To this day, I still remember finishing Mass Effect 2 and looking at the menu thinking, “Man, I wish I paid more for that game.”
I’d picked it up during a Steam sale, back when flash sales were still a thing and AAA games were available for ridiculously cheap prices. You can still get good deals today, but the excitement isn’t quite there. Publishers and developers are a little more savvy about tanking the price, these days.
But I loved ME2, much in the same way Uncharted 2 was totally my deal. The pacing was exactly what I wanted, and there was plenty of variety amongst the characters, missions and dialogue to keep me going throughout. I only paid $10, and I paid full price for Mass Effect 3 when it came out partially because I still felt bad I didn’t pay more for ME2.
Another cracker of a bargain I remember was going to a bazaar in Sydney’s inner suburbs – Lidcombe, possibly – where I ended up coming across CDs of FX Fighter and Savage Warriors. Neither game is particularly special – Savage Warriors is pretty terrible in a lot of aspects – but it was $5 for the pair of them, which wasn’t bad given I spent several weekends learning all the combos.
What’s the best gaming bargain you’ve ever picked up? What was it, and how much did you pay?
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33 responses to “What’s Your Best Gaming Bargain?”
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Master Quest, bonus disc for Wii from Cash Converters for $5
Crypt of the Necrodancer. US$14.95. Now at 356 played hours. It’s my go to for a 25 minute game whenever I am needing something to play. Don’t know why but just find it is a game I can continue to play to zone out.
Well, I won Far Cry 3 from Kotaku, and I enjoyed that a lot, but I think getting Dishonoured for ten bucks after a trade in was a really great deal. Fantastic game
Whirlwind pinball machine for only $1200.
Sounds fuckingood brilliant. Is that how much a pinball machine can actually go for??
1200 is cheap for a whirlwind, at the time i got mine most were closer to 3k or high 2ks
Elvira and The Party Monsters for $1,800?
I’d buy that in a second
Managed to get a discount on steam when somebody screwed up the decimal places.
Bought Dark souls for $0.14
I got gifted that deal! Still haven’t played it though.
Got my money’s worth out of a couple of Portal 2 playthroughs, as well as the co-op, and I’ve now lost count of how many campaign completions of Borderlands 2 I have racked up, would be close to double digits.
In terms of purchase price, either The Handsome Collection or Shadows of Mordor were purchase from the PlayStation Store while on special. Haven’t ever had an epic bargain like some of those described above.
That said, I have just finished Rise of the Tomb Raider and there’s something to be said for waiting until a game has been out for awhile before purchase. Got all the DLC for the original price of the full game, and I suspect if I had gone for the digital version, would have saved even more. If it’s a primarily single player experience and I’m not hanging out to play, why not wait? Spoilers aren’t that hard to avoid.
Humble bundle = XCOM Enemy Unknown Plus (Vita) and Civilization Revolution 2 (Vita) for US$1.
I heard both of those were pretty bad ports, I hope reports were wrong.
Oh well, for that price I’ll suck it up 😛
Shadow of Mordor for $3
PSN accidentally had FFXV for $20 a few months ago and I picked it up then. I still haven’t tried playing it yet, so maybe it wasn’t that great of a deal.
I bought Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising in a bargain bin at the local game store for $3, and played it through I don’t know how many times.
Warren Ellis story.
Paul Darrow, Tom Baker, Glynis barber voice acting.
Air/Sea/Land vehicle creation and piloting in a Carrier Command style.
Hybrid 1PS/3PS shooter and RTS
Great game.
Dark Souls for $10 on XBL
ME2 and Splinter Cell Conviction for $2 and four used games at Game (was a crazy trade in deal)
$10 for Vandal Hearts in throw out bin at Myer. Never seen another copy anywhere.
Suikoden 2 for $10 from a store in wagga wagga while i was on holiday a few years back
Legend of Zelda Wind Waker with bonus Ocarina of Time/Master Quest disc for Gamecube – $5 at Eumundi Markets. Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, Advance Wars Dark Conflict and Golden Sun Dark Dawn all on DS – All $5 from a pawn broker in Nambour.
Doom 3 from Dick Smith for $2.50. Thrustmaster Driving Force for GameCube for $10. Probably my top two, the former just seemed absurd to me.
Speaking of classic bargain bin stuff instead of relatively recent online bargains, Deus Ex for $20 back in 2002 and Mass Effect for PC at $50 back in what must have been 2008/9. Both game changers to me as a person in different ways.
The list of games I have played to completion and returned for a full refund at ebgames is too long to list. I only buy a select few games where there is a long single campaign or good multiplayer.
Before you judge me, remember what I am doing is technically legal and remember that Australia has the highest rate of piracy for Game of Thrones, to list but one show.
When Kmart were purging all their games near me I scored Alien: Isolation for $7. I finished it and then traded it to EB for $15.
Neverwinter nights 2 from JB a few years back for $5.
Although a work colleague recently scored 5kg of picnic bars for $5, which I think was the better deal…
I assume the Orange box ($15) and Humble Bundles (Humble Indie Bundle V had me spend $10 for Bastion, Braid, Limbo, Psychonauts and Super Meat Boy) don’t count so I’d say Gunpoint for $10.
Not the most amazing price, true, but it’s the only game where I bought a copy for a friend and opted for the special edition just to give the dev(s) some more money. Probably the most enjoyment for $10 I’ve spent, if not in hours.
I’d also say TF2, ignoring the price of the Orange box I’ve probably spent ~$80 in 1900 hours of gameplay and I’m still having a hell of a lot of fun.
Project Cars – Backed it on Kickstarter for €45 in 2012. For the past 2 years I’ve been getting repayments back to me every few months (starting with €49) for a running total of €159.25.
Net cost of -€114.25 for a pretty good game I enjoy.
It was like three weeks after it came out, but I got RAGE on PC for $5. Under rated game.
The Witcher 3 GOTY edition for $20. That’s some pretty decent value for money right there! (About 8 cents per hour of entertainment so far).
Darksouls for free through Xbox Live. I would have played 200 hours or so easily.
I got the original Mass Effect on 360 for £6 when I was back in the UK. Played through that game so many times (once as each class at least) that I always felt guilty, I played it so long after it came out I got the dlc’s for a steal too.
They’ve certainly made their money back from me since with all the ME/Dragon Age DLC, but at the time it was a game I could have paid £150 and still thought bargain. I remember thinking the same with Skyrim too now I think about it (put so many hours in that the £40 again seemed stupid cheap).
Easily Tetris.
It came as a bundle with my Gameboy in 1993 (or there about). My mum still plays it every day, over 20 years later.
New Copy Yakuza Dead souls $4
Batman Arkham origins $11
I got Elder Scrolls Oblivion for $10 from Target not long after it came out. The cardboard box was torn in one corner (hence the discount) but the plastic DVD case and game were perfect!