Gaming on a Budget

[finerion]

As the father of a 6 month old and stay at home dad our family budget has been monitored pretty closely. That means not a lot of money to spend on acquiring high dollar items, big shopping trips, or every next gen console. To compensate I've become something of a bargain hunter. I don't pay retail price for games, I use coupons and other offers online and in stores, and above all else I am patient. Here are some of the things that I have picked up on that have helped to save me tons of money on my hobby.

*Slickdeals: This deal site and forum is an excellent resource for finding the best deals on video games as well as other items that you may need. A recent example of a deal I took advantage of was a coupon code offered by the EA Store which allowed me to get a new copy of Dragon Age: Origins for $20 shipped. Not too bad for a $60 retail game.

*Game Xchange: This regional chain of used game stores can be a treasure trove of retro gaming goodness. All of the stores in Central Arkansas offer a buy 3 get the 4th free deal on all games $7.95 or less which has allowed me to pick up a ton of good, inexpensive games.

*Friendly Local Gaming Store: My FLGS has a fairly active website including daily coupons that can save you a ton of money. Each day something different is posted and the coupons are valid for a week after you print them. If your store doesn't have anything like this then I highly recommend that they get on the ball. You can check out the Game Point Games to get an idea.

These are just a few of the resources I use to get the most bang for my limited bucks. I've got some blog posts on my website that go into a little more detail if you would like to read some more.

What are some of the ways that you use to maximize your gaming dollar? Any tips, resources, or good shopping spots that you would recommend?

[noiseredux]

My wife and I really try to stick to a budget as well, so a big thing for me has been trades. So my trick is that when yard sales are in season (just starting now, whoo!) I tend to hunt for you guys just as much as for myself. Meaning, I try to pay close attention to what everybody on here has on their want list, so that if I see something at a yard sale that I feel would be a good trade item, I grab it with the intention of eventually getting something I really want in return.

[swiftzx]

Goodwill is also a great place to get gaming stuff sometimes, I got a model 2 genesis in mint condition for $15

[IcKy99]

yeah thirft stores are good for finding loose games and systems, one goodwill by myhouse had a gamecube for $15 with no cables tho, so i couldnt test it, i passed on that. another in azusa had a loose coleco vision and NES, i got Gradius III for snes there for about $1.25

[Weekend_Warrior]

I think the best bang for your buck these days is to pick up a PS2 (if you don't already have one) and look for games at Gamestop, Craigslist, and pawn shops.

Obviously, the best thing about the PS2 is its incredibly wide variety of games available for it. I've already said that the PS2 covers every genre of gaming very well - RPG's, racing, fighting, shmups, light gun, first-person shooters, action-adventure, retro compilations.. etc.

Some of the best PS2 games can be found used for $5 or less these days. It's a beautiful thing

[TehOctoNinja]

CAG is a really good website for finding deals.

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/

[Anayo]

Ebay's pretty good for shaving a few dollars of the street price.

[DerekG52]

I normally stick to a tight budget as well, waiting for things to be on a sale before I buy them. Well after you posted the slickdeals, I picked up Saboteur and Bioshock from amazon's warehouse for $32 w/free shipping

Btw: Anyone have experience with Saboteur? I heard it pretty much bombed critically, but I read some good things from reader reviews. Also, the game is only about 5 months old and is already in the teens.

[CRTGAMER]

I think the best bang for your buck these days is to pick up a PS2 (if you don't already have one) and look for games at Gamestop, Craigslist, and pawn shops.

Obviously, the best thing about the PS2 is its incredibly wide variety of games available for it. I've already said that the PS2 covers every genre of gaming very well - RPG's, racing, fighting, shmups, light gun, first-person shooters, action-adventure, retro compilations.. etc.

Some of the best PS2 games can be found used for $5 or less these days. It's a beautiful thing

Tons of games from $1.99 and up.
http://www.gamestop.com/Browse/Search.aspx?N=139

[Dakinggamer87]

Btw: Anyone have experience with Saboteur? I heard it pretty much bombed critically, but I read some good things from reader reviews. Also, the game is only about 5 months old and is already in the teens.

It's a pretty decent game had fun with it!! I like the setting of game and some of the characters.