funkyryno

I've found a lot of great deals over the years at Cheap Ass Gamer (and here at DVDTalk, too). The problem with CAG is there are so many threads to wade through -- information overload.

This article at MSN has a cool idea:

So what do you guys do? Pay full price, Goozex, GameTz, eBay, GameStop, etc.?

tonyc3742

I very rarely pay full price (ie, 60$). Most games aren't worth that to me, and even if they are, I wait till I can get it for 20-40, and get 2-3 games for that same price. I don't have to have a game on release date, so that helps. i do buy new, but if i can buy used and save money, I'll do that as well.
Apart from occasional B&M or online deals on new/recent games, I buy and sell many games from Goozex. It lets me get rid of games that aren't worth anything elsewhere, or recoup more of my cost, and sometimes get games sooner than I would if I were waiting on a price drop.
I don't do Ebay, I'll sell some on Amazon but haven't bought (unless there's a good deal), and I still browse Gamestop but haven't bought anything in a long time.
Some people swear by Craiglist or pawn shops but I have had no luck - people won't pay much on CL, and pawn shops are almost as expensive as new (in my experience).


That co-op thing is interesting, but I don't have large local circle of "gaming buddies", and I prefer the points method that Goozex uses versus individual bartering and value comparisons.

PopcornTreeCt

Gamefly

Other than that... buy it... then re-sell it.

Supermallet

Amazon has at least a few bucks off MSRP 90% of the time, and then usually a coupon to go with it. Sometimes I'll trade with friends.

WMAangel

Five-finger discount....

But seriously...I never buy brand new games anymore at full price unless there is some sort of deal involved (free gift card offer, B2G1 free sale, etc.)....
I also wait until they've either had an MSRP reduction, go on sale, or hit the clearance endcaps at Target....

I'm not even sure what the last game was that I paid full price for, maybe Rock Band 2, which is my most played game anyway, so if one title deserves it, that would be the one....

Michael Corvin

Trading only works if it's a game you don't want to play online with said friends. i.e. single player titles

spamurai

This. Gamefly has saved me thousands... I used to blind-buy a ton of games, play it less than halfway through and go to the next game... I just use the 4 game plan, get all the new releases and play them at my pace and return it when I'm finished. Or, "keep it" if it's really good.

sniper308

And for most of us no sales tax.

Amazon has been awesome lately, dueling it out with Walmart on the big titles.

Other than that, hanging out here, CAG, or FW and watching for deals. Target Clearance has been pretty good in the past, but its been a while since I scored anything memorable there.

A few years ago, GameRush ran some great coupons for trading/flipping, but haven't done that in quite a while.

funkyryno

I've been using Goozex for several months now. All in all, it's been a good experience. I wish some of my games would trade a little faster, but that's my only complaint. Haven't received any damaged games from traders yet.

FatTony

Lately I've been buying new releases from Amazon. Even with the sales tax, I usually save a couple bucks versus buying at Best Buy, and I'm not really the type of gamer that has to have new releases immediately anymore.

Up until yesterday, I also had a Gamefly account, but I realized that Bionic Command had been sitting on my shelf unplayed for close to 3 months so I ditched it. Other than that, I tend to sell off games I don't play anymore in batches. I'm sure I don't get top dollar for a lot of them as a result, but it's not a big deal to me. Mostly I sell them because I don't have a need for a massive pile of games that I don't play anymore.

Giantrobo

I try to buy Used.

tlwizard

I used to buy used off ebay. You can easily get games for $20 to $30 a few months after release. But it was easier to do that since I bought a PS3 and 360 a couple years into the cycle.

Now what I do, is I pre-order games (only the ones I really want) and sell off every extra thing that comes with it. For example, I preordered Infamous at Amazon. $56.99 minus a gold box discount. I might have also gotten ECA, but I don't remember. (So at the most, $54 but probably $48.) It came with an Uncharted 2 Beta and an exclusive Home costume. I sold the beta online for $15 and I sold the Home costume for $45. So after ebay fees, I either spent $5 on the game, or got $1 for buying the game. If I choose to sell it, I make even more money.

I did the same with Batman Collector's edition. Purchased for $75.99 from Amazon after ECA, batman coupon and yet no gold box. Sold the batarang for $30. The challenge map for $25. The leather journal for $30. And then the exclusive Amazon comic for $25. So after ebay fees, I made $17 for playing one of the best games of the year.

It's a pain in the ass to do all the legwork, but it ultimately gets me most of my games for free or close to it. I have yet to decide if those savings are worth all of my time, however.

collven

I use Goozex as well. It's worked very well for me. I have a backlog of about 4 games I need to play or get rid of.

aa-dvd

Wait a few months to a year after it is realeased and buy it new for $20 or less. I have about 6 games backlogged right now. Bioshock, Assassins Creed, Lego Batman, Left 4 Dead, Prince of Persia, Batman AA. Modern Warfare 2 is taking all of my time now.

Spiderbite

Goozex, Goozex, Goozex. It's the fucking shit. I have traded and received an insane amount of games there in just a year. Now that you can trade and receive dvds and BDs, it's even better. If they would add CDs it would be complete for me.

And Target's clearance aisle.

starseed1981

gametz.com

switchgames.com

DeanoBKN

Unless it's a game I MUST have right away, like Modern Warfare II, I always wait for look for a deal. Just 2 nights ago, I found X-Men: Wolverine, and Guitar Hero: Metallica at Target for $14.99 each.

Usually $30 and under is my sweet spot. As I learned over the years, everything drops in price, and I am more of a single player guy then multiplayer, so I don't care if by the time I get the game, there isn't an online audience for it anymore.

dvdsteve2000

I rent from Family Video. I get every game on release day for $3.50/5 days. Usually I rent a game 2-3 times so I can play it through, or close, then a new game is usually released...repeat. If a game has huge multiplayer capabilities, like COD/Halo/Rock Band/GH, then I buy it (usually full price). As much as I liked Batman, Saw, etc..., $10 to rent it for 15 days is beautiful. I doubt if I would ever play those games again, so that's a pretty nice price to get my time out of it. This week I'll be renting L4D2, A Creed2, and Lego Indy2. As much as I LOVED Creed1, I think I'll just rent this one until completion, and the other 2 will be a one-time rental for my boys to play for an hour or two (to see if we like them) and then we'll getthem for XMas.

msdmoney

I'm very patient and just wait for good deals to pop up on cheapassgamer. I've got so many games to play that I don't often feel the need to go out and buy the games that just came out. I also use goozex and ebay sometimes.

The article sounds like a small scale trading idea, similar to goozex, etc.

Nazgul

Being really, really selective on what games I buy. There are a lot of games that interest me, but no way I can afford even half of what I would like.

Deftones

Generally through trade ins. Or finding good deals. Got COD:MW2 and L4D2 for about $45 each through a TRU deal.

The Bus

I buy new games maybe two to three times a year.

Quake1028

Amazon. Got DA: O for like $51 after ECA. I think NCAA 10 is the only game I've spent the full $60 on this year.

Sanitarium

I wait a few months till after the dust settles. Then I snag $60 games for $25. No game is ever worth $60.

JediMindTricks

i wait until i can find a used copy on ebay for $20.

i didn't get a ps3 until last summer so i'm still catching up on games like uncharted 1 and modern warfare 1, while finishing up a season in fifa09 before moving onto fifa10, uncharted 2, mw2, and arkham.

like someone also said, i don't really do a lot of online gaming so it doesn't matter to me if the games i finally get to are considered obsolete. and because i have a backlog, by the time i get to games i want, they've been out for awhile and can be had for cheap on ebay or b&m stores.