A couple of weeks ago I popped into my local supermarket. It’s become my favourite place to buy games, due to its very close proximity to my house and extremely reasonable prices. I can frequently buy new games at “online” prices after just five minutes walk from my front door.
When I was there, though, I suddenly looked away from the game I had gone there to buy (Resistance 2 on PS3) and looked around at the other titles, most of which I already had. What I saw shocked me…
Look at those prices! They’ve dropped faster than a whore’s drawers!
If you can’t read the picture, the games there are:
Dead Space: £15
Fifa 09: £20
LittleBigPlanet: £25
Midnight Club – Los Angeles: £20
Fallout 3: £20
There were lots more bargains there, too, and although I was at the PS3 shelf, the 360 shelf next door was as equally well stacked with cut-priced gaming goodness. Games that are barely a month old are being knocked out for incredible prices – and this doesn’t seem to be a “credit crunch” thing, it’s been like this for a while.
This had me cursing myself. I’ve paid either £35 or £40 for each of those games that I own. So, why do I repeatedly find myself at the games shelves on launch day, clutching a fistful of tenners, for EVERY game I’m interested in? Why can’t I just leave one single game I want alone for just a few short weeks until the price drops? I’ve already got mountains of games both finished and unfinished stacked up almost to the ceiling at my house, but I just can’t stop myself.
I don’t even think I’m addicted to games particularly, although I love to spend a lot of time playing them. It seems to be more the thrill of the chase, the excitement and anticipation of getting a new title, that I love. I fear I may be addicted to buying games.
To misquote Homer Simpson: “I admit it! I’m addicted to gameahol!”
“Shopkeep! Give me games, and lots of them!”
So I’ve been thinking I need a plan to change my ways of paying much too much, much too soon for games. The obvious plan is to develop a bit of self control and just not buy these games as soon as possible, but the problem with that plan was in the title. It needs self control. So let’s forget that one and move on to something more… feasible.
Leaving/losing my job would certainly do the trick, but I’m seriously hoping that that won’t happen in these dubious economic times. This leaves only one sensible answer.
I’m going to freeze myself, Walt Disney-style, for a couple of months, to allow a backlog of good games to come out, then defrost myself and go out to buy games at much reduced prices. It’s a plan that can’t fail, at least until I get to the shop and realise that I could buy TWO games for my usual budget and my wallet-sense starts to tingle…
Either way, it’s got to be worth a shot. Once I’ve climbed in, do me a favour and shut the freezer door. Oh, and don’t forget to hang the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the handle. Ta!
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