Like the thread title says…
What’s the most you have ever spent on a game or have personally known or witnessed someone else spend on a game?
I know this question is highly variable considering nowadays before a game even launches we are bombarded by press release after press release of how many different editions and collectors bundles “we need” in order to have the developer’s true vision or ultimate “gaming experience” (-That’s right, Ninja. Without that ultimate super limited rare special collector’s edition you are nothing.).
Jeez, that last line would make Capcom jealous. Any-who, back to the topic.
We now live in a gaming age where it’s not uncommon for a slightly upgraded version of the base game to border on the $100 price tag realm. It goes without saying that going beyond this point one can soon venture into exponentially higher price points all in the name of collector memorabilia or limited runs of things. However, it wasn’t always like this; or at least not to the extent it is today. Back in the 80’s, 90’s, and even early 2000’s such editions were usually reserved for highly sought after and critically acclaimed games; if that. It was virtually unheard of to walk by a wall of games at your local gaming store or Blockbuster (-what’s a Blockbuster, Ninja?-) and see a collector’s edition or a special edition for your every day run of the mill game. Same would go for your local gaming store. Now it seems like it’s a prerequisite before a developer even launches a game.
Now with all that being said I’m well aware that there are those out there that have probably traded in their first born child for some of the truly unbelievable and rare collectors pieces of gaming memorabilia out there so in addition to the question posed by this thread topic this thread perhaps can also serve as an outlet for those out there to show off their wares for those pieces of gaming history etched into each of our minds. Things like autographed copies of games or rare pieces like the first Donkey Kong arcade cabinet are expected to “fetch a high price, stranger” (-Who let that merchant in hear, Ninja?-) so I wouldn’t put them in the same category as some of the examples I gave earlier but still I think it would be interesting to see just what pieces of gaming history people have huddled away in their “gamer caves”.
While I admire and respect all those out there who have taken the initiative to track down and purchase such elusive pieces of gaming’s past I myself never caught on to this craze. I’m sure the main reason was financial restraints but at the same time I’ve never been one to find myself seeking out old and rare retro vintage gaming memorabilia. Y’never know though. That could change in the future. After all, there are some pretty cool pieces out there. No, my gaming purchases have for the most part have primarily been with things are relatively new in terms of their release. As such my numbers may seem like “peanuts” compared to some of the figures out there I’m sure will fill this thread but still I feel it’s only necessary I give my 2 cents so to speak considering I’m the one asking the question.
The most I’ve ever spent on a game…hmmm. If we’re talking about myself personally (-who else would you be talking about, Ninja!?-) I would have to say it was around 170$USD for a single copy of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception… the base model/game. What?! $170 for Uncharted 3, Ninja? You got taken to the cleaners! You think I don’t know that? I may be a little slow (-a little, Ninja?-) but I wasn’t born yesterday.
-Dang Ninja, you should re-title this thread “what was the most you ever got ripped off.”-
Around Fall 2011 the big thing was the launch of Uncharted 3, at least for the PS3 crowd. It was the highly hyped game to the even more highly acclaimed sequel Uncharted 2 that pretty much put Naughty dog’s beloved franchise on the map and in the common vocabulary of many avid gamers. As such I was excited to get my hands on it day 1. So why then did I end up paying almost triple what it normally went for retail? Well, you see at the time I was living on an island in the Caribbean. It was a small little speck of dust on the map, one so tiny that any kind of storm had the potential to completely wipe it out; something that happened numerous times before I got there fortunately. Being such a small place they didn’t have many of the accommodations and luxuries more “advanced” places like North America or certain parts of Europe had (They didn’t even have a McDonalds just to give you an idea; funny enough they had a restaurant named MacDonalds though, no joke… cue the movie coming to America.).
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise then that their gaming selection was limited as well.
So then how did people get their games then you ask? (-Ugh, no we didn’t, Ninja. But anyway…-). The simple truth is that most people would either purchase games that were years old at ridiculous prices ($80 USD for a Xbox360 launch title like Perfect Dark Zero or Project Gotham Racing in 2011!) or do what I did, namely visit another country (in my case were I was originally from.) and buy a stack of games and bring them down. I managed to utilize this strategy for most of my time there as I wasn’t too concerned with whether or not I missed out day one when a game dropped but when Uncharted 3 was about to launch (a game I wanted day one so as not to run into issues of spoilers on the internet.) I realized I would have to figure out another method.
