Oct 01 2006

How To Save $1000 Per Video Game System

Posted by Geezer as Consoles, Gameboy, NextGen, Nintendo DS, PSP, PlayStation 3, Wii, XBox 360

Some of the readers of Gadzooki are probably a young as I once was. In other words, some of the readers of Gadzooki are yunguns.

I’m only in my 20′s now, but really, I’ve gained some wisdom…especially when it comes to handling the excitement of a new video game system like the Wii or PS3 or Xbox360.

I used to be just like you. I used to line up at midnight on the night of release, waiting hours to buy the brand new system. I just couldn’t wait. I salivated for months (nah, years!) reading daily about all the rumors about the upcoming system. And then bang. The minute it was available, I bought it. Just like you.

But over the years I’ve become a video game veteran. And I’ve realized something important about the video game cycle. The key is to realize that the cycle depends on YOU. That’s right. And when you realize that you can create your very own video game cycle, you’ll have found that you can save over $1000 per system generation.

Here’s how to do it. You ready? You think you can handle the truth?

Take 10 deep breaths. Seriously, discipline yourself to wait. Set your own cycle. Don’t let the manufacturer set the cycle for you. In other words, don’t buy the system or game the minute it comes out.

Easier said then done, right? Well, to tell you the truth, it’s not too hard once you’ve tried it out. But it’s really hard to try. Just like jumping into the deepend of a pool for the first time. But enough of that…let’s do the calculations.

If you can wait 1 year after a system comes out, then you can normally save at leaest $50 and often times get an extra free game or controller. Waiting 1 year for a new system seems like nonsense until you’ve tried it. But really it makes a whole lot of sense.

Think about it. The best games for a system usually come out 2-3 years into a systems life. Most systems are struggling to find good games at the beginning. Why? Because developers are still learning the ropes of the system. Once they’ve perfected the method (about 3 years in, the games reach their peak). By waiting one year, you aren’t missing out. Trust me. All the games that were launched before are still available, and all the games to be released, the best ones, are just about to land in your local store.

This leads me to my second rule: don’t buy a game unless it’s less than $20. This is actually the most important rule of all. You can literally save $30-$40 per game. And if you’re like me and you end up buying about 30-40 games per generation, you’ve potentially saved $900-$1600.

Set yourself up to buy games at a discount (under $20) by buying your system one year after it is released. Then, you can take advantage of the fact that publishers are trying to sell-through unpurchased copies of video games that didn’t sell in their first year of release.

So here’s the recipe:

1. Buy your system one year after its release. In doing this you set YOUR OWN video game cycle.

2. Never buy a game over $20. Most games get this low pretty quickly and rarely take more than one year on the market.

Pretty simple, but utterly successful. It allows you to get more game for your buck. So start gaming to your own drum-beat and you’ll realize there’s no need to play by the industry’s rules anymore.

Share and Enjoy:

Comments (44)

44 Responses

Mr Butterscotch
01|Oct|2006

Quimby, I couldn’t agree more with this. However, if there’s a real youngun’ as it were reading, I think they wouldn’t care too much about savings, given the folks will be buying their machine of choice at Christmas. Your logic is totally sound though, and evidence that consoles (and PC’s for that matter) can be very, VERY expensive toys indeed.

This is also an interesting point in itself – consoles aren’t just toys any more, and the 360/PS3 make this very clear in pricepoint/look etc. They are catering for our generation, if not our wallets. I haven’t included the Wii in the list as it’s possibly more toy-like, though I’d prefer to say more accessable for all.
c-dog
01|Oct|2006

I still think this method puts you far short. To save $1000 or more per video game system, you need to mod your console, rent or borrow, rip, and burn to your heart’s delight. Plus you can unlock all kinds of features like emulators and playing music and movies on your entertainment center.
Lancey
02|Oct|2006

This applies for all types of consumer technology, not just gaming. If you’re willing to buy gear that’s a year behind the cutting edge, you’ll save yourself a bundle. Plus all of the initial bugs and problems will have been discovered and ironed out.

When you buy brand new technology, you’re usually paying over the odds for the privelege of beta testing.
Oni
02|Oct|2006

I’d have to agree with what you say there.

