Poll: Do you buy videogames to be part of the crowd?

[Lugbzurg]

I just get the games I want because I want them. What's the point of buying it at full price with less content and in a buggy build and possibly not liking it just to be able to talk to people about it? Doesn't sound worth it to me.

People are waiting for Battlefield 4 and Fallout 4 while I'm waiting for Serious Sam 4 and Doom 4.

People are excited about their favorite RPG, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, while I've been enjoying my favorite RPG, Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale. (Though, Dust: An Elysian Tail is looking pretty good too...)

People are anticipating the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and I'm...
Actually, that's the fighting game I want to play the most, as well.

When I was younger, I was watching both Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Kekkaishi. I had never heard about either of them from anywhere but the network I watched them on. I watched them simply because I enjoyed them. I had no idea that Ghost in the Shell is one of the most famous and influential works of science fiction in history or that, to this day, I would never hear anyone bring up Kekkaishi in conversation, since it's so obscure for some reason. I just watched what I liked, simply because I liked it. And I wasn't even actively searching for animé at the time.

 

[Mausthemighty]

No. I play a game because I like it, not because it's popular. If I would listen to what other people play I would play the likes of FIFA, PES, Battlefield, GTA or Call of Duty. And that I won't because I hate sports games, I hate hyped games and I hate military shooters.

I have more fun with games like Deus Ex, Borderlands, Portal, The Longest Journey, Assassin's Creed and RPG's. Games with more to them than only multiplayer. Games with a soul, intelligent, quirky humour or a rich back story.

 

[OneCatch]

That's my sentiments exactly, but this guy, when I presented him with this similarity...

It's like watching football just to be able to talk about it, even if you don't like it.

He answered...

No. It'd be like having the option of watching two football games & choosing to watch the game your friends are watching so you can talk about it with them. Then watching the other game.

Was wondering how many guys thought the same.

He's got a legit point there - his analogy probably does win.

That said, I don't really do the same as him - either with sports or with games! I don't follow sports, and for me gaming is mostly solitary anyway.
If a game is overwhelmingly well received then that might encourage me to get it, even to the extent that I'd try a game I was only a little curious about. But only if it were something I was already toying with getting - I wouldn't get a game I actively didn't like the look of just to fit in.
GTA is actually a good example for me too - I've never liked the franchise, and while it might be a technically brilliant game, I probably won't ever buy one of them, no matter how accoladed.

I also very rarely buy at launch - I'm too miserly with my money to do that. I'll wait until something is sub-£20 usually. A few months ago I could have said I never buy at launch, but I caved for Rome II, which I pre-ordered!

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

I never thought about it like that before but yes, I think I do buy a fair amount of games because I want to be part of the discussion. If it weren't for the community around me banging on about it I might've skipped The Last of Us based on the look of the game and it's promo art. I'm glad I did buy it because it's one of the most captivating game stories I've ever seen despite any gameplay faults.

Same deal with The Walking Dead and Spec Ops: The Line of recent memory. The two most interesting games I played of 2012 came from places I'd never thought to look if I didn't listen to the people making noise about them.

 

[FoolKiller]

This seems like an antithesis, considering where videogames come from. There's a story behind this.

On Reddit, I made a comment where I called a user's not choosing to buy The Last Of Us for GTAV a pretty poor call of judgment.

Well its a matter of opinion isn't it? If you want to enjoy a better story, play TLoU, and if you prefer better gameplay, then play GTAV. Although he doesn't even say he won't play TLoU, just that he would rather play GTAV now.

And from your poll you imply he's picking one over the other to be part of the crowd when his comment only suggests that he likes video games and enjoys the rarer opportunity of being able to discuss a hobby of his.

The irony is that you got bashed at reddit and ran to a video gaming website to bash him because he doesn't agree with your point of view. And yes, you are bashing him because your comments are seething with judgement about someone else's hobby.

Oh... and on the side... TLoU wasn't an average shooter. It was a shitty stealth game with a great story. I read what happened on the second half because the game itself was so poorly designed considering its heritage that I stopped playing. It reminded me of the flaws of Vampire Rain.... and then some. Yes, I went there.

 

[Fijiman]

I've maybe done it once or twice, but pretty much every other game I've bought I bought because I wanted to get it.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Heh, no. I've no crowd to belong to in the first place. I buy games because I want to play them. I often buy games that are popular, sure, but generally that's because they're popular for a reason.

 

[TheRaggedQueen]

Christ, no. I buy video games so I can play the suckers, not so I can just feel included in some kind of gamer crowd. There's a myriad of reasons why I actually enjoy distancing myself from most of the gaming community, but suffice to say that I will quit gaming before I decide to start purchasing games just so I can feel like I'm included within the group.

