Are You a Budget Gamer?

Well, being 3 years unemployed, I have to be a budget gamer. I don't ever pay full retail for a game. For a hot new $50 to $60 title I wait for it to drop to at least $30 before I buy it. If it doesn't drop fast enough, like Black Ops... maybe I'd try the torrent for awhile to see if I like the game enough to pay more for it. But torrents stink because they usually are so buggy. So I love on sale Steam games a lot!

My recent budget buys this weekend - Dirt 3 and F1 2011 both for $34 together, when new these were $50 each new [3 to 6 months ago!]. So budget buys through Steam is how I amassed over 102 Steam games on my computer. Plus I maybe have 40 non Steam games too.

If I budget buy not from Steam I either get deals from Fry's, Best Buy, Newegg, or Amazon. But I prefer Steam because of autopatching and you can buy future DLC for games through Steam bought games. I regret buying Hunted: The Demon's Forge from Best Buy for $20 when it later went down to $20 on Steam [I want Steam to take care of patching it]. I prefer not to deal with game packaging anymore and playing with an inserted dvd disk that can get all scratched up.

And it's a great thing to wait until a game drops enough in price. By that time the game will have enough patches to make it stable. Also, there will be a lot of free game guides, Youtube game guides, and cheat codes on the web by then.

A recent title I wanted to get by Steam was IL-2 Cliffs of Dover. But reading the web reviews of it many customers complained it was too buggy when it first came out. Maybe it's gaming company software strategy to release buggy games so that the initial torrents will be buggy. Then only people who properly BUY the games can update / patch their buggy games for hassle free gameplay. Hence I view torrents "as a demo." And not all great games have a demo.

It's good to demo a game before you buy it to see if you like it. I tried some demos of games through Steam and found out I didn't like the game. Like Sanctum, Dungeons, and I think Dungeon Siege 3 is a $20 game. I currently torrented all my hitlist [wishlist] of future game buys on Steam but I have to install them on a separate boot drive for torrented games [some have Steam cracks that will mess up my Steam]. I don't want to be banned from Steam, as I love Steam Sales. I played the torrent of Fallout 3 and lost interest in the game, thought it wasn't worth buying. Then when it went on sale at Steam with lots of DLC I bought it for cheap. But I still hardly play it.

I had good luck on some budget buys through Steam of games I never heard off and found out they were really fun. Like "The Settlers 7 and Fable 3." I never heard about Mass Effect 2 when it came out and was the highest rated game ever, but buying it from Steam for $17 was great.

I still have so many unplayed Steam games I didn't even start that I don't have to buy the latest HOT games like Battlefield 3, MW 3, and Skyrim. And currently, there are tons of people torrenting these games!

One thing about Steam is that it tells you how much time you played on your games. Nice feature that shows you which is your most popular game. My most played game now is Fable 3, as I'm playing it twice. I messed up my first game playing as a woman. Started a new game a man doing proper strategy so I can win the game. I like Fable 3 better than Crysis 2 or the Assassin's Creed Series - it's that good!

So are you a budget gamer?

Being a budget gamer is the only way I could have amassed so many legal games.

 

This works for SP games, but for MP games all of your friends are gone by the time its in the bargain bin.

 

I've been out of work for some time too. And I'm a budget gamer. However there are a few new release titles I will buy, but still not at full $60 price. I got BF3 for $45 and Skyrim for $50. Still a little steep for my tastes. Although the problem is multi-player games you have a limited time frame to really get in before the servers start to lose people drastically.

 

I'm not really a budget gamer, but I haven't bought many games recently because there really hasn't been much released that's impressed me. Plus I'm really more into games that are completely focused on multiplayer.

The few games I'm looking forward to, that I'll likely pay full price for, are DOTA 2, Tribes Ascend, and Guild Wars 2.

Until those come out I'll likely just enjoy my SNES/PS1/PS2 Roms that I have stock piled from over the years...

 

That's all I heard. Tribes is going to be a great multiplayer FPS, at a very reasonable price.

 

You're correct, free is a very reasonable price (not that I won't likely buy the upgrade).

 

I most definitely am, especially since I've stopped working.

