How Do You Feel About Being Late to the Party?

I was listening to the Idle Thumbs podcast, and they started talking about retro games, as well as games they've never played. I think one of them mentioned Ultima World, and he said how he never played it, and that he kind of wished he had, but at some point he just felt like he would be late to the party and that, from what I gathered, bummed him out to such a point that he decided to just not play the game at all. 
 
So my question to you all is, have you ever felt like it was too late after a game's release for you to still pick it up? Or perhaps games that you put aside at some time, and then never got back to because everyone had finished it already? 
 
I gotta say that I have had those moments. I can't name any games off the top of my head, but there have definitely been times where I really wish I had gotten a game on the day, or soon after, the day of release, just so I could've joined in on the discussion on those games. And the fact that I didn't sometimes does bum me out to such a point that I actually don't get the game at all. It's kind of like... not wanting to have that feeling of, "dude, that was so fucking yesterday." 
 
Anyone else had that feeling?    

usually it dont bother me when im a week or a month late, but SOMETIMES with a few games (like arkham asylum for example) i be like FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Maybe it's not the worst thing in the world, and I don't absolutely hate it, but getting a game late can feel bad.  In the cases of MP games there are practical reasons, everyone has far more experience than you and the community usually degrades pretty quickly.  You also run a big risk of spoilers if you get a game very late.  I think there's also a psychological effect I can't fully explain.

Better late than never!

i dont mind it, but it is one of the reasons I dont play online

I usually play my games a year or more after they have been released; sometimes I feel envious of launch day buyers because of the hype and craziness that surrounds discussion soon after release, as well as the more active multiplayer community. But most of the time I'm just fine waiting.

"Maybe it's not the worst thing in the world, and I don't absolutely hate it, but getting a game late can feel bad.  In the cases of MP games there are practical reasons, everyone has far more experience than you and the community usually degrades pretty quickly.  You also run a big risk of spoilers if you get a game very late.  I think there's also a psychological effect I can't fully explain. "

i dont really mind. its kinda nice getting a game while everyones hyped for it but theres not much difference

I do this all the time, it's pretty good when you want to avoid all the hype surrounding a game at its release. Also allows you to really identify good games if you play them quite a while after they were released and they still hold up, but other games I kind of wish I could have played them at their release to appreciate some of the finer parts of the game better contextually, I guess.

I don't bother thinking about it most of the time.  I can see it being an issue if the game in question is a multiplayer only game like Shadowrun, but for most others, it's not an issue.  In fact, waiting a bit is sometimes a good thing.  First of all, any patches that are needed with fix the launch bugs.  Secondly, the game community will have time to build gamefaqs and play-through videos for those points where you might get stuck.   Finally, the price might drop either because the game is now a "greatest hits" or because there is a preponderance of used copies on the store shelves. 

I didn't really get into video games until I was in my early 20s and consoles about the time I turned 30, so I missed out on a lot of great stuff that I'm going back and playing. I don't care if I'm the last guy on earth to play a particular game . . . *except* the current generation, where after about three months for 90% of the titles that have online play, the games are dead. If you're an achievement whore, you're pretty much fucked. And if you just like to enjoy all aspects of a game that you've paid for, it's frustrating. I really wanted to enjoy Beautiful Katamari online a number of months ago, but every time I logged in there were ZERO people playing. In the world. It only goes to further emphasize what a waste of developer resources it is to bother with multiplayer for games that are otherwise not multiplayer.

" I didn't really get into video games until I was in my early 20s and consoles about the time I turned 30"

It is NEVER too late to play a good game. I suggest people play more Doom. No regenerating health, no cover, not even a cross-hair.

I'm always 2-3 years late to the party and that's just how I roll. I don't care much for multi-player so it's never been an issue for me. Also, saves me tons of money. 
 

There is a nice communal aspect of knowing you're playing the new hot game which everyone's playing and talking about.
 
Then there is also the joy of discovering a great game you might have missed before.

I really don't give a rats ass.. I'm not playing games for the fun of others (well not really true sometimes) 
I play games so I can have fun with them. 

Most games I want I tend to get on launch day. I'm totally broke for the next 5 weeks due to spending all my money in advance on Amazon. I feel as if I've made the right choice to do so though: 

• Brutal Legend
• Borderlands
• GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony - Well, I bought MSP for this.
• Dragon Age: Origins 
• Modern Warfare 2
• Uncharted 2 - ...Perhaps.

I rarely buy a game when it comes out, so not really. 
 
I also enjoy playing the game at medium speed, so i don't really participate in a lot of game discussions.  
 
On the other hand i love when i find a game released a while ago, and i find it pretty good. It's such a good feeling! 
 
The only thing that bums me out about playing old games, is when the art style and gameplay feels old and clunky, without giving you the sense of emersion you'd want. That's my only beef with it. 
 
But otherwise it's all cool.

Considering I spend most of my time playing old SNES and PS1 games... no, I'm not bothered by it.

Sometimes I hate it sometimes I don't.
 
 
Uncharted 2, bought it last night because I just had to get it, but I know I won't play it for a month probably and kick myself when I see it on sale somewhere like amazon for $50 when I still haven't opened mine yet.
 
Brutal Legend, I want to play it, but will be fine waiting until it's $40.

could care less. unless it's something like uncharted 2.
waiting is sometimes cheaper anyway.

I started WOTLK 3 weeks late compared to my friends.
 
Let's say it was a lot of work catching up to their level so we can quest together.
 
But otherwise I'm fine being late to a party... Especially when I got better parties to go to. (so to speak)