I desperately wanted to update from my Xbox to the Xbox 360 when it first launched, but given the lack of stock, my lack of funds and the fact that I knew there would be some form of other special bundle deal and possibly the introduction of the Xbox HD DVD drive upgrade, I saw it best to wait at least a few months later before getting it.

These few months then turned in to nearly one year now as rumours of the HD DVD drive flew about. Now I’m waiting for it to actually release so I can finally rig up my HD TV with some nice High Def content.
daniel
02|Oct|2006

this is the most stupid thing i have every seen
daniel
02|Oct|2006

so if i was to do this i would be buying a 360 this month instead of day one (for the same price) and when halo 3 (limited edition of course) comes out you would want me to wait most likely around 4 years until it is 20$ which by then the next one will be out and nobody would be playing this one defeatingthe point of buying it!!!!

you are an idiot
Erich
02|Oct|2006

Daniel, you might be right for multiplayer games. As far as single player games are concerned, I do not care whether or not anyone else plays them anymore. Because I play for my own fun, not to impress others (BTW, most girls are not at all impressed by your gaming skills). During the last years, I’ve bought a lot of excellent games for budget price. Additional advantage when buying PC games: One or two years after the original releast, you get all the necessary patches and often some kind of “game of the year edition” with additional goodies.
Andre
02|Oct|2006

In the time it took you to figure this out and type the story you could have just gone to work and made a couple hundred bucks.

It’s beyond me why anyone even takes the time to figure this stuff out. If you want to save money just do it with consumables (aka: that coffee you had this morning from starbucks, drop that and you’ll save far more than you would by playing outdated games) If it’s something tangable that you’re going to use for months/years to come then who cares if it’s expensive.
PhoenixP3K
02|Oct|2006

I bought the slim-line PS2 when it came out, this means I was late 2years on the original system. That’s because I had got my slim-line PSOne as soon as it came out as well.

I’ve been a late bloomer concerning games because my previous console was a NES. In other words I’m already following the pattern you proposed and might get myself a PS3 somewhere in summer 2008 or just in time for a new slim-line

As for the games it always depends on your existing library, I’ve just started replaying my old games and I could stay entertained for an other year or so!
Multiplayer.ro » Blog Archive » How To Save $1000 Per Video Game System
02|Oct|2006

[...] read more | digg story [...]
Mr Butterscotch
02|Oct|2006

Yeah, replaying old games is another good stalling tactic until the game you want comes down in price. These days games seem to drop in price quicker (at least over in the UK they do) so it is sometimes not that long a wait…
sjb
02|Oct|2006

Couldn’t agree more. I bought an Xbox years after everybody else and I won’t buy a game for it unless it’s 10 quid or less. And they all end up at 10 quid or less eventually.
steve
02|Oct|2006

Instead of BUYING your 30-40 games for a console, you could be swapping them out using a site like swaptree.com. That will easily allow you to save over your current goal of $1000 plus you will not have to wait until the prices of these games drop below $20.
Steven
02|Oct|2006

Pretty interesting in fact. He’s right when it comes to wait for greatest/players/platinum hits. Myself, I waited for the GH version of DMC3 and games I judge not worthy spending 50$+. But still, I’m a VG collector more than anything else. For me an original factory sealed console/game represents a lot of value when it comes to my collection. But for most of the people out there, it’s a great move to buy whatever hits. I mean, every good game have the tag. I’m just randomly thinking about know hits as Final Fantasy (7-10 + T), Mario Sunshine, Star Wars: KotOR, Devil May Cry, God of War, etc. My final opinion: Not applicable for me, very interesting with common & hardcore gamer (who can wait a year or two).
Mangler
02|Oct|2006

If everyone waited for the prices to drop to 20 bucks for games and waited for the systems to go down in price the developers wouldn’t make as much money and they wouldn’t give a crap about making good games. They would make a crappy game that is worth $20 like big mother truckers or something.
Quimby
02|Oct|2006

But Mangler, surely you know that not everyone is going to follow this advice. So *in reality* it will always be a possible avenue for those who want to take it.
twentyhood.
02|Oct|2006

[...] Article Here [...]
Dubz
02|Oct|2006

Another good way to do it, and also save over $1,000.00 (more depending on the number of games you want) is to only buy a system once there is a working Modchip for it.