If you ask my mom though, I'm not a gamer at all

 

Looking for employment for a while myself. I try to milk deals on new games as much as possible. So far, I've been saving some big $$$.

 

I do this just on principal. Employment not relevant for this behavior for me. Except torrent demoing games. Just not necessary. I read reviews or watch gameplay videos in advance if I have any questions.

 

Steam sales makes it a no brainer. Probably going to buy a few if there's any good thanksgiving deals.

 

This happen to me with Battlefield Vietnam. I rebought Battlefield Bad Company 2 for Steam to get this MP upgrade and then when I play Vietnam MP there's no one around. Yeah, so if you like MP mode you have to buy the latest Hot games at their premium. But I'm into SP campaign modes mostly.

 

I understand the mentality behind pirating a game as a bit of a free demo, but in the end it's still piracy. If the game's not a guaranteed buy for you and the developer doesn't bother to offer a demo, my advice is to check out a friend's copy, read/watch reviews, wait until it's ridiculously cheap, or don't buy it.

Since I don't care about being up to date on the newest games, and I don't play multiplyaer, my personal strategy is to wait until games are on excellent sales before buying, usually 75% off or better. I don't have the list in front of me, but I've probably got about 80 games on Steam. I think I've paid $20+ for Borderlands + all 4 DLC (66-75% off Borderlands + 3 DLC, full price for the last one) and Fallout 3 GotY (50% off). Other than that, I've probably spent $10 or more for another five or six games and most of the rest $5 or below, sometimes in packs of more than one game.

The basic idea for me boils down to this: If I don't have a computer that can run it well, and I haven't even played its predecessor Oblivion, why would I spend $60 on Skyrim? If I want to play it in the future, I'm sure I'll be able to get the GotY edition for $20 or less by then.

The major exception to this rule in the fairly recent past has been Telltale Games - I bought Tales of Monkey Island and Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse as full seasons on pre-order. However, not only do their recent releases not interest me, but their last several releases have pretty much been the same thing (or less) in different packaging. Overall quality drop + lack of creative development = no more money from my wallet.

 

If you're on a budget just get some indie games. A few out like bastion are cheap and amazing to play. Or if you want to play the big name games, you could be like me, and wait a year or two and get them for 5-10 bucks. There are very few games that are worth paying full price for

 

2 OP
Awesome mindset you got there. Respect.
In our country people are like — dont got job? — blame the government, steal software from torrents.

 

On PC? Yes. I'm a pretty casual PC gamer, I'm primarily a console gamer first and foremost. My PS3 (I also have a Wii and a 360) is my main gaming platform because all the amazing exclusives and I'm an avid JRPG lover and PS3 has lots of them. I buy most of my multiplats on PC but if it's a popular online game like MW3 then I will buy on console to play with all my friends. Very very few games I buy full priced on PC, I always find a way to get games cheaper. Steam sales have the games so insanely low priced that it makes more sense to wait awhile.

On top of that, I get all my PC games via digital distribution. Call me an old school guy but paying full priced for a non-physical game just doesn't compute with me and I refuse to have physical copies of PC games unless I have to because unlike on consoles, physical PC games are more of an inconvenience really. I can't just pop it in and play, I have some PC games that take 4-6 discs to install. That's ridiculous, Steam makes things so convenient in comparison. On consoles I usually buy full price depending on how much I want the game. I feel more comfortable paying full price if I have a physical copy plus I'm a collector so I dig that kind of stuff. On PC I'm just content with a long list of cheap discounted Steam titles rather than a shelf of games.

 

I love you xD what games you got for the ps3 on that genre besides FF?

Also I looked up Tribes Ascends, its weird o-o theres so much jumping and what not. It reminds me (and yeah I know alot of people said this) of Halo mixed with near zero gravity.

 

I don't wait for sales, although I do pirate some games to see if it's worth getting (I play for about 10 mins and only the 60 Euro titles.

 

I think budget gamer can also be attributed to time. I only have BF3 and Skyrim for playing right now, because of time. I've put in about 14 hours for BF3 and I'll be playing a lot less to put some time in for Skyrim.

Personally I'm just flabbergasted at how there are so many BF3 players with over 65 hours played already.

