just find that buying one game at a time affords me the opportunity not to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of games at my disposal. Bouncing back and forth between them mares the experience. Bouncing back and forth does water down your experience but I just play one game and finish it, then move on to the next. During school I used to start one game, start another, continue another game, leave them for weeks, go back and keep playing while playing through other games and... I just can't do that now. I focus on one game at a time, I can stop playing to go and play something competitive like Overwatch or a fighting game but when I'm playing The Last of Us, I'm playing it till it's done. The games I bought, I haven't even started playing yet, but when I start one I'll be sticking with it until I'm done.
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Post by MGNoxa on Jul 27, 2016 8:03:31 GMT -5
As for 2nd hand games feeling "germ ridden" I definitely never fell like that.lol The odd time I have bought something on eBay and it arrives with a coffee cup stain on it so I wipe that off but other than that as long as the disc is in good/playable condition that is all I care about. I hope you gave that fool bad feedback, gross, coffee stains, yuck. The Ninja Gaiden box had a big old sticker mark on it and that was nearly a deal breaker for me. I hate gross stuff, it's more the thought of it, but it makes me get shivers down my back. I would really hate for the Ninja Gaiden manual to have the pages with Rachel on them suspiciously stuck together... This is why I don't usually buy used, my thoughts get gross way too quick. I'm not joking, as I was flicking through the pages I was worried that I was going to stumble upon that mysterious sticky substance.
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Post by JMMREVIEW on Jul 27, 2016 10:24:13 GMT -5
Well the disc didn't have a mark on and a damp rag took it right off, I never really thought about it but I would never send something in that condition. About the stick 2nd hand stuff, I am sure there are people out there who would pay good money for that service
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Post by Blade Runner 07 on Jul 27, 2016 10:57:51 GMT -5
I'm so cautious about used games I always check feedback and am quite picky. In my days with the original Xbox I went crazy and bought tons of games used. Something about lining them up on the shelf and seeing those yellow/white stickers on the spines just makes my collection look cheap. I take pride in my library of games for it's quality and personal value rather than it's sheer quantity.
Having so many games you'll never play them all isnt a bad thing though.
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Post by MGNoxa on Jul 27, 2016 11:33:14 GMT -5
I don't like buying used games and I will always buy new given the chance (gotta support the developers) but when you're dealing with games that are on the last gen, it's kinda hard to buy new so you gotta take that mysterious sticky substance risk. With most used games you can fix it up nice, as long as the actual art sleeve print thing isn't damaged you can make it look nice with a bit of work. It's also quite cheap to buy empty dvd/bluray boxes.
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Post by Blade Runner 07 on Jul 28, 2016 4:39:00 GMT -5
I haven't had any trouble finding new copies of last gen games on x360. That's the only last generation console I own I still buy games for.
I buy new because I have had too many bad experiences with used and resurfaced discs being passed off as new. I was convinced the universe didn't want me past the 3rd level of Nightfire, because I had to return 2 different used copies and they didn't have a third. It was ridiculous. That ever happen to you?
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Post by JMMREVIEW on Jul 28, 2016 6:11:57 GMT -5
Having so many games you'll never play them all isnt a bad thing though. This video comes to mind, replace books with games and it's the same point. "The important part is choosing the correct games to play" This gave me an interesting idea in 200 years time there will be so many games no one will able to play more than 20% of them so top 10 lists are really important for future generations.
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