Are you an impulsive video games buyer?

[Deleted member 17289]

This is something I've dealt with for most of my gaming life, i see a game that looks great and even if i have a huge backlog i still buy the damn thing, knowing the game will probably go on sale before i even get to play it i still buy it, does this happen to you? And if it did and you got over it how did you do it?

 

[Baccus]

Not anymore

So much money wasted, ugh

 

[Platy]

The only thing stopping me from being an impulsive buyer is my lack of money

The amount of times I saw random Street Fighter 30th Anniversary collection on sale and almost bought it with my counsciousness coming at the last second like "you will need that money for other stuff" ...

 

[Nec]

Only if the game is cheap and I know that sometime in my life I would buy it.

 

[Star-Lord]

Nah, if I have extra money and hear a game is good maybe but i dont just buy a game for the sake of it. Also always buy my games on sale so I don't feel so bad for spending huge amounts on videogames

 

[psilocybe]

Yes,

I'm a sucker for "artsy" games and for a good deal. If it is cheaper than launch and the game is interesting (or praised by some people), I will buy it.

 

[Karlinel]

Fuck yes. Of course, now that I pay a mortgage and a wedding for next year, sort of regret some purchases. Still preordered the Mega Drive mini and WoW 15th anniversary edition, because fuck that "fiscal responsability" BS.

 

[HomespunFur]

Yes all the time, I guess things being digital and online it's so much easier to just buy something than it used to be.

 

[Sailent]

Just bought the Handsome Collection through selling cards on steam. Game is good, I think I'll uninstall it later to play something else.

 

[Pokemon Master Tim]

I'm a sucker for a sub £10 game. For every video game I complete I add, on average, an additional 5 to my backlog. I'm running out of physical storage space too!

 

[Listai]

Not anymore

So much money wasted, ugh

Click to shrink...

First post nails it. My Steam library is a 500 game testament to this.

 

[AlanOC91]

I was until I started saving for my Mortgage and I pretty much have bought barely anything for the past year and a half, although thankfully we are finally approved and sorted. On top of that, we are expecting our first baby in August so there will be even less impulse buying!

I pretty much had to say to myself, right, no spending since we need the extra income.

Ah long gone are the days of scouring eBay for weeks and impulse buying games like Suikoden 1/2, Megaman Legends, Legends of Dragoon and more. At least I can always sell my PS1 collection in an emergency :P

 

[YourFriendLevi]

My partner stopped me from buying Uncharted 1-4 for $20 yesterday because I still haven't beaten Spider-Man, Horizon, Last Guardian, The Old Hunters, or AC Odyssey.

 

[banter]

Unfortunately yes, my mind still acts as if I have tons to time to play games when in reality I do not. The backlog is massive and many games haven't even been started.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

I have been recently. I got burned on The Division 2 and that's worked as a reset button for me

 

[Secretofmateria]

I was but then my back log became unmanigable so now im practicing self control and only buying a small amount of releases every year and only if im really looking forward to them. Buying a game and playing it for 10 minutes before getting bored is a horrible feeling

 

[Deleted member 4247]

No, I make very conscious decisions.

 

[Zhukov]

Not anymore.

Back when Steam wasn't a cesspool I got suckered by many a sale.

These days I cannot be bothered wading through the avalanche of shit to find potential gems. I rely on word of mouth and a few youtube channels to hear about the good stuff. Plus, I'm pretty picky to begin with.

 

[TrafficCoen]

Ehhhhh.... I'll buy gmaes despite having a backlog but only after much consideration. Right now I'm eyeing trying out some of those 3ds/ds Dragon Quests from Amazon

 

[CaptainMatilder]

Nope. I rarely buy more than 5 games per year. I am very selective.

 

[Jack Frost]

I am a cheap ass so I pick and choose carefully.

 

[Feral Gingy]

I like to think I'm not but my backlog says otherwise lol

 

[Nightfall]

Yes, that's how my backlog builds. I partly blame PSN sales, but mostly myself.

 

[Patitoloco]

Oh boy you have no idea

 

[Rox]

Yes very much so

And I don't know how to stop myself....my backlog is just getting bigger and bigger and my play time is getting smaller and smaller and I just can't stop myself!

My switch has so man unplayed games it's frustrating.

 

[Dussck]

I kind of used to be, but these days I pretty much know exactly what games I'm going to buy all year.

 

[shaneo632]

Not at all. I rent most of my games or buy them on sale, and if I occasionally get a game day one I tend to do a ton of research first.

 

[Johnny Cicala]

I wouldn't say I'm impulsive, but there are a few publishers/developers that I like to support not waiting for the next sale, even with a pre-order if I have no doubts about the quality of the game.

Also, I'm much more likely to buy a Nintendo game in the release window because of the general lack of significant discounts, while it's almost impossible I'll buy something full price on PC as I'll probably be able to get it deeply discounted or for free a bit down the line.

 

[Deleted member 47076]

Yes but it doesn't happen that often anymore. In the past 3 months, I've impulsively bought 4 games that were on sale on PSN. Still wish I hadn't bought a couple of those though because my heart wasn't really in the purchase.

 

[Rosebud]

For games on cheap sales, yes.

Day 1, no.

 

[BDS]

No, I'm always extremely cautious with what I buy, and basically only buy games I've done extensive research on or that came very highly recommended from a trusted friend. I usually do the opposite of impulsiveness, which is endless inability to make a decision about buying something. I've been caught in a decision loop about whether or not to buy Hyrule Warriors for like a year.