I searched around for quite some time until a friend tipped me off that there was a place on the island that actually pre-ordered games and delivered them day one. Great, I thought. I can play Uncharted 3 day one! I eventually went to this place, an old Blockbuster video but only in name. Remember, this was 2011. Blockbuster was pretty much dead if not a few years in the ground already but this place somehow retained the rights to the franchise fees, or so I was told. As such they pretty much ran like a Blockbuster from back in the day, complete with all the movie and game cases on display.
Being the enthusiastic ninja I am (-Umm… sure, Ninja. Whatever.-) I walked into the place and asked the lady at the front desk (technically the clerk, staff, manager, and owner all rolled in one.) if I could pre-order my copy of Naughty dogs soon to be epic, Uncharted 3.
Upon hearing my request she took out a long sheet of paper and began writing down each letter on a list I happened to glance contained a multitude of other notable name games (lot of sports ones too for some reason). She then smiled at me and asked me when it would come out. Luckily I remembered thanks to the catchy trailers Naughty Dog had put out; 11/1/11 (November 11, 2011.). This made it easy to mentally keep its launch date fresh in my mind. I figured even though everything was crude compared to what one might expect (being asked when it was coming out, no kind of computer list, etc..) it didn’t matter as long as come 11/1/11 I would get my beloved Uncharted 3.
I was feeling pretty good… until she looked at me and told me the price.
$170 USD!!!
That’s right, $170 bucks! This was the normal everyday base model/game too I might add. To say all that enthusiasm and excitement inside of me just prior to hearing that was suddenly let out of my head like the air escaping out of a balloon would be a gross understatement (-Perfect analogy, Ninja. After all, you are an air-head.-).
“$170 dollars?!” I said out loud in disbelief as a multitude of reasons and subsequent objections raced to the center of my head. Before I could utter another word her eyes greeted mine and she said “That’s the price of living on an island.”
I should make mention that that phrase was a common one on that island. Every time I would go to pay the electric bill (they didn’t do it electronically so I had to physically go there every month.) I would more often than not hear someone complaining about their bill being $1,000 for electricity alone (This is USD I might add.). Sometimes people would complain in the grocery store over things like the price of milk (almost 8$ for a 4L jug.) or at restaurants for the absurd price of an appetizer. Like some kind of sick joke it was almost an assured thing that there would be someone there, just waiting to say that unforgettable phrase, the same one ringing in my ears at that moment…
“That’s the price of living on an island.”
Seeing as how this would more than likely be the one and only time I engaged in this merciless ritual I reluctantly agreed. I asked her if the price was so high due to the shipping costs and she quite honestly said the reason was due to the simple fact that it was she herself that would hop on a plane, go to the mainland (America.), purchase all the games on her list, hop on another plane, and head back. In a sense she was the buyer, the shipper, the… well everything. She would compile a huge list of pretty much anyone on the island who wanted a new or relatively new game and when she had enough business to covers her costs as well as make it worth her time financially speaking she would jump on a plane to Miami for the day, fill up a few suit cases worth of games and head back. Like I said before, that system is essentially what I utilized myself but the issue of playing a game day one when it launched threw a monkey wrench in that plan of attack for the common islander.
As I mentioned before (-So why are you repeating yourself, Ninja!?-) I reluctantly accepted the price and payed a small fee/down payment (around $10.).
Yeah, I got hustled. Yeah, I felt gouged. But what other option was there at the time? None. Not unless I wanted to wait almost 3 months or so after Uncharted 3 dropped. Figuring this would be the first and last time I let it slide but on a positive note I did manage to get the game 2 days before its release date (No idea how that worked out, but hey I wasn’t complaining.).
So yeah, I was the envy of all my friends back home in North America and Europe when they saw that Uncharted 3 logo pop up under my PSN name 2 days before they could get their hands on it. Yeeeaaahhhh…. don’t think they would be too envious if they knew just how much of a difference in price I paid though.
:/
Shhh… they don’t need to know.
So Gamespot community, what’s the most you’ve ever paid for a game?
-TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS NINJA APPROVED-
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