***allowing for multiple choices bc i think this calls for it***

is it by reviews, something brand new, bc you love the franchise and no matter what. WOM, etc...

how do you just say i'm buying this game, sometimes no matter what?

Certain franchises like most first party Nintendo stuff (Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, etc.) I’ll get more often than not if I have any slight interest. Especially Mario since I enjoy basically any games featuring him.

Once in a while I fall into the category of being persuaded by positive reviews/word of mouth, and may grab a title not on my radar necessarily. Normally for those games though I’ll wait for a price drop. Really it just depends though.

I’m not as apt to drop $60 on a game that I might like. At one point I did that a bit more, but not so much anymore.

I watch trailers and gameplay videos and decide if it's something I want to play. Then depending on how badly I want to play it, I'll pre-order it or wait for a sale when it hits a price point I feel it's worth paying.

As time has gone on and I’ve gotten more and more burned by buying not-entirely-finished games on day one at full price, only to see how massively improved the experience would be months later when the game was down to $20-$30, I feel like I’ve become at least a little more likely to wait a bit.

There are certainly still plenty of games I just can’t wait to get my hands on (mostly owed to the developer or franchise), but I don’t consistently, blindly roll the dice at $60+ the way I used to.

Reviews can have an influence on me, but word of mouth / general reception is more impactful.

I mostly PC game... and one of the benefits of PC gaming is sales. Nearly every game that comes out has anywhere from a -21% to -36% discount on pre-orders up through the first week of sales on at least one of the legitimate Steam key selling site such as Green Man Gaming, Nuuvem, Humble, Fanatical, etc. Like most recently, Bravely Default 2 just came out and GMG had it at a -26% discount making the game like $44 instead of $60.

Can't recall the last time I had to buy a game on pre-order or release week that didn't have a big discount.

I ask myself two questions:
1. Is it the NES version of Contra? If so, buy it.
2. Do I already have the NES version of Contra? Okay, I do, so maybe watch a review of this other game and wait until it's twenty bucks.