With our economy speeding towards a recession, many of us have to crack down on our non-essential spending (when the government isn’t giving money away). That means fewer nights out on the town, homemade lunches, and a lot less to spend on games. It’s all well and good to say you’re going to spend less on games, but it becomes a lot harder to do so when games like Killzone 2, Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV start showing up.

This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a few ways to make your gaming dollar go further.

Gaming on a Budget

If you pay more than $90 for this in March, you’re doing it wrong

The average new release game for the major home formats costs between $79.95 and $119.95, which is pretty expensive when compared to many of our OECD friends. When asked about the cost of games here, most companies will cite the cost of doing business in Australia, but the truth is that games are priced the way they are because that is what the market is willing to pay. There are ways around paying that much and they’re not as hard as you think. Using a combination of the tactics we’ll explore this week, the average new release game cost me around $AU50 during 2008.

Obviously, the first thing one can do to save money is to shop around. The majority of the big retailers have release week deals on games, which will cut off between 20 and 40 dollars off the recommended retail price. Many of these same retailers will match the price of their competitors and in some cases give you a small proportion of the difference. Some of the specialist game retailers will also give you another discount if you elect to price match and buy used (usually $5) – but it’s a policy they don’t advertise. It’s always a good idea to bring evidence of the deal, though a good salesperson will know the deals going on.

Price tag said $69.95, but it scanned for $24

The specialist game retailers all give customers the option to trade in their old games for credit towards new ones, but we all know that the trade values on your old games are on the verge of being offensive (usually 30-40% of their current ticket price). Trade deals are often trade 2 or 3 games, get New Release X for free. One can take advantage of this practice by trade baiting, that is, stocking up on heavily reduced games and holding onto them until the upcoming release of their choice is on sale. It’s a time consuming and risky proposition – you have to find the run-out sales, and know what is on each retailer’s exclusions list, but it can dramatically reduce the cost of a new release if you get it right. The specialist retailers will match each other’s trade deals, but will honour the matchee’s restrictions list – which tend to be different at each retailer. A lucky find of F.E.A.R., Pro Evolution Soccer 6 and World Cup 2006 for $5 each wound up getting me a copy of Gears of War 2 with no extra money down. When it comes to trade baiting, don’t be the guy who buys up 10 copies of the one game on sale just because he got there first; share the wealth, and take only what you need.

If you don’t much care for a game you’ve purchased, the major gaming retail chains will take it back within 7 days. So if a game is too short, or you didn’t like it, you can always take it back. However, at one particular chain, if you use these policies too much, it’ll set off flags in their systems, and the staff will be instructed to refuse the return. There are ways around that, if you don’t mind surrendering cash for store credit. Each time you return a game, it’s noted on the receipt, but you can break the chain in the system by transferring the balance onto a gift card, or by creating a new preorder. When something comes out that you want to buy, simply use the gift card or transfer the credit off your preorder.

By waiting two months, I got Midnight Club for just $22

Major department stores tend to change their prices rapidly, but rarely have the time to update the ticket prices. This can result in a lot of unmarked and thus largely unknown deals popping up. You can find these deals by using the price check stations around the stores. Obviously it can be a little bit of a crapshoot, but sometimes you can find some pretty good deals on some trade bait to put towards games you actually want.

While the Aussie dollar was strong against the US dollar, importing was an easy way to get games for about 40% cheaper than buying them locally. Now that the dollar has fallen 30%, you see a few of the local execs being chirpy about how importing is no longer viable. Of course, they’re wrong. Importing from the US isn’t as good as it has been – it’s still slightly cheaper, but bettered by day one deals. The funny thing is that while we went down against the US dollar, we went up against the UK pound, and game prices have been falling in the UK. Even at their main gaming franchise retailers, you can pick up games like Street Fighter IV for $AU77, including shipping, which is some $43 less than the game’s planned retail price here in Australia.

Not worth an extra $70 over the standard release

It might sound easier said than done, but sometimes the best thing to do is just wait. Typically the price of a popular new release game will be halved within six months of release. In some cases, it can be reduced to one third, and much faster. Sometimes games can unexpectedly be rapidly discounted through retailer stocktakes and Steam weekend sales. In the case of consoles, new features can be introduced, and hardware quality can be improved (of those of us who paid $650 for a busted launch Xbox 360, who wouldn’t want one of those nice $250 Arcade units that actually work). Waiting isn’t the solution for every game though – shipments of RPGs and some handheld games are typically limited, and may be immediately discontinued, making it costly to find them down the line. There is also a no-man’s land period between the end of a catalogue deal, and the manufacturer’s reduction, so you must be properly committed to the task.

The final point is pretty straightforward, and could almost go without saying – don’t buy special editions. Most special editions come with a few rudimentary extras such as making-of documentary, a steelbook case, or a soundtrack sampler, but cost between $10 and $100 more than the standard addition. Seldom are the extras worth the cost, and rarely do special editions appreciate in value. Of course, there is the occasional very nifty special edition, like the ones Blizzard puts out, which can be very difficult to refuse – so it’s a case of weighing up your priorities.