Thankfully, you don't have to: price-comparison sites like CheapShark and IsThereAnyDeal will look up online prices for any given game, and even send alerts when prices drop. Of course, you probably don't want to spend a lot of time store-hopping, searching for the game you want at each stop.
On any given day, you might find a better deal at GameFly, GamersGate, Green Man Gaming, or another store. I routinely see $40-$50 titles selling for $10-$20 within months after their release, and it's not uncommon to find top-rated, high-profile games for under $10 within a year.įor any game you're interested in buying, don't assume that, say, Amazon or Steam has the best price. Needless to say, you should never buy a PC game when it first comes out. Last year, barely a month after Tomb Raider made its $49.99 PC debut, Green Man Gaming ran a sale offering the game for just $20. Sometimes it doesn't even take that long. Today, Newegg has it on sale for $9.99 (actually, $7.99 if you apply coupon code EMCPGPF98 at checkout). Those are premium prices, and by exercising a little patience, you can avoid them.įor example, one year ago this month, the aforementioned BioShock: Infinite debuted with a $59.99 price tag. Right now, for example, the just-released South Park: The Stick of Truth costs $59.99, while the recent reboot of Thief runs $49.99.
If you buy a game within the first couple months of its release, you're almost certainly going to pay the full list price, or very close to it. All you have to do is follow a few simple rules. Although a decent desktop (one with a reasonably powerful discrete graphics card) will probably cost you a bit more than a console, you stand to save a bundle when it comes to stocking it with games. What's more, if you're looking for good gaming on the cheap, you really have to look to the PC.
Indeed, plenty of the top game releases of 2013 - BioShock: Infinite, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Saints Row IV, Tomb Raider - were not merely for consoles. PC gaming may be on life support, but it's definitely not dead. South Park: The Stick of Truth may be $59.99 now, but in a few months it won't be.