Cameron: I'd rather spend my money on something infinite (like a video game) than something finite (alcohol). I don't hesitate buying games I want, but I definitely hesitate spending money on expensive dinners etc.

Barnell: I almost never buy games new I just think there to overprice. The only time I ever get a new game if someone buys it for me. The whole price for game over time spent doesn’t work for me either. I spent $6.00 on gothic and spent 62 hours playing. If I got a game for $60.00 I have to spend 620 hours playing for the same value.

The ratio I use is “money spent over when I get laid again”. If I buy a game for $5 or $10 I hear about it but could still get some action that night. If I spend $60 ohhh I be out of action for at lest 5 days maybe even a week. Some flowers could bring it down to a few days but now I when from spending $60 to $75.

orcishgamer: They're all things you consume, sex, alcohol (or other drugs), and food aren't as different from video games on this account. They're fun while you're doing them and when you're done you don't get as much out of them. I know if you own a video game you can essentially consume it more than once (I suppose like buying an extra large box of delicious cookies so you can enjoy a second helping tomorrow or something) so there is that, but the reality is it's still a finite consumption, there's only so much time you'll dump into any of it. Enjoy whatever it is you're doing with your finite life, whether it's food or games.

End of digression.

Cameron: Right, except I still play video games purchased in the 1980's by my parents (original NES games). 31 years of consumption is far less 'finite' than alcohol, drugs or any of the things I was pointing out in my post. The finite consumption of video games is due to limitations imposed on me as a human being, and not at all related to the game itself (assuming it never breaks). Comparatively, the finite consumption of expensive meals/alcohol/etc is an intrinsic property of what could be referred to as 'consumables'. If we break it down into a standard unit of net enjoyment per hour, the cost of alcohols/expensive meals/concerts etc is far greater than that of video games. It is for these reasons that I seldom hesitate to purchase a game I am interested in but often think twice about eating at an expensive restaurant.

SimonG: You must know some really cheap hookers .. ;-P

JudasIscariot: $5 dollars is the "high end" value of your average drug addicted hooker. Meth heads usually charge a $1 or just about anything you are willing to give them. Crack whores are made of sterner stuff and will demand at least $5. Prices tend to be stable from region to region in the US. Hooker prices are a stable market :P

Live in any state that is plagued by either meth or crack cocaine and you'll pick up this info just by osmosis alone.

JudasIscariot: $5 dollars is the "high end" value of your average drug addicted hooker. Meth heads usually charge a $1 or just about anything you are willing to give them. Crack whores are made of sterner stuff and will demand at least $5. Prices tend to be stable from region to region in the US. Hooker prices are a stable market :P

Live in any state that is plagued by either meth or crack cocaine and you'll pick up this info just by osmosis alone.

orcishgamer: Well there's definitely people who are like this. But actual escorts cost way more than that. Those are basically poor people (not indicating culpability or lack thereof here, simply that they lack money and are desperate for it) that really want money trading sex for a couple bucks. Yeah, that may fall under the technical definition of hooking, but when you say "hooker" I'm inclined to categorize that as people who do it regularly with the intent of supporting themselves (partially or in full).

Or TLDR: the meth head that screws you for 5 bucks isn't necessarily a hooker in the traditional sense.

Barnell: A hooker good for a night but AIDS last forever.

orcishgamer: To be sure, but my point is you didn't consume any video game for 31 years, you enjoyed it for short amounts of time during that time frame, much as I might enjoy a bottle of scotch in small bursts until it's gone. Do you put more time into video games than eating a meal? If you like them at all almost certainly. However, I consider life itself finite and spending money that I have on awesome food, alcohol, or to get laid more often hardly seems like a waste to me, I enjoy all these things at times (mostly while I'm doing them) making them really no different than any particular video game (even if I may come back to the video game for a second helping a few years down the road).

orcishgamer: hooker talk

Aliasalpha: Well being australian I get the "bonus" of asking myself that question pretty well constantly.

For me it comes down to a price to longevity ratio coupled with the 'got to have it on release' or 'fuck me I'm so dangerously bored that the only option is buy a game NOW or start torturing random passers by'.

Arkham City I bought locally because I found it for $68 which is a fairly good price given that the RRP was $110. I could have got it for $58 from ozgameshop but the saving was small and the 2-3 week wait was too long.

Much the same applied to Gears Of War 3, it was $75 locally and I could have saved $15 by ordering from ozgameshop but then I'd have had the delay and missed 2 weeks of coop shooting & chainsawing.

Dead Island I bought from Greenmangaming for $30, that was purely a price based decision, it was something on my maybe-list for a month or so before release but then found the discount for GMG and bought it immediately

Warhammer 40000 Space Marine was always going to be an ozgameshop game. It didn't look like the best game ever made & was likely to be rough around the edges. That and the fact that it was selling for $90 locally made the $58 and 2 weeks wait the more attractive option

Star Wars The Old Republic I preordered from amazon, largely thanks to the lack of alternatives. I ended up picking the priority courier shipping (in the probably vain hope of it arriving before christmas) that pushed the price up from $60 to $90 but I rationalised this by telling myself it's what I'd have been likely to pay for it locally anyway

All of these are examples of games that I was going to play as soon as I could. For stuff on GOG or steam sales, I do have a tendency to buy & download games but not get around to installing them for ages because the drive for playing something isn't as strong when its not a new game (as in one I've never played rather than chronologically new). It's also lead to me being more ruthless with my time, when I do install something I bought rather cheap, I tend to give it 2-3 hours to impress me and if it doesn't, the chances are good it'll never get another go.

Cameron: . I also have a girlfriend, so the cost of getting laid has decreased to almost 0 lol.

SimonG: I think this warrants a fact finding mission ;-).

Am I the only one who thought of "Breaking Bad" while reading this.

SimonG: I think this warrants a fact finding mission ;-).

Am I the only one who thought of "Breaking Bad" while reading this.