Topic: To what extent are you an 'event gamer'?

Before I fully embraced console gaming in 2014 (thanks MK8) I used to pride myself on my ability to avoid hype and spend minimally, buying pretty much any game second hand or for <£3 on Steam.

But as I've fallen more and more under the gaming spell, that's changed. Whether it's just a gradual loss of discipline/growing hype addiction, I don't know, but buying things Day 1 has become more and more of an 'event' for me.

I've still managed to limit this a bit on Switch, with many of my big game purchases coming a few weeks after launch when I've found a deal or a good used price, but man, this Animal Crossing coverage is kinda getting to me.

I don't even love Animal Crossing (yet - I like it, but it seems to massively over-achieve for what it offers and there's lots of overdue additions not yet delivered even for New Horizons), but just to be in on it from the start seems like a kind of must-do event within Nintendo-fan culture. I don't have the time for it, or a lack of bought-but-unplayed games to justify it, but the temptation to jump onboard anyway is getting pretty strong.

I've learnt the fact Nintendo first-party games hold their price so well partly helps justify Day 1 too, which doesn't help when trying to resist.

I wouldn't say I needed to get games day 1, but I did used to buy enough games like...month 1. And then 2015 happened and things have never been the same since.

I don't care tbh. I do feel obligated to get Animal Crossing soon after release, so there's exceptions. But mostly, it makes no difference to me. Certain online games will be a focus for me when I give up having standards and by Nintendo's 20 dollar ripoff fee, and I'd like to get those sooner than later so I don't miss out on online for those games still being relevant. But that's only a small handful of games, and I still don't have Splatoon 2, so there's clearly no need to rush. Regardless most games I want are single player and I'm not having regular discussions about current games that often so I'll play them when I play them.

Very rarely do I get games day one or treat it like an event. I have such a backlog to get through, so I'd in all likelihood not be playing it right away anyway. Games can be had for so much cheaper later, especially on Steam, so I just add games to wishlists and grab them on sale. There's only so much money for gaming, so it just means more games to wait.
The huge exception to this is, as you said, is Nintendo 1st party games. They rarely go on sale at any real significant discount, so I just buy them when I want to play them, some are day one, others aren't.

@gcunit
On this year 2020, i have changed my gaming priority.
Since i haven't have a lot of previous Sony games, i changed my prority on this year for more Sony games i don't have yet. My focus on this year is build PS3, PSP, PS2, PS4 games library, with some Wild cards (NDS / Wii / any old games) if i have found very cheap old games.

I don't pick Day 1 games oftenly this year. Only Animal Crossing New Horizons i will pick at Day One (Maybe the game will be arrived late in my country). The other old games are more important for me on this year.

@gcunit I'm not obsessive about day 1 purchases. But if I can get the game on day 1 without having to bend over backwards and I have the money, I tend to. I generally don't wait for price drops that may or may not come in a reasonable time frame. But it does depend on if I have to go out of my way or not, and if I have the spare cash to spend.

Like, if a game releases on a Tuesday, I'm not gonna go into town after work on a weekday just to buy it. But if a game comes out on a Friday which is my usual night for going into town, well, why not grab it in person from the store? Otherwise I'll just order on Amazon and have it delivered whenever.

I mean, I don't treat it like an event, but I do often find myself getting games on day one. I don't have very much restraint.

The price thing makes a big difference. I'm more cool with buying Nintendo stuff day 1 because you nearly always sell it for 90% of that price a few months later.

Plenty of stuff on Playstation and Xbox can be found in the bargain bin a year later, even the really good games. I waited a year to buy God of War and a year to buy Red Dead 2. Both were about 1/3 of the original price.

There are definitely a few games I’ve bought physically based on some sense I need to have them in my ‘collection’ that I ultimately haven’t gone into play a whole lot.

Ōkami HD was one of these, which I kind of bought in store because A) it was cheap and B) everyone said how good it was. I tried to get into it on the Wii, but failed, and was hoping this time it might win me over. It still hasn’t, unfortunately.

TWEWY was somewhat similar, except I personally really enjoyed the original on the DS and sort of bought it out of nostalgia. I think it’s one of those games that really was made with the original platform in mind though, as both graphically and mechanically, it felt more at home on the DS. The conventional wisdom is that releasing a game on a more modern console automatically implies ‘better’ graphics, but often sprite-based artwork can look crisper and tighter in its purely pixel form than redrawn to look more like a flash game. Still, even though I haven’t competed it I can’t say I regret this purchase, so maybe it doesn’t count.

One game I’ve managed not to buy despite the surrounding hype train was Fire Emblem, because... well, it really didn’t look like it was for me. I also managed to hold off from buying the Pokemon games, which is a series that I think requires a similar level of investment to really get the most out of, and it didn’t seem like it really advanced the formula of the games enough to be worth making that investment.