Take the Xbox for example. A modded Xbox can play any video file you put on it (AVi, OGM, OGG, MKV, MPG, etc), any music file, can play any Xbox, PSX, SNES, Gamecube, N64, SNES, NES or Genesis game. It can copy them or run downloaded copies. Hooks directly to your TV, can be hooked up to the internet to get the weather or stream music (easy with XBMC). Add in a 250GB HDD and you also save on DVDs ^_^

A modded PS3 would be an amazing investment, imagine emulating the Xbox360, Xbox and all the ones I’ve so far listed
Copa
02|Oct|2006

Yeah, i can agree with this because i got a ps2 as soon as it came out, everyone remember the disc read error? it was either ship the ps2 to sony and pay 150 for them to fix it or fix it myself, which eventually i did. one of my friends (accidentally ) kicked my ps2 and it wouldn’t work anymore, LUCKILY someone gave me their ps2 but guess what, it just wouldn’t work because the disc tray wouldn’t function correctly. these were both early models. don’t any fags say “oh well that’s sony for ya” because junk like that happens clearly for hexbox too. and i recall nintendo’s first model having overheating problems. when i was younger i would get the first model as soon as it came out, now it’s my own money, so getting it one year after sounds like a good idea now.
A Fatter Wallet through Delayed Gratification » Bill2me.com
02|Oct|2006

[...] One of the curses of being an early-adopter is not having enough money to adopt everything you want early. As Gadzooki points out you can often save alot of money by just waiting awhile. [...]
Sinizar
02|Oct|2006

A suggestion I would like to make is purchase every console at launch, and then sell it on ebay. Then take the profit and put it away for the console purchase when you are ready to buy it for yourself.

Example, I was able to purchase three PS2 systems at launch. I was able to sell each of them on ebay for a $200 profit. So with $600 I put it away and purchased the PS2 when it had some games I wanted to play.

I did the same thing with the Xbox 360 launch. I purchased three core units, and three hard drives. I was able to double my initial investment by selling on ebay. I then turned around and purchased a Premium 360 for myself in February when you could find them available.

This is a much better way to go, it takes money up front, you get your money back, and you get your console for free. In the 360s case I purchased a Premium and updated my computer with a $300 video card and a $300 cpu.
Michael Wales
02|Oct|2006

Another good reason to wait for a year before you buy a new console – a new version will be out by then.

It never fails, when I purchase a console/handheld, 2 months later a newer, lighter, smaller, different looking version – that costs the same and offers more will come out.

1 month after I bought my DS, 1 month… the Lite came out. Now that I’ve broken my DS stylus, the only stylus I can find is for the Lite – which won’t fit.
Scott Vieth
02|Oct|2006

This is true, you can be patient and wait, but in the current realm where online gaming is king, the one thing you do stand to lose is the number of players you will be playing against.

If you’re not big into online gaming, or going online with your systems, then this isn’t even a concern, but to many, I know it would be.

Now that doesn’t mean with some fiscal responsibility and some deal shopping that you should EVER pay full price for anything except the console itself … between sites like cheapassgamer.com, dealrush.com, and even checking out your local Sam’s store, you should never have to pay full price for a game ever.

So I thought it would be worth adding a possible disadvantage, but a reminder that even in the world of early adoption, full price isn’t a requirement (even if we’re talking $10 savings instead of $40)
?...
02|Oct|2006

So if everyone were to conceivably do this to save money, the video game market would be crashing and we would have nothing to play.
Froogle
02|Oct|2006

Wait an entire year to save $50? Are you insane? If $50 is that important to you then you have no business spending anything on entertainment. You should be able to save that much by working a bit more or more discipline in your own spending habits.
docbosay
02|Oct|2006