So even if one had limitless budget, it doesn't make much sense to buy all the games at release day, since a normal gamer is probably still has a backlog of other games to finish. For me to get to level 50 in BF3 may take me a year.

And the smart budget time gamers know, waiting is a good thing. Waiting means you get to play games after the game has been patched properly and possibly some mods available.

 

That's because it's based off of the old Tribes games...way before Halo.

As far as piracy is concerned I never understood where to draw the line:

Is borrowing your friends copy of the game and completing it (never buying a copy) pirating?
Is Ripping ISOs from console games that you or a friend have piracy?
Is accepting a digital copy of a game(you don't know where it originated) from a friend pirating?
Is Downloading a game to test it, with possible intentions of purchasing it (when no demo is avaliable) Piracy?

There's so much gray area imo...

 

^^ all of the above is piracy.
Only thing that is not piracy is buying a copy and then downloading it from torrentz because its coming out before official release. Cant blame myself (or anyone) for doing that xD

 

Steam Sales and TF2 [which is FREE]

 

Im also a budget gamer, there is only one game that I have pre ordered today, it was Shogun 2 total war.

Aside that I only buy my games when they are dirt cheap

 

I'm a budget gamer except for these franchises <3:

Prince of Persia
Batman (the new ones)
Assassin's Creed

I made an exception by buying Skyrim

Mr. Mysterious

 

Yep, I'm a budget gamer too. Thus lately I've only bought games at the Steam sales (or discounted) or the Humble Bundles ... otherwise my finances would be quite unbalanced.

 

By all legal means ... yes it is. But morally I don't think all of them are... and that's the issue (for me) with drawing the line.

 

None of that seems like gray area to me. It may depend on factors, such as what constitutes copyright infringement based on the laws of your country of residency. If you're talking about MORAL gray area, then you might be onto something. If you're talking about what constitutes piracy, just look up your local law and compare it with the software license.

Piracy would be related to unauthorized copying of software. If you borrow your friends game, you have not made a copy of the software. Your intent to purchase is irrelevant.

If you rip an ISO, you have made a copy. Then you would have to look up what rights you have in your country to make such an ISO and compare to the software license privileges concerning making such a copy.

If you accept a digital copy from a friend (ie. made a copy of a digital file) then that is certainly a digital copy. Your country and the license agreement may or may not afford you such rights.

If you download a digital copy from the internet (reason and intent are not relevant) you have certainly made a copy. Whether it is piracy would be up to your local laws and the software agreement.

It's not necessarily simple, nor consistent in all cases (you have to consider the license agreement and law), but it isn't gray area.

 

the 2nd one (ripping iso from console games) isnt piracy. I forgot where the contract or what company said it but if you own the game, you are allowed to make copies of it as long as YOU and ONLY YOU are the ones playing it.

If tis your friends, then i think it is.

 

I buy my games cheap unless the franchises are:

- Heroes of Might & Magic
- Phantasy Star
- Diablo
- Command & Conquer

Any of these titles, I am willing to go to a midnight release and pay full retail price. There are 3 exceptions:

- Battlefield ...I like to wait 1 month~ due to bugs
- Starcraft ...I buy it for the custom games, so I wait 2-3 months
- Need for Speed ...Only if I get to play the police car and chase racers

With other games, I take my time buying them.

 

Oh dear god. Tribes looks like Halo with zero gravity? No no, my boy. Halo looks like Tribes without jetpacks!

 

Therefore aliens.

 

Budget gamer here...

Very rarely buy a new release. In fact, I think the last game that I paid full retail ($50 if I remember correctly) was Borderlands...

I usually buy at the end-of-year Steam sales, or eBay, or there is a local used book/CD/DVD/game store that has a healthy selection of PC games (and 360 games)...I think the PC games sit on the shelf at Gamestop for about a year, and then they all get delivered to the used store...

It's not necessarily a new habit...I think I bought most Blizzard games upon release (still haven't bought Starcraft 2 though), Baldur's Gate 2, Fallout 2, etc...but the bulk of my game catalog was Steam sales or Wal-Mart jewel cases from the 90's...

