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How is your "gaming budget"

JPS Kai

Member
Most of what I spend on games is what I get from writing, so it's a weird zero sum game.

The few games I do buy are typically through sales or buying cheap PSN cards and going the digital route. Very rarely do I get physical at MSRP anymore.
 

Rocketz

Member
I don't have a budget but I don't buy a ton through out the year as I play a lot of multiplayer games for a while.

I'm in a holding pattern now anyway until around May when the wedding and honeymoon is over. This year all I've spent is $45 on Abzu and R6: Siege Year 2 pass.
 
Basically nothing at full price. I've been a Gamefly member for almost 7 years, so that keeps me busy. If I get a game I really like, I'll keep it from them and pay usually half price for it. I've been doing that for years.
 
I usually buy one a month or less. Usually about 6-8 in a year.

March has already seen me buy three games though. Ghost Recon, Mass Effect, and the Resident Evil package. Grand total for all of that out of pocket was about ~$80-$90 though so I don't really mind. I do not have any other plans to buy a game until Black Friday - I will be getting a Switch with Mario Kart and Mario Odyssey.

There might be one or two bought between now and then if a big sale comes up but I doubt it. Maybe Madden 18 in August or NHL 18 in September, not sure.
 

watdaeff4

Member
I don't have a budget.

Buy what I want. I do wait wait for sales anymore unless it's a game I really, really want to play right away.

Also since going all digital, I've saved on no sales tax and buying prepaid cards at Target for 5% discount. (not much, but still).
 
I have no budget but I have a lot of restraint. I don't do backlogs. I do one game at a time. I'm also kind of picky I only get games I know I'll really like at full price. Just trying to beat Zelda before Persona 5 comes out. Then I'll catch up on Nier 2. But this is not the norm, 3 games coming out that I was dying to play in close proximity almost never happens.
 

Lexxon

Member
I'm a deal seeker for most games. The exclusions are games I've been hyped for for a long time, and Nintendo games because they don't drop quickly at all.

I forked over $480 for Zelda (Master Edition Zelda, Pro Controller, Switch after discounts), so that was bad. But oh so worth it. However I also really wanted Andromeda at launch, but managed to get that PC Physical for around $38 with Visa Checkout and GCU deals. The only other non-nintendo game I want at launch for sure is Yooka-Laylee, which I kickstarted for $15 for Steam. I buy other games on Steam sales, Best Buy sales, etc. all year round, although I'm trying to cut back and keep the backlog in mind, I used to buy way too many things just because it was on sale.
 

Taker34

Banned
A few games per month but time is really an issue. Bought recently and haven't started Yakuza 0, Horizon, Divinity, TLG and currently playing Ghost Recon, Digimon World, Elder Scrolls Online, Mass Effect etc etc. how is anyone supposed to play all of this, even without a real life? This is worse than the PS2 gen.
 

blackjaw

Member
Pretty much unlimited but my time is so limited that I'm still working on 2016 games and have yet to buy any 2017 games.
 

maus

Member
I only play pc, have a compelling backlog, and rarely feel the need to pay full price just to get in on the zeitgeist of a new release, although there are plenty of exceptions. To simplify:

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Ethranes

Member
I'll buy 2 or 3 games a year at full price if the game is really worth it. Other than that, steam sales or anything under £15.
 

Shahed

Member
For my gaming budget, the currency is Time, not money. It's not that i'm well off or rich, anything but. However since I buy physical and then sell any games once I finish them, I have enough money to buy any console/games I want

I just don't have time to play them all
 

patapuf

Member
My limit is time rather than money. I've never had to consciously stop myself from spending too much.

Overall it's rarely more than one game a month, exept sometimes during sales if a bunch of stuff is really cheap or like this month, there's a bunch of stuff i really like coming out at the same time.
 
I have spent way more than I should have because of the Switch launch. I usually stick to very budget friendly PC games, but well, fell in love with the switch and I had to have everything playable. Posted in the thread about Bindings of Isaac saying I would pass due to not liking the art style. Well 16 pages of high praise later, went out and grabbed it immediately.

