Renting vs Buying First/Second Hand Video Games

I just wanted to ask the HLTB community the following questions:

Do you buy your games, or rent them?

If you buy them, do you tend to keep them or sell them upon completion?

Also, do you generally buy first or second hand video games?

TGM

I buy all my games, never rent, never have, probably never will.

I keep all games after completion. Since I rarely ever complete terrible games I only have a bunch of good games to look back to (Well.. Mostly). It's always fun to dig back into past games after a few years and play them again. Though I wouldn't play a game with 0 replayability, mostly open-world games and games that present lots of choices... Actually I don't think I would go back and play any game UNLESS it is open-world or has lots of choices.

If by first-hand games and second-hand games you mean new or used, then new.

I play older games, so I really don't have a choice but to buy them used. Growing up, we rented almost all our games. I remember having Dragon Warrior III in the house a month before we returned it. Somehow this was cheaper than actually buying the game. I don't rent anymore.

I usually keep the games unless I feel I won't play them again, or I need the money to buy different games. I'm thinking of digging through the games I thought I wanted to keep around, but haven't touched in years, things like Einhander and U.N. Squadron are probably on the way out.

I buy all my games. I don't rent, nor do I even buy games from rental places; people treat them too badly.

I always keep my games, as well. Game stores pretty much rip you off, and I'm not one to sell my stuff online. Also, I like keeping stuff.

I tend to buy second hand, unless there's a good deal on a new game. It's cheaper, and the games can still be in great condition.

I used to rent N64 games whenever my cousin lent me his N64 for a short period of time. Otherwise, I've never really rented nor sold my games!

I've never sold any of my games, never will. I'm too much of a packrat and collector. I even still have the empty boxes of a lot of my old games and pretty much all the manuals.

As for renting... growing up, me and my brother would rent games all the time. The one period when we stopped renting for like a month was when they happened to decide to sell off pretty much all their old games (like SNES) and we missed it... Now I rarely rent, but I have signed up to Gamefly twice for a month and then blown through half a dozen games until I'm out of games I want to play and then cancel. Most modern games I tend to play once and then never touch again, so there isn't much sense in buying it. Especially when some of them are like 4-5 hours long.

I don't think I've ever rented or resold a game I've bought. Just goes against the satisfaction of building my own personal collection of games.

2nd hand games, I've purchased a few in my time but not that many, just doesn't feel right.

To be honest, one of my biggest annoyances with the games industry is having to search through 2nd hand games for older platforms, most of the time they are in shoddy condition and it carries risks of fraud when dealing with certain platforms. I've "won" a few bootlegged gba games off ebay and felt a bit short changed which is why I do consider a digital future to be a good one since everything is "new" but that's a different topic altogether.

Also, to the OP: What's your stance to your own questions?

Originally Posted by: Chronoja

I've "won" a few bootlegged gba games off ebay and felt a bit short changed which is why I do consider a digital future to be a good one since everything is "new" but that's a different topic altogether.

Heh, even with current-gen games, they'll show you a picture of the case and manual and all that and then they'll send you a blank dvd case with no sleeve and no manual in it. Users with 100% rating do that crap. Boy are they pissed when I'm the first one to give them a bad rating.

Seems like half of my ebay auctions weren't as pictured. Other than an arcade machine once, I only buy really cheap stuff.

I almost always buy and keep. I'm usually patient enough with new releases that I get them at a low or fair price anyway.

I used to trade in more when I was younger, and I think a lot of the appeal is for kids who don't or can't work yet.

There have been a few rare cases I've sold some games recently. Like, as soon as I heard a complete edition for DiRT 3 was coming out I sold my regular edition. Similarly, when Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 was coming out I remember how hard it was to find one a few months after. So I just ordered two premium editions, the same high demand happened again, and I sold one.

I typically only buy used, and I try to wait until the price is under $20. There are exceptions, though. Many games made by Atlus I will pay more for or buy new.

Also, I barely ever trade in a game anymore unless they were terrible or I know I can get a decent amount from them. For example, I play some Call of Duty games because it's one of the few games friends also play. When I'm done, I know I can probably get a fair amount back, especially if there is a trade-in deal.

I buy most of the time and rent very occasionally, If I do rent it is usually through free codes gotten from redbox or free trials to services like Gamefly or Blockbuster. Growing up I always rented games because it was cheap and there was no good way to resell them or even find out if a game was any good or just complete crap. I also typically sell or trade most of my games since once I play them until I feel like I am done with them means I will most likely never play them again. There are exceptions like Oblivion, CoD4, Fallout 1-3, Skyrim, Civilization Revolution, Mass Effect, and Dark Souls which are part of my permanent collection. I typically hold on to the latest releases of titles like Gears, Halo, CoD, Saints Row, etc. until the next release is almost out and then I trade or sell them. I buy my games new or used and typically do not care as long as they are in good condition, it just matters what is on sale at the time or what I plan to do with it. If I am going to play it myself and trade it I do not care but if I plan to sell it or give it to someone then I want the best condition I can get. I do hate the crap the publishers are trying to pull these days in hindering used games with no resell stipulations and stuff like online passes.

