What's the most you have ever spent on a game?

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-

Well, dollar for dollar and pound for pound I'd have to say the wowzerz, 16 gigabit cartridge, Phantasy Star 2, on Sega Genesis for the low, low price of $79.99 way back in 1990!! lol :P

It might have been Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles on the GC. While a fantastic game, for multi-player it needed 1 GBA system per player and a cord for connecting them together. Dumbest shit ever.. Don't remember the price, but it was too much. Luckily, me and 2 of my friends already had GBAs.

Edit: Wait.. it's probably World of Warcraft. Stupid monthly fees..

world of warcraft

@SecretPolice:

The snes version of Street Fighter 2 also sold at an incredibly high price. Funcoland was selling it for $80 or $90, could have been more.

I recall Genesis Virtua Racing costing near $100, as well.

Youngsters must not remember Neo Geo. Think games for the system were $300 and up.

N64 also had the two price points of $59.99 and $69.99.

I guess it would have to be RuneScape, technically. I was a member for at least 3 years which adds up to $180 at $5 a month. I did split the cost with my parents, paying only every other month. But that'd still be the most I've spent on a game. Second place goes to some Collector's edition of Fallout: New Vegas and the Hardened Edition for Modern Warfare 2, both at $80 + tax. Pretty sure I had gift card money in both cases, but still. I rarely spend full price on games so I look back on those purchases as kind of a waste.

Oh no doubt Neo Geo games were freaking like buying a new console and then some. lol I personally never bought one but was tempted to buy a Neo Geo many times.

Actually, now with more thought, the Steel Battalion game with controller was probably the most I paid for a game.

:D

Probably Guitar Hero World Tour which was $190 for the game + instruments.

oh, this again. I really have no idea. I have several 100 songs on SingStar, bought Rocksmith 2016 with the guitar and bought many songs, own tons of Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Lego figures, backed Prodegy with $500 on Kickstarter and have some mobile phone games I spent 100s on. I can't tell you where I put most of my money in.

How much did the MGSV Specia Edition cost with the robot arm and stuff? I spent that...in Canadian.

So uhhh...$249? $279? $299?

I don't remember. I just used my visa lol.

10 quid a month Everquest subscription for ~6 years.

$300 plus a pop for Neo Geo games such as KOF and Samurai Shodown!

WoW

3 years of World of Warcraft

Star Citizen pledges

I've actually never paid more than the usual $60 plus tax. And I don't even spend that much on a game usually.

DOA5.

Spent money on multiple versions of the game on different platforms and a whole lot on DLCs. I've spent in the high hundreds of dollars if I'm being honest.

Vanilla Wow, all expansions and 7 years of sub. That will never happen again

Besides rock band and guitar hero 3 ( had to buy guitars and mic and drums ) paid 79.99 black Friday one year for Rock band and 129.99 for guitar hero 3 so besides those two

59.99 is the most I spent but now since I got nothing but bills I'm only paying 29.99 at the most

All other guitar hero games by the way I got for less than 11 at my local pawn shop

For a base game, $130 (with shipping) for the Divinity: Original Sin II Collector's Edition (physical). Comes with a hardcover lore book, hardcover art book, 2 copies of the game, soundtrack, cloth game map, and a bunch of other stuff. I paid about the same for the Divinity: Original Sin Collector's Edition (physical), and it came with a lot less, so I think it's a pretty good value. I'm kind of a sucker for art books, too...

WoW by a LONG SHOT!

Fallout 4. Bought it when it first came out at $60, and paid $30 for the season pass when it was on sale.

Yeah, same here. Played Everquest for 3 years at 12.99 a month or something like that. Pretty sure that was my most expensive if that counts.

Ultima Online. $60 for the game and $10 a month for 6 years

Sengoku Basara 4 is the one for me. I have over 350 hours it. The game that is second to it, is Sengoku Basara 3 with 180 hours.

Civlization IV on the DLC content. I do not know that actual amount I spend.

Being that the 3ds was probably the first system I ever owned to be payed by myself ,I would have to say that Xenoblade Chronicles 3d being 39.99 was the most I've ever spent on a game

$650 on the H-Hour World's Elite kickstarter was the most for any game up front... by the way, I donated for the PS4 version, and it still hasn't even begun to get ported and is still being slowly worked on, on the PC side of things. It was a green light game that is still in early access right now.

Overall? Probably WoW with a subscription for 5 or 6 years.

For the love of Miyamoto, how could anyone ever forget that beast. I can't remember the exact price it went for but I think it was close to $1000. Like you I also remember the games being ridiculously expensive but I don't recall them being $300. I'm probably wrong but for some reason I always thought they were more like $150. Even if they were only what I thought that was still an insanely high price to pay for a single game back in the early 90's. I can honestly say I didn't know ANYONE who owned a Neo Geo growing up. It's not hard to understand why.

-REAL PREMIUM PRICING NINJA APPROVED-

If we're also including DLC, then Mass Effect 2 is my big money sink hole. Bought the limited edition day 1 (this was during my console days before PC gaming made me more frugal in my spending) along with each and every DLC as soon as it released. The quality in a lot of them like in Lair of the Shadow Broker, Leviathan, Project Overlord, I do think they were fairly priced, the weapon and skin packs were maybe just slightly overpriced even at a small fee, but it's not like buyers remorse for anything like that, as most of the story content gave me my money's worth.