I got some very good deals via Visa Checkout and swapping games between Best Buy and Gamestop (I got a 90-day ban for trading more than $500 in 30 days) so I can't complain too much.

Honestly at this point I need to stop after Mario Kart 8 deluxe. I think Splatoon 2 will be hard to resist but I never liked the first very much, and ARMS seems very barren for a full priced title (then again, I paid $50 for Bomberman).
 

g11

Member
No budget, I just buy what I want when I want. I'm a generally thrifty person though so unless it's something I'm really anticipating, I wait for a sale.
 

Servbot24

Banned
I don't have one. Lately I just try to trade in games in order to get new ones. I've spent around 10 bucks on games this year and have bought 4.
 

bobone

Member
Before relationship: $200-$250 per month
During relationship: $0-$0 per month

I pretty much just buy 1 or 2 must have games a year now. But its more of a time issue than a money issue. I don't have the time to play games like I used to. So I don't buy them. Instead I'll play older stuff from my collection if I have some spare time.
 

gaiages

Banned
Basically the money I make from freelancing is my 'hobby/fun stuff' budget now. So about 150-250 a month on mainly video games (it's my main hobby).

I don't usually spend that much in a month, though, unless it's November or there's a ton of sales. I typically only preorder a few games a year, and I just buy the remaining games on sale. This month is an exception because I unexpectantly bought BOTW at full price, lol... but I'm still well, well within budget.

Whatever I don't spend goes to debt payments, so it's a win/win no matter what I do :p
 

Fbh

Member
I pretty much set myself a limit of $60 a month. Though it doesn't mean I spend $60 every month.

Sometimes (which has been the case these past 3 months) I buy launch games that I'm hyped about, other months I just buy something on sale for $20 or $30, other months I don't buy anything since I'm still going through a lengthy RPG or something.
 

Rathorial

Member
Case by case basis. I try to be reasonable with how much time I'll have to complete the games I buy, but if a few titles I really want come next to each other I'll cave to that excitement. Horizon and Zelda for example I got on release,right next to each other because I wanted them enough.

With Persona 5 hitting soon and Prey in May, I decided to wait on Nier and Nioh until later. Some months I don't spend anything if nothing grabs me, and catch up on the backlog.
 

KiteGr

Member
I spend 60-70 per month on games.
I always try to avoid full prices and always look for discounts.
I skip Dlc heavy games in hopes of getting a complete edition later with actual collection value. (digital stuff have none)
Currently there are about 5-6 games i'm eyeing on.
 

Rahvar

Member
Depends on what's available. I buy CE's/LE's if they offer something enticing. This year I've paid for Tales of Berseria CE, Horizon Standard Edition, Atelier Firis Standard, Mass Effect Digital Deluxe, Persona 5 CE. So, somewhere around $400-500 (Swedish prices including our 25% VAT).

Busy season however. I estimate the rest of the year combined will be around the same as this first quarter, possibly a bit more. If Destiny 2 comes with a good CE that will take a chunk of cash, but also a good chunk of time so I might not buy other games.
 
Budget? What is this word you speak of?

I am trying more than ever to have a budget as my finances are tied up more than ever before. The problem is it doesn't stop me entirely. But in the end I still find a way to pay for it all. So I don't have a budget, I just try not to buy as much.
 

lordkosc

Member
$50 a month for me (this includes the humble monthly bundle that I am subbed to.)

Games sales make up 90% of my purchases.
 

Faiz

Member
I just budget $80 to "hobbies" every month and anything and everything I may buy for myself comes out of that. Comics, games, toys, whatever.

Unless it's something my wife and I will both play and enjoy, then I don't spend my "allowance" lol.
 

inki

Member
I buy the games I want to play (5-7/year). However I don't buy more than 1 at a time as one just sits until the first is completed. I'm currently in the middle of a dry spell of games I want to play so now I'll pick up games on the cheap that I had originally passed on.

Systems are different, I tend to pick up only 1 console per generation and just stick with it. I'm building a PC later this year so I may skip next console gen. We'll see.
 
