To buy or to wait. That is a question.

It totally depends on the publisher/developer and the particulars of the game cross referenced with how excited I am for the game to be coming out.

I am not remotely concerned as so many are about price drops, but I am concerned about getting a game that works as intended and will entertain me as hoped.

For example....

If Foursaken or MikaMobile drops something, I'll probably buy it within the first 24 hours of its release, they have a proven track record of releasing creative, entertaining games that come out of the gate about as close to finished as you can expect on mobile with a quick turn around to patching. Their history is good enough that even if a game turns out to not be my thing even after multiple updates (e.g. Phantom Rift), I know I won't regret the few dollars to support them.

If RodeoGames drops something, I'll wait until at least the first update as they have a proven track record of inadequate testing and spotty and/or slow support going all the way back to the first Hunters. Based on the reports of the seemingly otherwise excellent WH40K: Tyranid Invasion, history is again repeating itself and I don't feel like I am missing out on anything by waiting a few weeks for them to address the issues.

If it's something in my wheelhouse but not a developer and/or property I'm particularly familiar with, e.g. the recent Sproggiwood and Desktop Dungeons, I'll take a few days, maybe longer, to follow forum impressions. In the case of these two titles, bought Sproggiwood, passed on Desktop Dungeons.

And if it's just something interesting, but not in my wheelhouse and/or from a favorite developer, I'll probably wait indefinitely to see if the urge to press buy reaches critical levels. These are often the titles I buy once they go on sale... and then still never play. But at least I supported someone able to keep my eye on their product for a prolonged period of time

 

I always buy on launch date, but it still really irks me when the Developer drops the price after a week or two.

Just keep the pricing the same and then drop it after a few months.

 

I always buy right off the hop. I want the developer to feel the impact of my purchase at launch, and I also want them to receive revenue to continue making games. If a game launches at $5.99, that's how much I pay for it. I feel that if everyone waited until it was a buck, that dev might not release another (potentially great) game, or at least not on the same scale. If there's a launch sale or something, great, but I'm all about supporting devs and especially about supporting premium games, and I don't feel like I'm doing anyone a great service to anyone but myself by waiting for the price to drop to a buck. I can afford it, so I like to help out when I can. Of course not everyone has as much money to spend on games as some of us do, so I see that perspective too.

 

For me it depends on the game. Titles which I've been waiting for a lot and think can satisfy my gaming needs excellently, I buy as soon as they're available, even if they have bugs. Titles that come to my mind: FTL, Papers Please, XCOM:EU and XCOM:EW, or even the upcoming Prevail, which I'll smash the buy button as soon as it appears without any doubt.

With other titles, I wait for reviews and/or opinions in the TA forums, or even for a sale if I think they will be so-so for me. With these titles, I usually hit the buy button at $1 sales, and 90% of the times I don't play them...

 

I'll buy immediately if I'm really looking forward to it (like FTL) or it is less than $5. I won't be that disappointed if it went on sale after if it is $5 or less. If I'm interested, but not sold, I'll add it to my watch list in look for a price drop. So I really can't answer the poll since it all depends on the game. I recently got Civ V for the mac for free (without add-ons). Sometimes it pays off if you are unsure of the game.

 

I used to buy at launch but after seeing several games using an engine that requires 800mb and up of free space to even launch I wait now since a game has to be stupendous to rate that kind of space on my tablet. And this is a 128gb device full of games.

 

I generally put off buying immediately, but price is mostly not a factor in that choice, being in the privileged position of not really having to save before i can spend. It's more because of the way I play games. I tend to be playing only 1 or 2 noncasual ios games concurrently, and those that I do I'd like to finish before I put them down and try a new one.

So, My strategy: if a game looks interesting i'll watchlist it. Then when i finish (or in some cases get bored with) a "current" game, (and time permits to play something new) I check out my watchlist and buy whatever at that moment I feel most like playing. This may be recent, old, premium or also be an f2p title, so "buying" may not always apply ^_^.

If a game goes on sale while on my watchlist, I might purchase it earlier, but i often can't be bothered. Which is not really a problem because it might just end up being unplayed on my device for a while anyway, then.

Of course these are just guidelines. A raving review, nice screens/gameplay vids, or enthusiastic post might just make me try something immediately anyway.

