Five Ways to Stretch Your Gaming Dollar

Despite the conventional wisdom that games are recession-proof, and collectively folks might seek them out more in bad economic times, individually a lot of us might have a hard time shelling out $60 every other week for the latest bigshot title. And if your unfinished titles have low replay (or never-wanted-to-play-anyway) value to it, you probably need a strategy for pursuing new games more frugally. Wired's GeekDad blog has five tips for stretching the game dollar — not including rentals. The strategy, in a nutshell:• Stay current with upcoming release dates, so you've made your decision on every drop before it happens, and it's less of an impulse purchase, which can get you in trouble. • Read reviews critically: Look for criticisms that point out game flaws that drive you nuts. They can help you stay away from a bad purchase. • Get the demo and play it all the way through. Speaks for itself. Demos are useful for more than just hyping an upcoming game. • Trade-Ins/Buy Used: You might get soaked in the secondary market, you might dislike how much GameStop makes off a resale. But it's still a cheap way to get a game. And something I didn't know: • Join gaming communities: GeekDad specifically mentions Goozex. These resources can assist you in trading your games with others, and spotting upcoming deals and discounts at your local stores. It's good advice, and just having a plan feels empowering. The more you make prudent, affirmative decisions about your game choices in advance, rather than on WTF impulse, the less manipulated you'll be and the more dough you'll have in your pockets. 5 Simple Ways to Stretch Your Gaming Dollar [GeekDad, Wired.com]