New releases - buy on release important?

I rarely buy on date of release.  Not because I am looking for sales (although in some cases that is true), but because I usually have another game going and buying at that moment would mean the new title would just sit on the shelf until I'm finished with the old one.  There are cases though where I will set aside time for a specific new game, even though it means I'll probably not return to the old game I'm involved with for a long long time.  Sometimes, knowing that, I'll push to finish a game before the anticipated title is released and thus, clear a space for the new game.  
 
Looking over the coming months, the only games I plan to purchase the first week of release are Champions Online (Sept 4), Uncharted 2 (Oct 13), Borderlands* (Oct 20), and Modern Warfare 2 (Nov 10).  All the other games I'm interested in will probably wait until after Christmas.  I have the time to get them eventually, I am not the most fervent online player, and I can't quantify buying the a game if I'm not going to play it for 3 to 6 months.  So waiting works well for me.  Sometimes, by then GOTY editions or some special discount are available.
 
*I'm not sure what to do about Borderlands since I know I won't be done with Uncharted 2 by then.  I'll probably pick it up as soon as I'm finished with the single player part of Uncharted.  Of course, I could become a victim of the hype and buy it early anyway.

I'll try to get the games I'm dying the most for, like ME2 or Beatles Rock Band on release. But if I don't have the cash for the other ones, what is there to do?

no, not really. a lot of times i buy games but it isn't important to buy a game on release. sometimes gamestop has bonus things that u get but u can also buy the things off of ebay.