1. Do not buy it on launch day.

This could be one of the most difficult disciplines a thrifty gamer has to learn. If a game comes out on Monday-Friday you will likely always pay full price. Major retailers put out their advertisements on Sunday…and often times they will have a discount or include a gift card for the new game you want to purchase. Best Buy, Target, and the now fallen Circuit City all participated in this. If the game is extremely popular you might need to wait two weeks to recieve this sort of deal.

2. Wait for a Price Drop

Many times this is the hardest to do. There are some sects of gamers who play their new releases 3-4 months behind the crowd. If the title is not something all of your friends will be playing together it is often a good idea tojust wait for the price drop to happen. Most major publishers minus Nintendo tend to price drop their games.

3. Don’t forget Amazon

Black Friday weekend in 2008 Amazon had some of the best gaming deals imaginable on titles that had already been released. You could pick up games for $20.00 to $35.00 cheaper than the normal MSRP. Although Black Friday only happens once a year, Amazon is often discounting games through their Deal of the Day, or other avenues. They also tend to sell their games for $3.00-$4.00 cheaper and all purchases over $25.00 include free shipping. Using that method you can at least negate the tax.

4. Gamefly

As a subscriber I have been impressed with the service so far. If you want to play through a lot of games and don’t want to buy them all Gamefly is a good way to go. This is not paid advertising. They really do offer a quality service and if you want to just play through a lot of games and not really own them then Gamefly is definitely a route worth researching.

5. Bargain Bin

The final way to do it is to always scour the the bargain bins at various retailers. From Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Toys R Us, or even the new stuff at Gamestop. You can often always find a gem hidden away under the piles of Pets Horsez and Imagine Babyz. You might even find that rare copy of Red Steel Imagine Babyz Petz 2.

http://expansionpack.net/?p=188

This image pretty much sums up my thoughts on this article.

take it or leave it!

I would add:

Compare the price in different countrys.
For example: In Germany I have to pay for LBP about 70 Euro, whereas I have to pay in UK only 17 Euro + 10 Euro for transport.

I would add for the economically challenged..

Do what you want cause a pirate is free, you are a pirate!

The best way to pay for games and get them at launch is... PRE- Order! I always research games and know when they are coming out. I put down $10au about 3 months before and then pay it off. I did that for the ps3 as well knowing I had 2 yrs :P

Also at some EB games in Au - you can use other competitors catalog's that have a reduced price on games and they would match it. But Pre- order is the way :)

I have KZ2 all payed for :D

VonShigsy has the right idea. As far as I'm concerned its not a crime if I can sleep at night.

But..but...how can you deprive poor EA from hard working money for Madden 2000-2012? (The world ends after that, lol.)

i would add learn how to open and close the package of the game so u can return it if u don't like it or aren't playing it anymore

I thought you meant developing games. Which I would say develop for the DS and Wii. I would recommend the PSP, but piracy makes it harder for smaller developers to make money from it.