Share Your Guidelines on Buying Video Games

[Chaos Raiden]

Like the thread's title, share your own guidelines and tips on buying games. This is from my personal experience on buying games.

Chaos Master's Guideline

1. Check what games that you are going to buy. Make sure those games are games that you have already considered playing.

2. Check reviews from video game magazines or sites. That way, you can check whether those games are good or not before buying it.

3. Save enough money for buying games and other uses. Do not go overboard on spending money on games instead of food and other necessities. Plan your budget management accordingly.

4. Check whether the games that you want to buy is worth it. For example, when you go to a store and think that the God of War III's price in that particular store is too overpriced, leave and check it out at another game store.

5. Try and negotiate with the retailers for lower prices for games like PS3 and Xbox 360 games. If they do not budge with your request, leave and go find another game store.

6. Ask your friends whether that particular game is good enough. It is wise to ask someone's else opinion. Don't just ask one person, ask more opinions from other people on that particular game.

7. If possible, do not buy the same twice unless your original copy is damaged or the new copy has a lot of additional contents compared to the original release. For example, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition has all DLC contents whereas the original Fallout 3 does not have the DLC contents.

8. If there is a game for multiple consoles, if possible, buy only one copy for one particular console. For example, Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition is available for PS3 and Xbox 360. It is not necessary to buy both to complete your game collection. It is sufficient to buy one copy only, and it saves your money.

9. If the games that you are looking for is not available in any stores nearby, check Ebay, Amazon, and other sites to buy it online. You can also buy used games from the certain gaming stores, as not all stores sell or buy second hand games.

10. If you have just bought a particular console and wanted to buy old games, find the games that have budget range like Playstation 3 Platinum Range or Greatest Hits, or Xbox 360 Platinum Hits. The budget range games have lower prices compared to the original prices (usually half the original price). Here is an example:


Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (3 Versions)

From left to right: Platinum Range, original version, Greatest Hits.

Mass Effect (2 Versions)

From left to right: Original version, Platinum Hits.

Although the box art differs, the price is cheaper than the original release. If you are a collector, it would be best if you sought out the original versions. However, it won't be easy as old games are extremely rare to find. Do not expect it to be cheap.

Here are the list:

PlayStation 3 Platinum Range (North America region) -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_Range#PlayStation_3_titles

PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits (PAL region) -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Greatest_Hits_games#PlayStation_3

PlayStation 3 The Best (Asian region) -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_range#PlayStation_3

PlayStation Portable Platinum Range (North America region) -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_Range#PlayStation_Portable_titles

PlayStation Portable Greatest Hits (PAL region) -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Greatest_Hits_games#PlayStation_Portable

PlayStation Portable The Best (Asian region) -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_range#PlayStation_Portable

Xbox 360 Platinum Hits (Mostly all regions) -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_Hits#Games_in_Platinum_Hits_for_Xbox_360_series


Hope this will help you guys. Also, don't forget to share what are your advices on buying games as well.

 

[Keaton]

I follow closly the games i'm interested in, but I do suffer from impulse buying. Particually PS2 and Gamecube games atm since they are slowly disapearing. I have bought about 20 PS2 games in the last month...each game didn't cost me more than £2.50 each and I got some great titles. Beyond Good and Evil, Soul Reaver 2, Unlimited Saga, Killer 7 and more.

I'm still looking for Final Fantasy X, XI and XII though. ^^

 

[Vergil's Waifu]

^You COULD have my FFX I've completed it...
Although I loved FFX-2.

I must admit, i too impulse buy on older titles.
I've bought Dreamcast games for like £10 each because they're rare and go for a bomb on ebay. (Shenmue 1&2, Sonic Adventure 2)
I bought Okami on PS2 for £2.50 (i kinda fainted at the time)

If i see a top selling/top rated game really cheap, i'll snap it up.

I've also bought consoles on impulse because i wanted them when they first came out.
I've also spent £20 on old Sega Genesis, and Gameboy advance games.

Most women go clothes shopping to make them feel better.
I go game shopping to make me feel better.

 

[aka958]

Final Fantasy... wow! Love that game series!

Anyways, I never impulse buy any games with the exception of one single game I once bought. I saw that awesome penguin on the display... I just had to buy it! Just look at it!:

Spoiler

All the other games I've bought I've checked thoroughly and I've sort of known that they would be to my liking. By that I mean constantly checking up forum discussions about them if they haven't been released yet, reading reviews if they have been released, constantly checking up the news and semi spoiling things in the game just because I anticipate it. xP

 

[Meg]

^ I can't see the pic, Aka.

For me. I read the reviews of a game before I buy. Games Radar is my primary source. I also read Game Informer magazine and IGN if I need a third opinion. Then! If I decide to buy a game I take my old games to Game Stop and trade them in for new ones. It saves me lots of money that way. ^_^

EDIT: Forgot to mention! Sometimes if a review isn't clear on a certain aspect of a game I go on You Tube and check out videos to see if it is something I'd like.

 

[Angelo Credo]

I ignore reviews entirely purely for the fact that they're mostly wrong, at least in my experience.

It's reviews that shafted me out of £60 for an INCREDIBLY mediocre game. (Looking at you, FFXIII.)
And if I had listened to reviews on certain games, I'd have missed out on some real gaming gems.

Aside from that, if there are multiple stores in your general area, be sure to compare prics on games, between GAME and Gamestation in my local area, I've often saved around £10 on games by comparing the prices in the two stores. Funnily enough, it's Gamestation who usually come out of the process with a customer and a sale.

 

[Meg]

^ Metacritic can really come in handy that way. You get both sides the argument.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

I don't listen to reviews, more often than not they're wrong. People said DMC2 was a disappointment, but I enjoyed the game as much as any other DMC.

I watch videos of a game to see if it would be something I like. If it's a shooter game, I tend to steer away from those. Gears of War, Halo... They all seem so bleh IMO. All carbon copies of each other with little depth.

I like unique games, games that deviate from the norm. Like Metroid Prime and Trauma Center. Two lovely games right there.