Well, me and my wife each has a personal "hobbies" allotment in our budget. I think this year it's 1.2k each. Half of mine goes to playing hockey and the other half could be used for games and other stuff. I only buy a few games a year as that is all I need (95% of my play time has been FFXV and Zelda since November, and Zelda will be taking up all my game time for a few more months), but it's nice to have that extra buffer for when consoles are purchased (Hello Pro & Switch). I feel pretty blessed that I can buy every game I would ever want comfortably.
 

Mithos

Member
Last game I bought was Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water Limited Edition on Wii U.
Since then, nothing.
 

Roitorb

Member
I get to buy jack shit as my gaming budget is now the kids gaming budget.

They really don't realise how lucky they are, me and my brother had to rinse the same game for months. Although as a gamer I buy them games I will enjoy playing so it's all good
 

Zorfendor

Neo Member
In order to combat my seriously large backlog, I'm now limiting myself to buying 10 games a year. That can be anywhere in price from a $60 retail game to a $10 two year old game. There are two exceptions to this rule:

a) buying a port of a game that I already own (ie this year I'm buying Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5, those don't count towards the total 10).

b) the game was a gift

I don't really worry about cost of games because of these backlog rules. I do, however, very rarely buy a game at full retail price unless its one of my favorite series, my personal biggest hype of the year, or a Nintendo game since they take forever to drop to reasonable prices.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
It's case to case for me, I don't buy anything at $60 anymore though.

Replace with 92 Canadian after exchange and taxes for me but yeah &#65377;&#65381;&#65439;&#65439;&#65381;(>&#1076;<)&#65381;&#65439;&#65439;&#65381;&#65377;

And I'd have probably impulse bought a Switch at 329, but that becomes 460 here, almost 500 dollars isn't an impulse buy anymore.
 
I have so much planned this summer that my budget is 0.

Breath of the wild will hopefully be bought but I have enough games to see my through.
 
Just bought two psp go's so pretty much til I'm broke. Also have a real bad problem just collecting digital games from all the damn sales lol
 

Cleve

Member
It was pretty well regulated $60/mo until the last two months, which have been way over(closer to $400/mo). I don't expect I'll be buying much for a while after P5 though, so I'll coast through until holday releases.
 
I'm able to afford as many games as I have time to play so I don't think of it in terms of budget. Though I'm getting better now at not buying everything at release and waiting until I have time to play them since they've usually gone down in price by then.
 

eXMomoj

Member
Haven't really had a need to budget. The amount of games I'm interested in is well within my expendable income, and I try to buy most things on sale.

This is me as well.

Only thing that has changed over the years for me is the value of a game to me. I have stopped paying full price for the majority of games since many aren't worth it anymore and many have been going on sale fairly rapidly after release. I typically buy games at no more than $40 now.
 

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
I don't have a specific amount, I just buy what I want.

The only rule I follow (which applies to all of my spending) is: "don't be a fucking idiot".
 

Ducarmel

Member
I have no budget but I can easiley spend 50-100 dollars a week if I wanted. But these days with my backlog and work I dont buy much games.
 
I don't have a "gaming budget" but I let myself spend up to 20 % of my being home on non-essentials. Anything I don't spend gets rolled into an index fund.
 

tamminen

Member
My budget went down the drain when I purchased a house and my s.o. lost her job all of a sudden. It's been a good thing for me since I've been a dumbass when it comes to buying games. I've hoarded so many games for xbox360/wiiu/ps4 that are still sealed in the shelf and probably won't see the light of day anytime soon.

Before this I bought a lot of day1 games, various limited/collectors/steelbook editions. This year I've bought 0 day1 games and mostly bought used games from facebook gaming communities. I've started to clear the backlog slowly and feels bad that there's so many gems I've bought just to fill the shelf. My mom still wants to buy me birthday and christmas presents so I'll probably take advantage of that to get some newer games, lol.

Though the money is kind of tight at the moment I'm happy I'm getting rid of my ridiculous habit of hoarding games I'm not looking forward to play right away. "Collecting" new games is a dumb hobby.
 

B_Signal

Member
At this point, not that I'm rich or anything, but I mainly limit myself based on time rather than money. At a certain point there's no point in me buying, let's say Horizon this month, because I'm not going to finish Nier, Danganronpa etc before Persona 5 comes out
 
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