Froogle your logic is seriously flawed too. There are valid arguments for being both an early adapter and a late adapter but the writer has provided his reasons for why being a late adapter would be more fiscally responsible. The logic is a little flawed but it does work out very well in the long run (see economics 101). The simple argument of supply and demand supports his argument. This is why Sinizar’s argument is also a very good one. Buying a system at launch and selling on E-Bay can be very profitable, especially with the way game companies purposely manipulate demand by reducing supply at launch. I worked in manufacuring of electronic equipment and I know how these guys work. They have this stuff planned out years in advance. You are nuts if you don’t think MS and Sony have plans on the table for a PS4 and the X-Box ### already. I shows just as much fiscal responsibility to save money and make a purchase when market conditions provide for the best price.
znitrx
02|Oct|2006

I see the logic and I am a young one. But either way I still won’t get the money from my parents to buy me anything.
GrapeRoad
02|Oct|2006

Haha, this is exactly what I do. My buddy and I have a rule to never pay more than $20 for a game. It works quite well, actually. Granted, we do break it now and again for games we really want, but if we buy a game and are let down by it, 20 hurts a lot less than 50, yes?

Also, I don’t know if anyone has noticed it, but it is very intelligent to wait a bit for Nintendo systems. They have this odd tendency to release nicer versions of thier old systems after a few years, especially in the handheld market. When working on a limited budget, it makes sense to wait a few years to get a DS lite, as opposed to merely a DS (or at least, have the option available).
Tet
02|Oct|2006

You’re forgetting a good point aswell –

BUY USED GAMES.
doug
02|Oct|2006

The fact is what you are paying for when you buy 1st generation technology is the me-too factor, the experience. As other posters have said, this concept can also be applied to other technology and consumer goods. A good example : the movies. You can go out to see the movie, and pay through the nose for you and your date, or you can wait untill it is out of the theaters and get the same experience for $.99. You will be removed from the popular debates and dialogs, and probably miss out on the experience as the hype drains. You just need to weigh out how popluar you are, and if your ego can suffer such a flogging.
d3crypt3r
02|Oct|2006

……..or i can buy a PS3 on launch day, come home and sell it for a load of cash to an eager person who you are telling people not to be, and then wait a month and buy another one. Plus I’ll have at least 500 bucks to spend on all of the AMAZING launch titles for the PS3 that wont ever be 20 dollar because its the next-gen and games cost more.
Mr Butterscotch
02|Oct|2006

“If everyone waited for the prices to drop to 20 bucks for games and waited for the systems to go down in price the developers wouldnâ€™t make as much money and they wouldnâ€™t give a crap about making good games. They would make a crappy game that is worth $20 like big mother truckers or something.”

Unfortunately developers get a tiny slice of the pie in the grand scheme of things anyway – and many of them are owned by publishers who don’t give a crap HOW good the game is.
Mr Butterscotch
02|Oct|2006

Lol oh and Quimby, looks like you’ve touched a nerve!
josh
02|Oct|2006

this was retarded…no ones gonna wait months or even a year so the price of a highly anticipated game like Twilight Princess to drop to 20 bucks…stupid
The Lair of the Monkey » How Much Do You Pay For Games?
02|Oct|2006

[...] There’s a fantastic post by Quimby over at Gadzooki about how much you should pay for games.Â Go take a look. [...]
e
02|Oct|2006

this is very true..i have to buy my own stuff so this creat a cycle thing seems well thought out and fairly easy to do
Garrett
02|Oct|2006

Good article!

About the only downside I can see is missing out on limited/collector’s editions, but on the whole secondhand or “greatest hits” titles are much the same. In the case of the PC you miss out on things like maps and guidebooks (e.g. Morrowind), but hardly any modern games have those sort of things anyway.

PC gaming is getting just as bad as console gaming. If you want to play the absolute latest games the moment they’re out, especially shooters, you need to upgrade. If you want to play the game with UBER SEXI GRAFX you need to spend even more. Some people even upgrade their PC every two years to manage this. But if you wait you can run the same game on a far cheaper rig with resolutions and graphics improvements that a killer system at the time couldn’t handle.

My current PC was built in 2002 (or was it 2003?) and is pretty basic (1GHz AMD, 32MB nVidia GeForce 2 MX 200, 256MB SDRAM). This upgrade cost about NZ$600–the cost of the Xbox at launch, IIRC–and yet easily beats the Xbox’s prowess.

