Is the Alan Wake Collector’s Edition worth $80, or can it go through the one month test?
I’m a very practical person, but I have to say that my weakness is buying games. Anything else I will easily wait for an amazing deal on before I buy it – food, electronics, tickets, etc. Yet with video games, something just sort of takes a hold of me and in several cases, I must get the game asap and I’ll pay the full retail price. I don’t know if I pay retail price on anything else in life!
After I bought my PS3 and had to go through that whole month+ long wait to finally get it, I have been self reflecting as of late on that wait and the amount of time I’ve played the system since I got it. Could I have waited longer to buy it? Sure. But now I’m going through the same mental anguish with the upcoming PSP Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker bundle. Will my “One Month Test” help guide my potential purchase?
Origin of The Test
I’m not sure if any of you have the same impulsiveness that I do when it comes to buying stuff, but my PS3 purchase allowed me to be of sound judgment when I eventually bought it. After placing my order for the PS3 with Dell, I was informed that I would not receive the system until the following month. During that month long wait, I was able to cancel my order at any time. There were times that I came close to canceling, mostly because I was considering buying it elsewhere (i.e. Amazon had it in stock a couple weeks before Dell shipped my my console), but there was still no question that I wanted to acquire the system. The PS3 Slim had been out since last year, and that had given me enough time to see it in action and make a cool, calculated decision. The month was only used to allow me to reaffirm my desire to purchase the system.
While I agonized over the wait, I liked that I had many days to really think if it was worth having. Even if I haven’t played my PS3 much since I got it (probably evident since I haven’t posted much on it as of late), I haven’t regretted my purchase at all. It’s definitely worth having. LittleBigPlanet is a lot of fun, and I’m using it now for my main media player. I know that once I get through Mass Effect 2, I can probably make my way through the God of War trilogy and some older PS3 games. This made me think if a one month test of this sort can be applied to all my gaming purchases.
Applying the Test to Game Purchases
I remember when games like Army of Two: The 40th Day and Dante’s Inferno came out earlier this year, I got sucked into the hype and wanted to get them when they released. Good thing I waited, because weeks afterward, I completely forgot about them and just moved on. I eventually bought each game for like $20 – but even at $20 a piece, I still wondered if I should pick them up. After all, the marketing and hype for the games had long passed and I was startled to discover how much I was influenced by the media and gaming industry to get the game right away.
Games like BioShock 2 and Final Fantasy XIII I did buy on release day, but then only last month, you could have bought either game for like $25-$30 new. Did I really need them at launch? In retrospect now, I would say no. (I would probably even go so far as to say that no game needs to be bought at launch price if it doesn’t have a strong multiplayer that will keep you coming back.) I held off on buying Mass Effect 2 at launch, and bought it maybe about a month after it released and got a great deal on that. I’m enjoying and loving the game now.
Games like Alan Wake, Lost Planet 2, Red Dead Redemption, whatever – they all have pretty big marketing pushes, which in the past would have definitely had me considering getting them at launch. But no longer. These games are now going through my one month test to see if I still even want them after a month post-release. If I don’t want them, I can just move on, and if I do, I’m sure they’re be a lot cheaper then.
With the success of the mediocre Dante’s Inferno being a result of heavy marketing, it has really made me wonder how much of a game’s sales is attributed to marketing and how much it is due to it simply being an excellent game. The one month test allows us to help distinguish that hazy line. I also believe that marketing and hype affect game reviews as well. (Even now, Japan’s most popular gaming magazine, Famitsu, is going through some negative light because it awarded Peace Walker a perfect score but also played a hand in advertising the game.)
Of course, there are games that one feels is definitely worth picking up right away and forgoing the test. I’ve talked very often about games like Super Street Fighter IV and Starcraft 2 being worth more than their launch prices for me, so those were day 1 purchases. I guess the trick is to determine which games are worth applying the test to. “Do I want to play this game one month later? Or do I have to play it now for some unexplainable reason? If it’s not explainable, perhaps the decision is more impulsive than calculated.
Applying the Test to The PSP: Peace Walker Big Boss Bundle
The PS3 Slim was an easy purchase. Besides Starcraft 2 and maybe Halo: Reach, I don’t plan on buying any more games this year at launch.Yet with the PSP Big Boss Bundle, there’s a little bit of a wrench thrown into the mix: there’s only a limited number of this bundle. Of course, thinking back to games like Halo 3′s and Modern Warfare 2′s limited $150 some bundles, those things didn’t really sell out at launch at all. Whereas the limited edition bundles for Blizzard’s games have generally all sold out. The question is which direction will the PSP Big Boss bundle head: overstock or sell out? The fear of missing out on the bundle is what is haunting me.
Yet the rational side of me knows that the one month test would work in this case. If I just wait one month after the Peace Walker Big Boss bundle releases and I ask myself then if I still want it, I may change my mind and no longer care for it. Or, it may even be cheaper. Or the worst case: it may be sold out, but I’m sure I can live without it and keep the $200 for something else. So yes…it works if I am willing to risk not being able to get it.
The Usefulness of the Test
I think for anyone that is prone to impulsive purchases with anything (and not just games like in my case), it’s good to consider setting yourself on a 1-month waiting period. This allows you to make the decision to purchase the item without all of the crazy hype and marketing polluting and influencing your thoughts, and on top of that, you’ll most likely be able to get a significant discount on the item. Having said that, I’m still afraid that the Big Boss Bundle is going to sell out, so I’m not quite ready to apply the one month test for that yet. We’ll see what happens…!
