2004 Video Game Expenses

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:00 pm

Mine were way too high considering that I didn't buy a major console in 2004:

25 Xbox/PS2 new games net cost (total price paid less net sale proceeds) $400

3 used/new GBA Games net cost $40

2 PC games net cost $50

Game rentals: $50

Console assessories: $60

GBA:SP less sale of GBA: $40

XBL: $50

2004 Total: $690 Ouch.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:22 pm

At the start of 2004 I set a limit of $500 for myself. I never detailed my purchases, but I can get close going by memory:

Yamaha handlebars for Xbox/PS2: $60. This was a birthday gift from the wife, but it's all OUR money now, so it counts.

Logitech wireless controller: $40. Again a gift from wife, this time for Christmas.

PC Games: $35 (MVP & HH 2004). This was easy, as it was December before I had a PC that could run any newer games

PS2 games: $0

Xbox games: ~$300

Rentals: ~$40

Total: $475 Not bad considering past years. Moe than I thought, but then $100 of it was presents from my wife.

Notes: Games I no longer own counted in the total. For example, I bought Madden 2005 for $50 when it came out. I soled it for $35 a few weeks later. I counted $15 towards the total. I DO NOT count misc. sales on Ebay as a gaming fund ala PK

Meaning, if I sell a couple of old games from 2002 on Ebay for $50 and then buy a game with that money, I count the $50 against my limit, it's not a freebie.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:29 pm

Yes, that is the way I accounted for my total as well. I am only accounting for games I bought in 2005 and I estimate the resale value for the games I bought in 2005 and still have left in my inventory. I spent $43.00 on Madden 2005 and sold it for appox. $28 net commissions and postage, so I counted $15 for Madden. I bought ESPN Hockey for $21 and estimate I can sell it for $10 when I am done, so I counted $11 for it.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:32 pm

How can u guys remember all that with the trade ins??

I can only guesstimate it with new games, used games, trade ins and Live at around $800 ...that is also including My 3rd PS2....

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:37 pm

It's just an estimate. I was thinking about the fact that I bought all of the baseball games last year and it bugged me, so I took a couple minutes at lunch today and wrote down all the games I bought. I have a general idea of what I sold them for. It's probably within 10% either way.

I need to get down under the $300 mark in software per year. I should have someone kick me in the balls every time I buy a racing or shooting game.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:44 pm

Leebo33 wrote:I need to get down under the $300 mark in software per year. I should have someone kick me in the balls every time I buy a racing or shooting game.

I feel the same way about shooting games...

I have Halo2 and GR2 sitting there laughing at me....

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:45 pm

I know my total was up in the thousands. I'm going to go into Microsoft Money and see just how much I spent at EB alone. It will be ugly.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:24 pm

I didn't do too badly this year. I checked Half.com for my sales, and I'm pretty sure I tallied up my games correctly.

14 console games: $540
3 PC games: $82
XBL renewal: $50

Total: $672

Sales of games bought in 2004: $142
Total sales of games in 2004: $308

Net spent in 2004: $232

The ESPN markdown helped a lot, I saved $100 from that. I also had a lot of gift card purchases, so really, in terms of cash I personally spent in 04, it was much more reasonable than the last couple years. I also didn't rent any games or buy any hardware.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:26 pm

If I had to guess...

I'm at around $300 after I sell the games I don't want anymore. Ebay is a life saver. I'd assume that if I held onto everything I bought, I'd be down around $900 to $1000.

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:21 pm

All prices in Canadian:

ESPN NHL 2K5 $27.83;
ESPN NFL 2K5 $27.83;
XBox S-controller $33.83;
XBox Live Resubscription $79.99.

