Buy a game now or wait until later?

[Misty]

Today, my best friend and I decided to go to Fry's Electronics in my hometown, and I come across Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition. Seeing how it reached Greatest Hits status, my friend was upset that he had to pay full retail price for the original DMC3 when that game came out, and now here's this Special Edition with Virgil as a playable character and a ton of new features for only $20. I asked him if he still wanted to get it, but he said it'd only be a waste of money because the new features don't dispel the fact that it's basically more of the same.

Although he decided not to get it, I'm thinking about it. I own the first game, and have yet to get the second (despite the rather horrible reviews it got, it somehow got the Greatest Hits label too!). I don't have DMC3 yet, and at one point I thought of getting it myself but circumstances prevented me from doing so. Releasing special editions of existing games is becoming a profitable practice for some game companies. (Midnight Club 3 is another example.)

This leads me to a bit of a problem. Because I don't have a whole lot of money, there are certain games that people will assume could sell well enough to get Greatest Hits, Platinum Hits or what have you. I needn't worry much about Final Fantasy since it always seems to go Greatest Hits. When it comes to other games, they seem to disappear after a few months and become harder to find. And now, here come special editions of best-selling games in which new features, playable characters and other bonuses are included--all at $20. If you paid $50 for the same game months back, you would not be blessed with such features.

It's a dilemma I've faced for several years now, because when it comes to buying games, I feel like I'm playing roulette. Sometimes I throw money away on a game that I invested $50 over, only to find it Greatest Hits several months later. I'm thinking "I could have waited for that price drop and saved money." On the other hand, there are those really great $49.99 titles that sell moderately well, only to disappear into obscurity. (Valkyrie Profile) It's a little frustrating since I don't know if a game I'm excited about will sell like hotcakes or fall flat on its face. In a nutshell, a Greatest Hits title will almost always be readily available, while other awesome games reach rare status, making me think "Well, I regret not spending 49.99 on that when I had the chance!"

So, in your opinion, what do you all think is the appropriate course of action when it comes to game buying? Do you wait for good games to go down in price after a while, or do you go ahead and buy it on release day? Any feedback is greatly appreciated, as I'm going to discuss this over with my friend to determine how to go about this.

[Jamos' Old Account]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

I have DMC3 Special Edition and, though I like it, I wouldn't suggest it. That is if you already have DMC3. I had fun playing as Vergil, but there isn't to much of a difference between Dante and Vergil's fighting. Playing with Vergil you go through the same stuff Dante did, expect without the cool cutscenes. I only recommend it if you don't have DMC3 because they are currently the same price.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

With the exception of RPG Maker 3 and my DS games I always get my games used or new (greastest hits, sales) for around $20. Although that does mean missing out on the titles that go rare, that doesn't happen all that often.

[gray]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

if i don't have the money i just wait. all you miss out on by not having it now is not being able to talk about it with other people. it'll still be the same game a year from now.

[Cosmic Jeff]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

If you're really observant you can get an advantage in determining which games to purchase right away or which to let drop in price first.

What I do first is examine what genre the game belongs. For example, sports and racing have a very short self life. As in the audience for those types of games typically buy when they are cutting edge, as newer releases tend to make older releases 'obsolete'. If you don't need the best graphics, wait on these games.

As far as action and adventure/platformer games are concerned, it starts to get a little gray. Generally, flagship series (Mario's, Zelda's, Resident Evil's, Metal Gear's, etc...) have well established audiences and will sell well enough to become Greatist Hit titles eventually. Otherwise, if a game gets really positive reviews and it's also particularly violent (God of War; or in your case Devil May Cry 3), it normally will manage to sell well enough. What you need to look out for in action and adventure/platform games, are off-kilter games, such as Psychonauts, ICO, and Klonoa. If you read magazines or webzines, you'll find these games with great reviews. However, because they lack the adrenaline you get from smashing faces and they have unknown protagonists, they tend to be forgotten. Games like these frequently have more unique or very stylized art directions. These are the games that you buy right away, because even if you find them in a discount bin later on, eventually their popularity will rise through word of mouth and their value will escalate on eBay or Amazon. Look out for Okami later this year.

