Making the Most of Your PC Game Dollars: A Strategy Guide

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As anyone who spends time in the world of PC gaming knows that things can get very expensive very quickly. After all, PC games are always sold new, and you will not get the benefit of trade in credit for the next time like a console gamer can get. That means you need to make the most of each and every dollar that you can devote to gaming. Especially if your gaming budget has become seriously limited as of late. That is why today we are going to look at some of the ways that you can make the most of your PC gaming budget.

Spot Losers with a Demo

Even if your friends are raving about a game, does that mean it will be great for you? Maybe, and then again maybe not. The best way for you to find out without having to put out any of your own cash is with a game demo. Most makers will have demo’s available for their recent titles. Just make your way to their site, and you will find a link. It is worth noting that other developers are making the demo’s even easier to find, by taking them to your favorite social networking sites.

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Share with A Friend

It may not work all of the time, but even if you can do it with two titles a year you can save up to 80 dollars from your gaming budget. Just be ready to start your own save file, and to be willing to share and share alike. Even if it means that your friend will be sitting in your bedroom for two hours at a clip. It is worth mentioning that you should be a considerate player. Try to leave things in as good of a condition as possible. That means no Mountain Dew spills on the keyboard.

Steam

Steam is a service similar to iTunes, only for PC games. While many of the games are full price, they do have specials from time to time and on the weekends you can get some games for five dollars. Worth the look before you go out and buy a game in its box.

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Get it In a Bundle

Lot’s of older/classic PC games come in a bundle pack. This means that even if you buy one disk, you could get 4 or 5 different games on it. This is a great way to maximize your gaming dollars, but only if you will play more than one of the games on the bundle. On the bright side bundles tend to have similar games in them, which means you could get three sims game on one disk and five puzzle games on another. Games with similar a premise make it more likely that you will enjoy them all. Sometimes you can even get bundles of recent games, if they were wildly popular.

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Wait it Out or Hit a Sale

Like any other product a game will be more expensive when it is new. If you are willing to be a little bit patient the game will go down in price. Just be aware that you may have to wait a full fiscal quarter (3 months), sometimes more, in order to see a price reduction. Of course, if a lot of hot new games come out, that time table could be shorter. If waiting it out is not your idea of fun, then try a gaming discount site. These sites are devoted to helping you get your play on for cheap. For a few seconds of research you could find a retailer with 30 or even 50 percent off on your target title.

They may not be glamorous options, but they are tried and true. By ruling out loser titles, playing for free when you can, being patient and looking out for sales, you can cut costs and be pleasantly rewarded with more games more often.