How do you afford your games?

[aidutcher]

Unless a game is a ridiculous value, I won't pay more than $20 for it. I never pre-order, and I usually wait months or even years after games come out for them to go down in price. I paid a little over $30 for a used copy of DA:Origins Ultimate Edition because it had over $100 worth of content in it, but most of the games I've bought were $20 or less, and most of them were used. I picked up Bioshock, Fallout 3, and Assassin's Creed for $20 each new. I got AC2 used for $20, and I was hardly comfortable with the purchase, but I really enjoyed the game. I got Mass Effect used for like $12. ME2 was technically $40 when I got it new, but I had a gift card, so I only paid $4 out of pocket. I was still mad when the price dropped to $20 a couple weeks later though.

Heck, I didn't even buy an Xbox 360 until last year, and I might wait to see if the PS3 goes through another price drop before I buy one.

 

[revolutionaification]

Waiting. Basically I'll lust after a game for the best part of a year and finally invest once it's a more reasonable price. Amazon seems to be a good option for games a couple years old, everyone's undercutting each other constantly.

If there's a new game out that I simply can't wait for then I'll put away cash in the upcoming months and seriously limit my spending: no surprise nights out, no unnecessary shopping, no expensive train rides to see friends. It's not that hard to withstand a little discipline when you know the reason behind it.

 

[CommanderKirov]

By having money.

Not much to it honestly, games are not expensive when you get down to it. I have easily enough to buy every game I'm interested in and even if I pick the overpriced CE bullshit, it's still not much.

I think I pay more for petrol than I do for games on a monthly basis when I think about it.

 

[DirgeNovak]

I have a pretty low rent and no car. So I have enough disposable income for maybe 10-15 games a year, depending on the price.
Edit: Oh yeah, I also sell quite a few games back to EBGames, so I get a lot of discounts. More than half the new games I buy are through trade-ins. This seriously helps. (If you play on consoles that is)

 

[Estarc]

The only way I really afford new games is in Steam sales. When we're talking full priced, brand new games, I rarely have the option to buy them until they come down a year later or so. When I make exceptions, for games like Saints Row: The Third, which is coming out in November, I'll just go without something else, like food...

 

[Rawne1980]

By having the fortunate position that me and my wife both have decent paying jobs.

 

[Dr.Sean]

Beg my parents.

 

[Zaverexus]

I don't get much time to play games, and I only buy one at a time, waiting until I beat it to buy another.
So by the time I finally finish a big fall release I can get the next game discounted from Gamestop or something and the games I want just keep going down in price while I play others.
It also lets the hype go down. I get the game I know I will like first and while I'm playing that I can hear about the other games from my friends and know if I really want it, and hear what Yahtzee says about it.
Plus with so little time I only get maybe four or five games in a year, and some of those are really old titles I hear about and get for practically nothing.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Between Steam sales and Direct2Drive coupon codes, I can't remember paying full price for a PC game (mostly what I play). I still live at home. I don't go many places (so don't spend money on gas or stuff). I know how to budge my money. Oh, and I'm a software developer, so I make a decent check...

 

[Dalek Caan]

Save up and trade in old games. Trading in doesn't always give the best results but it helps.

 

[Flunk]

I'm a professional computer programmer. I'm not a complete ass though, I do lend my games to friends.

When I was a poor University student I used to just buy games 2 or so years after they came out. You can save a tonne by doing that and the games aren't any worse. You can get the best games of 2009 for less than $20 now. A few weeks ago I bought Borderlands complete on steam for $7 (everyone likes a deal).

 

[Amberella]

I have a job and I am good saver when it comes to money. For the most part anyway, sometimes I splurge and buy my sweetie things that I know he'll love. <.<

 

[doomboy29]

Steam sales. Just.....Steam.

 

[swenson]

The way I afford my games is I just don't buy them until they either go on sale (curse you, Steam, for making me spend way more than I should on stupid sales... they're just so tempting... T_T) or the price is dropped to $30 or $20. I still buy new games, but I limit myself to one or two a year. For example, this year I bought Portal 2 for full price (actually, 10% off through Steam!), and next year I'm definitely getting at least Mass Effect 3 at full price. But for the most part, I'm willing to wait for most other games.

Surprisingly, despite being a massive cheapskate, I don't pirate games. Not sure why, seeing as I don't care about other stuff, but for whatever reason I just don't like to pirate games.

Hopefully, some day, people on Youtube will stop being fucking retarded for ten seconds and I'll get enough subscribers to be a Partner and make money that way.

Somehow I suspect you'll be waiting a loooooong time for that...

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I look in the discount areas at Walmart and other stores. Sure they're old as heck, but they're 20$ or less.

 

[McNinja]

I generally figure out some way to have enough money. Sometimes I have random leftover money, other times I have a job, and thus money. I generally buy whatever games I feel like buying, with even out to about one every two or three months. I haven gotten a single video game since Dragon Age 2 came out, and I had that one pre-ordered for me.

 

[iDoom46]

Get a job. Work ass off. Save up for only the games I REALLY want, not every fucking game that comes down the pipeline*.

*- I have friends that do this and honestly don't understand why they're so poor all the damn time!