I am the first person to admit I get swept up in video game excitement. When a game launches and there is that palpable and dizzying buzz, I’m far from immune. Add to that that I love having all kinds of varied experiences, and I am the first one to be on board for a new game.
However.
After last year, I made the choice to put forth a concerted effort to pre-order fewer games and to only do so if I knew I would be playing them on day one.
That plan has been going fairly well, except I’m now incredibly far behind due to my seemingly endless illness. I’m nearly two months into this well of despair with no solution in sight.
It wouldn’t be so bad, except I haven’t felt like I should play games.
That puts me at a major disadvantage for the last chunk of weeks, a period of time where a bevy of well-received releases has stacked up taller than I can see over.
I could build myself a video game fort at this rate.
The other day I started to wonder if I could play a more text-based game. I’ve been interested in Night in the Woods since it released, but I told myself not to buy it since I knew I was so behind with other games. I figured I could wait until it inevitably went on sale in the future.
Now, with how I’m still feeling, I keep wondering if I should buy it anyway since it seems like a game I could actually play.
Alas, my indecision has it left squarely in the PlayStation store cart, awaiting my decision.
Buying it now, or waiting for a sale, would ultimately be the difference of a few dollars, but that thinking is a slippery slope I’m trying to steer clear of. I don’t want to reason my way into an exception.
Just yesterday I got The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in the post and who knows when I will get to that. A couple days before that, NieR: Automata arrived. Nevermind that I still have Horizon: Zero Dawn, Yakuza 0, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard to play (and those all released so far this year!). There are so many time consuming open world games on that list, and I feel beyond daunted. Once I feel better, I won’t even know where to start.
It’s an embarrassment of riches and I’m so grateful.
But I’m also in over my head.
And I’m still wanting to buy Night in the Woods.
My brain is so silly.
This brings me to my question: do you give in to impulse and buy games when the thought occurs to you, or do you wait for sales? What is your game buying strategy?
Let’s discuss.
Also, what will you be playing this weekend? Are you knee deep in an open world game or are you having a more compact experience? Or are you balancing several games at once?
Categories: games
Rebekah Lang 
I tend to wait for sales and I’m always playing several games at once.
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That’s just smart shopping.
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Sometimes I’ll wait for sales,sometimes not. Mostly Horizon for me.
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Hey Rebekah/Colton, same for me! If it’s something I really want I’ll buy it right then. If not, then I’ll wait for a sale. Just playing more Horizon here; awaiting Andromeda reviews. Although, Andromeda is a day one purchase for me. :)
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Makes sense.
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It largely depends on the platform, the game, the price, and if I’m going digital vs physical. Obviously for digital releases, there is little need to pre-order (unless there are some must have goodies attached).
If it’s a physical game that I know is going to be huge (Zelda), and stock might be questionable for day one, I pre-order. If it’s a game that I’m on the fence on or can live without for a little while so I can work on my already overwhelming backlog of games, I stave it off to the next big Steam sale or what have you.
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That all makes good sense. I feel like smaller, digital titles seem to go on sale more frequently, or at least I notice them more frequently.
But I also am more prone to pre-order if I think stock will be an issue. Particularly with the rarer collector’s editions.
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I normally keep myself caught up on game release dates and plan out my purchases pretty far in advance. Although there is the odd time that a game I haven’t heard of will catch my attention and in that case I’ll usually give in to an impulse buy if I’m not already playing something else. And funny enough I don’t find myself waiting for sales all that much anymore given the awesome discount programs out there such as the one offered with amazon prime.
As for the dilemma you have right now, I’d say if you feel like Night in the Woods is one game that you could actually play then I’d make the exception and buy it. Perhaps occupying your mind with a quirky little game like that could help you feel a bit better. One can hope.
For me, it’s going to be Horizon all weekend long. I’ve also been glued to the Mass Effect reddit as I can’t get enough of all the hype leading up to this game’s release!
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That all makes a lot of sense.
As for Night in the Woods, I’m waiting it out until the refresh of the PlayStation store tomorrow. Hopefully it will go on sale, but if not, I will likely pick it up anyway. Though I am tempted to start Stardew Valley, instead.
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Unless it’s something that I’m really interested in, I’d rather wait for a sale.
This weekend, I’m playing Strange Journey and Tokyo Mirage Sessions. I also started playing Resident Evil 7 not too long ago.
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I’m trying to do that, too.
Nice lineup!
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I’ve the same struggle when I’m considering game purchases this year. I’m doing well so far this year in waiting to buy games instead of buying new games that I don’t play right away. My first day 1 pick-up will be Mass Effect Andromeda then I’ll keep tackling my backlog with no real plans to buy more new releases just yet. I did succumb to a Game Stop “buy 2, get 1 free” early in the year (Red Dead Redemption, Mad Max, and Metal Gear V: Phantom Pain) and then again on Pro Day I grabbed Wasteland 2. Oops! Right now, I’m weighing whether or not to buy The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s DLC while it’s on sale on Xbox Live but realistically I won’t play the content for awhile. On one hand, I want to play the content and it’s on sale but on the other hand give the video game economy, it’ll possibly go on sale at an even cheaper price before I get around to playing it.
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I’m glad you are doing well in your purchases! And I’m excited for you to get Andromeda!
I’m a huge proponent of The Witcher 3, so as for the DLC, I’d say go for it!
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