CAG and Diminishing Returns (Personal Rant)

Arakias

Arakias

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Ok, so I have been a CAG for one year according to my profile thing on the side. And my problem is that I have been playing video games less and less because of this site. I used to look forward to the next new release I have to have and then pay the $50 and enjoy that one game till it was over. I would rarely ever own 2 games that I havnt even played.

Now I find myself just not enjoying games as much because I find myself feeling like I should wait for them to drop in price. What I mean is that the value of the games is a lot less because I havnt put in my $50 in a game. I might decide to wait a while, but then again, I can afford any new game and I tend not to play older games.

I now look forward to buying as many cheap games as possible (though even in this regard I dont, I was the first into a CC store for the $5 sale, grabbed at least 20 games, then decided to buy, get this, none). Right now I have Ikaruga and Pikmin both sealed, sitting there cause I bought em cheap. I'm barely into Castlevania CotM and I returned a sealed Disgaea cause I didnt want to deal with trading it.

Sadly I have become a Cheap Ass, but I am no longer a Gamer. :(

edit: (i saw where it says when i joined)
 
I'm sorry to hear that you no longer think of yourself as a Gamer :(
But I know what you're saying--when we had to buy games for 50 bucks, we saved up, that's a decent chunk of money, and I'm going to make myself get 50 bucks of entertainment out of it, because it'd be a while before I bought another 50 buck game. But when you've got a 5-10 dollar game coming in every week, you don't have time to appreciate the games you do have, and you feel 'Meh, it was only 6 bucks, who cares if I play it?' and don't appreciate what you have.
I actually just traded in about 1/3 of my PS2 games, because they were just sitting there, and now i can focus on the games I have or are getting soon, and I find myself looking forward them again.
As much as I love games/gaming, too much of a good thing is sometimes too much.
 
You know whats funny? I initially said I have been a CAG for at least 5 months, I didnt look to the left side and see it says I joined "Oct 7th 2003". Stupid me. I've posted 250 times so far.
CAG has made it an interesting year!
 
I know how you feel. I now have more fun finding a deal than playing the game, usually. I have picked up a few gems because of this site that make it all worthwhile, but for the most part I find the bargain hunting more fun than the actual games. I still enjoy the games as much as I ever did, I just enjoy the thrill of the hunt more.
 
Haha I know exactly how you feel, But I came up with my solution the other day. I'm trading most of my games 40+ in at fye for essentially equal or more then I paid for them at CC BB and TRU sales. From now on I'm only planning on having 5 games persystem at a time. My solution for buying games new is to wait for a sale buy the games at 40 (if there are no sales I can always GGC it or in the near future pick up 3 at the B2G1 sale at TRU) and then play the game for a couple weeks then trade it on here for another game that has just come out. If I really liked the game I could keep it. But what I have learned from CAG is that games tend to drop in price very fast, so I can just wait a month or 2 and pick up the game at a drastically smaller price.
 
Yeah, I know this plight well. Like Tromack said, I think I enjoy getting good deals more than playing the games that I got the deals on. I've surmassed quite the videogame collection through CAG, and just looking at it all would probably make me happier than playing them. It's weird, I think that the more you pay for a game, the more you enjoy it (regardless of how good the game actually is). If I choose to pay $50 for a game like The Hulk (I didn't, I'm just saying), I'm going to beat that game backwards and forewards because I paid full price for it. If I got the same game for $10 however, I might not even make it through the game once. I suppose I've become more of a videogame collector than a videogame player, but I'm ok with that. At some point in my life (i've got a good 60 years at least to go), they'll all get played.
 
On the flip side, though, I have played and enjoyed some games that I would never have purchased had it not been for CAG. I'm currently playing Syberia (bought it for $5 at CC) and I really like it (I'm a big fan of the Broken Sword games). I'm sure that there are many other games that I have played and liked but would never have purchased/rented in the first place if not for this site. So, a big "thank you" to everyone for making CAG what it is! :applause:
 
I think part of the reason that I can't finish the games I have (when that wasn't a problem before) is due to the fact so many games come out all the time! There are a LOT of must haves coming out during Christmas this year. How is that I have to get these games (cheap) when I have two sealed at home right now that I need to play? It seems like I will play them just so I played them instead of enjoying them.
 
I agree with everyone here, following the old saying, "The destination is half the reward." Buying cheap games has almost become an addiction for me. Once I buy a game, I'm just looking for the next good deal.

As a game journalist, I get a lot of free games, yet I still shop around for stuff I haven't got yet. Sure, Sonic DX and Wolverine's Revenge were cheap at Overstock.com, but I played them for review already and gave them crappy scores! Why do I end up owning them? Perhaps adding new entries to my IGN collection has something to do with it.

I think my plan is to sell a bunch of the cheapest, least likely to play games I own, and use the money to find the rare gems that I otherwise wouldn't spend the exorbitant amount of money on (Snatcher Sega CD, Persona 2, etc.). That way, I'm trading quantity for quality -- which used to be my prime directive anyway.
 
Well then, if u really want $50 games, why not sell the cheap games to friends, or enemies (i just made $15 off of a copy of downhill domination i payed $10 for :D) and use that money for your precious "$50 games" or you could set up a money jar. Take $3 each day and put them in a safe place, making sure NOT to take out a dollar for any reason. After 17 days, you'll have enough.
also there are certain ways of judging whether a game will stay at that price for much longer:

Longer games (especially RPGs) tend to take longer to beat, so people dont sell them that quickly and they'll stay pricier for longer.

