Buying for the sake of having

Games
21

I’ve done this many, many times. I buy games all the time just to ‘complete my collection’. Whether or not I actually play the game depends on how much I like the first five minutes of gameplay. If it doesn’t grab in 5 minutes, I usually set it aside.

Now, before any of you start thinking I’m a rich nut, I only do this with games that have hit the bargain bin. If I’m not looking forward to a game a lot, or it hasn’t gotten really good reviews, or has a really good demo, I don’t buy it. But even games I’m not interested in, I buy when they hit the bargain bin. I usually can’t resist them if they’re in the $1-$5 range. I just think, “why not?” Instead of eating at a fast food place, I buy some Ramen noodles instead that week, and presto, I’ve made that money back already.

More recently, I’ve started doing this with virtual bargain bins too. Specifically, deals on Gogamer.com. I can’t resist a game that had good reviews, even if I wasn’t particularly interested in it. Games like Brothers in Arms. I know I’ll eventually install it and try it out, but I have no desire to right now, and maybe the mood will never hit me. But I got it really cheap, so I’m not that concerned.

Same with games like Armed and Dangerous. I got it from Gogamer about a year ago for about $3. I don’t know whether its any good but I’m a HUUUUUGE fan of Giants: Citizen kabuto, and I believe this game was by the same studio, so I usually make purchases based on that too. Because I’m a fan of the studio, I know I’ll give Armed and Dangerous 5 minutes one of these days. A chance to grab me, maybe make me laugh like Citizen Kabuto did. If not, eh, I’ll set it aside. But it’s part of my collection, and I like it that way.

I also have Quake 3, even though I absolutely hated what little I played of it. I thought Unreal Tournmant was better than Q3 in every way.

But if I hear about a fan-made mod for Quake 3 that’s worth playing, and is single player (lately I only play multiplayer over Xbox Live anymore, I’ve stopped playing PC games onlline, except with my friends, who all have Xbox 360s), then I’ll install Quake 3 again and install the single player mod to check it out. It might never happen, but I like knowing that I’m prepared if it ever does.

22

I find myself doing this with stuff on the wii virtual console. I have a lot of games there that I’ve bought just to have, but then never actually play them.

23

I do this quite a bit with games. There are some games that to me are just worth having even if I dont play them.

24

I just like to possess things, and feel secure in the knowledge that I have things and am therefore much man. Though I have more entertainment options than I will ever have the time to use, I only feel comfortable if I can buy and control everything. Nothing must escape my omniverous hunger.

I do this with women too.

25

Yeah, I found myself doing this with “classic” games that I loved as a kid.

I am going to have to restrain myself from buying a PS3 just to play MGS4 when that comes out.

26

I’m Rick James, bitch!

27

I go one step further: Sometimes, I buy stuff because I figure other people don’t deserve to have it.

28

I have every version of Psychonauts released.

29

Maybe some kind soul has been able to upload the plot scenes to Youtube; or when MGS4:Fixed Edition hits 360 eventually, we can expect a BONUS! cinema viewer that makes the $40 I blew on the game obsolete.

30

I bought Might and Magic IX just because I already owned 1-8 and figured I needed to finish the set. I have yet to install it or play it, and likely never will based on the reviews.

I will buy stuff out of the $5-$10 bargain bin all the time “just to have it”. I have dozens of games like that that I bought simply because I remembered them getting rave reveiws or high scores in the gaming mags. Most get installed and futzed with for a few days, then dissapear into my backlog. Some have never even been opened.

31

I would put it this way: every game I buy I have an interest in at least trying; but I realize that some - OK, most - of what I buy I will most likely not have a chance to play. There’s simply too many games coming out and not enough free time in the day to play them. But I keep buying them anyway.

Part of it is compulsive behavior: I do the whole “trawling bargain bins / CAG” thing, watching for deals on games which catch my eye. Part of it is due to the fact that older, more obscure titles can be hard to find and/or more expensive to buy after a while; everything has a limited shelf life, so the trick is to nab it before it hits that point. Partly it’s due to the fact I dabble in lots of different genres and I never know when I’ll be in the mood for something different: I like being able to just pull it down off my shelf whenever I feel like it, even if I know I won’t do that with many games.

That said, I still buy way too many games; and with the advent of Gametap, concerns about older games disappearing completely is (hopefully) less of an issue.

32

Where I get lost is the folk who, perhaps liking Heroes of Might and Magic III would then have the compulsion to get what was then the complete set of Heroes of Might and Magic I-III. I mean, while 4 was a weird departure and I guess I haven’t heard that much about V, they felt to me pretty much like the same game with more and more stuff added. If I liked III what sickness would have me want to check out I?

33

Guilty of buying games that I never actually ended up playing. Mostly based on hype and reviews. The list is long, but distinguished.

34

Yes I will end up doing this namely with FFXIII because I don’t plan on owning a PS3 anytime soon or possibly even when FF comes out. I am planning on picking up a PS4 which will probably be backwards compatable and play it then. I also do own the FF online game though only ever played the free month.

35

Why? I mean, once you get around to getting that PS4, wouldn’t you theoretically be able to find FFXIII-XVII or whatever in a bargain bin somewhere for a lot less money?

36

I am a closet FF fanboy so I must obtain it when it’s available or painful things will happen. Other wise it wouldn’t make the list of games I’d buy just for the sake of having to complete the set. I originally never had a DS until just this past tuesday when a store near me finally had one in so I could start playing FF3 which I’ve had since release.

37

I don’t think I’ve ever bought a game “Just to complete the set”. Game sequels don’t stack up the same way movie sequels do to me. I don’t feel the need to buy a boxed set of games like the ‘war chests’ or ‘full theater of war’ that call of duty has.

Because of the nature of sequels I am probably less inclined to own a full continuous series. A sequel worth purchasing adds enough to the original to warrant a purchase out of a play alone. The splinter cell games are like that for me. I have splinter cell, and chaos theory, but I have no desire to buy pandora tomorrow or double agent.

However, I do buy some games “just to have them”. I borrowed Beyond Good & Evil from a friend and beat it. When I saw it in my friends store a couple months ago I bought it just to own it. I don’t think I’ll ever get around to playing through it again, but I want to own it. I did that with Ico too and MGS3. Generally price is a factor in this. Once these games get under $20 or something like subsistence comes out I’ll pick it up to own.