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How important is playing a game “on time” to your enjoyment


phart010

Do you get more enjoyment out of playing a game at launch or does timing not matter?  

44 members have voted

  1. 1. Does timing matter?

    • If I don’t play it at launch I might as well just not play it
      1
    • Launch day play does add significantly to the experience, but there’s still plenty to enjoy later on
      8
    • It doesn’t matter when you play the game, it’s always the same experience for me
      35


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18 minutes ago, RH said:

I know you and I are the same age. So, yes. For me it was N64, PS1 and PS2 titles.

If only I had the good sense back then to have been into JRPGs back then and bought new and kept the blue chip JRPGs on the PS1!  Sure I can easily play them on my PSIO system but it wouldn't have been so awesome to have the for real copies for my collection too? 😊

Edited by Estil
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I only buy games at launch if I'm really really looking forward to them. Otherwise it's whenever they're on sale or get a price drop. Or other times years go by with intentions of buying it and before I know it it's been 15 years since release and I finally end up playing it. But for the most part it doesn't matter. I try to avoid spoilers for most things though, which isn't that hard considering I don't go looking for any.

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1 hour ago, Estil said:

If only I had the good sense back then to have been into JRPGs back then and bought new and kept the blue chip JRPGs on the PS1!  Sure I can easily play them on my PSIO system but it wouldn't have been so awesome to have the for real copies for my collection too? 😊

Lol, I did, but sold them too soon. I had the entire Squaresoft catalog, and about just as many across other companies. I got rid of them all in early college when it was PS2 time. 🙄 I literally spent all of my summer income on mostly RPGs.

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25 minutes ago, RH said:

Lol, I did, but sold them too soon. I had the entire Squaresoft catalog, and about just as many across other companies. I got rid of them all in early college when it was PS2 time. 🙄 I literally spent all of my summer income on mostly RPGs.

I got replacements for them now but I really regret selling my MegaMan 8/X4/X5 combo I got in my college days (you could get it off Capcom's website for $50; and you could get for that same price the Legends trilogy).  Thank goodness I had the good sense to still have my MegaMan Legends Trilogy and most of my GC games from back then!  I'm obviously quite the sentimental type so if I buy something, I expect it to be for keeps.

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On personal reflection, when I was younger I would read magazines before the games even came out. That would get me into the mood/hype/hysteria and I’d be wanting to buy it at launch or thereabouts. 

As I get older, there is an inverse relationship in me caring about playing it at launch. In fact, I haven’t played any modern games for over 10 years! 

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Not important. Sometimes waiting several months or years to buy a game is a good thing and occasionally adds to the enjoyment. For example, I didn't buy Animal Crossing: New Leaf until late 2019. By then the Welcome Amiibo version had already been released, which has more content than the original. Same thing with Mario Kart 8. I waited until 2017, when it had been released for the Switch. This was mainly because I didn't (and still don't) have a Wii U, but by waiting for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe I was able to get the definitive version of the game.

Other examples include Melee, Metroid Prime, and Pac-Man World 2. While I rented them early on, I didn't buy them until much later. By waiting several years to buy them I got version 1.2 of Melee and Prime (which have several bug fixes) and Player's Choice copies of Pac-Man World 2 include Pac-Man Vs. (and also cost less than when it was released). Some later copies of Prime also have the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc.

Edited by MegaMan52
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I think there is a time when you can play a game, not necessarily the launch day, when it will mean more to you than it ever would at any other time.  I remember picking up a copy of Dragon Warrior when I was about 19.  I had a blast playing it.  I had tried it years before when it came out and didn't get anything out of it.  It would probably be a little boring to me today, but at that time, being burnt out on Playstation and N64 games, DW just hit the right spot.  I've had several other similar experiences throughout the years, and they all seemed to happen at random.

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If it's a game I'm looking forward to, it's pretty important to get into it at launch. Basically any new Zelda, Mario, Pokemon game is a day 1 play for me. Halo is one of the few other franchises I feel like I have to get in on early or it loses that new game charm. 

I know people aren't like this but for big name games I'm really looking forward to, I gotta get in out the gate. 

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Can’t say it has ever mattered to me. I don’t play game with other people generally. Occasionally with my girlfriend but never online with people and my friends are more into “dude-bro” games and play almost exclusively online with people. Being apart of any hype or group experience of a game release doesn’t jive with me. I also like the idea of spending less money to get it at a later date

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Funny thing is, despite what I said earlier ago, I used to very much so feel it was important once I had the money or means to get it day one, or at least what would be considered 'on time' for the era.  When it came to the NES SNES Gameboy era, the pre-internet, being 'on time' was relative to the coverage and continued coverage, discussion, contests, art and stuff in printed magazines along with just word of mouth.  Back then being on time could be the first few months to a year of the game being on the market if you remember right?  In respect to that in that 8/16bit era I feel I was pretty on time.  We would find out months in advance, sometimes even a year almost, of what was coming out, such as in Nintendo Power between Pak Watch and previews.  I'd either ask for them for Christmas/B'Day gifts, or I'd portion off a piece of allowance for such a game so I could get it when it arrived or shortly after.  I'd enjoy it with others in the magazine as they did, or with locals too, and that was fun because the community then wasn't all shitty, judgey, internet keyboard warrior toxic with instant info and gratification of being as much a douche as being good.  You learned, your earned, and you got your fun.

I kept up with the got to have it when it arrives into the 2000s, but once harder times hit, I was more about second hand and saving a buck to where I just don't care most the time anymore and I'm good with it, that's where that post came from.

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Graphics Team · Posted

I certainly see the appeal of playing new releases in-time with the collective gaming community. But I'd likely get stressed-out trying to keep up with everyone else. It could grind the fun out of games that I'd normally enjoy at my own pace.

Good thing I only play games that are older than me haha.

-CasualCart

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Isn't also 'on time' relative?  Some games to re-releases to an entire new generation.  Final Fantasy 1-4 just got re-released in this year, past months really even, where they've redone them entirely in the style of Octopath Traveler.  They maybe 80s/90s games, but they here, are brand new games so doing them now (that or any version really) would still let you share in being on time too. 😉

Also on time could come from like this sites yearly system based beat them all contest for points.  You could fire up Maru's Mission GB from 30 years ago, or you could do a Gamecube game from 25 years back but be on time, if you pick it and finish it.  I know I'm splitting hairs, but on time really is relative.  Maybe for you, you just got your first Super Nintendo and a stack of 6 games...so what if you're 30 years late to the party...it's on time for you to enjoy brand new to you and that on time, is this time, now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I rarely buy games at launch, so I usually don't get to experience that.  When Breath of the Wild came out, it was fun playing the game for several hours and then checking everyone's progress on the forums.  Hearing about how others completed tasks in their own way was fun.  There was definitely an extra level of enjoyment to go through it at the same time as so many other people.  With that said, I still don't go out of my way to buy most games at launch.  

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