Has access to very cheap games lessened your gaming enjoyment?

chid76

chid76

chid76

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For me I think it has to some extent. When I was younger and I bought a game, chances are that I would have played that game from start to end maybe looking up some hints in a magazine if I got stuck.
When I look at my games library on steam etc now, the amount of high quality titles that I have not played even 40% of the way though before putting it down and moving onto the next one is staggering. Some examples are:

Starcraft 2, Dishonored, Skyrim, Farcry 3, Tomb Raider, Xcom, Dead Space 1-3, Sleeping Dogs, Deus Ex, Hitman, Witcher 2, Both of the Batman games, Alan Wake, Fallout New Vegas, Metro Last Light, Bioshock (all 3 of them)... This list go's on.

Now maybe it say's something about me that I don't really complete what are some of the best games out there at the moment, but I know I used to put more effort into playing a game through when I had to save up for it when I was younger. Now games are so cheap that people are giving them away (Origin Humble Bundle etc).
 
Definitely. I remember the feeling clutching two games, in a retail shop (how novel!), trying to decide which one I should buy. These days I have about 50 games on Steam and Origin which haven't even been installed/launched :p
 
It was a nice feeling when you was younger, saved all your money, picked the game you've been waiting for, spending all day on it.

Now its "Do I really need these 5 games i'll probably not play...Yeeeaaah, go on then its only £5 for the lot".

its all about the amount of games on your steam list now.
 
It lessens the longevity of the game in the sense that you probably move on to another game sooner. Wouldn't say it impacts on enjoyment if the game itself is any good.

Of the 4 of us at LAN 2 of us had Don't Starve, 2 of us got it for £4.50 each in a 2 pack thanks to the weekend deal. Was extremely entertaining even if it might be short lived due to FF14.
 
Not at all, cheap games gives me an incentive to try more of them. There have been plenty of times I've thought "This is great, and I would never have bought it if it wasn't on sale".

Just because it is more expensive or you could only afford that one for now doesn't mean it will be good.
 
so cheap that people are giving them away
Click to expand...

It could be compared it to a movie. Is it really that bad when they keep repeating it on TV for no charge, if it was ever worth watching I dont mind

I have to play these games on easy because I havent got time to faff about trying to get the exact combination right
 
I'm not sure, I'm quite tight with money so the majority of games I wouldn't have bought however I guess as they cost so little that I don't show them the same respect as something full priced. I'm really not sure :p
 
What? No of course not, it has greatly increased it, e.g. Borderlands 2, read the reviews, it did sound good but some of the pictures put me off somewhat so I was never going to buy it at full-price. Enter Steam sale, it’s going cheap so I picked it up – along with a load of other games. 100 hours in, I haven’t even played any of the others because it is so good. My enjoyment has increased massively over say, just playing more TF2 as I otherwise would have been doing.

As for the games I haven't played yet, I think it's great to have some quality games ready and waiting for whenever I finish the current one.
 
Time is more important. Why spend your precious gaming time playing something that you are not enjoying, when you could spend it playing something better?

The publisher/developers don't care - they've already got your money, so why shouldn't you play (or not) any game you want? In fact, if you give up on a game, you're more likely to go and buy another one - maybe published by the same company, thus making them more money!

I also find that it's difficult to find time for a whole game. Yet if you stop in the middle of a game for more than a few days, you start to lose the twitch memory you've built up during the first half of the game, making it harder to dive back in at a difficult bit.
 
I agree with what the OP and Kishywish are saying - there certainly is a tendency for the overall games collection to devalue perceptually, for no other reason than the fact that there are a higher number of unplayed games available, which are all valid alternatives to each other because they are AAA titles.

You can get into the mindset of just finishing the game ASAP because there are even more awaiting your attention. I have since the last year or so completely clamped down on going sales-crazy (but that didn't stop me from getting The Walking Dead and completing it, and Dishonored and not starting it), and I am consciously working my way through the collection.

Take Arkham City for example - the Riddler challenges seem to me a complete waste of time and effort, and I am sure the fact that other games are waiting plays into that. Also, I started and stopped AC:Brotherhood when I realised what a grind-fest it would turn out to be.

So maybe OP this is not a case of the games actually being "spoilt" per se, but a total re-evaluation of the game's worth when bought at a cheaper price - maybe it is just making us more efficient?
 
No, like somebody else has said I am more likely to move on to another game because I can afford to do so, where in the past I simply couldn't afford a new game so soon after buying a new one.
 
I think you may be right. I remember saving up for games and enjoying go down to Game or MVC and physically buying it. Getting home opening it up, reading the manual while it installed. Also games came in awesome big boxes so you'd end up reading the back of it and admiring the artwork. These days I get a game even, very rarely would I pay full price but even so I might play it for 30 odd hours and be done with it. Real shame as with some games I'd love to get more into them. Maybe its the games themselves, less immersing perhaps.
 
I pick up and drop games far more than I used to, when I was younger I completed most games. I do worry about the lessening value of games and what effect it will have on the market.
 
I think the less the money means to you, the less effort you are willing to put playing a crappy game. If the game cost a lot, you're going to make more effort to get to the end, no matter how much you dislike it. If the game cost a few pounds on a Steam sale, and it's not turning your crank, you're more likely to not care about giving up on it.

Of course the really good games don't have this problem, because you want to play them.
 
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