On Being a Patient Gamer. And Kind of a Cheap-Ass.

I buy a lot of video games.  A lot.  However, my purchases have become much more frugal over the years as I've learned that saving money is actually a good thing (who knew?).  In my late teens and early twenties, when the cruel hand of inevitability thrust me out into the real world and my parents stopped buying me games for my birthdays and Christmas, I threw all kinds of green at the game industry.  The excitement of being "free" for the first time consumed me and I did everything I had always wanted to do.  I made some bad decisions and some sort of okay decisions; but my focus here is that I purchased every game that caught my fancy, and bought them brand-new at that (90 percent of them anyway). I was in nerd heaven, and showing some financial support to my favorite game developers along the way.

Fast forward a bit (nevermind you how long) and I now tend to shy away from the day-one, sixty dollar game purchases. I have my exceptions - Elder Scrolls and Portal 2 to name a couple - that I simply cannot wait to play when released. However, I've found that, for the most part, I can wait to play any game I'm looking forward to. Sure, after the hype has died down it seems less exciting to finally purchase and play a game that's been out for a year or two - but, not really. After the logos pass by, and main menu loads up with whatever theme music has been chosen for the game, I find myself just as eager to play as I would have been on day one. And my reward for waiting all this time? The same game or games for a fraction of the cost, which means more money in my savings, in my gas tank, in my belly, and sure, sometimes into another long-overdue but now wildly cheaper game.  Case in point: last year I purchased Halo 3, ODST, and Halo Reach for around sixty dollars, give or take. Three games for the price of one. I also just purchased the fantastic Uncharted 3 for a mere twenty dollars. Patience rocks.

                                                   Yup. Ass Reed II for $19.99

Okay, so what about the online component of all of these Halo games - I've missed out on years of Halo multiplayer! For some, this would be unspeakable, but hey, I'm not in the online FPS camp. I played through story mode on each game, jumped into multiplayer a bit on each one, and they now adorn my game shelf until I feel the need for some more Halo campaign. If I were more of a multiplayer enthusiast, I'd of course shell out full price for these games. Playing with strangers just doesn't do much for me. So... Yeah...

Let's wrangle this ramble down and get to my focal point - if you've missed out on a game and all the hype has passed, do yourself a favor and shell out your chump-change for what may be an inexpensive, but still fun as hell game.  Also, if you have a decent PC, budget gaming should be your bread and butter. Check out all those digital game distributors online for crying out loud - gog.com, Desura, and the mighty Steam to name a few. The sales on these sites are absolutely insane - like, "Hi, I'm Crazy Larry better come lock me up" insane. Also, let's give a nod to a plethora of discounted older PC titles, and the bustling Indie scene made even more bustlinger(?) by Steam's Greenlight program.

So what if you're short of cash, or just don't feel like spending sixty dollars for something new and shiny. You can still game it up like Grandmasta Puff n' Game* if you know where to look and can wait patiently while prices drop. Now, like I said, I just picked up Uncharted 3 for twenty dollars, so if you'll excuse me...

*Yeah, he's not real. Yet.