Video games are a favorite pastime of most men. Since we were younger, there has always been a Nintendo, Sega, Sony, or Microsoft machine in our houses, keeping us entertained when women weren’t around.

Video games are expensive though, at least at their release. XBOX 360 and PS3 games usually retail at $59.99 at street date and can stay at that price for a particular amount of time.

Though it’s tempting to jump on a game the second it is released, I’ve learned that it is a shrewd move to wait a bit to purchase a new title, especially if it is not something you will be playing obsessively¹

In the realm of personal experience, Fight Night Round 4 was a good example of purchasing a game too soon. I reserved the game months in advance, picked it up when it was released, and nearly three weeks later, I was barely playing it. I had purchased Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare² for 30 bucks on Amazon and then Madden NFL 10 came out and Fight Night started collecting dust. With tax, I paid about $65 for it. Two months later, Amazon was offering it for 40 bucks on sale. OY!

I ended up selling the game on Craigslist for $40 to some kid from Queens, so, in theory, I spent 25 bucks to play a game for three weeks; basically rental territory.

I realize now if I decide to buy Fight Night Round 4 again when I have nothing else to play, it will probably be in the 40 dollar range, or less, and it would be worth the purchase then. But, for now, with Madden, Call of Duty 4, and Modern Warfare 2 coming in November³, I have no room for other games in my life at this point.

Speaking of Madden, using Amazon, I recently pulled an intelligent caper.

A few months after a new title releases, start checking Amazon for price drops. With free shipping⁴ and no sales tax⁵, it really can’t be beat.

Amazon had Madden for $47 on PS3 three weeks after its release. I purchased the game originally at its release for full-price plus tax ($65). Since I had 30 days to return the game to get a full refund, I ordered the game on Amazon, returned the received copy to the store⁶, and got a full refund. It is almost like I bought Madden on its August 14th release date for $47 and I have definitely gotten its gaming worth with over 250 online games played already⁷

You also have to know when to sell off: As noted in my Fight Night example above, sometimes, you just got to know when to let go of a useless game. With Toys ‘R Us and Amazon now doing video game trade-ins⁸, you can make some decent bank from your dormant games.

For games that have yearly releases, and I will use Madden again as an example, figure to resell the game before its inevitable price drop, usually 3-4 months before the new version releases. For Madden NFL 09, released in August 2008, I played it hardcore until selling it to Amazon in April 2009 for $17. I got a solid eight months of gameplay, but with Madden NFL 10 coming in August 2009, I figured I could get off Madden for a few months and refuel before the new one released. 8 months of gameplay for a net cost of $48 is good math.

Games that have less frequent updates, such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, might be worth the initial purchase and have longer price holds than other games. Call of Duty 4 can still be found in many stores for $40, even though the game was released in 2007. Halo 2 didn’t receive a price drop from its $60 tag for almost two years. These games are better at-release purchases since the buy back amount should be more significant than a game with a one-year shelf life.

Still, as noted, if you have no initial need to play a game, don’t purchase it and wait for a better price. If you’re only going to play a game once, beat its single-player mode, and then toss it to the side without reselling it, you might be better off waiting until its price drops significantly before purchasing.

Look at it from this perspective: You have a girlfriend and a woman on the side. There are 7 days in a week. You work full-time. You need to make enough time for your girlfriend, or she will get suspicious, and you need to make time for the home-wrecker, because she is who you really enjoy being with. You can’t go out with other women because you don’t really have time for them. You’re not going to spend you money on a date with a woman you know you won’t have time for. Video games are the same way. If you don’t have time for a video game, it makes no sense to spend the money on it.

If only I could make a woman analogy about video game price drops. Doubt the price of women goes down anytime soon!

1. For me, any Madden game gets the automatic designation of “will play obsessively”. [↩]
2. Easily top 3 in my favorite games of all-time [↩]
3. Yes, I am buying that the day it comes out; I know it will be worth the 65 pesos. [↩]
4. on most games [↩]
5. in most states [↩]
6. Whom I will not name, but you should know what massive video game chain I am speaking of without even speaking of it. [↩]
7. … and probably another 1000 in the next upcoming months. [↩]
8. Both give back substantially more money per title than Gamestop. [↩]

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