 

[DanielBrown]

Nope, hardly ever buy games on launch day, but I gotta admit it's pretty irritating being on these boards when a huge game gets released. I buy games either because they intrest me or(most often) because they're cheap. However, being a trophy addict isn't easy. Had 110 PS3 games last time I bothered counting and only a rare few of them are games I actually wanted.

 

[Mr. Eff_v1legacy]

1) Of course I don't. I don't (consciously) do anything to be "part of the crowd".
2) I highly doubt anyone who buys certain games to fit in would be on a site like this.
3) I do not understand having gag options on polls. I don't bother with polls that have them.

 

[Maximum Bert]

No my time and money are limited so I couldnt care less about being part of the crowd plus I am more of a lone wolf kinda guy anyway in most things.

I didnt get GTAV because nothing about it interested me I know a few of my friends bought it but they dont really talk about it that much I think they got some fun out of it but I dont think it has left much of a lasting impression on them.

 

[Doom972]

No. I often buy games long after the hype has died down because I like to buy them cheap.

I would've downvoted you as well however because I don't see what authority you have to call someone's choice of buying one game over another poor judgement.

 

[Meinos Kaen]

No. I often buy games long after the hype has died down because I like to buy them cheap.

I would've downvoted you as well however because I don't see what authority you have to call someone's choice of buying one game over another poor judgement.

Then I would have downvoted you for failing to detect sarcasm.

 

[Doom972]

No. I often buy games long after the hype has died down because I like to buy them cheap.

I would've downvoted you as well however because I don't see what authority you have to call someone's choice of buying one game over another poor judgement.

Then I would have downvoted you for failing to detect sarcasm.

You got me there. I actually thought you were serious. I'm guessing that so were those other people.

 

[Amaror]

My thoughts exactly. Barring that I wouldn't have bought it even if it was because my friends played it as well -if I don't like something, I don't buy it, stop, no matter what my friends say-, buying something that it's being sold at... How many dollars, again? Just to be part of the demographic is one of the saddest things ever.

Ever thought about the fact, the he might be a gta fan? Or maybe just a sandbox fan? Or just like gta 5?
When i am just going from the information you have given it sounds to me, that you are aggressively trying to get this guy to play The Last of Us and judge him for playing Gta 5 instead, while he just likes Gta 5, more or equally than The Last of Us.
It's not really about his argumentation of having a game that everybody plays. He didn't buy Gta just because everybody plays it, that would be stupid, but because he likes Gta 5 and it has the added benefit of Everybody playing it.
The same thing goes for things like Skyrim for example. Just really popular games. It's just nice that you can have a conversation about a game with your friends and no matter who's with you can join in in the conversation, because everybody plays the game.

Just judging from your post i know which one of you i would call unreasonable and it's not the guy enjoying a videogame with his friends.

 

[loc978]

This simultaneously makes me feel old and makes me miss the niche that gaming was in the 90s. So no. If I played games to be part of a group, I'd probably play DoTA2 and Starcraft 2 multiplayer... that seems to be where most of my generation have gone with gaming. Can't stand the mechanics of either, though.

As for GTA5 and The last of Us... being forced to control a crosshair with a thumbstick is an instant deal-breaker for me. Can't see any worth in either game for that barrier. I suppose if I ever used Reddit, I'd have downvoted everyone involved for arguing over shooters with unconscionably bad controls.

 

[Dalisclock]

I play games because they're games I've either wanted to play or games people who like the same games as I do have recommended. The people I work with pretty much play: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2(mutiplayer) or Grand Theft Auto V.

I will play GTA V someday when it's out on PC and I get around to it. Right now I finally got around to playing Saints Row the third. Black Ops 2 we have nothing to talk about because I never played the MP and they never played the SP.

And games I do buy at launch like Bioshock infinite are games that no one around me are interested in. Most games I play, like the Amnesia games, or KSP are games that no one has heard of.

So yeah, I'm not going to play games to suit the very narrow whims of the people I work with.

 

[The_Lost_King]

I have never done that no. I will play reccomendations from my friends and very popular games, but that is only because I think they may be interesting. I have never player a game just to fit in. Wait I just realized I can't say I've never done it because I have done it once with call of duty, but that's the only time I have done it.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Well if I am interested in two games, confident that I would quite enjoy playing either one and the prices are the same what is an acceptable thig to use as a determining factor? I would make the same choice and buy the game all my friends are playing first not only to be able to enjoy conversation about it but to avoid spoilers. Then I would get the other game I also wanted but none of my friends got.

Seems the guy was planning to play both, he just chose to play them in an order you disagree with.