Topic: Buying games before they become expensive?

I'm thinking about physical games mainly, but also for digital games on sale (aka a backlog). Even if you don't plan on playing them anytime soon. For example, I'm thinking of buying future Trails games before they become rare even though I'm just a little ways through the 2nd game. What do you think? Why do you do this and what games have you done this for?

Some games can increase in price over time, but most will go down, and the ones that end up the most expensive are often quite arbitrary.

For instance, you can buy most of the best Wii U games - including Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade X, Nintendo Land and both Bayonettas - for less than the original price. Meanwhile, the likes of Devil's Third, Game & Wario and Book of Unwritten Tales 2 will probably cost you a fortune, in spite of them being unremarkable to play.

My advice would be to not listen to the FOMO and just buy the ones that you really want to play, without running up too much of a backlog. Sure, you might occasionally have to pay a bit more for something that's become rare over time, but that should be more than offset by the money you're saving elsewhere.

I'm not a big physical person, but for digital I tend to look at the company to estimate how good sales will eventually be and if sales are rare I might snatch the game up when it is near the lowest expected price even if I don't want to play it right then. If identical sales are every few weeks (cough ubisoft and square enix) I pick up the game when I am ready to play. And then there is of course buying some extra games when a eshop closes.

Yeah, as others have said just buy the games you intend to play when you intend to play them. I wouldn't worry too much about prices going up substantially as they become "collectable". As @Matt_Barber said, it's pretty hard to tell which games will become collectable and which ones will be op-shop fodder

Skimming through ebay I believe the most valuable game I happen to have is Cave Story 3D. There are a couple of other games I have that are similar but these are the exceptions in my collection. Occasionally they've gone up by 50% or more but... most of the stuff I have would be like $10-20AU on ebay. I'm fairly confident that my collection as a whole is worth less than it was when I first got these games. Especially if you take inflation into account

And in any case, even if you were somehow able to pick which games will go up in value now wouldn't be the time to be "stock up". Now probably isn't the time. Generally the cycle goes something along the lines of full price at launch, discounted after and occasionally going out of print. But then when new hardware comes out people dump their games and stores clear their stock. We also don't know how backwards compatibility will play out, how the eShop will transition,

@skywake Something that I've done is that for some of the rarer games I want, I sort of catalogue websites that have them for cheap, and then I might buy them later. It has taken me to some pretty weird and dodgy looking websites 😅 By the way I'm not sure what games you're playing but I find most games aren't that cheap these days. For some reason it seems 2nd hand games in Australia are more expensive than over in the States.

@imadeanaccount
Ok, I'll drop some examples. Wii U games. If I scroll through Gumtree and Ebay I believe the most expensive game I have is Twilight Princess HD. Some guy's selling the disc loose for $110AU, complete in boxed sealed some guys are asking $450AU which is stupid IMO. $200AU seems about right for what I have (Amiibo, soundtrack, disc, good condition not sealed). Wind Waker HD? Maybe I could get $100 for it. But from there it's down hill. Stuff like Nintendo Land, Assassin's Creed, Mario Kart 8.... $10, $15, maybe $20 at a stretch

If I look at my Wii collection it's a similar story. Rhythm Paradise is something like $150AU on ebay. Punchout maybe $100. So cool, there's some value. But then Mario Kart is maybe $20, Goldeneye $10, de Blob $10, Guitar Hero $10. Some of the more popular ones get upto maybe $30AU, $50AU but again, pretty much everything would sell for less now than what I paid for it. Punchout being the clear exception because I got it and Okami new for $15 in a bargain bin. But most of these games were brought for $70AU

If I go across all the games I have for all my old consoles it's pretty much the same. A couple of games happen to by chance be worth $200AU or so now for seemingly random reasons. But the vast majority is worth significantly less. I'm sure you could go out now and pick up something for $10 or so in a bargain bin that in 5-10 years will be selling for hundreds. I have no doubts about that. But for every Cave Story 3D or Devil's Third there are a dozen Goldeneyes, Captain Toads, Geometry Wars and Assassin's Creeds

Buy games now if you want to play them. Don't watch the prices, don't try and anticipate them. On average it's a losing battle especially when you take into account inflation. And if you really want great deals? Wait until we hit the Switch 2 crossover period because people are going to be dumping their collections onto the market. Again, it's not something I care about generally because I think it's a foolish game to play.... but if you were to play now would be a bad time for it

@imadeanaccount If you can afford it, I would do as you propose. Indeed, it is pretty much what I do do.

I buy enough games that quibbling over a £5 saving here, or a £15 saving there, is not a huge deal to me. I tend to just buy at the time the game hits the price point I think is proportionate to how much I want the game, but knowing that certain types of games aren't given massive, repeat print runs, so there's a risk that waiting for a £35 game to drop to £20‐25 could backfire.

If I look at all the Switch games I've bought (hundreds) that are still sealed in their shrink wrap, could I buy them all today for less than I originally paid? Very probably I suspect. But that doesn't bother me, because the satisfaction that I supported the industry that brought me that game, that is now sitting safely on my shelf, is worth it to me.

My approach is influenced by the experience I've had buying games second hand - getting games in Like New condition is extremely difficult and involves having to tolerate A LOT of wasted time returning ebay items that sellers have misdescribed. I'd rather just pay a bit more in the first place, support the developers and the gaming retail sector, and have a brand new copy.

There's too many people that look at backlogs as a problem. They're not a problem if you have the sense to appreciate them the right way. My backlog is a beautiful reminder of my love and support for video games. I may never play many of them. I may lose thousands of pounds over the years accumulating them. But its lovely to have them, and its fun to observe the odd few that do gain in value from time to time, regardless of the fact that I don't foresee ever selling them.

My sealed copy of Yo-kai Watch 3 is mine. Go get your own 😁

Digital has helped ease the pressure of keeping up with print runs for me. I buy on sale mostly now but try to stay within a generation for purchases. But thanks to digital as long as the store is open I can get games at normal price. I don’t really buy retro anymore aside from Japanese games as they often sell less on ebay than their western counterparts. Also let’s plays help. If a game is obscenely expensive I would rather watch someone else play (no commentary) than line some reseller’s pocket.

That being said I am slowing down on purchases. I feel this is my last “all in” gen. I’m at the age that I would rather be saving, investing or putting that money towards self improvement.

It's hard to say whether currently game prices are likely to increase over time, quite the opposite. There have come such times that something that has already been shown once will not become more expensive, unless we are talking about limited editions and, in addition, unpacked in perfect condition, but this already falls under game collecting.