In general, how soon after a game is released do you start PLAYING it?

Usually a year or more after release because I almost ALWAYS wait for it to go on sale. There are three games which I bought and started playing on day one, which are Max Payne 3, Far Cry 3 and Half-Life 2.

Very up and down. On average it is probably 6 months. It took me 3.5 months(counted from PC release) before I started on Dark Souls 2. Watch Dogs I think I started on within the same week. Bioshock games, except for Infinite, I started on the same day as release. Infinite I still haven't played. I also got other unopened games. FEAR 2 and 3 to mention some.

Usually pre-release. Typically at least a year or two before the game is actually released.

Shoot. Forgot about including an Early Access option!

I usually wait 6 months myself. I like to get as complete a game as possible, which usually means waiting for several patches. It's a bonus that games get cheaper as time goes on.

I'm a cheap gamer. I can't afford to drop $50-60 on a new release. I generally wait for games to drop in price to $15 or less which means I don't purchase the game until 6-12 months after the release and if I'm busy with other games, it may be upwards of 6-12 months before I play them.

I still have games I bought cheap and I haven't opened - Bioshock 2 for example - I've owned a copy for almost 3 years now. I think I've been sitting on Sins of a Solar Empire for just as long or longer then Bioshock 2...still unopened. Holy crap, this is just sad the more and more I think about it. I'm going away to be depressed and cry in a corner now.

about a year.

to be honest depends in games , but I love to play RPGS ASAP , like when witcher 2 released or DOA , some survival heror , depends on the game ,Divinity sin . Skyrim .

I usually wait for a steam sale which means it might take a year or so. I only make an exception and buy right after release games that I am crazy excited for.

TOTALLY depends on the game.

- Something like COD you need to play close to release, because later down the track the numbers (players online) start dying down.

- An MMO I usually wait a week or two for two reasons. So the server load and bugs are fixed, and so I'm not doing the same quest as another 100 players at the same time.

- Most others I've learned to wait for the price to go down. These days you just need to be patient for a few weeks and you save yourself some money.

The majority of games I play months later. Only the minority that are games from a franchise I like or a genre I'm craving for I buy at release or close enough.

It's usually between release date and few days after.

When you buy a game, it's most of the time the date when you play it.

Unless you buy some games that you don't need on Steam sales or HumbleBundle.

in average 3 months. I buy most games on release, but I take about 3 months on average before I bother installing them and playing them (mostly due to my backlog absolutely killing me across platforms QQ

In cases where it is game series I really like, My favorite genre (RPGs), or a setting I love. I will rid the calender and play them without delay.

Varies wildly. Some games, like Borderlands 2 and the upcoming Civilization: Beyond Earth, I've pre-ordered and intend to download immediately. Meanwhile, I've bought Alan Wake since it was released back in 2012 and it's still sitting idle in my Steam library, completely unplayed, and it's not alone.

A myriad of reasons for this. I only pre-order games when I have a good idea what to expect; everything else, I wait for reviews. If the game or the developer has a reputation for bugs, I'll set aside a few months at least for it to "patch out" a little. Meanwhile, the "abandonment basement" games I have a habit of racking up are there for many reasons; impulse buys I never really had any intention of playing (e.g. Blades of Time), games I had problems running for some inexplicable reasons (e.g. Metro 2033), or quite simply, games I just don't feel like playing just yet, such as the aforementioned Alan Wake.

Unless it's Free to play very rarely do I play at launch. I usually wait until I can pick it up at at least 40% off via a sale or just price decrease (cheaper is even better). I do pre-order the few rare games. Most recent examples being Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect 3 and Skyrim.

I dunno, but people have been talking about this 1 game a lot, maybe people here have heard of it...

The game is called Crysis and its awesome apparently? does anyone know this game?

Depends.....

Far Cry 3: Day 2

Bioshock Infinite: Year 2

Friday is usually release day in Europe, Tuesday for US, so by the time it gets to me, patches have sorted the mess out. :)