The discussion about people not playing games convinced me that I need to renew my resolve to buy fewer games. I was contemplating the Groupees Doujin Bundle, and had that page open. So I decided that it would be wasteful to buy it. I'll just do a last refresh, that's all, that's what I thought. And then a new stretch goal stared at my face. An Android version of a game, that's something I find hard to resist. So now I'm again thinking of buying this bundle.

At least there's a demo version on Google Play. Demos are the best way to convince oneself not to buy a game.

I was going to agree - and I do, for the most part - but then I thought of Drakensang. When I tried the demo I couldn't stand it, but months later I really wanted a game of that type and decided to give it a go and it became one of my favorites. But overall, yeah, a demo is always good for "Wow, this sounds great on paper but turns out to be crap!"

I don't think you're the only one resolving to not buy new games to add to a back catalogue. Thing is, the deals on here make it easy to spend a few $'s and in my experience, most are value for money. Not keen on the Android market. I'm old school and prefer a laptop than a tablet in front of me.

Anyway, I think you'll succumb to the temptation.....sorry for not helping your cause!

That's probably true for mediocre games, or games you're only interested in because they're on sale and appear to be dirt cheap, yes. I've bought a couple of games in recent years though precisely because I was enjoying the demos and wanted more of it. I wouldn't have paid the full price for them, like I did, if I hadn't had the chance to try them first, because they were not sold cheaply.

So I'd say demos are the best way to convince oneself not to buy a game you don't really wanted anyway, because in those cases they provide a good counter-argument against the temptation of the low price, reminding you that buying a game only makes sense if you will actually enjoy it. ;)

I see what you did there, funny person-represented-by-a-picture-of-a-dog! Haha!

I think I was being funny.....without knowing I was being funny. The dog is my dog btw and he snorts like a pig!

It's okay. People buying games the don't play still lands some money in game developer pockets, so if you help that cause it's still all good.

Regarding value for money, there's very little value in games I don't play, so I can't say that buying any game is good value, even if it's cheap. I have hundreds of titles on my backlog, and they all have pretty low value because I'm not playing them.

As for Android, well, I do think that PC's are more convenient for most types of games, but tablets have benefits in portability which is currently important for me. I'd frankly prefer a full Windows tablet (but still small), which would help me cut my backlog down a lot more, but there's still nothing good in that market. This might change soon and I'm following the market to see how it develops. Something like Microsoft Surface RT but at 8" and with full Windows is kind of what I'm looking for. I think most people try demos when the have interest in a title, but it's not strong enough to but it without checking it first. So the demo has more chance to convince not the buy than convince to buy. I've read that games with demos tend not to sell as well as games without them. Presumably people are willing to risk some money just to buy a game without a demo, which for a game with a demo they'd check the demo out, and reduce that risk.

Yeah, you're right about games not being value for money if they sit on a virtual-shelf.

I don't practice what I preach but would it help if you had one game in reserve for each genre you enjoy playing? Any subsequent tempting purchases could be dictated by what you already own.

I'm buying a lot video games I don't manage to play due to lack of time or other great games coming out I'm more interested in. I bought Assassins Creed 3 right after its release because the retailer labeled it as €30 by mistake. I haven't even finished AC2 but bought AC3...

This is one of many examples. A lot of games sound superior by critics, descriptions and even in a demo but a lot games just lost "it" after a couple of hours. There are very few games I finish right away from installation. And, as already mentioned, there are many games I buy and don't even start once.

I don't know why but it makes me happy to buy video games, have them in my library (physically in my shelf and virtually) and have the possibility to play them.

I tried it with finish-one-buy-one but that didn't even work a month.

High Five!
That's how I feel as well.

I enjoy collecting too. Buying stuff, feeling that I've made a good deal, knowing that my virtual collection has grown, that I have more choice of neat games to play, these offer some satisfaction. I'm sure people more familiar with psychological terms will be able to tell us what this particular psychological problem is called.

I'd never pay €30 for the game these days though (outside of Kickstarter), and I've resisted quite a few sequels at good prices. Still, I end up finding excuses to buy way too many games. I spent $24.12 in July, $6 in June, $16.25 in May... Not a lot of money, granted, maybe $150 total in a year (not counting Kickstarter), but it's still money that goes to just pad my virtual game shelves. (I'm also not counting hardware expenditures as part of the game expenses, such as the Xbox 360 or Nexus 7 I bought in the past year.)

I know for me, I'll most likely never get around to playing most of the games I've bought anytime soon. But at least its there in case sometime in the future I do get a chance to play. Not a great reason to spend the money, but oh well!

Same here. I know for a fact I will not play the majority of the games I buy. Still, in case I will have more time to play in the future at least I'll have a large selection of games to choose from. Or maybe my children will play them... Some of my gaming money does go to buying Xbox games for the children, and they enjoy Double Fine's Happy Action Theater / Kinect Party and the uDraw tablet.

I figure i shouldn't feel bad about buying cheap bundles even if I didn't end up playing them. It's a little contribution to the indie devs, some day they might end up making something I'll really love. So what if I put a buck or two on a bundle every now and then? It's pocket money. I could spend it on Mars bars or coffee.

Yes, maybe we should consider that as an hobby. We just do not buy a game per month and finish it. Apart from playing the collecting is a hobby, too. It is like collecting almost everything else. You cannot really do anything with it but it is just nice to have. A thing you can talk about, present to others, defines your personality or decorate your apartment/room (if physicially available). But at least you could play the games in contrary to collecting post stamps or something like that with which you cannot really do anything.

And of course, for that small amount of money on GOG it is no big deal to buy a couple of games per month or even a couple of game per week.