My new rule for buying games is this:

I will not buy any games that I'll play once and shelve to never play again.

I was playing Civ 4 the other day, and I was thinking about the incredible replayability I had with that game. I've spent easily 2000 hours playing the various Civ incarnations, Civ 1,2,3,4 and expansions that any expense towards these games is more than justified. I also realised that there were many games which I didn't play through more than once, and its a burden for me owning games that I don't intend to play through again. I don't need fresh new experiences all the time, I just need games which I will continue to go back to time and again. I want to be proud of my entire gaming library and know that every game I own deserves its pride of place.

I have an awesome movie/game rental place just down the road, so I've decided I will not buy any more games. I won't even buy JRPGs or WRPGs (My favourite) until after I've returned them I feel the desire to play them again. Im actually in a lucky position my gaming collection has essentially been reduced to 0 and now I get to build it up exactly how I want to. Im tired of my past throw away attitude towards games, by whoring a multitude of games both good and bad I feel that I never really apreciated any of it fully. Rather than seeking the next new thrill, and spreading my self too thin I can save a tonne of money and get a better experience in the end by being picky how I spread my money.

Games that that currently pass my test:

Wii:

•  Mario Kart
• Wii Fit
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Resident Evil 4

PS3:

• Little Big Planet

Xbox 360:

• Halo 3
• Gears of War 2
• Forza Motorsport 2
• Project Gotham Racing 4
• Mercenaries 2
• Fable 2

So thats only 11 games. Three shooters, three racers, two platformers, one sandbox and one WRPG, with the last one im not sure if I can classify it as a game. From now on, im going to challenge myself to keep myself to a maximum of 10 games at any one time. If I want to purchase a new game, I have to sell an old game. Hopefully by the end of the generation I will be left with the 10 best possible games that I want to carry forward to the next generation and keep for life.

Get a fighting game and a sports game for more replay value.

I agree, buying RPG's is essentially not worth it (unless it's Fallout 3). Best to just rent them.

And since you love Civilization, I love you too!

If I got a fighting game it'd be SSBB and I hate sports games in general. I think the number of Wii games on the list is a testament to Nintendo!

Yeah Civ IV is awesome im playing my first Monarch game, so wish me luck!

and he is barely online on the ps3 and when he is , he isn't playing anything.

i demand time with you, to play with me and making music lbp!. :P

if you haven't tried it yet, try the most difficult civ game of all: the one city deity. it's a diplomatic victory :)

I've been busy! And remember your Friday 6pm is my Sunday at 12am.

Let me guess, huge map... always war/peace and just for extra measure 10 more races.

yeap, just like that. and you just gotta kiss ass like hell, and pray that your neighbors don't make a war on you before you can get backup.

In the future, most of those online games are going won't be played online anymore. That takes a lot away from their gameplay "value" in the future since their 6 hour campaigns won't be worth much.

However, in the case of an RPG like Persona 4, I've sunk in over 120 hours without completing my first playthrough. This game would remain "valuable" by itself without an online community or other external factor influencing it's enjoyability.

Thus, IMO, its much better to keep stuff like JRPGs for life (unlike burgrimmar seems to think) than multiplayer-focused FPS games. Hell, I even played vagant story a couple weeks ago and it was still an awesome game. I don't think I can say the same for COD4 in 9 years time because without its online offering, it won't feel complete.

Mario Kart is like crack.

Yes I agree with your philosophy, it's what I have been doing the last 2 generations because games are expensive.