Summer is here and so is the annual Steam Summer Sale. Just like so many other gamers out there, I’ve already got plenty of games to play, but I couldn’t resist picking up some the items on my wish list. I mean, some were selling for $3 to $5! What better time to get them than that? Sony has a sale going on too, so I was able to get Nier Replicant for 25% off. I was so close to buying this one at release, but I held-off for one reason or another, and now I’m glad I did. Between this, the regular Steam sales, and the all too common shenanigans surrounding game releases these days, I’ve honestly started to wonder why I buy anything at release anymore. It’s not worth it.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the time between launch price and various sales has grown quite small over the past several years. It only takes about a month or so before special pricing starts kicking in on basically everything except for Nintendo games (cause Nintendo never gives good deals on their stuff). This basically makes the full $60 (or $70 for current-gen) price the launch day premium price. You’re basically paying top-dollar just for the ability to play the game early, usually with all sorts of glitches and performance issues. I don’t know about you, but that’s not really worth an extra $15 to $25 to me.

If you wait long enough, say 6 months or so, the deals get even better. I was able to get DOOM Eternal complete with all the DLC for $30 on PlayStation not too long ago. I basically waited a year for it, but it was worth it I think. Of course, the is was easy to do since I’m not a huge DOOM fan to begin with anyway. However, I’m thinking I might even start doing with games I’m actually looking forward to.

Admittedly this is partly because I can’t get my hands on a PlayStation 5, but this is starting to make me think that’s a good thing. If it’s going to be another 6 months or more before I can get the machine, then there’s a good chance I can get games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on sale too. If nothing else, that’ll at least help lesson the upfront cost of getting a new console. The exception to all this, of course, is Nintendo. It doesn’t matter how long you wait after a Nintendo game releases, they’re going to sell it for full price even 5 years later. So if you want to play it, you might as well pick it up whenever. I’ll be doing that with Metroid Dread and probably Mario Party Superstars later this year.

On the whole though, I’m no convinced that it’s a much better idea to just wait for the sale more often than not. You get a better product at a better price, and you can go into knowing exactly what to expect. It requires a bit of patience to be sure, but the payoff is well worth it, I think. That’s just me though, and I’m the kind of guy who’s excited to be going back into TES IV: Oblivion after I dunno how many years. So, perhaps this won’t work for those who enjoy being at gaming’s cutting-edge?

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How do you feel about paying full price for your games? Do you feel like it’s still worth it, or do you just wait for the sale now?

Image from the Nier Replicant Promotional website