The Frugality of Gaming

I've played video games for just about my whole life.  Its actually my brothers fault.  I remember being five and he wanted something called a "Nintendo."  I had no idea who that was or what it could do but he was certainly excited.  When he got it for his birthday he opened it up and hooked it up to, what at that time, a really new monitor.  We had used it with our Commodore 64 which I guess if we want to get really specific was my first gaming machine.

Anyway long story short he fired that beast up and Nintendo made a new fan that day.  Games of course have become more complicated and engrossing.  I went through my phases in high school and college where I didn't play for extended periods of time.  Girls and parties seemed to be more important.   Life has settled down some so I do find time for about 6-8 hours of gaming per week depending on my mood.

One of the things about gaming is, I think, many people find gaming is not in line with frugality.  I don't think that is necessarily true and like any sport or hobby it really depends on your approach.  I'd like to explain my approach broken down by what I have seen are the pitfalls to gaming thrift.

Buying titles on launch day.  Like buying stocks I don't ever want to pay a premium for my purchase. This can also be applied to buying games especially on launch day.  You will never pay a higher price for a videogame than on the day it came out.  There are very limited cases where a game actually goes up in value after it is released.  99.9% of games will decrease in price the longer it sits on the shelf.  Waiting even one month can net you $10 off discounts, free download able content, and more money in your wallet.  I break this rule maybe once a year.  This year it will be for Halo 4.  Last year I bought LA Noire at almost full retail.  I would say I spend about $200 a year on games but actually purchase about 9-10 games or more for that amount of money.  Check dealnews.com for lots of great choices on saving money.

Buying consoles on launch day.  This is obvious and I never do this anymore.  The premiums you pay to be a first adopter is just not worth it to me.  In addition I will never pay more than $200 for a console.  New consoles are the new cars of the videogame world in my view.  In three years they will be worth half as much as they were on launch day.  I did break this rule as well last year when I bought a PSVita but since the launch of the Dreamcast I have not bought a console on launch.

Buying limited/special/premium editions.  This is a trap a fell into a few times but have since steered away.  These sets usually come with some kind of extra.  It might be a statue, it might be a poster, it might be a figurine.  It also isn't free.  It takes up room in your dwelling and creates clutter.  I really see no point to having these little extra collectibles anymore.  I always pass on the more expensive collectors editions.

Get your consoles for free.  I don't know how popular this is in the states anymore but in Japan when you sign up for internet very regularly you can get some kind of console or cash back money for free.  The console is generally valued at more than the cash back so even to get the console and hock it on craigslist will net you some money.  When my GF and I got internet we also got a free PS3.  The internet was a service we need anyway so might as well get the console with it free.  Look for discounts or freebies when signing up for services you are going to purchase anyway.  However never get a service just for the pure freebie nature of the deal.  You will pay more if you try to cancel the service later or you will have to pay for the retail value of the freebie you got.

Explore gaming history at a discount.  Now that you've bypassed buying games brand new and consoles on launch day you might find that there are many games you missed.  Now however you can pick them up for a fraction of what they used to cost.  I never owned a Gamecube but I could easily go pick one up now for about $20 dollars.  There are several Playstation and Playstation 2 games that I wanted to play but either didn't have the money, time, or I purposely held off.  If there is a lull in new releases or you already bought your one new release for the year take a look back at what you might have missed from last year or even 10 years ago.

Play your games.  I'm always amazed how some people can buy a game and not complete it.  Make your games give you value.  I like to think about it as a cost per hour of gaming.  If I can get a game down to about $0.50/hour I think that's a good value.  The less you pay for a game the easier this is.  For example I said I bough Halo 4.  This game is about 60 bucks.  I will have to play Halo 4 for 120 hours to get it down to this value.  If it's a good game (and I think it will be) this won't be very difficult. But imagine if I paid $20 or even $15 for Halo 4 and played it for 120 hours.  Well that's now $0.17/hour!  That's some cheap entertainment!  Movies are the worst for this.  They cost about $10.00/hour.  Play your games people!  Get the value you paid for them!

Borrow your games.  Many gamers have friends who are gamers.  If you know and trust your friends not to break or steal your games then borrow and trade with your friends.  Your Xbox 360 or PS3 doesn't care who the owner is.  Plus going off of the last point this puts your cost/hour at infinity!  I borrow about 3 or 4 games per year and play them to completion.

Keep your life balanced.  Even if you follow all of the advice I have given here this might be the most important.  Like somebody who get's really into their car and spends all their time modifying, driving, and "pimping out" their ride you need to keep a balance.  I ride my bike to work everyday.  I still go out with my friends for drinks.  I have a GF (who also likes games) who I spend time with.  I study Japanese on the weekends and record a podcast.  I think it's very important to put the controller down sometimes and be social (heck having a gaming night where you have friends OVER to your house and not playing online).  I also have a second side job that generates a few hundred dollars a month.  I would never neglect this job (ie call in sick) to play a game.

Maybe this advice will work for some and perhaps others just have to have six titles a year on launch day.  In the end financial independence is something that is very important to me and I think gaming can be done right along side of it.  Heck one of the reasons that I want to reach FI is to free up some more hours to play some vids!  But this hobby will never jeopardize my journey towards freedom.