I think that was it for my expenditures. Oh, and I sold my Gamecube and some stuff along with it for about $160, so I guess I came out somewhere around even.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:54 am

I figured there would be more people listing their 2004 expenses. So far I'm surprised on average we're so low. Maybe all the big spenders out there haven't finished adding it up yet

That or they don;t want to publicly post how much $$$ they've burned through on games in a single year

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:59 am

Whatever my total is its probably too high. I do trade in alot of my games so that takes some heat off of my budget.

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:07 am

I don't really track it but I buy on average 2 games a month so that's $1200 for the year but I sell or trade about one game a month at $25 each so that reduces the total by $300 so I guess around $900 total. That may be a lot but it's the only real hobby I spend money on so I'm OK with it.

mixdj1

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:17 am

matthewk wrote:I figured there would be more people listing their 2004 expenses. So far I'm surprised on average we're so low. Maybe all the big spenders out there haven't finished adding it up yet

That or they don;t want to publicly post how much $$$ they've burned through on games in a single year

My other computer is down right now and it has all my finances on it, but I'd say I average $200 per month and some months might be more. There were times when I bought four $50 games in three days and turn around and do the same thing again 2 weeks later.

I rarely trade anything in since I refuse to take $12 for a $50 game I bought a month ago so I keep most of my stuff of trade it title for title with someone at the GTZ (Game Trading Zone).

I also bought 3 Nintendo DS this past year and I bought a second Xbox as well. A decent portion of what I spend is also for my kids. I feel it would be kind of hypocritical of me to go out and buy what I want and then not buy them the games they want.

I know without looking that my gaming expenses are going to be insane. But it's pretty much the only vice I have. I figure a lot of people spend more on drinking and smoking than I do on games, not to mention the money people spend on other hobbies.

I have one friend that absolutely condemns me for spending so much on games and he does this as he's showing me the $500 gun he just bought or the $250 softball bat. We all have hobbies...mine just happens to be games amd electronic entertainment.

RiverRat · Post by **RiverRat** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:21 am

In 2004 I bought ...

NCAA Football 2005
Madden 2005
Winning Eleven 7
World Tour Soccer
Fifa 2005
ESPN College Hoops
Hot Shots 3
NASCAR Race for the Cup
Gran Turismo 3 (Used)
Football Manager 2005

I no longer own the NASCAR, Hot Shots, WTS, and Madden, so net, I figure about $250 for games.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 6:21 pm

I think I spent around $400-500 on games, accessories, etc.

The net out of my pocket was $0. eBay sales of games, motorsports memorabilia and other crap around the house subsidized every penny.

In fact, I have a $32 surplus right now. I'm $9 away from being able to buy Winning Eleven 8 on Feb. 1. I'll make it with ease!

Woo-hoo!

Take care,
PK

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:18 pm

Way too much, no clue on actual amount though.

So far in 2005, I'm offf to a great start.

I think this is the longest I've gone w/out buying a game and we're only 2 weeks into the year. oooph.

I don't make new year's resolutions, but this year dammit I'm curing my case of ADD.

fletcher21 · Post by **fletcher21** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:27 pm

i think i bought like 3 games... colin mcrae 5, nhl2k5 and some other game i forget.... i think i may give up gaming soon unless gt4 comes out and blows my mind

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:16 am

pk500 wrote:I think I spent around $400-500 on games, accessories, etc.

The net out of my pocket was $0. eBay sales of games, motorsports memorabilia and other crap around the house subsidized every penny.

In fact, I have a $32 surplus right now. I'm $9 away from being able to buy Winning Eleven 8 on Feb. 1. I'll make it with ease!

Woo-hoo!

Take care,
PK

wow, I sure would hate to be counting pennies like that, but then again I have no control over what I do.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:33 am

I can't rationalize the expenditures like that. Even when I sell stuff to fund my gaming habit, I still realize I could have spent the money on something else. The bottom line is I'm shelling out $400-700 each year on video games no matter if the money comes from my paycheck or selling assets. If I sell a bunch of CDs to fund my gaming or get games as presents, there is still an opportunity cost involved. I could have used the money from the sale of CDs to buy new running shoes or fill the gas tank. Since I bought games instead, I have to buy these items out of the household budget instead.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:47 am

At least in one aspect of my life Im lucky Im my own big kid so I can just go crazy ......

