This feels like the thread to say these two things I’ve been thinking:
I think a lot of my impulse for buying games comes from a Supporting Creators urge. And maybe I can worry less about “getting my money’s worth” if I just feel good about spending a few bucks to signal my appreciation for people’s hard work, like I am subscribing to a Patreon for 1 month or tipping someone via PayPal. I guess just trying to rationalize that I don’t owe anyone more.
I’m accepting that I’m never going to build a gaming PC. Maybe I’ll buy a prebuilt that’s upgradeable and swap a component or two but that’s it, that’s my speed and as far as my interest lies. Savings be damned.
This is a good urge. Also money is meant to be spent, so I think you have the right ideal. For me, it’s like most anything $5 or below is probably better in the hands of someone who needs it more than I do, so even if I never play the game or read the comic or whatever (I usually do, but like everyone my backlog is enormous) at least I made someone happier.
This rule does not apply to $60 or AAA games though. Which is why I don’t tend to buy them until years after release and they’ve dropped significantly in price. What you mainly pay for when buying a single-player game at full price on launch is the opportunity to be part of “relevant conversation” or “history”. Those games change so much with DLC and GOTY editions and service-game-style updates anyway.
To me, pure joy is buying ten games, all between 2-5 dollars, made by individuals or small teams putting something fun and weird into the world.
necroreply, but i guess i’ve grokked this from the fact that you seem to be frequently posting about retail-released emulated games… i am curious what the “retail” part of that equation does for you? what difference does it make to you if you are playing a retail emulator or an unofficial one? honest question!
(100% understand the “original hardware” part of this, mainly curious about the “retail versions” aspect)
The emulator side isn’t the concern; when possible I take a retail release’s game ROM and play it in a superior unofficial emulator. What I avoid is downloading ROMs that I haven’t purchased or that haven’t been released into the public domain by the rights holder.
forgive my offtopic belaboring (i can move this to DMs if necessary), but i am more curious now
is this a legal concern, or a moral one? (i would guess the latter, as at least from what i know of u.s. law, owning a copy does not entitle you to download a backup from the internet, only to back up your own copy for personal use)
That’s been my understanding, although as far as I can tell it’s still legally untested, for video games anyway. Probably just hearing about it at an impressionable age made me feel uncomfortable doing it.
I am going to be very good and move on from two games I tried this week Actraiser Remake and Katana Zero. Nothing wrong with either, but am I gonna really have a good time if I play more?
Also was planning on starting Lost Judgement but considering how I went to bed past midnight every time I played Isshin I need to learn better control before I tackle that one. Get better with my time!