It is the most difficult determining to buy role playing though. A small thing I've noticed though, is that role-playing games that are subsets (SRPGs, Action RPGs, Spin-offs) are the ones that tend to disappear. Now the ones that are actually good are the ones that actually retain a high price. You're just going to have to find feedback on message boards and chatrooms and find people raving to figure that out. Disgaea and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne are two games that have turned out that way. It's the high profile games like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts that become GH, so another thing to look out for are low profile RPGs that are unfortunate to share or are near the release of high profile games. Suikoden II is the prime example of this, as it had the misfortune of coming out the same day as Final Fantasy VIII. Everbody bought Final Fantasy VIII and almost nobody bought Suikoden II; Final Fantasy VIII was garbage and is still worth $15; Suikoden II was awesome and is worth between $120-$200. Suikoden V looks great, but happens to be released a week before Kingdom Hearts 2, and right after the series low points (Suikoden IV and Tactics), so I'm going to go ahead and guess that will be a rare game.

The last thing I'd check for is the publisher. If it's a small time publisher like Atlus, then the game will never reach GH status becuase small companies don't even have the distribution capacity to handle a release of that stature. Most EA, Ubisoft, Namco, or Square-Enix games that are worth a damn will have a price drop. Konami and Capcom sometimes have cult games that become difficult to find later on (Dance Dance Revolution for one). All Rock Star games find their way in the bargin bin.

So yeah... hopefully that will help your decision making proces.

[Misty]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

What I do first is examine what genre the game belongs. For example, sports and racing have a very short self life. As in the audience for those types of games typically buy when they are cutting edge, as newer releases tend to make older releases 'obsolete'. If you don't need the best graphics, wait on these games.

I totally agree. Sport games are an annual thing--there always seems to be new ones every other month, and they number in the thousands. Although sports games are not my forte, I'm always amazed at how well they sell. My younger friend is an adamant sports fan and makes a habit of collecting every basketball game (the good ones from EA and Sega Sports, of course!) just so long as he doesn't have to spend a lot of money. And yes, they seem to update sport games by years ('05, 06', '07 NBA Live).

As far as action and adventure/platformer games are concerned, it starts to get a little gray. Generally, flagship series (Mario's, Zelda's, Resident Evil's, Metal Gear's, etc...) have well established audiences and will sell well enough to become Greatist Hit titles eventually. Otherwise, if a game gets really positive reviews and it's also particularly violent (God of War; or in your case Devil May Cry 3), it normally will manage to sell well enough. What you need to look out for in action and adventure/platform games, are off-kilter games, such as Psychonauts, ICO, and Klonoa. If you read magazines or webzines, you'll find these games with great reviews. However, because they lack the adrenaline you get from smashing faces and they have unknown protagonists, they tend to be forgotten. Games like these frequently have more unique or very stylized art directions. These are the games that you buy right away, because even if you find them in a discount bin later on, eventually their popularity will rise through word of mouth and their value will escalate on eBay or Amazon.

Exactly! I understand God of War was considered THE action game to get by many publications, and it sold extraordinarily well. It's easy to pick up that game. Like you mentioned, however, there are games that get the same amount of good reviews but fall through the cracks. I find that games that don't sell as good as the well-known titles tend to be more and more popular overtime (not to mention ridiculously pricey at smaller game stores and websites). Panzer Dragoon Saga couldn't be a better example of the point that we both make on this subject--that game was hailed as the best Saturn game ever made, but it suffered from dismal sales because at the time the Saturn was on its deathbed. So now, Panzer Dragoon Saga has been relegated to the same status as an autographed Babe Ruth baseball. Hard to find, and worth a whole lotta money.

It is the most difficult determining to buy role playing though. A small thing I've noticed though, is that role-playing games that are subets (SRPGs, Action RPGs, Spin-offs) are the ones that tend to disappear. Now the ones that are actually good are the ones that actually retain a high price. You're just going to have to find feedback on message boards and chatrooms and find people raving to figure that out. Disgaea and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne are two games that have turned out that way. It's the high profile games like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts that become GH, so another thing to look out for are low profile RPGs that are unfortunate to share or are near the release of high profile games. Suikoden II is the prime example of this, as it had the misfortune of coming out the same day as Final Fantasy VIII. Everbody bought Final Fantasy VIII and almost nobody bought Suikoden II; Final Fantasy VIII was garbage and is still worth $15; Suikoden II was awesome and is worth between $120-$200. Suikoden V looks great, but happens to be released a week before Kingdom Hearts 2, and right after the series low points (Suikoden IV and Tactics), so I'm going to go ahead and guess that will be a rare game.

Final Fantasy is, without a doubt, THE best selling RPG in existence, so I understand why Suikoden II didn't do as well as it should have done, and why it is so coveted now by us game collectors. My friend, the one who refused the DMC3: SE, wanted Suikoden II way too late, and now he's kicking himself for passing it up when he had the chance to get it. (We found several online, but the prices some vendors let them go at would cover the cost of an IPod) I certainly don't blame him, though. None of us knew how special Suikoden II would truly be once it fell off the scale. Even the original Suikoden is easier to find than Suikoden II!

