Tom's Hardware > Forum > Games General > Games General Discussions > The Price of Geekdom: How to Lower the Cost of Playing Games

The Price of Geekdom: How to Lower the Cost of Playing Games

Forum Games General : Games General Discussions - The Price of Geekdom: How to Lower the Cost of Playing Games

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robwright   01-09-2007 at 12:47:16 AM

With the rising cost of games, is it better to rent titles before shelling out $60? TwitchGuru examines the prospect of renting games to lower the cost of gaming, and compares the price tag of a GameFly membership to paying full price for top titles.

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GyRo567   01-09-2007 at 03:25:03 AM
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I hate to be a Dr. Obvious character type, but couldn't you just be playing the demos for all these games you bought & hate?

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cafuddled   01-09-2007 at 03:03:22 PM
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I tend to just read previews/reviews... Besides you kind of get to know what the good games are going to be far in advance of their release. Besides as the title says you must be a geek to play games right, so we should know everything about them anyway :roll:

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guruofchem   01-09-2007 at 03:55:38 PM
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If we are only discussing PC games, then renting isn't much of an option anyway, and buying used games from a store is becoming ever more difficult in the US; with Gamestop swallowing up EBGames, there aren't stores that consistently trade used PC games anymore. Using Gamefly would be a pretty good option for a console gamer, however, since there are many more titles out there, and IMHO fewer honest reviews of them to help guide purchases. We PC gamers are lucky to have some good sources for reviews that are fairly honest and unbiased, and the generally longer development time of PC games gives us more of a chance to see previews and gather information before we make a purchase. It will be interesting to see if an online used game trading model can work - a site called Goozex is giving it a try, but jury is still out on them.

The best way to keep the cost of gaming down for me is to avoid games with monthly fees (the only one of those I play is World of Warcraft), and wait for prices to drop after release, which they tend to do if you watch for sales/special offers. Yes, you don't get the game FIRST THING, but you also have money to eat and pay rent as well. :D

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cafuddled   01-09-2007 at 04:24:27 PM
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Gah eating and paying rent is for girls... You just need to get a female land lord and you can sleep your way out of paying the rent. Well you can in my dream life anyway :?

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guruofchem   01-09-2007 at 06:19:12 PM
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Quote :

Gah eating and paying rent is for girls... You just need to get a female land lord and you can sleep your way out of paying the rent. Well you can in my dream life anyway :?



My wife would probably object, and my kids might find it odd, but hey...I'm up for a new experience! :lol:

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cafuddled   01-09-2007 at 06:29:18 PM
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Being single does have its moment’s… guess that’s why I fall out of relationships so fast, they can’t keep me trapped and sensible 8)

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infornography42   01-09-2007 at 06:56:43 PM
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I don't buy enough games to make gamefly worth it.

this last year I bought 7 games, and half of those were old. I usually just play my friends' copies or play older games, or sometimes even replay games I've already beaten several times.

Its worth it to me to just own the game myself.

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gm0n3y   01-09-2007 at 09:08:54 PM
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Interesting article. The Brightspot (or whatever its called) bit sounded a little bit like a promotion for the company though. I will generally only buy a game that I have played at a friend's house or at least played the demo of (ok, and admittedly, I often download the full game to try it out), so I actually don't own that many games. I would guess that I spend around $200 a year on games, but then again, I am the kind of person to be very selective and play each game for a long time (still playing COD2 at least once a week).

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BigMac   01-10-2007 at 03:45:04 PM
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Great angle for a new series of articles. That's going to be educational for me. Renting at $25 (or $20) a month isn't really going to cut it for me though, I'm afraid, unless they also rent out PSP games. Then I'm certainly going to consider it.

Reply to BigMac
blacken   01-10-2007 at 11:31:16 PM
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I've bought 3 this year. I study reviews hard before buying, that way - as you said, that 60 bucks can go toward beer instead of a cd in a case collecting dust.
GameFly, bleh. I buy games the I will play religiously :) (CSS, BF2)
NetFlix. Hell ya. I'll watch a movie twice; maybe.

Reply to blacken
miesner   06-14-2007 at 11:49:40 PM
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I am trying to get a free wii through gamefly, and if anyone is interesting in joining through my recommendation, send me an email and i'll send the link. I'd rather not post it here because i already spammed some boards, and it made me feel like a cheap whore. Oh god the things we do for a wii!

Jim

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VFighterX   06-15-2007 at 01:16:07 AM
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Just download the demos and see it it's good or get used games. Or if you're evil, you can torrent*. :o

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billdcat4   06-15-2007 at 01:50:32 AM
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Quote :

With the rising cost of games, is it better to rent titles before shelling out $60? TwitchGuru examines the prospect of renting games to lower the cost of gaming, and compares the price tag of a GameFly membership to paying full price for top titles.



what does it mean by ATI customers...

i just replaced my ATI X800GT with a 7600GT. The X800GT came with my dell.

Can I get the deals?

Reply to billdcat4
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