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Why I May Never Buy Video Games Again


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I said may, because I want arguments against. But I did some "math" to calcuate something...

 

I'm going to assume that the goal of playing games is to have fun. We can measure Fun by how many Hours you play a game.

 

Let us assume that there are two games: a Halo game for $60 that can be played for 50 hours...Sounds good, until you look at effiency. You will be paying $1 for 0.833 Hour of having Fun.

 

When you look at a game on a freeware site, you are looking at ads that help generate tons of income. So you are paying for the site, but just by looking at annoying banner ads. So, for example's sake, I will assume you are "paying" $0.06 for a freeware game. And you play this game for 1 hour. This actually becomes more effiecnt in having fun. Becuase you are paying $1 for 16.66 Hours of having fun.

 

(If we actually go to a free website, then it comes to a 1/0 error, but one could say that is infinite effiency, as you are paying for nothing and receiving an hour of fun.)

 

Yes, you can play that Halo game over and over to increase the effiency. But to reach that 16.66 Hours of Fun/$1 USD effeicny, you have to get 1000 hours of FUN. I don't even think that I can have 1000 hours of fun on Halo (41.666 Actual Days), I may get too bored of it. I think that may be achieved via multiplayer, but you're paying every month for X-Box Live, so that effiency takes a hit over there. I don't know the rate of X-Box Live, but...it just seems like I'd get too bored of Halo and throw it away before I reach that limit.

 

Halo is fun, but it's too expensive when you realize that you could effectively get the same amount of fun for less money. Video games overpriced when compared to cheaper competitors that produce less hours of fun, but do so at a cheaper rate.

 

I'll need someone to go and find a way to refute it though, as I do like video games. But I can't really argue with the math here. And if I really want 50 hours of fun, I could just find 50 freeware games, and pay a grand total of $3 for it.

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you're being way, way too picky about rather pointless details. as with any form of entertainment, games are in reality rather frivolous as they have contribution to your production value whatsoever. the question is: are you trying to be productive every waking second of your life, or are you like the rest of us human beings where we at least need some downtime or *gasp* have some freetime??

 

my guess would be that you fall into the latter category. just like the rest of us, you'll find a way to kill time one way or the other, but if you cut out video games because of some fun:dollar ratio, then you might as well factor in things like going to the theater to catch a movie, watching tv, going hiking, or whatever leisure activity you want. point is this: they all cost money. some forms of entertainment are going to cost more than the other, and if that keeps you from enjoying them, then that's your problem.

 

i, for one, am not going to lie in bed wondering if i got my money's worth from playing a video game or if i got my money's worth from watching TV. its apart of my everyday life, and i deal with it accordingly. if you think something is too expensive based on your idea of "fun vs money", then be my guest. just remember, if you're willing to do that for video games, then you need to be willing to do that for everything else in your life or else you're just blowing steam in the forums so you can start something.

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This thread has entertainment value :drama:

 

More bang for your buck, come to LF to spend your fun dollars! :D

 

:lol:

 

I rent most games and only buy games that I'll play over and over (like KOTOR type games). I hate looking at a shelf of games I haven't played in 3 years and can't because they are specific for that year( Im talking about EA sports games).

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I buy all my games as i KNOW how to have fun with them instead of sitting there worrying about that 0.01 of a dollar you could be spending to have such a blast. Lifes to short to get all analytical on 'Games'. Either you play em or you don't. Thats my two pennies.

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Sounds good, until you look at effiency. You will be paying $1 for 0.833 Hour of having Fun.

Comparing the value to a three hour movie at $7.00 you get $2.33 per hour. So by your logic the video game is a better value. To me if I’m having a good time, it is fun and affordable my entertainment expense is worth the cost no matter how much it is. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

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@SS, Man you must suck at halo or something dude LOL

 

I know quite a few people who play more halo than your maximum estimates.

You can get LIVE for $50 a year (paying by the month is stupid) and it isn't hard to find free one-month live cards.