As for trading in games or selling them there are actually a good amount of easy methods that most of the time will net you a lot more in your pocket than what most people expect. I typically sell games on Amazon.com or Glyde.com, for trading I use sites like GameTZ, Amazon's trade in program or Goozex, and for retail stores places I trade into Best Buy a lot and occasionally Gamestop when they give more. For buying games I recommend checking out Cheapassgamer.com before hand as it is basically a deal aggregate website with the main focus on videogames and having users share deals with each other. They post some great deals and are typically more helpful/knowledgeable than workers in the retail chains you end up buying the games from.

I only buy games new if I REALLY know that I'm going to love them, like I did with Portal 2 and Skyrim. Other than that, if I want to play new releases, I use GameFly. I know for some it's not the most reliable service, but it's a dream come true for me. I can typically end up with 2-4 new releases per month from them. Considering how much all that would cost if I bought them... well GameFly practically pays for itself at that point.

Used games are like my religion. I missed out on a lot of games from the last generation, so used costs allow me to grow my hobby and collection.

I once sold games. Never again. I sold Pikmin 2 and Super Monkey Ball 2 along with a mass collection of other games. Worst mistake of my life.

I rented games for a while via Lovefilm, but after keeping hold of a disk for almost 2 months and hardly playing it I gave that up and now just get movies from there. I played some great games though, a few of which I bought once they hit the bargain bins and/or pre-owned sales, but some of which I would never consider buying, liking CoD.

I usually only buy older games pre-owned or on sale - I rarely ever buy new as they hit the shops, with a few notable exceptions, like the HD remakes of Team Ico games and Skyrim. Once completed I rarely keep a game and either trade in or sell via eBay, unless it becomes a favourite that I know I will dip into again. I usually end up keeping PS3 exclusives though, unless I really didn't like them or thought them not worthy of my replay time.

Recently I've bought a lot of stuff via digital download, including lots of indie games, and now Sony have started to give away loads of pretty good download games with Playstation Plus membership I think my PS3 purchases will grind to a halt!

The only games I've kept from older systems are the cherished GameCube ones I'll never, ever part with - the Zeldas, Metroid Primes and Super Monkey Ball. Oh, and my original boxed copies of Half-Life and the Elder Scrolls series for PC.

For console games, I buy about 90% used from eBay and resell most of them upon completion. I only keep my absolute favorites and some with multiplayer. I'll occasionally buy a new one from a store when there's a sale, or some kind of package deal from a retailer. Also, I live in Asia with an NTSC-J 360, so I occasionally have to buy new when games have region restrictions and my NTSC games from US eBay won't work. I also trade with friends.

For PC games, I used to be an eBayer, but Steam has grown so awesome since I signed up a few years ago, I now purchase almost all my PC games on Steam during their sales. The down side is that I can't sell them back so it is sunk cost, but the plus side is that I cap purchases at $10, so I don't spend that much anyway. Instead of selling games I don't want anymore, I just delete them from my hard drive.

Both. I rent games that have no replay value, that I still want to experience. Basically shorter games. I have gamefly and I also have a free 6 month trial to blockbuster. So I usually get those games and beat them in a day or 2. SO I get about 6-8 rentals a month.

I buy a ton as well. I get the games I know I'll keep usually full price like Madden, Gears, Uncharted etc. The others I buy used from gohastings for dirt cheap and sell and basically make money on that.

I normally buy games. I buy them used and I double check if they look in decent condition. Right now I get Nintendo Wii and Ps3 games. Back when Ps2 was popular I did not buy them used because back then it was risky. I only buy them new when the price docks down. If the games have not I research to see if the game is really worth it. I only research enough to know the specs of the game without spoiling it. If it is worth it then I get it. But I always try to get a deal on the game.

I only rented one game and probably will never rent again. I love building my collection of games up so that answers to i never sell my games.

I always look for sales on used games for example gamestop has buy 2 get 1 free Wii games at the moment so I've been stocking up on Wii games lately. From that. Also i always check eBay for good deals which you can find awesome deals (never buy from Hong Kong or china) but i will buy a new game if it's on sale or if im really looking forward to it example darksiders 2. Also all my 3ds games i bought new because they are cheaper.