 

[EndlessNever]

I used to be terrible for it honestly. The one thing that has stopped me from being like that is live service games like Destiny 2 (that the prime example), which I love wholeheartedly and the game has me coming back for more regularly. I know if I purchase other games I won't even play them, so I just wait till they are cheap and then bite.

 

[Rocketz]

Anymore I'm just waiting on sales. It's just because I need to spend my money on other things.

 

[Mathieran]

I used to buy every game that was on a big enough sale to buy but I've gotten a good hold on it. My backlog as it is right now is about 3 games that I'm excited for and like 15 that I've gotten in bundles or PS+. So they don't really count.

I did just impulsively buy Days Gone for 30 though. Couldn't resist that deal

 

[Danielsan]

Yes. Very much so. I have a giant backlog and yet I still buy additional games when I think they're a good deal, even knowing that I will not get to them straight away.

 

[Dest]

All the time. I have an absurd amount of games and I hate it.

 

[Mbolibombo]

I was until I started saving for my Mortgage and I pretty much have bought barely anything for the past year and a half, although thankfully we are finally approved and sorted. On top of that, we are expecting our first baby in August so there will be even less impulse buying!

I pretty much had to say to myself, right, no spending since we need the extra income.

Ah long gone are the days of scouring eBay for weeks and impulse buying games like Suikoden 1/2, Megaman Legends, Legends of Dragoon and more. At least I can always sell my PS1 collection in an emergency :P

Click to shrink...

Double congrats! house and a kid.. what a day to be alive=) I also used to be an addict when it came to buying games, but I stepped up my mature game and try to only buy games I actually want :P

I to, can always sell my big-arse collection if I ever need the money. In fact I almost contacted a big store to see how much they would pay for my 650+ NES games collection... I still have the mail open but havnt sent it just yet. If I will, havnt decided hehe

 

[Gakidou]

No, not even a little bit.
I keep trying to run every little purchase past my partner like "TELL ME WHY I SHOULDN'T GET THIS" and hes like "??? just do what you want?" and i'm like "I know!!! YOU CAN'T CONTROL ME!! but... tell me what you think anyway, i'm going to make a list of pros and cons and psyche myself up to press the buy button"
I'm great at saving, kinda shit at just being chill.

 

[Fahdi]

Nope. Never. $5 or Flash Sales or never.

 

[THEVOID]

I used to be but not since GamePass. I'm the opposite of impulse buyer now.

 

[TheAggroCraig]

Definitely not anymore unless it's on a very very good sale. I have too many games over the years that I bought and didn't play (some are still sealed that I will never touch), or I just sold/traded in because I'd never get to them.

There are definitely games I buy on day 1 though, but it's just so much shorter than it used to be. I think the next game I'm planning to grab right away is Astral Chain, so I've got close to 3 months without a new game (sales are a different story as mentioned before), so that's pretty good. I need to beat at least one other P* game my backlog in that time frame...

 

[Aztorian]

Yes. I played F76 on PC to level 70 something. Rebought it for PS4 just 2 weeks ago thinking it might be more fun on console. Played it for a good 32 minutes so far maybe.

 

[Gelf]

Only for bundles and huge discounts, if I think it can go cheaper before I'll play it then I'll leave it.

 

[JohnnyToonami]

I kind of used to be, but these days I pretty much know exactly what games I'm going to buy all year.

Click to shrink...

Exactly this. I started a yearly list a few years ago where I'll list what I want to get and whether or not to buy it on sale or at launch. Still, that all depends on the backlog that I'm working through right now.

 

[Mupod]

I don't buy a lot of games anymore, but in a way I feel like I've gotten more impulsive about what I do buy.

After years of picking up games on sale, as well as trying to play all of the 'must-play' top tier games, I realized that I could never possibly keep up with the backlog I was generating. When I was younger, I thought it was way smarter to pick up some older used RPGs for $10-15 than a single new $60 action game I'd beat in 9 hours. Whereas now, if a game looks fascinating but costs $30 I won't hesitate if I think I'll actually play and finish it. Sunless Skies and Return of the Obra Dinn are good examples.

Another thing lending to impulse buys is multiplayer. If my friends are into a game I'll usually get it. I don't want to get too sappy about it but some events in the last few years made me value time spent playing games them a lot more than I used to.

 

[QuinchoOsito]

I used to be really bad about this until I started tracking my gaming spending. If you want to lower your spending, try making a spreadsheet tracking how much you've spent in the last year or whatever. If the number is too high for comfort, just think about that number and whether it's worth adding to it whenever you're tempted to make an impulse purchase. This has worked for me at least.

 

[Solid SOAP]

When it comes to indie games, definitely. Anything sub-$20 may be victim to an impulsive purchase on my end.

 

[eXistor]

Not really. I only buy what I want to actually play and with digital games I always wait for deep sales. I almost never just buy a game for the heck of it.

 

[Waffle]

I've been better about it lately but for the most part yes. Get caught up on the hype too much.

 

[DiK4]

Yes but not as bad as I used to be. Sales tend to get me sometimes though. I almost spent $100 on games I did not need tonight thanks to that Switch eshop sale going on... But I thought about my huge backlog and instead I just spent $10 and got NBA 2K19 and Hollow Knight.

So far this year I've been pretty good. Mortal Kombat 11, Travis Strikes Again, and Resident Evil 4 have been my only other purchases that I can remember lol. Still have way too many games I need to play.

Despite my backlog library its always the same games I end up playing when I have time... Doom. Breath of the Wild. RE4. Metroid Prime Trilogy. They always call to me... I dont know why. Too good?