I think that, sometimes, I'm hurting the diversion that I love...buying a game for $30 just doesn't help the publishers that much...buying a game from the used store doesn't help them at all...if the publishers don't get their money, they will stop paying the developers...and then we can all gratefully reset to the indie scene like PC gaming in the early 80's...

Rarely doing multiplayer helps me be a budget gamer...

Lately, I've just wasted time on 360 demos...I've become very, very good at The Parish on the Left 4 Dead 2 demo and killing trolls on Dungeon Defender...

 

I believe the first is technically piracy, since EULAs are usually "personal use only", but it's generally accepted practice. Can't really do it with many PC games because of DRM anyway.

The second, I believe, is legal if you're creating a single backup copy for your own personal use.

The third is definitely piracy - there are legal ways to gift a digital copy of a game that is digitally available, whereas your wording implies that the copy isn't being distributed by one of those methods.

The fourth is absolutely piracy. As a consumer, you have zero right to a demo or preview of the game unless the publisher or distributor decides to offer it.

No, that's absolutely piracy, and it's stupid as well because you're not only pirating the game, but you're allowing your first impressions of it to be made on the basis of a flawed pre-release version of the game. Even if it doesn't harm your impression of the game any more than, say, a public beta would, you're still breaking the law to get access to the game a couple days before it would be available to you anyway. Have a little patience and forget your sense of entitlement - you have the right to play the game when it's released, not when it's leaked.

 

In USA it is legal to have a duplicate, the funny things is, it is NOT legal to create a duplicate. In other words the act of creating a duplicate is illegal, but having one is not... figure that one out.

 

PC games I hunt and hunt for deals in advance of release(sometimes there is a gift card or something involved) and Steam/Direct2Drive sales.

Gamefly for consoles is a life saver. I've spent maybe 1800 bucks over the last 5 years, for roughly $7000 worth of games.

Why spend more money if you don't have to?

 

Start shopping for CD Keys and special offers. For instance I recently purchased Batman Arkam City for PC for a whopping $25 dollars. How? Well Nvidia offers Promo's when you buy their cards for a free copy of the game. As you would/could imagine so many OVER-ACHEIVERS out there with their funky SLI setup will buy 2 of the same cards ending up with, yep you guess it right, 2 copies of the game. So shop on Ebay for keys and they're plentiful and I was able to get batman for $25, not too shabby especially considering it's on my steam account ready to download in 3 days

 

They just want you to know it's alright to buy duplicates

 

I'd have to say sometimes you really need to demo a game so you don't waste your money. So I try a legal demo most of the time, If there is no legal demo I have to torrent. Like there was one game that ripped me off $30 - Wings of Prey... worst airplane game I had ever played. On top of that it only activates to 3 installations. I also heard IL2 Cliffs of Dover only activates to 3 installations. I would rather boycott games if companies limited the games you buy to 3 installs - they're ripping you off so I would protest that by just torrenting their game.

But 98% of the games in my collection I bought.

 

If the company made a product that you appreciate enough to play, pay for it. If you buy a game sight-unseen without checking out a demo (if available) or some reviews and you end up disappointed, it's because you didn't do your research - you're rarely going to be surprised by negative issues with a game if you read a number of reviews before buying it, and if you still find yourself disappointed, caveat emptor.

Generally, I believe most programs (not just games) with installation limits can have the limit reset by contacting the publisher, sometimes even through a quick automated process. If you buy a game with an installation limit, use up your installs with new computers or disc reformats or what have you, and then get a pirated copy to get around the installation limit, it's still piracy, but it's at least a little more justifiable. If you don't like the publisher's DRM policy, your options are to suck it up and buy the game or to boycott the game and possibly contact the company in protest. Pirating a game that you're boycotting isn't boycotting, it's simple theft, like saying that Rolexes are overpriced so it's okay to steal one from the store rather than buying a Casio or checking your cell phone when you need to know what time it is.

 

budget gamer here, usually i thoroughly check the demos when games come out and check for reviews if it is really worth the gaming time. other than that in the hardware side i have low grade headphones and mouse types.

 

i am a budget gamer with 260 original games at steam bought most of em on sales