ALso to be more detailed. I never buy games at launch onely if there are on sale on steam. Or now with my steam game collection addiciton every humble bundle but at the cheapest price of course.

From a pure capitalistic standpoint Nintendo differs greatly from all the AAA publishers.

Nintendo's model is about creating games that stand the test of time, so that they can keep selling them long beyond an initial hype wave and have them become a consistent stream of revenue for the company. Nintendo benefits again from this approach by going to their vault and remaking/remastering their old games which tend to sell significantly better than remakes/remasters of other publishers. Yet another benefit is the level of trust it builds with their customers, hence why people don't mind paying full price for Nintendo games that are already over one year old.

Contrary to that is the AAA model where it's about creating the next big thing, milking it and having it replaced by the next big thing; in other words, make games with built-in expiration dates to have an easier time getting people to buy the next game. Here the revenue is maximized by capitalizing on hype with a number of special editions at launch, followed by dropping the prices quickly to access the lower tiers of customers before the game gets forgotten due to the hype for another game.

This is why the replies in this thread follow the trends of "you are right, OP" and "Nintendo games are different", although it's acknowledged by the OP that Nintendo games are different, so this sentence right here could have been worded better. It's just that I don't care to change it now.

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Now for me personally, my attitude to game purchases has changed a bit during the past couple of years. Previously, I wouldn't have bought remasters/remakes of most Nintendo games that I had already purchased in their original form - I made the rare exceptions for games I really loved - but now I am more relaxed on this subject. When I know that I am going to have fun playing such a game again, why wouldn't I pay for it in full again even if the updates/improvements are sparse? The alternative of taking chances on third party games I haven't played before, even discounted ones, isn't especially appealing when it's hit or miss too commonly.

And in general, almost all of my entertainment spending goes to video games, so saving €10, 20, 30 or even 40 on a possible discount isn't the most important thing in the world when I end up liking the given game anyway. Conversely, saving money doesn't mean much when I end up not liking the given game. In other words, paying more money for a good game stings a lot less than spending a small amount of money on a rubbish game.

I buy physical and a lot of the Arcade/Shmups I get on Switch don't last long. Plus the Retrobit reissues of classic Genesis games that either never came to the US before or are insanely expensive on eBay. Xenoblade games seem to go out of print soon and shoot up in price.

Anytime statements like this are put out like don't pre-order it's always blanket statements thinking AAA games are the entire industry. They are not. AAA games yeah sure. They will be readily available and most these days are GaaS. Still, plenty of other games that say otherwise claims like this thread.

@Leynos This thread does indeed seem to only apply to AAA games or at least games that are 40 USD and up (mostly 60 and 70 USD).

With certain indie games or ports, it's splitting hairs to wait for a discount most of the time if you really want the game when the game is priced 10 to 20.  

Case by case, but generally I tend to agree. I'd say do not ever buy a game at launch unless you can give a fairly strong reason to do so, and even then you should be aware of the drawbacks of getting a game at launch.

I think the OP is objectively correct about it not making sense to buy games at launch. However, once in a while I do it anyway, because I am excited about a game and want to play it as soon as possible, or because my schedule will allow for more gaming time at that point. But, I probably only do that for 10% or so of the games that I buy.

However, as I've been subscribed to game pass for several years now, I often do not wait for games that are launching on there. If I'm interested in them, typically I will play them at or very close to launch. My subscription includes them, so there's no real financial risk involved in trying out the games early.

If I can trust the dev or the game, I will buy full price to support them.

Other games I am unsure about can wait.

For example there is this fun little indie game on steam I want to buy that went on sale and was only $3.99, but I will wait until it is full price ~$9.99 to support them. Meanwhile my buddies won't even try it for $3.99.

If you want to play the game at that time, and it's worth potentially paying extra to do so, then yeah it makes perfect sense. Everyone's situation is different. Maybe it's a multiplayer game and you want it when your friends will be playing it. Maybe it's coming out at a time when you're going to have more free time. Maybe you just really want to play it then, and you have enough money that paying 70 instead of 40 isn't that big of a deal to you. Maybe you're feeling a bit down and a shiny new game your hyped for would be a good pick me up.

In pure dollars and cents, you're probably right, but that's not the way humans work, and it would be boring if it were. It may very well give you more happiness to buy it at that particular time, and if so, then it's worth it.

Honestly for the most part I now agree with you. I should have waited with Gran Turismo 7 for example. Some titles you know will be a no brainer (Mario, Zelda, God of War, etc.). but for the most part now it really does pay to wait.

Your point would stand if developers weren't nickle and diming the crap out of us with extra content, season passes, MTX and all that other crap.  

Some fighting games don't even come with all the characters and God forbid you want extra outfits.  

Then there are games like Tales of Arise, which is a grind fest unless you pay extra.

I'll happily bargin bin games until developers go back to releasing full games.