Gears of War 3, Call of Duty, Portal 2, Skyrim: 2011 was an impressive year for gamers. And with the new Halo, BioShock and Borderlands games set for release in 2012, fans are going to have to dig deep if they want to play them all.
The biggest games have the highest prices, with many retailing at £40 and up. That can make gaming an expensive habit, so what are your options and how can you keep the price down?
Buy it outright…
The trouble is, however frugal you want to be, if you’re excited about a new release then you want to buy it straight away. You can even queue to buy the big games at midnight.
If you buy a new game on day one, you will pay the highest possible price for it. But you keep the cost as low as you can by shopping around.
For example, when Gears of War 3 came out last year, most retailers were selling it for £39.99 but some high street shops had it for as little as £36.99. That doesn’t make it cheap, but it does make it cheaper.
…and trade it in
HMV offered GoW3 at an amazing £1.99 if you traded in Dead Island, while Game sold it for just £4.99 if you handed over one of three specific titles.
They were still popular games, of course, so you’d need to have bought them when they were new and then played them fast to cash them in.
Gamestation often has similar offers on the big games, so it’s worth keeping an eye on gaming websites to see what the best offers are. MCV is pretty good for flagging up deals.
Even if there isn’t a £1.99 offer on the latest title, you can still get some of your money back by trading your old games in, especially if you finish them quickly and there’s still demand for them.
Most high street game shops will let you sell your old games, or exchange them for an even higher value. CEX lists its current trade-in prices or exchange value on its website, so you can get an idea of what your games are worth before heading to your chosen shop.
Wait and buy it later
If you can bear to wait, then prices can drop dramatically and you could save some real cash.
For example, GoW3 was released last September and just a few months on you can buy a brand new copy for just £20.35 through Amazon.
But you may find the months crawling by and only a few quid knocked off a game you really want. For example, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released in November, just in time for the Christmas rush. The best deal when it was launched was just under £37 – although you could get a better bargain by trading in old games. Now you can pick up a copy for just under £35; not much of a reward for your wait.
The biggest downside with waiting is that you potentially miss the rush of online gamers, so you might not have the same multiplayer experience. Of course, that doesn’t matter as much for offline games.
But there are games that are remain popular for online play long after their launch dates. There are still people playing Halo 2, for example, and that was released back in 2004, so you won’t necessarily miss the boat.
Rent it
What do you want from a game? If you aren’t that interested in months of online multiplayer sessions and just want to power through the plot then renting it could be the cheapest option.
For example, Blockbuster rents any new game for five nights for just £5. If you can get through the plot in that time, or even in 10 days, then you’ll save a considerable amount.
If you think you’d need to rent it for a few weeks then consider whether you’d be better buying it outright and trading it in later – depending on the title, that can be cheaper.
Some local libraries actually lend games, although rarely the biggest, newest titles. Still, if you’ve bought your kids an Xbox or Wii and want family-friendly games then it’s worth seeing if your library can help.
Buy it second-hand
As with renting a game, buying a pre-owned copy means that you can’t get it straight away and you may miss the first rush of online gaming.
But quite often people buy the big titles only to trade them in a short while later, especially when there are several big releases close together.
Pre-owned copies can be far cheaper. To stick with the same example as before, you can buy Gears of War 3 second-hand for £19.99 through Game, or as low as £16.99 through Amazon.
If you buy it from a shop rather than an individual then you can swap it if the disc turns out to be damaged.
Limit your play
Sadly, the best way to save money on gaming is to buy fewer games. But with extensive plots and mini-plots, as well as the online gaming experience, you should be able to there’s a lot more play to be had out of each game.
If you only buy the games you’re really excited about and play them fully, you’ll save money and still be entertained.