 

It's hard for me to vote on this because there's no clear cut black and white answer for me. The simple answer for me would be that if I'm really hyped about a game, I'll buy it day one, but if I'm unsure about a game, I'm likely to wait for a sale. But there are other factors that figure in. If I really like and want to support a developer, I will sometimes get their game right away even if it's not something I'm excited about. Sometimes the same can be said of a developer that starts using a business practice I really like and want to see continue. On the other hand I'm not to likely to pay full price for anything from developers that have a habit of stabbing their customers in the back. But since I do buy games that I'm hyped about day one, I guess my vote will be yes.

 

I always buy right off the hop. I want the developer to feel the impact of my purchase at launch, and I also want them to receive revenue to continue making games. If a game launches at $5.99, that's how much I pay for it. I feel that if everyone waited until it was a buck, that dev might not release another (potentially great) game, or at least not on the same scale. If there's a launch sale or something, great, but I'm all about supporting devs and especially about supporting premium games, and I don't feel like I'm doing anyone a great service to anyone but myself by waiting for the price to drop to a buck. I can afford it, so I like to help out when I can. Of course not everyone has as much money to spend on games as some of us do, so I see that perspective too.

 

I'm a bit of both at the minute and it comes down to two important factors, whether I have time to start a new game and also if it will run on my ageing Ipad 3.

 

Interesting, I never thought about it until now but I'm definately a waiter. Not because of price I think it's just the way I am. Take my involvement here for example I've checked in every day for years but rarly post.

Not to derail the question but does everyone update their devices in the same manner?

 

Funny I'm the opposite I usually find larger sized games are somewhat of a indication to good graphics sound etc not exactly a rule to follow but, xcom/banner saga/shadowrun/bastion/transistor/Amazon games etc etc etc

Point and clicks like grim fandango is over 3gb

 

I must admit that I seldom buy games on the day they launch, regardless of how good they seem to be or how they're priced.

I know I probably should buy games I want to play on day one to support the devs, but I have to think about my own wallet too. A big number of games on my iDevices get played for a hour or so, and then I forget I bought them because another fun game came along.

I've already got a huge backlog on iOS (same on Steam), and whenever I get a new game, it mostly sits unplayed on my iDevice for weeks or even months.

So now I usually put interesting games on my wishlist until I feel the need to play something new, or until AppShopper shows it was updated (or had a price drop).

In most cases this has proven to be a good thing, mainly because the games had time to settle down and possible gamebreaking bugs got patched, improving the experience when I finally get around to playing them.

 

I definitely buy right away if I can. I like the immediacy of mobile for that reason: getting to try games as soon as they're out.

I also prefer, both in the App Store and on Steam, to pay full price for the games, to help out the developer. I will definitely buy for friends during sales, though.

 

Now I am waiting. Not because I wait for sale or something like that, but because I have way more games to play on my backlog than it is human possible.

Also, patches adress some problems overtime. So, when I get to playing the version is somewhat "tunned".

 

Personally, as a developer I would buy at launch only when it's reasonable price. I'll only get super premium at $9.99 and above if its a cult favorite. While some are worth at $9.99 (in terms of depth) they may not be suitable on mobile device for the hours that the game allow you. Depending on the type of games really

 

Pretty much, these posts sum up my thoughts on the topic. There's only one game on iOS where when an expansion is released through IAP, I buy it immediately. Sure, they've been known to do sales where the $2 to $4 IAP cost will be reduced to $1. However, I'd like to play the game now, and they do such a good job that I want them to have more of my money, now. And since I'm eager to play it, it will get a good amount of time spent on it.

OTOH, since getting my first iOS device back in 2010 (IpT3), I've had a huge backlog of games that I haven't gotten to. Some of them are ones I bought on impulse and really should've known better. Even if you cut out all of my total games down to half that #, it's still a huge backlog. As a result, I'll only buy game if they go on sale, sometimes at deep discount. I want to support developers, but I've reached a point where I just won't have the time to get to everything, and I don't want to spend $$ on games I won't play.

And the heck with iOS games, backlogs also occur for games on Wii, Steam, PC, Android, and several bundles I purchased on Humble Bundle for the last 3 platforms. THERE JUST SIMPLY ISN'T THE TIME!

 

So very much this. I've seen people go with the iTunes attitude of "It's only 99 cents to see if I'll like this song!". But music is something that can be purchased in large numbers, and those numbers add up.

Given what I know of the TA community, some of us can purchase a lot of games, so you're looking at a lot of $$ in the long run. I've read online how some folks have already spent more on games and apps then they have on the device that's running those games and apps themselves.