You don't have to play on LIVE, Halo is an incredible LAN game, my friends and I try to get together at least once every couple weeks to play and every month or so we get a huge event going and pack out one of our houses with more people than the game supports. I dont know about 1000 (well maybe) but I have played the game for hundreds of hours without paying for online services or buying additional content.

Let's say I've only played 500 hours...

that's $1 for 10 hours of entertainment, that beats pretty much any other activity out there.

Freeware games can be fun but after a little while they just feel inadequate compared to the blood fury of a good BR TeamSwat on Turf.

Put dat in your pipe and smoke it all up.

 

Seriosuly, just because it's a forum dedicated to an RPG game, I wish people would stop bashing Halo and other games just because it's not their cup of tea...

 

P.S. mario sucks!

 

 

 

 

 

J/K XP

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I didn't mean to bash Halo, rather, I used it as an example to illustrate something, that is, that next-gen games are expensive. While it is true that some people can play games for long periods of time and get lots of Fun from it, I am not sure I can. Maybe I'm just a different player.

 

The main reason I was thinking of this is to try and make sure I save as much money as possible (so that I can spend it on other stuff, :p) while doing the thing I love (play games). Now that I think about it, while the amount of hours spent playing is important, there are other elements such as the sound and the story that you also purchase, which may overall make the game much more valuable, though I bet not by much.

 

I probraly have too much free time on my hands to think of this though.

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I buy all my games as i KNOW how to have fun with them instead of sitting there worrying about that 0.01 of a dollar you could be spending to have such a blast. Lifes to short to get all analytical on 'Games'. Either you play em or you don't. Thats my two pennies.

 

I would have said the exact same thing :)

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@RED: Indeed. I still have bad dreams about trying to complete Super Mario Land 2...*shudders*

 

@topic:

 

So, don't buy games then. Don't play games. Don't invest in any entertainment. Sell all your books, your TV, your radio. Sell all your furniture except your bed. Get the cheapest and smallest living space you can. Sell all your clothes except an all-grey suit, and call yourself 'Citizen 563210'. Become a drone, devoid of personality.

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This is just plain wrong. Video games aren't fun machines and you certainly can't measure a game's fun-ness by the number of hours it offers. Morrowind offers near-endless gameplay time, but if I have absolutely no interest in RPG, I'd buy Half-Life 2 and play it some 40 times and love every moment of it. You can't cross art with mathematics, I tell ya!

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@RED: Indeed. I still have bad dreams about trying to complete Super Mario Land 2...*shudders*

 

@topic:

 

So, don't buy games then. Don't play games. Don't invest in any entertainment. Sell all your books, your TV, your radio. Sell all your furniture except your bed. Get the cheapest and smallest living space you can. Sell all your clothes except an all-grey suit, and call yourself 'Citizen 563210'. Become a drone, devoid of personality.

 

Nice parody. :) But by doing so you are actually "creating" a new personality, even if its a sick sad one.

 

The good side is that if you so live (and survive) in such a state, things like a stick and a pabble would provide wonderful free entertainment.

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I've always found that games become more economical as you play them longer. For me, Guild Wars has a total cost per hour of about 12 cents. Also, buying older games and getting them cheaper makes them easier to justify - I love the original Monkey Island, Zork, Full Throttle, Sam & Max, The Longest Journey, Homeworld, etc. Their cost per hour, (even the absolute cost is quite low now) is probably getting pretty close the amount you'd 'pay' for web games. Little cause to worry, IMO.

 

And no, I am not going to and never have bought a game that costs$60. :D

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How can you compare fun, with the money invested on it? It's like comparing apples with hand grenades. Besides, no math explanation was/is/will ever be capable of measuring things such as fun factor.

Exactly. Your measuring fun as one thing. A freeware game perhaps is not as fun as a game that you pay money for, so the efficency rate is thrown off. Let's put it out like this:

 

A freeware game, since it is free, only allows you to get .1 "FUN" per hour. So, it takes you longer to get maximum efficency.

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