I suppose with those two examples in mind, I haven’t been too bad at just buying the games I want and leaving those I don’t, but I do understand the feeling of being sucked into certain games surrounding release because everyone else is talking about them, and it can be pretty seductive.

Not really, with the exception of Animal Crossing and Luigi's Mansion ( I feel DM was best so far). I used to feel that way about Fire Emblem, but the changes they've made to the series have left a bad taste in my mouth. I understand why people (today) like it, but I liked what it was, def. not what it has become. I used to think FE Fates was bad until 3H, now Fates looks great in retrospect. I feel if they had done the same to Pokemon over the years, the series would have died long ago.

There are a lot of things I consider when buying a game full price. Time, money, and unique appeal. There are certain games that offer a very unique experience, unlike others on the market. With so many game releases every year, you have to be selective about which ones you really want, not on a deep sale.

So far I preordered Kentucky Route Zero (loved it and played it twice), Animal Crossing, and RE 3. Nioh 2 looks good, but I’m not going to pick up a Dark Souls style game Day 1 unless it’s by From Software. FF VII I’ll get later when it’s 40 bucks or something. Last of Us 2 looks okay but I’m not the biggest Naughty Dog fan and I thought the first game was just so-so.

The other 2 preorders I’m looking at are Ghost of Tsushima and Cyberpunk.

But that’s about it for Day 1 games.

Rarely. Only if an upcoming game release is for a game that has online co-op (not competitive multiplayer) and I managed to convince a couple or few friends to get the game on day-one. Everything else can wait until it goes on deep discount. Considering that there are dozens of games released every day, most publishers discount their games 75%-90% less than a year after their initial release.

Being patient and waiting for that discount to arrive is the hardest part of this hobby.

Since Switch was my first actual console, I did get quite a lot of it's games on release .... But with only getting an XBox One recently, I've got the vast majority of games on that in sales or pre-owned
Then, with Steam, with so many games I want, I had to get those in sales, too! I've paid for Cyberpunk 2077 but that's a rare exception on there

@gcunit what exactley does "event gamer" mean ?

@Ninfan It’s largely defined in the first post, but basically: someone who gets caught up in the swell of hype surrounding a game’s launch and often buys titles on release so as to play and discuss them with the wider gaming community while they are still a ‘hot topic’.

At least, that’s what I’ve interpreted the term to mean.

( after reading what MAXZ said in the post just above mine ) I'd say I am a big event gamer. I remember following all the big releases on Gamecube years ago, Metroid prime, capcom 5, Mario kart double dash, animal crossing, chibi Robo, f_zero GX, luigis mansion, Pikmin, Mario sunshine, eternal darkness. there was loads of event gaming..

If it's a game I really want that I know I'm going to play a lot, I preorder it and get excited for release day, but that's just the game, not the hype (or more like personal hype?)
I can't even afford to buy all games at full price, so what I do is make priority lists. Some games I preorder/buy day one, some I buy full price but sometime later down the line, some I wait for a discount or buy used. Sometimes there are cheap sealed games from reputable retailers on Ebay too.

I never really felt the need to participate in discussions so strongly that a game raked higher on my list for that reason alone. Animal Crossing is the only one I'm really involved in, but that's because I love the series.

Yeh, that's pretty much spot on. I was really feeling the 'event' of the Animal Crossing launch, and I was beginning to think I was going to get the game just to be part of it.

Pleased to say I didn't though because pretty much everything I've heard about the game since has reinforced the notion I had that I wouldn't have felt chuffed about a full price purchase. But something like Animal Crossing is possibly the exception, because it's not really much of a game in my eyes. I don't usually see time spent gaming as wasted time, but Animal Crossing is an exception to that for me - it just doesn't do enough of what I want it to do.

So right now I feel I'm on the cusp of being an event gamer, but I have still have some voice in my head telling me to hold back unless I see it as an essential purchase sooner or later anyway. I probably will pick up New Horizons cheap someday just to have it in my Switch collection, but I doubt I'll play it much.

Got out of this mindset towards the late 2000s, and it's saved me so much money. I never pay more than £20 for a game, and most of the time it's under £10. Picking up a lot of 7th gen stuff pre-owned for £5 and under at the moment.

Haven't much less money to spend since the 3DS, more or less, the only time I purchase games Day 1 is if I'm absolutely going to get them and want to play them immediately. Game releases I don't care much about, it's the release of games I care about. With Nintendo games I'm more likely to pre-order or purchase near release, especially since prices basically never drop on their titles, but if it's on PC, it's on sale for 50%-75% at the very least, even if I would play it at launch otherwise.