Do you know anyone that hardly buys games?

What I mean by hardly buy games, as in do they like video games but never feel the need to buy a lot of them? For example, are they pretty much content with the games they have for about 4 months or so before buying anything new? Do you know anyone with a very small gaming collection?

You mean like casual gamers? If so, yes. Lots of them.

You mean like casual gamers? If so, yes. Lots of them.

Compared to people on these forums who I talk to, who buy just about every single big release on a weekly basis, I "hardly" buy games. Hell, the first brand-new game I bought this year was Duke Nukem Forever. Last game I got before that was Rock Band 3 as a Christmas gift.

I fit your description, Cody, but not because I don't WANT to be buying games. You see, sometimes gamers are poor as fuck, like I am, and buying games regularly would mean eating less often or not having gas in my car to drive to work.

My brother bought a Wii after playing a PS1 for years. He has shit for games.

I have a ton of games, but it's taken me forever to amass all of them. And when I buy a game, I usually want to make sure I can get TONS of entertainment and replay value from them.

For instance (this was a ways back), Saints Row 2 went on sale on Steam and it took me forever to justify to myself that I should buy it. I had fond memories of dicking around when I borrowed a 360 copy of it from a friend, and I wanted to have some more Saints Row. I bought the game for the whopping total of $7.50, and even though it is the worst goddamn piece of shit excuse for a port I have ever seen, I have still spent 100+ hours with that game.

I tend to buy open-world games, but that doesn't mean I don't like solid linear games too. I'll make exceptions for games that I know I'm just going to have a blast with, even if the ride is short by comparison to other games I've played. Examples are things like Portal 2 and Trenched, which I just bought today. I don't think it will last me that long, but I really want to see what that game has to offer.

My game purchases are still really spread out, and I like to watch Quick Looks to keep up on my knowledge of current games (at least a little bit). That way, I can know at least a little if someone wants to talk to me about a game.

All in all, I guess I just tend to gravitate towards games that will keep me entertained for a long, long time. RPGs, open-world sandboxy games, MMOs, that kind of thing. Gotta get the most bang for your buck!

@Claude: Was he attempting to go through the entire PS1 catalog? That's sort of an amazing achievement.

I have a friend who bought a PS3 on launch and only have NHL09, some Dynasty Warriors game and FF13 (he might have one or two more games not sure. I think he's got an F1 game). He doesn't buy many games, but he really plays the games he's got. Last I heard he was replaying FF13 to get all the trophies. Might seem strange to some to buy so few games, but he think that I'm strange for buying so many games that I hardly play. And it's not a question of money, because he's got more money than I.

I don't fit the OP's description, but since I use LOVEFiLM, I hardly ever buy any games. I tend to buy the stuff I know I'm going to love, which is why I bought LA Noire, Halo Reach, Red Dead, etc.

Yep! My friend who has a wife and kid (and a job) focuses his time on StarCraft II and the occasional big release like God of War III or Mortal Kombat.

Myself. I haven't bought a game in a year. I don't care enough. 

Myself. I have bought a game in a year. I don't care enough. 

Much to my girlfriend's and my economy's happiness, since I discovered Giant Bomb back in '08

Quick Looks have actually relieved my horrible game buying sprees as they somehow scratch my curiosity itch;

something reviews never really did for me since they always felt overly edited.

So I end up buying a 2-3 big releases a year, and perhaps a few small downloadable titles on Steam.

Most people I know don't really buy many games, be it for monetary reasons or because they are just casual games and content with 3 games a year.

You mean me?

I've had my share of game-buying-sprees but for the most part I go months without buying a new game. Last new game I bought was BRINK well over a month ago, and I don't plan on buying anything else until October. Though Solar 2 looks pretty fun...

I used to buy a lot more before Quick Looks were a thing, by the way.

On average I buy about to games a year. I love playing, but it's more of a time and money sort of thing. Married now, and before that it was saving up so that I could be married.

I've always had small collections. I have maybe 20 games for my N64 and Gamecube each, and perhaps 12 for my Wii. I buy a new PC game almost every month, though. Be it big releases like The Witcher 2 or small downloadable games like Monday Night Combat and Section 8: Prejudice.

I buy a lot of games, but there will be times (like this summer, until Deus Ex is released in late August) where I won't buy anything for months. And while I buy a lot of games, I usually trade in a big chunk of them after a month keeping my collection to only the games I truly love.

I have a friend who has pretty much lived off Heroes of Newerth for for 2 years because he doesn't have a job. I use to be jealous of his N64 collection as all I had was a shitty computer back in the late 90's but can't say I'm jealous now.

I mean, I hardly ever buy games. I find that I've been lacking the interest the latest... Oh, I don't know, one or two years. Every once in a while I buy a Mass Effect game, or a Blizzard game, yeah mostly it's games from companies I know will give me a great experience. I seldom buy games on a hunch.

Me.

Yea I know a few people who just play Team Fortress 2. And that's it. For the past 4 years. They scare me...

You mean me?

My mom and my dad buy a very tiny amount of games each year, then they just borrow mine

My brother buys a game like once every year and it's probably COD. He can't really afford much else, but he does enjoy other games like AC, Red Dead etc. that I lend him.

My friend has only Call of Duty Black Ops for the PS3 and thats it

My roommate owns a PS3 and a 360, but not a single game. He borrows them from me.

I mean, I hardly ever buy games. I find that I've been lacking the interest the latest... Oh, I don't know, one or two years. Every once in a while I buy a Mass Effect game, or a Blizzard game, yeah mostly it's games from companies I know will give me a great experience. I seldom buy games on a hunch.