As a long-time Metal Gear Solid fan I actually regret not getting that arm. Sure it was insanely overpriced but it being a fully adjustable arm was pretty neat.

-PHANTOM REGRET NINJA APPROVED-

Steel Battalion ,bought two since i wore out my first.

Modern times -Mechwarrior Online

Don't really pay extra for games. I'd say the only times I ever did was Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Limited Edition and Final Fantasy XII Limited Edition with steelbook on the PS2. Other than that I was big on preordering when I was a kid because I'd always get something extra like my Xenosaga poster lol

$500 on Playboy the mansion

@kangarbloodyroo: Those bunnies. Can't help it.

-HUGH WOULD BE PROUD NINJA APPROVED-

I don't even want to think about the amount of money that has been spent on The Sims 3. That's not even including the PC I built for it. Absurdly expensive game, even if I like it in the end.

I think I spend close to 100 for the N64 game Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Cartridges were really expensive at the time compared to PlayStation 1 games.

$80 for Lunar Silver Star Story Complete on PS1.

Had a EQ2 subscription for around 3 years I think, including the game and two expansions that's close to 600$ Great game though... I Also played NWO for 2 years, that's a F2P mmo, but pretty sure I spend close to a grand on that...:)

Around December of 2001 I paid $80 for Shenmue 2 on Dreamcast and had to pay an additional $20 for shipping since i had to buy the European version because Shenmue 2 wasn't released on Dreamcast in the US. I also had to purchase an "import disc" that allowed me to play the European version on my American Dreamcast. That was another $30. So, in total, I spent $130 and that was in 2001 when I was making $5.15 an hour. It's still the most dollars I've spent on a game and the highest portion of my income I've ever spent on a game.

Probably the fallout 4 pipboy edition.

The most I've ever paid for a single game was for Fallout 4 plus all of the DLC. I was late to the party on the Season Pass, so ended up spending £40 for the original release, and £40 on top for the Season Pass. So £80 in total, but I don't regret it.

$100 for Injustice 2 PS4 Ultimate Edition and it was well worth the price cause I'm still enjoying the hell out of Injustice 2. Great fighting game.

Why did I spend that kind of money, because I'm Rich :P

@WitIsWisdom: I wanted that so bad but the seems like the developers are not doing much lately. I have it on my PC and I tried to get in a game and it was horrible. Socom is my favorite online past times.

@SecretPolice: Damn, you bought that shit!? Was it only good for that game? Hope you got 1000+ hours out of it lol

Ffxiv and xi. Monthly fees.

Yeah, I was picked by David Sears himself as one of the original moderators, and I stayed on for over 3 years... I left while I was the lead mod and the game just wasn't making any progress towards console at all. It is still in development, and from what I understand, it is finally really starting to come together.

Hopefully they will start development on console before the end of this year. That was their plan a couple/few months ago. I still have a buddy that works as a mod, but we dont talk about the game much anymore... I really wish it the best, and I invested thousands of my free hours to try and help keep the community from imploding, but in the end, I decided to walk away and just wait, because I didn't feel like sinking a lot of money into a great gaming PC to play it on Steam early access.

I am a console player, and my wife has told me numerous times I can get a gaming PC (whatever price I want), but that's just not my thing.... I use my laptop for certain MMO's and a couple/few other genres, but it definitely takes a back seat to my consoles. The sad thing is, the game is just kind of spinning its tires out there in PC land... it REALLY needs to get to console in order to TAKE OFF (3rd person, fast paced, one life game). If they can get the visuals and FPS up then it may be a hit on console in the near future. I'm not crossing my fingers or holding my breath anymore, but if it does make it, I will be right in the thick of it again.

Hell, I might even consider volunteering to be a mod again (on the console side of things). My clan is ready, the console players are ready, the ball is in SOFs Studio's hands and the clock is counting down.

Edit: Oh yeah... I'm a huge SOCOM fan if you couldn't tell... lol. S1, S2, in USMC during S3, Confrontation, and Screw S4. Easily my favorite franchise of all time in the shooter category, and quite possibly favorite in ANY genre.

There aren't a whole lot of games I would have done all I did for that game... there might not even be one...

wait... I take that back.. I would be all in on a kickstarted Breath of Fire (like the original 3), but other than that? Nothing :P

GTAIV Collector's Edition. I only got it because they sold out of the standard game. I paid double for that pile of shit! First time I bought a game on release.

I think around $100

I guess..... the original Everquest back in the day?

Original game for $60, about 6 expansions for $30 each, and a monthly subscription fee for $10, over about 5 years.

Don't regret it at all though. I have yet to play another MMO as entertaining as that.

Depends on how I look at it.

Just a normal full release game - Phantasy Star 4 for $100 which was unheard of in 93.

Spent a good chunk on ordering a Japanese press release version of MGS3 Subsistence + modding my PS2 just to play it months in advance. Can't really remember what I spent to do this, but I'm sure it's the most I've spent to play a home console game.

But then there's the SF2 "series". The money I spent on this game at the arcades alone would put this game way beyond the others. Add the multiple home versions I've bought over the years and it's ridiculous. Wouldn't surprise me a bit to find out I spent something like $600 - $800 on playing SF2 games.