Gaming is no doubt an expensive hobby. It can cost up to RM200+ for a single game and RM 1000+ for the console. That’s about 200 bowls of curry noodles for that console! So here are some tips and tricks for you to keep your wallets fat and save your hard earned cash.
Go indie!
To start things off, I’ll go with the obvious choice of playing more indie games instead of the usual triple A titles. Indie titles are often cheaper; most of them less than RM100 which is less than half the cost of a typical Triple A title. Love RPG but can’t afford Final Fantasy 15? Why not try Undertale? Love platformers but can’t afford a 3DS and the New Super Mario Bros. 2? Why not try the other platforming titles like Super Meat Boy, Shovel Knight and so on? Indie games may not offer the same experience, but these days, indie titles have reached a point where they can be as polished as triple A titles or even better.
Wait for sales!
Sales can get pretty crazy these days, going for 50% discounts or even up to 90% discounts. To really make sure you’re getting your money’s worth, wait for a sale before you snatch the game you’ve been eyeing for so long. There’s a few sales periods that are pretty standard now such as the Black Friday sale, Christmas sale and Summer sale which are standard throughout multiple platforms such as Steam and Playstation Network.
Go second hand!
I like to consider myself a second hand connoisseur. They are basically god sent to my wallet. I’ve saved maybe upwards of a thousand ringgit collectively through getting second hand stuff. You can get really great deals if you look into the second hand market, including a 3DS with popular games to go alongside it without breaking your bank. While there are risks that comes with buying second hand, you can always try to find a seller near you and do “cash on delivery” to mitigate the risk of getting scammed or getting a faulty product.
Go for online subscription packages!
Playstation Plus and Humble Bundle monthly subscriptions are some of the subscriptions you can take if you own a Playstation 4 or PC. These subscription based models are great for gamers who don’t mind playing games from any genre. How this works is simple: you pay a certain amount of money on a monthly basis, then every month, you get a bunch of games that always exceeds what you pay for. Just recently, I got Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain from Playstation Plus! That’s a relatively new triple A title and I essentially paid less than RM20 for it, on top of the other titles of games given during that month.
‘Game-pool’ with your friends!
There are many titles that are mainly played for its story element and don’t have as high a replay value as most multi-player focused games, e.g., Persona 5, The Last Of Us and Mass Effect. You could always lend the games from your friends or even offer to chip in some money to buy the game. You would just need to come into agreement on who gets to play first and for how long. The mentioned titles are always easier to ‘game-pool’ than a game like Overwatch which is not only tied to an account, it’s also a multiplayer focused game where one might play it on a daily basis for multiple years.
