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I sometimes buy through Steam, but their sales aren't very good compared with, say, gogamer.com. Every so often, Steam'll have an amazing sale, but it's like once every six months at best.

It doesn't help that Steam frequently has pricing errors, and won't give you the sale price, and there's no way to report pricing errors in their retarded awful support system.

You determine a game's worth by how fun it is. (Obviously, this varies with the tastes of the user.)

So, how can you find out without dropping a fortune on a questionable title? First, don't buy new right off the bat. If possible, either wait for a demo or rent a title before purchasing. Also, hold off for about 3-4 months following the release date. This is about the point where stores begin discounting these titles by up to 50%.

Finally, check sites like DealNews for updates on special pricing, or find a reliable store online that routinely offers cheap prices on titles you want. (Personally, I've found GoGamer to have fantastic discounts on new titles in their 48hr Madness section... sometimes by as much as $20 below average pricing on new titles.)

http://www.gogamer.com/Saitek-Pro-Flight-Rudder-Pedals-CH-Products_stcVVproductId5589593VVcatId480176VVviewprod.htm

Here you go:

X-Box

PC

Ok, so the PC version is a tad over $9.

Here you go:

X-Box

PC

Ok, so the PC version is a tad over $9.

Dungeon Keeper II is probably one of the best PC games ever made. Seriously.
You can get it here if interested.

If you want a new X-Com, give this a try.

It builds upon the Operation Flashpoint code, which, as has been already noted in this thread, was some of the best FPS AI to ever come out. The really nifty thing that has been added to an already unpredictable AI is a much better algorithm for flanking. Kinda spooky the first time that it happens to you in such a wide open environment. :)

OpFlash had some of the best replayability that I've ever seen due to the unbelievable support for bug fixes from Bohemia Interactive, huge maps, unpredictable AI, and completely open set of editing tools that BI makes available. A large and very creative modding community grew up that is still active six years after the game's initial release.

Armed Assault takes that incredible legacy then adds even larger possible maps (400 square kilometers) and far more destructible objects (estimated 1,000,000 on the island that ships with the game). If you haven't seen the game yet you are in for a real treat. :) ArmA's website

It's not yet officially available in the U.S., although a deal has been announced for Atari to be the U.S. publisher. That announcement also mentioned a ship date some time in May. If you're interested and don't want to wait that long, gogamer.com is taking orders for the UK version to be shipped to U.S. addresses.

Disclaimer: My only association with BI is as a very satisfied customer. I bought the UK version of OpFlash when it first came out, then the GOTY edition with the addon bundle again last year, then ArmA from gogamer.com last month. :)

For the next 3 hours you can get Civilization 4 DVD edition for $29.99 at gogamer.com.

Checking places like Circuit City, Best Buy, EB Games, GoGamer, Amazon.com, etc... they are all selling the game for ~ $19.99

I recommend playing through the original first. It's a little bit easier to get into, and you can import your character into BG2. BG2 took a little longer for me to get into, but the story grew quickly and drew me in about a 1/4 of the way through the game and I had a hard time putting it down.

Finally if you find you like those games I also recommend you pickup Planescape Torment. It was made by Black Isle using the original BG's engine and has one of the best stores ever in a computer RPG. Black Isle is the company that also made the Icewind Dale series and Fallout series. They were killed off by Interplay and became Obsidien Entertainment which is working closely with Bioware. The new company producted Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords and they are also the ones developing Neverwinter Nights 2.

Personally, I hardly ever need to check reviews by the time a PC game has hit stores. I'll know way before that point if I'm interested in buying or not. Everything gets preview'd beforehand. If somehow a stinker slips by me and onto my PC, I'll return it if possible and get my money back.

Only review I remember being super helpful was this one for Space Rangers 2. Never heard of it before finding the review but it been quite a time soak. :)

Eurogamer Review

Company site

GoGamer is one of the few places that has it

And some really good news for everyone. I found it for sale for those of you that don't have it at Gogamer.com and it's selling for $27.90 + s/h. So that guy below that says he'll pay up to $200 for that can save some money or just send the $170 he didn't spend on the game to me.

http://www.gogamer.com/cgi-bin/GoGamer.storefront/ SESSIONID/Product/View/001XWIC

This is all I need to fulfill my gaming needs:
GoGamer.com

It has a great selection and awesome prices. The 48 -hour deals are also a great way to pickup some older gems that you originally passed on. While the shipping is $6, you can buy up to 3 games without any additional cost.

Keep an eye on Gametab's Frugal Gamer and you should be able to pick it up for ~$35 ($40 here). Whatever you pay, it's worth every penny.. it even just won Gamespy's GOTY award and a number of other awards (best character - Dog!).

I did not mean that in a complaining sense, nor do I purchase software all that often. I do play games (in the little free time I currently have), but I also understand that it is not a necessity. Now, if I am in a situation that I must purchase software, I simply buy it online, from a company I trust (usually GoGamer. I've had to deal with their return policy, due to a packing error, and I am happy with how it turned out.

But, more on topic, I had my previous post to relate how that particular law does inconvienience people. In my situation it happened to be a game, but many people purchase office suites and operating systems that require activation. I have had software required for my school, and I know people who have required software to work at home. I think they should be able to easily do so, and return it, if they happened to purchase the wrong item. I also think that there should not be a law on the books mandating a return policy for privately owned stores. The whole thing is ridiculous!

I've pre-ordered the Special DVD edition of UT2004, it comes with a Logitech headset. I can't wait to try it out.

That's funny, it was $34.90 when I ordered mine.

Jaysyn

That still doesn't really fit any definition of "emergent". I know there's want to slap a word onto something that only a phrase can describe, but that ends up being stupid because you get 90 different definitions of what the word is NOW supposed to represent in this context. This discussion started up like a week and a half ago on the GameSpy message boards, and since then I've seen it in the RottenTomatoes forums, and now Gamespot, then here.

"Emergent" has already been described 4 different ways to me. This is why its utterly retarded to do something like this, especially in the context of a debate, because now you don't know what you're debating anymore.

By the way if you're looking for another game similar to Elite, pick up Port Royale. It's pretty much like you describe, but with actual pirates, not space pirates.

GoGamer.com has it.

I love this game, it's really funny and plays like the Duke games of old but with the wisecracks and sex of Duke3D. Since DN Forever is never coming out, this is the only way you'll get to play a new game of Duke...

It's like the original Duke Nukem in the way it plays (ie it's a side scrolling platform game) but rendered in 3D. They're selling it here for 5 bux!

PS: Not an ad...I'm just an uninterested big fan of the Duke...

and here is where you can buy it for $20 instead of $50. The website says though that they are out of stock for the time being. here is the link

I preordered it for $44.90 at Compuexpert / GoGamer You can still get it for $47.90 there.

I preordered it for $44.90 at Compuexpert / GoGamer You can still get it for $47.90 there.