This is a question that I have based on a few conversations that I've read here over the past few months. Simply, what things help you to define how you get the most value out of a game? I can think of a few things that might matter to determining value (this list is incomplete, of course):
So, to start, I really just buy the games that I like at sixty dollars without a worry about if they will drop in price rapidly or not. On the flip side, I won't buy a game at full-price unless I have a VERY good idea that it fits my tastes, that it is such an intriguing concept that I feel like I want to try it immediately, or unless I've played a previous game in the series that I quite enjoyed.
Sometimes, this leads to me getting burned: For example, I loved Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: FLoRA so much when I bought it during a Steam sale that not only did I buy it again on two other consoles, but I also bought Runner3 on sight even when I typically refuse to pay more than $20 for a digital game (yes, I value them less than physical copies - you have more options in the U.S. with your physical copy than you do with your digital copy, and your physical copy can't be remotely wiped from your console, theoretically). I don't like Runner3.
On the other hand, things like length don't matter to me. Quality is the most important thing there is: I paid $15 for Gorogoa on Switch, and it lasted 2-2.5 hours for me, and I don't care because I thought it was brilliant. The concept intrigued me, and I was right that I would deeply appreciate the game.
I'm also less likely to worry about getting my full $60 USD's worth from sports games, WRPGs, and open-world action-adventure games, and I'll gladly plunk down full price for a game in these genres (especially sports games, which I typically always like very much and play for years past their release dates).
So, I open this up to everyone else because I think this could be an interesting conversation about value. How do you define value for your gaming dollar? What are some aspects of defining value for games that you don't understand that maybe someone else who has that perspective can share their viewpoints upon?
- Length of game - It must have enough hours of gameplay for your dollar.
- Quality of game - Duh!
- Genre of game - Some people value certain genres less than others; I've read some variation of "I'm not paying sixty dollars for a game in [X] genre" quite a lot over the years.
- Single-player/multi-player options - Some people won't pay much for an SP-only game; others won't pay much for an MP-only game.
- Price of other games in the market - There are so many options out there that some folks won't pay more than $20 USD, for example, because there are always games of all types hitting that mark via sales, bundles, and price drops, and thus they see no reason to pay more for any given game.
- Re-sell value - Some folks care about whether or not they have time to play and then re-sell their games for high value. Others like their games to accrue value as part of a collection.
- Digital vs. Physical - Some folks value digital games differently than physical ones for a number of reasons.
So, to start, I really just buy the games that I like at sixty dollars without a worry about if they will drop in price rapidly or not. On the flip side, I won't buy a game at full-price unless I have a VERY good idea that it fits my tastes, that it is such an intriguing concept that I feel like I want to try it immediately, or unless I've played a previous game in the series that I quite enjoyed.
Sometimes, this leads to me getting burned: For example, I loved Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: FLoRA so much when I bought it during a Steam sale that not only did I buy it again on two other consoles, but I also bought Runner3 on sight even when I typically refuse to pay more than $20 for a digital game (yes, I value them less than physical copies - you have more options in the U.S. with your physical copy than you do with your digital copy, and your physical copy can't be remotely wiped from your console, theoretically). I don't like Runner3.
On the other hand, things like length don't matter to me. Quality is the most important thing there is: I paid $15 for Gorogoa on Switch, and it lasted 2-2.5 hours for me, and I don't care because I thought it was brilliant. The concept intrigued me, and I was right that I would deeply appreciate the game.
I'm also less likely to worry about getting my full $60 USD's worth from sports games, WRPGs, and open-world action-adventure games, and I'll gladly plunk down full price for a game in these genres (especially sports games, which I typically always like very much and play for years past their release dates).
So, I open this up to everyone else because I think this could be an interesting conversation about value. How do you define value for your gaming dollar? What are some aspects of defining value for games that you don't understand that maybe someone else who has that perspective can share their viewpoints upon?
