How do you...

[Wh1te Out]

Decide on ONE game?

Ever since I started being a responsible adult and cut WAY back on gaming time and purchases (largely because I never finished anything I started playing anyway and would only lose money on the trade-in), I have found it more and more difficult to decide what I do want to buy when I have money. It's almost like nothing lives up to my insane standards, and I scrutinize everything over and over until I talk myself out of buying it.

So... how does a person decide on only one game when there are so many amazing ones to play? Hmmm...

 

[Tek7]

Tribe of Judah makes deciding on which PC games to purchase simple:

Are several Tribe of Judah members playing it or planning to play it? Does the potential exist to start a chapter for this game?

If the answer is "Yes" to both question and if it's NOT a MMO or realistic FPS, I'll seriously consider buying it.

Case in point: Left 4 Dead.

EDIT: Being unemployed makes my console purchase decisions incredibly easy: Is this game one of the most amazing games of all time? If yes, then I consider purchasing it. If not, then I pass on it.

Examples in the "Yes" column: Okami for $15 and Boom Blox for $20 on Black Friday, Mega Man 9 for $10.

Examples in the "No" column: De Blob (which looks amazing but wasn't available for rent when I still had free rentals at Hollywood Video) and No More Heroes (which received an excellent score on Metacritic but less than stellar reviews from my friends).

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

Decide on ONE game?

Ever since I started being a responsible adult and cut WAY back on gaming time and purchases (largely because I never finished anything I started playing anyway and would only lose money on the trade-in), I have found it more and more difficult to decide what I do want to buy when I have money. It's almost like nothing lives up to my insane standards, and I scrutinize everything over and over until I talk myself out of buying it.

So... how does a person decide on only one game when there are so many amazing ones to play? Hmmm...

Believe me your standards aren't insane because I don't feel there are that many amazing games out there. IMO 90% of the games out there offer nothing new (or if they do they do it badly), lack compelling characters, put across morals I don't agree with and/or have no replay value. The only thing most games offer nowadays is better graphics and a higher price tag. My last 2 purchases were motivated largely by being able to play with TOJ'ers, in other words multiplayer is where replay value usually is. Unfortunately one, Unreal Tournament 3, turned out to be exactly what I expected (a pretty version of 2004 which I never really liked) and the clan died out XD. The other, Team Fortress 2, is the only game I am currently playing. Because of TF2 and Portal (a short but sweet game) I can recommend the Orange Box. As far as the box's main component though, Half Life 2, I am sorry but it seems like a prettier HF1, with less compelling bosses, more running between places and more annoying NPC AI. I am sure TOJ'ers will be playing it for at least a few more months but the new "thing" appears to be L4D. Of course I personally feel L4D gives me little motivation to play it when TOJ'ers aren't around while I actually like TF2.

The bottom line is games nowadays have better budgets and graphics but most game creators haven't become any more imaginative and have used up what ideas they had. If you are looking for a good replay value, don't want a game taking up your life (mmorpgs) and are looking at games played by other TOJ'ers your game choices come down to TF2 and L4D (COD4 is played by 2 or 3 TOJ'ers too). You may want to look beyond CGA to see what other Christian clans are playing as well.

<Off topic note:> I forgot (or wished to forget) I also purchased Sam and Max: Season One. Being a big fan of the Monkey Island series I'd always wanted to play Lucasarts' original Sam and Max but never got to. If it's anything like Taletales version it is (don't hate me) horrible! I don't think I laughed once and everything was extremely predictable. If I were a narcoleptic sloth I could write funnier dialog (one section was eyerolling gross as well). The main problem is Taletale didn't even bother to replace the dialog on many objects between episodes however you are still compelled to examine everything to make sure you don't miss something. I expected the graphics to be reused for an episodic series but how can seeing the same message over and over even be considered entertaining? The puzzles are ridiculously easy as well. I should have listened to my game sense (which is almost never wrong) and never bought the game but out of nostalgia, dreamily hoping for a tiny bit of Monkey Island goodness I did XD. </off topic side note>

 

[Corpfox]

Technically, ONE GAME does have mods for other genres.

But ONE GAME for all genres, that is impossible.

So... how does a person decide on only one game when there are so many amazing ones to play? Hmmm...

Easy, Re-playable!

I enjoy Starcraft so much, that is the only RTS I play. The story is great, the characters are awesome, the units are balanced. And the Campaign Editor are good for customized scenarios/campaigns/fun maps.

FPS: Counter-Strike/CS: Source
TBS: Heroes 5: TotE
RPG: Diablo 2
Flight game: Freelancer
Fighting: Marvel Vs Capcom 2
Etc.

All different genres. Except for Sports and MMORPG, I hate those and don't play them.

 

[Wh1te Out]

Thanks for your responses, everyone. It's very helpful (and insightful) to see how other gamers think and make buying decisions. I've narrowed down my choices to probably Prince of Persia for the 360, due to the fact that I love an immersing experience even if doesn't offer replay value (i.e. Braid). Or some DS games, of which I have quite a few I want to play (mainly RPGs).

I've already got my MMO in Animal Crossing: City Folk and as much as I want to play Fable II, Fallout 3 or any other game with lots of content, I just know that I will never get around to finishing them... and that's just wasteful.

 

[Tek7]

IMO 90% of the games out there offer nothing new (or if they do they do it badly), lack compelling characters, put across morals I don't agree with and/or have no replay value.

/me recommends Katamari Damacy and We <3 Katamari for the Playstation 2 to Gerbil

Or some DS games, of which I have quite a few I want to play (mainly RPGs).

Chrono Trigger DS > *

I just wish Square-Enix hadn't gotten greedy and charged a more reasonable price for a re-re-release for the DS (even if CT is arguably the greatest RPG ever made).