Shorter games, or games that rely more on Replay value (like a dominating 2 player mode) or a storyline tend to go down in price quicker, as there will always be the idiots who sell it right after "beating" the game
I learned this from EGM and IMO it all makes sense. Just use judgement.
 
I too find myself looking to find deals on games more often than I play them. I will have plenty of time to play them. At such cheap prices, it's not worth it to trade them in, and not worth it to pass on them. Meh, just my opinion.
 
Yep, this site's transformed me as well. I'm not complaining though, it's a better one then a harmful one, but I really need to start playing more of my games instead of looking for more to play.
 
There is a rule for video games and women:

The chase is usually better than the catch!!!


That should sum it up
 
[quote name='Nirvanaguy777']you= idiot, nuff said[/quote]
Completely uncalled for.

There are many ways to look at CAGness.
Personally, I only buy games that I think I will play in the near future. I have limited time and limited space, so I need to be picky. Yes, the $5 and $10 games are hard to resist, but I really have no place to put them. Living in NYC = not much space.

I think its important for CAGs to not obsess about missing deals, paying full price for a game, or anything else that will just upset you.

There will always be missed deals, games you want to support by paying full price, or games you want to get on release day. Don't upset yourself, just do what makes you happy (as long as you can afford it).

To me, the fact that the OP mentioned that he turned down the CC sale and survived is a good sign that he will be fine.
 
[quote name='CheapyD'][quote name='Nirvanaguy777']you= idiot, nuff said[/quote]
Completely uncalled for.

To me, the fact that the OP mentioned that he turned down the CC sale and survived is a good sign that he will be fine.[/quote]

Thanks Cheapy for the support. I like these forums, thats why I browse em often at work and home. This is an excellent site.
I dont know what point Nirvanaguy was trying to make, but it has no validity or worth to it. I have been gaming since I was in 2nd grade with the original NES, perhaps I am getting to a peak with gaming.
BUT - I am highly looking forward to Metal Gear 3: Snake Eater and Metroid Prime 2. Those are games I hope will bring me back to gaming. A friend has the MG3 demo, I gotta borrow that, the MP2 demo disc I got was excellent.
Heres to the holiday lineup!

edit: also thanks dtcarson, tromack, hutno, evilmax et al for your posts and views.
 
[quote name='CheapyD'][quote name='Nirvanaguy777']you= idiot, nuff said[/quote]
Completely uncalled for.

There are many ways to look at CAGness.
Personally, I only buy games that I think I will play in the near future. I have limited time and limited space, so I need to be picky. Yes, the $5 and $10 games are hard to resist, but I really have no place to put them. Living in NYC = not much space.

I think its important for CAGs to not obsess about missing deals, paying full price for a game, or anything else that will just upset you.

There will always be missed deals, games you want to support by paying full price, or games you want to get on release day. Don't upset yourself, just do what makes you happy (as long as you can afford it).

To me, the fact that the OP mentioned that he turned down the CC sale and survived is a good sign that he will be fine.[/quote]

Sure... when I made a topic similar to this you just told me "welcome to the club" I still haven't got my membership card in the mail by the way...
 
[quote name='Zenithian Legend']
Sure... when I made a topic similar to this you just told me "welcome to the club" I still haven't got my membership card in the mail by the way...[/quote]

I wasnt sure if I should go looking for threads similar to this, but Zenithian at least you get to enjoy putting me through any "hazing" membership into this club requires.
 
I have the same problem as the OP. I always felt guilty even thinking about buying a $50 game, looking down on those who did. Then I realized I was being stupid, obsessing about paying the cheapest prices instead of enjoying games for what they are- games. I'm going to pay $50 for MP: Echoes and Halo 2, and I can't wait!!
 
I was going to pay $50 for Mortal Kombat - no matter what. However, this site hooked me up with the Target $10 off coupon. That's the value of the site.
 
[quote name='CheapyD'][quote name='Nirvanaguy777']you= idiot, nuff said[/quote]
Completely uncalled for.[/quote]

Perhaps, then again *walks off*
 
[quote name='Arakias'][quote name='Zenithian Legend']
Sure... when I made a topic similar to this you just told me "welcome to the club" I still haven't got my membership card in the mail by the way...[/quote]

I wasnt sure if I should go looking for threads similar to this, but Zenithian at least you get to enjoy putting me through any "hazing" membership into this club requires.[/quote]

Well all I can tell you right now is that you and the other new members will be spending a night in a basement with a goat and a bucket of jungle juice.
 
[quote name='Zenithian Legend']
Well all I can tell you right now is that you and the other new members will be spending a night in a basement with a goat and a bucket of jungle juice.[/quote]

Heh, funny story there, thats what my parents made me do when I was grounded....

But I thought I'd just give this a bump by stating my opinion on the YMMV acronym. I hate it. I think a better and more valid one would be DFSS (differs from store-store) or MDSS (may differ store to store).
Saying YMMV means nothing when it comes to its deals. Its factual correct in any instance that "your mileage may vary" when you say it to anyone, saying that the actual deal may be different at any given store within the same chain though is not covered in YMMV, but I guess somehow that became the widely used acronym. I dislike it. :x
 
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