I’m in no rush to upgrade it, because I don’t buy brand-new games. And by waiting I can get Windows Vista and a DirectX 10 graphics card with a gig of RAM and a physics chip and dual GPUs and whatever other crazy things they’ve thought up by then. Regardless of what I actually spend when I do this upgrade it will easily beat the prowess of the Xbox 360 and PS3, meaning I can enjoy ports and cross-platform releases in all their glory… *after* they’re bargain-binned.

I bought Morrowind and Thief earlier this year for NZ$10 and NZ$5, respectively. Not only were they great games to begin with (I would have quite happily paid full price for either), computing technology and modding have advanced far enough that I can run both games at higher resolutions and with various graphics tweaks, not to mention overall richer gameplay due to features added by mods (such as horses and lock bashing in Morrowind).

In the case of Thief saves load virtually instantaneously, whereas when running the demo on my fairly decent system back in the day saves took about a minute to load. Once it’s loaded I get a pure 60/60 FPS which never stutters. To top it off, I’m getting this blistering performance with the more detailed models and textures of Thief II patched in.

It’s not quite true to say they are the same games they were when they were released… no, they’re better.
EsquireTheGreat
02|Oct|2006

Truthfully, the price of these consoles is going to take a considerably larger amount of time to drop, because the cost of manufacturing these products is insanely high. Sony is actually on pace to take huge losses on the actual PS3 system, just based on the cost of the technology it uses. Microsoft has made it known that they don’t have any plans on dropping the price of their system, and it doesn’t make good fiscal sense to do so……Supply and demand is in effect!!! If the demand for a product is still high, even at its premium price, make that profit. U don’t cut prices until you have inventory that isn’t moving, and that will be a while for these systems.
gc
02|Oct|2006

Depends on the game. If the game is red hot, then yes, it’ll probably come back for $20. However, some games get really hard to buy later like NIS games (Disgaea is one in particular).
TechnoGab » Show #10- The Free 512MB USB Giveaway
03|Oct|2006

[...] Now that we are clear on that, let’s have a look what’s in todays show: DVD John Fairplay’s Apple Five reasons Zune may kill Ipod Nintendo Wii, Commodore64 on Virtual Console? New in OSX 10.4.8 Zoom scroll wheel Netflix 1 million dollar contest 20 useful free Windows programs under 2MB Virtual NES, Play NES on your web browser How to save $1000 per video game system Here comes Windows Vista RC2 Firefox Java security a hoax Burger King selling Xbox360 Games for $3.99 [...]
Technogab » Show #10- The Free 512MB USB Giveaway
04|Oct|2006

[...] Now that we are clear on that, letâ€™s have a look whatâ€™s in todays show: DVD John Fairplayâ€™s Apple Five reasons Zune may kill Ipod Nintendo Wii, Commodore64 on Virtual Console? New in OSX 10.4.8 Zoom scroll wheel Netflix 1 million dollar contest 20 useful free Windows programs under 2MB Virtual NES, Play NES on your web browser How to save $1000 per video game system Here comes Windows Vista RC2 Firefox Java security a hoax Burger King selling Xbox360 Games for $3.99 Make your own Hovercraft Todays Song- Paranoid by 24Unity [...]
Episode 006 at Your News
04|Oct|2006

[...] Sorry it’s late. I have a life too. Show notes: How To Save $1000 Per Video Game System Dual boot OSX 10.4.8 on your Windows computer! â€œGhostâ€ Windows XP for free Apple’s Sense of Humor: “Do not Eat iPod Shuffle” Lighter igniting in slow motion Demonoid.com registrations open every weekend! If you watch ‘24′, you support torture [...]
Oitobits | Economize atÃ© $1000 com videogames
05|Oct|2006

[...] Te ensinar a economizar atÃ© $1000 nos seus gastos com videogames Ã© o que promete esse artigo do blog Gadzooki. A dica nÃ£o Ã© nenhum segredo: nÃ£o acompanhe o mercado. Compre consoles um ano depois do lanÃ§amento e jogos sÃ³ depois que eles estiverem custando menos de $20. [...]
The Gunslingers
08|Oct|2006

Waiting a year is ok, but geting games only $20 or less is crazy. And You can also rent games!!!!!!!

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