The last thing I'd check for is the publisher. If it's a small time publisher like Atlus, then the game will never reach GH status becuase small companies don't even have the distribution capacity to handle a release of that stature. Most EA, Ubisoft, Namco, or Square-Enix games that are worth a damn will have a price drop. Konami and Capcom sometimes have cult games that become difficult to find later on (Dance Dance Revolution for one). All Rock Star games find their way in the bargin bin.

I think certain publishers are what drive a lot of people to popularize certain games, which is a little unfair to other ones. Atlus is a great company--yet not one of their games has ever reached Greatest Hits status. I love Square Enix, Namco and all those big name companies, of course, but I often wish that other lesser-known publishers would get a chance to have at least one Greatest Hits title! I'm sure one day, despite their size and capability, that smaller companies will get their due respect.

Excellent advice, Cosmic ^_^ .

[Alutra]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

Honestly, dont be afraid of something going "Rare". If you are not already, get farmiliar with Ebay. I have never had a problem finding what I wanted there. Even old "rare" games...If a game is worth your time and money, It is likely that someone is trying to sell it. If it is exteamly rare, that just means you will have to be patient, and check Ebay often. If you are low on cash, then just filter the max price to something low, like 5$-10$. Just keep a sharp eye on the shipping, because some sellers will trick you...

EDIT: for example, I just did a search for Suikoden II and it said "79 items found for Suikoden II"

[Misty]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

EBay is certainly THE place to find rare stuff. I've been using EBay for a while and have successfully found rare games online....at the unfortunate expense of my checking account

I usually try to find the cheapest price possible for discontinued games. You're right, Alutra....some sellers are pretty sneaky! :P

[Alzar]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

I can never wait and be smart about prices.

I just buy everything right when it comes out, usually impulsively.

I THOUGHT I'D SHARE

[Valkysas]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

My advice? look at the whiny people screaming "fag" at each other over X box live. Any game these type of people are interested in will be available for years. if a game does not appeal to these people, it will vanish rather quickly.

[Manji]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

I can never wait and be smart about prices.

I just buy everything right when it comes out, usually impulsively.

I THOUGHT I'D SHARE

Alzar is the video game friend you want because you'll never have to buy a game again! just borrow it from them, play through it and if it's something you really want in your collection, then you should buy it.

i have a friend who buys games impusively as well. it's great.

[Patryn]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

Quick note: Greatest Hits status doesn't mean anything about quality. It's done for one of two reasons. The easiest and most common way is that it sells enough units (which is how DMC2 got in, probably). The company then figures that they've sold it to all the people that would be willing to buy it for full price, so they try to pick up the casual on the fence people with a lower price (plus by adding features they hope the low price point will convince people to rebuy the game). The second is to move games that they feel need a sales push. That's far more rare.

[Magus]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

My god look at all these long posts

[Biggie]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

I picked up Special Edition because of the new Gold continue system.

Devil May Cry 3 was fun, but the original continue system was complete bullshit. Held me back from beating it. Because seriously, why would you want to go through the same level for the 50th time just because you kept on getting beat by the same boss.

[Misty]

Re: Buy a game now or wait until later?

I have DMC3 Special Edition and, though I like it, I wouldn't suggest it. That is if you already have DMC3. I had fun playing as Vergil, but there isn't to much of a difference between Dante and Vergil's fighting. Playing with Vergil you go through the same stuff Dante did, expect without the cool cutscenes. I only recommend it if you don't have DMC3 because they are currently the same price.

My friend give you a huge thanks, Vessel of Jamos. Just now he called me over my cell phone and I told him exactly what you said. Now he's not as pissed as he was the day before. Usually he isn't bothered by the Greatest Hits thing in itself--it was just the fact that DMC3 was released under the Special Edition label for $20.

I picked up Special Edition because of the new Gold continue system. Devil May Cry 3 was fun, but the original continue system was complete bullshit. Held me back from beating it. Because seriously, why would you want to go through the same level for the 50th time just because you kept on getting beat by the same boss.

As for you, Bigfoot, you've given me enough incentive to invest in the DMC3 Special Edition, now that I know about the continue system (my friend was irritated by it, too). In a way, I'm glad I didn't buy DMC3 when it came out--I save money and I get the Special Edition. (But I'm not gonna call my friend a sucker )

my god look at all these long posts

You know you like 'em, wild wing boy.