I'm kind of that person, I used to buy games weekly, but now of days I don't buy games at all,  last game I bought was Starcraft 2 and that was 3 months ago, before that it was a few games packs during Steams Christmas sale.  I just watch "let's plays" of games now of  days ;\  Next game I actually want to buy is Guild Wars 2.

Over the past few years I've only been purchasing a handful of games each year. I feel like games are a fairly expensive form of entertainment (both in terms of time and money) and I spend a fair bit of time/money on music so I prefer to buy only games that I really want (which has included Infamous 2, LA Noire and Portal 2 so far this year). A lot of my friends are avid "gamers" though who buy more games than I do, so I'm occasionally able to borrow single-player games from them once they've completed them or, of course, play multiplayer games with them whenever we get a chance to hang out. I'd really like to buy more games, I really would, but I have trouble justifying spending a lot of money/time on games.

...For example, are they pretty much content with the games they have for about 4 months or so before buying anything new?...

It takes a LOT for me to pay full price for any game. I usually buy Rockstar & Valve stuff at full price because you always get you money's worth with them, but I'd say 75% of my 360 games are used or I waited for them to get marked down below $30. On top of that I have a list of games that I never got around to getting even though some are less than $20 now. I'll probably be getting Deus Ex full price, but I can't think of anything else this year I'm willing to do that with.  
 
So, yeah, I probably only buy about 5 a year and only 2 or 3 at launch.
 
I find it funny how many people buy everything full price and then always have a pile of unplayed games sitting around. By the time they finally get to most games, their prices have dropped in the stores.

Based on my experience, I think quite a few gamers only buy a handful of games per year, something like three or four. I probably only pick up about five or six, and most of my friends think I'm pretty hardcore about it. I know better. Out of a circle of about twenty friends who play games, I'd say that half of them buy two games a year on average (usually a Call of Duty, and then something like Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect). And I also think most of us buy games and play them, but don't "collect" them. I rarely have more than six or seven games on my shelf at any one time since I trade them in when I'm done. Nearly everyone I know who plays games does this. No friends of mine collect them to keep.

I have friends who buy COD each year and pirate every other game they want to play.

I know plenty.

Yep that's me these days. But I wouldn't really consider myself a casual gamer, I still go to GB every day, watch all their vids and stuff like that, it's just I can't be bothered to spend my money on them anymore. The last game I bought was EA MMA which I bought at christmas where as a year or two ago I would spend all my money exclusively on games and get a new one once a month or so.  
 
If I get a gaming PC things will change though.

I fit that description. I don't buy many full-priced AAA games. (I'll buy downloadable stuff usually on sale though.)

This year, I bought Portal 2 and Child of Eden for full price.

It's not a money issue... I just want to fully enjoy what I'm purchasing and I won't buy something preemptively unless I have time to play it. Hell, I'm still playing Mass Effect 2 because it's still fun and I bought that the day it came out.

@JoeH said:

Yea I know a few people who just play Team Fortress 2. And that's it. For the past 4 years. They scare me...

TF2 has been my primary game for the past 4 years. If I'm going to play a multiplayer game, I might as well play the best one.

I'm currently bored of it, but when that happens I take a break and come back to it and it's still fun.

My cousin, mostly because he pirates most of his games.
 
Personally, I avoid that kind of thing as far as possible, but guiding others onto the straight and narrow is a challenging task indeed (especially when they are students with no real income).

I know some people who only play CoD and every GTA, but nothing else. And they don't play those casually, CoD like many hours every day in crazy clans.

You seem severally out of touch with the average person's videogame habits. People like you and me who play new releases and post on forums are an extreme minority. You'd be surprised how many people aren't even aware of services such as XBLA and using Netflix on consoles. The bulk of consumers buy a console to play a handful of titles, and maybe buy a few used games here and there. Average Joe shops at GameStop once every three months or so and buys a used game. Most people I know who play games are into a few specific titles, THey aren't interested in reading reviews, checking out innovative games like Braid or LA Noire, they just want to shoot dudes in Halo.

You seem severally out of touch with the average person's videogame habits. People like you and me who play new releases and post on forums are an extreme minority. You'd be surprised how many people aren't even aware of services such as XBLA and using Netflix on consoles. The bulk of consumers buy a console to play a handful of titles, and maybe buy a few used games here and there. Average Joe shops at GameStop once every three months or so and buys a used game. Most people I know who play games are into a few specific titles, THey aren't interested in reading reviews, checking out innovative games like Braid or LA Noire, they just want to shoot dudes in Halo.

@JoeH said:

Yea I know a few people who just play Team Fortress 2. And that's it. For the past 4 years. They scare me...

TF2 has been my primary game for the past 4 years. If I'm going to play a multiplayer game, I might as well play the best one.

I'm currently bored of it, but when that happens I take a break and come back to it and it's still fun.

@Portis: as ham-fisted as I am with money, Solar 2 is pretty worth it. I've already spent 11 hours running around in that game and interacting with the universe. If you're the kind of person that loves to mess around in open-world environments and make a lot of your own fun by trying to do dumb stuff, it's a really great game for that.

Also, the missions are hard! So that should keep you going for a while.

@CodyMetro said:

I need to get out of the marketing thinking that I have to have something when its new just because its "new and hip" mentality. Although I rarely do that anymore, I still do it if the game is at least 3 months old now a days.

I've been trying to break myself of this mentality and I think it's worked.

This is why it's 2011 and I'm still looking forward to finishing off the two remaining Mass Effect 2 DLCs I haven't played. If I haven't played it, it's new to me...

I have two friends like that; one of them is just very specific about which games he enjoys and the other would rather spend his money on guitars, guitar equipment, record players, and vinyl.

Myself. Why would I waste my money on garbage games. I enjoy maybe three new games a year. 90% of games aren't worth buying.