Sometimes I look at every triple A title that is either coming out or already came out. Basically, every big title I’m looking forward to. From Spider-Man to Red Dead Redemption 2, Smash Bros Ultimate to The Last of Us 2. I look on with the anticipation of plopping down in front of my big screen television and experiencing something, if not genre defying then at least really cool. But alas. Like a lot of players, I am a gamer on a budget, and I usually opt out of buying them on day one.
As a guy who plays a lot of video games, I look at other entertainment mediums and I see new movies for purchase on Blu-Ray for around twenty-five dollars. New books for anywhere from ten to twenty-five dollars. Then I look at brand new triple A video games and see a sixty-dollar price tag (at least in the USA). And I wonder why I should bother?
We’re (Not) Number One
Don’t get me wrong, I love video games with a fiery passion, and I realize that these giant games take many people and hundreds of man hours to complete. I realize that you get many hours of entertainment for the money you pay. I also remember when I was a kid with a Nintendo 64 seeing new games go for 70 to 80 dollars, so things have gotten better for the most part.
But what I don’t feel is the need to be the first one to experience these things on day one. The really awesome games always have cheaper “game of the year” editions that have all the DLC eventually anyway. This is just one man’s opinion, but honestly, I’m content with supporting the companies I believe in with my dollar. Indie developers’ games are usually cheaper. And the developers might actually go away if we don’t support them. But Rockstar Games will still be there tomorrow if I don’t spend sixty to eighty dollars on Red Dead 2.
Review Bombing
Recently, there was an outcry of those who were upset that the latest Tomb Raider game got a discount so soon. In my opinion, whenever you buy a game day one, you are paying for the opportunity to play it as soon as possible. I feel bad for the hardcore fans who wanted it so badly that they got it day one, just to see a little bit later that it received a discount. I really do feel bad for them. But, like I said before, the exclusivity of playing the game first is what they paid for. And Tomb Raider didn’t perform all that well. I suppose Square Enix felt they had no choice but to lower the price.
In fact, fans were so hurt by this situation that they ended up review-bombing the game on Steam. This means that they felt bad enough to flood the Steam reviews with negative scores. I’m not going to say whether I think this was justified or not. Perhaps Square Enix should have released it cheaper to begin with. Perhaps the fans over reacted. I’m not going to get in the middle of that.
It’s Your Money
I will say, however, that spending your money wisely is YOUR responsibility, not the game developers’. They are there to receive as much money as possible for their hard work. I am perfectly fine waiting for discounts. In fact, a fun hobby I have is looking at the PSN store every month and monitoring the discounts of digital games. In fact, I can get hours of entertainment from cheap Indie games alone. But when those triple A games go on sale, there’s nothing stopping some awesome gameplay.
But what do you think? Do you buy games day one? Let us know in the comments below!
