A lot of us gamers are subject to more than one platform (Ie: PC and 360). A lot of us gamers are subject to buying a lot of games because we feel the need to buy every game. Now if you have the money to do so, do so. If you're like me, in college, and not without deep coffers, it's time to learn how to deal with the situation. First off, concerning the 360, i would suggest buying games that have a good singleplayer and multiplayer, one or two just singleplayer games are good, but you want something that you can play when you have friends over. This is why games such as Gears of War 2 and Halo 3 are great, a lot ouf us enjoy these games exponentially more when friends are playing with us. Games that have great singleplayer components that people like to watch are GTA IV and perhaps the upcoming Resident Evil 5, with that said i guess you could say we're looking for games with most bang for your buck. Think of it this way, if i spend $60 on a video game, i want 60 or more hours of gameplay out of it.  Now this philosophy is the same with PC Gaming, instead of buying STALKER: Clear Sky or Call of Duty World at War(even though i do enjoy the latter), buy Left 4 Dead, or perhaps the upcoming Dawn of War II, or go bacfk to favorites such as Team Frotress 2 or Call of Duty 4. Some of these have great singleplayer components, ie: Call of Duty 4 and Dawn of War II, so again we're looking for if i spend $50 i want atleast 50 hours or more. For me, Left 4 Dead has 70 hours of gameplay right now, as does TF2, Call of Duty 4. Call of Duty World at War $40, i've got about 28 hours of gameplay, it will make it there, but unless you're playing friends it may not be worth it. So let's do a quick review at what we've learned:

Buy smart, if you're only going to play the game once, unless you're just having a nerdgasm over it, don't buy it. Games that make require a buy that won't get a lot of play times are games such as Bioshock, Half-Life 2, Fable 2, etc....games with a great engaging story and high reviews are often worth the money, but try and limit yourself on these though, because you may never play them again.

Games with multiplayer and singleplayer compnents are great for both PC and 360 Gamers, as playing with your friends will make your play time sky rocket and the cost per hour go down.

Games that may not have reviewed as well, STALKER: Clear Sky, LOTR Conquest, Prey are probably not worth your money because you may never play them or they maybe so short it doesn't warrant the $50 price tag (i'm looking at you Prey!)


So in short, don't buy every game, just the one's you're adore for your life or get yout the most bang for your buck.

I can and will buy every game. I just don't like restricting myself.

 I mean its totally up to you, i'm just saying that for college students such as myself that's not feasible so it's better to buy games that will afford you the most entertainment unlike games such as STALKER Clear Sky, or Mirrors Edge

When I was in college I rarely spent money on beer or crack, instead I bought overly expensive SNES games like OUt of this World.  I graduated w/ honors after keeping my Genesis and SNES at home

Moving this to General Discussion.

I've been buying games the smart way for years. I realized along time ago that trading in games really isn't worth it since I not only lose money, but in some cases, I lose a good game.

I now keep all games that I buy, and only purchase games that I know will keep me entertained for a while or that I know I will like.

Luckily, I've been gaming long enough to know what genres I like and what games just don't do it for me.

Or perhaps you should focus on just studying rather than playing video games all day.  Books cost a lot of money.  Why blow all your money on video games?

I've got a 4.0 GPA, you tell me if i have my priorities straight

Instead of dropping $120 (tax out) on Mirror's Edge and Dead Space, I spent less than $20 renting both for 7 days. In fact, each one is short enough that a 3 day rental over a weekend would have been fine. Great games, but I'm sorry to say neither have $60 worth of value in them. Unlike Burnout Paradise, which after a year I'm still playing.

I consider myself to be a budget gamer, but on the contrary, I'm going to say games these days in general are just too long. With each game I buy, I don't want 60 hours of gameplay. The way I save money is by buying them a little later down the road, when they're cheaper. Also, I'm always keeping my eyes open for sales. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but at least with the Xbox 360, the majority of games drop in price real quick. 6 months after release, just about any game is down to $30. Wait a little longer, and they usually drop to $20. The exceptions are the biggest selling games like COD4, Halo, and Gears of War. Buying games at these discounted prices is how I've managed to accumulate quite a few 360 games. In fact, perhaps too many! I'm still trying to catch up and beat all these games. Also, I rent games, and through my dad's subscription with Blockbuster Online, I get 2 free game rentals a month, and that's what really kills me. I end up playing those, and my own purchased games get pushed aside for the most part. About game length, though... you know, dude, I feel like most games these days are extended just to accommodate a certain length requirement. Companies don't want to release a 10 hour game, so in some cases, they do what they can to squeeze out as many hours as possible, then use achievements to increase playing time even more. So you got all that going on with a lot of games, plus just about every single game out these days pretty much has to offer online multiplayer of some form, which always requires a bit of time and effort if you want to get good at it and make the best of it. Man, I just don't have time for all that. COD4 came out... a lot of people ripped on it for it's short single player length, but dude, that was one of the greatest single player campaigns I've ever played, hands down. I'll always be an advocate of quality over quantity, even when gaming on a budget.

I know why people rent games, i would rent games, but my 360 doesn't entice me, i bought Gears of War discounted at walmart after x-mas(last game i played for it, won't again until RE5) . Yes there are other ways to save, but i guess you could save that if you're kind of like me, i have this horrible inability to return things i rent, even when there is no late fee they still get mad, i like to own the good stuff, so waiting for discounts, i already do (especially when there is a sale on steam, $1 Half-Life), merely it's a guide i wrote down because i felt like telling myself i know how to budget my expenses. Also, TheGreat Guero, i'm not saying i want a game that lasts 60 hours, if it has a multiplayer compnent, it's going to last 60 hours, ie: my CoD 4 hours according to xfire: 64, L4D hours: 73, TF2 Hours 70, Day of Deafeat Source, 199. I'm saying games that are replayable, in the long run, are worth more bang for buck and i think of games in that way, unless it provided me just ana amazing experience for the short time i played, i leave disappoionted and wanting to return the thing (hardly anyone will take returns)

There seem to me to be 3 good ways to save money on gaming:

1. Rent games. The video store in my town offers most new release xbox 360 games at a rate of $8 / 5 days. That's enough time for most games, if you can play it for those 5 days.

2. Buy games with a strong MP component. (Like the OP suggested) If you are a FPS fan, this gives you a lot of bang for your buck. The one problem is that MP is dependent on other people playing it (unless you're talking splitscreen), so you'll have to grab new games more often.

3. Stay 9 months behind the curve on SP games. If you are interested in the SP more than the MP, wait 9 months or so to buy the game. It will still be just as awesome, but now it's only 20 or 30 dollars. (You can speed this up by buying used copies 2 or 3 months after release)

Anything I miss?