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:49 am

Leebo33 wrote:I can't rationalize the expenditures like that. Even when I sell stuff to fund my gaming habit, I still realize I could have spent the money on something else. The bottom line is I'm shelling out $400-700 each year on video games no matter if the money comes from my paycheck or selling assets. If I sell a bunch of CDs to fund my gaming or get games as presents, there is still an opportunity cost involved. I could have used the money from the sale of CDs to buy new running shoes or fill the gas tank. Since I bought games instead, I have to buy these items out of the household budget instead.

Leebo:

I never would go to the trouble to sell all of this stuff to subsidize the hobby if I didn't have the hobby. It's not like I would -- or need -- to sell this stuff to pay for food, gas, utilities and clothes if it wasn't used on videogames.

Fact is, I spent $0 on nearly all of my hobbies last year: video games, cycling, and MP3 hardware and files. eBay covered gaming, cycling and a new MP3 player, and my company pays for my broadband connection. The only thing I paid for out of pocket was skiing. I don't pay for reading other than a daily paper. Company covers my racing magazines; frequent flier miles and free offers cover all other magazines. We pay for the paper -- that's it. I don't buy books; I borrow them from the library.

Of course, we pay for entertainment, such as nights out, sporting events, cable TV, movie and game rentals. But we don't do that too much, as we like to stay home with the guppies.

Bottom line: Nearly all of my hobbies were free. And I scrimp to do that because I want to, not because I have to.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 1:51 am

Badgun wrote:wow, I sure would hate to be counting pennies like that, but then again I have no control over what I do.

I count pennies like that more because I want to, not because I have to. I'm not rich and we're a single-earner home, but we live comfortably.

There's nothing wrong with your way if your finances support it. I just get a lot of satisfaction from the discipline involved in doing it my way.

Take care,
PK

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:45 am

pk500 wrote:I never would go to the trouble to sell all of this stuff to subsidize the hobby if I didn't have the hobby. It's not like I would -- or need -- to sell this stuff to pay for food, gas, utilities and clothes if it wasn't used on videogames.

Fact is, I spent $0 on nearly all of my hobbies last year.

PK, that is fine. I just can't personally look at it that way because I have to recognize the opportunity costs. If I didn't sell the stuff then it would remain as an asset on my personal balance sheet and it would be available for selling in the future. The fact that I decided to sell the stuff and buy video games means I don't have it in my possession anymore to sell for investment, college education, entertainment, donation to tsunami efforts, vacations, etc, etc. I could sell all my unused CDs, old golf clubs, baseball memorabilia, etc and generate enough cash to buy an expensive TV. Does that mean I can tell my wife that I spent $0 on it? Maybe my bank account didn't go down, but there was a cost involved. I no longer have that stuff to sell to fund something else.

Say I have an opportunity to work some voluntary overtime that won't interfere with anything in my life. Let's assume I can do it when I would normally be playing video games. I normally wouldn't think of doing it because I don't need the money. However, I want to fund my video games so I work just enough to generate the funds. Can I really say that I didn't spend any money on video games? I could have used that money to buy stocks. I could have sent it to my sister to pay for a flight up to visit me and my family. I could have done a lot with the extra money, but I spent it on video games and that is the cost IMO. I think it is rationalization of your expenses to think otherwise, but that is fine too. We need entertainment too.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:04 am

Boom wrote:So far in 2005, I'm offf to a great start. I think this is the longest I've gone w/out buying a game and we're only 2 weeks into the year. oooph.

My last purchase was HH2004 for the CP back in mid-December. I think I'm close to my personal record for time between game purchaes. Even better is that HH was only $15 so it's been even longer since I spent $50 on a game