Your Guide to Budget Gaming

In today's faltering economy, it is becoming increasingly difficult and more important to be a budget gamer. Fortunately there are many different ways to keep costs down while still having plenty of games.

The first way is prioritizing your purchases, as a gamer I understand that there are many games that look great before they are released but if you purchase them for full price you will regret it. The best way to do this is to avoid pre-ordering games and instead wait for the reviews or a demo. Then you will know without a doubt that the games that you do purchase will be high quality and you can save your money for the must-buy games like the next Call of Duty or Halo.

Another great way to game on a budget is to only buy games with replay value, and either rent the other games or wait till they are available used. I tend to avoid renting games because I always end up wanting more time with the games that are good. I would rather wait a year or two and buy it used and then enjoy the game at my leisure than rent it and rush through it. This is probably my most used tip for being a budget gamer.

Another great way for saving money is to keep an eye on gaming news sites, they often will give you good information on when stores are holding clearances or other sales. For example, recently Target put Left 4 Dead (non-GOTY edition) on clearance for $12.95... I would never have known about that sale if I didn't follow gaming news.

Another good tip is to not ignore downloadable games (PSN, XBLA, etc), I have found that some of the best values are in Xbox Live Arcade games, some great games I would recommend are Braid, Battlefield 1943, Rez HD, Trials HD, and Shadow Complex (keep an eye on it as it isn't out yet but looks amazing). These games also provide the ultimate in convenience, because you don't even need to go to the store.

Something else that I personally need to work on is selling the games I will probably never play again. I have trouble selling games because I always feel like there is the chance that I will play it again. For example, Far Cry 2 is one of those games, I played it and loved it until I experienced a game ending glitch that makes me extremely unlikely to even look at it again, yet I still keep it.

Gaming can be an expensive hobby, but when you follow these tips as well as any others you might know, it can become one of the best values for your money. Although budget gaming is a little more work, it is well worth it.