Rothbart’s Rant 83 - What Games Are Sponge Worthy?

February 13th, 2008 · 14 Comments

by Sean "Rothbart" Workman

I think everyone has some sort of system they use when they determine whether a game they bought was “worth it” or not. Even if they haven’t put that system into writing, or even formally thought of their criteria for judgment, they’ve probably got some system nonetheless. I’ve seen a lot of general ideas tossed around, the “movie ticket” comparison, the “lunch money” comparison, the “cup of coffee” comparison, etc. I wanted to take a look at my value system and see what everyone else uses as well. This isn’t really a “rant” per se, but more of a topic of interest.

I should probably make one thing clear right off the bat. I’m a cheapskate… big time. I hate spending money and feeling like I didn’t get my money’s worth. Another thing I’ve noticed is that I tend to value things a lot lower than other folks. If I pay $7.50 to go to the movies and the movie sucks, I’m generally ticked off for the while. If I spend $60 for a game and it ends up sucking (after my requisite research), I get pissed! Fortunately, I buy very few games I haven’t already rented or played in demo form.

My method is probably going to differ from the average reader’s method, but I tend to put my sweet spot of entertainment value at about $5 an hour. If I spend $60 on a game, in hindsight I’ll feel fully justified in the purchase if I get 12 hours of entertainment out of it. I don’t really make a distinction that it has to be 12 hours of play going through the game once either. Uncharted is a great example of a game shorter than 10 hours that was absolutely worth purchasing for me. I beat the game in about 10 hours, but I’ve ultimately put more than 12 hours into it.

As you can see, this is a rather general rule and as in most rules, there are exceptions. Playing a $10 solitaire game for two hours and playing $60 game for 10 hours doesn’t necessarily mean I think the solitaire game was a better, or more worthy purchase. Another exception to this rule is the “impulse purchase priced” games. If a game is say $2.99, I still expect to get an hour or two out of it. I’m not sure why that is, because it conflicts with my previous steps for determining worth.

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Rothbart’s Rant #24 - "Parental Expectations" Edition

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Previously on Sarcastic Gamer - July 8, 2008

Rothbart’s Rant #21 - "Exclusively Non-exclusive" Edition

Tags: Rothbart's Rant

14 responses so far ↓

1 Pyro mage // Feb 12, 2008 at 11:14 pm

Why do you like Warhawk online but not cod 4 online? is there something in warhawk thats better?
2 Sean "rothbart" Workman // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:57 am

COD4 is too “twitchy” for me… spawn/die/spawn/die/spawn/die… I simply prefer Warhawk. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just not a big FPS on console fan… I’ve loved a few, but I generally prefer mouse/keyboard control.

In Warhawk, I tend to favor the homing or proximity weapons too. It’s an “aiming with sticks” thing…
3 Anski // Feb 13, 2008 at 12:45 pm

Sadly I am very much an impulse buyer, even though I try not to be. Just have to face the facts of who I am I guess
I wish I had some sort of hard evidence system for my “was it worth it” meter, but it’s more of just a feeling that I get. Obviously if I quit on a game before I finish it, it wasn’t worth it. That’s a given. Sometimes I’ll play a game all the way through and still feel like it wasn’t quite worth it (I’m looking at you, Heavenly Sword). I suppose that last example is one of short gameplay, and I’m not very likely to play through that game again, either. What I *did* love about Heavenly Sword was the characters and their personalities.
In my heart I know I probably won’t seriously play through Assassin’s Creed again (anytime soon, at least), and even though the missions could be somewhat annoying, I loved the story behind the game so much that to me it was well worth my money.
I must be one of the few people who didn’t really enjoy Uncharted. I stopped playing it before I finished it, because I really just couldn’t get into it. Different strokes for different folks!

I’m with you about old/bad games… I sit on them. I don’t think I have ever sold or gotten rid of a game in any way shape or form (unless I lost it..)
4 RaiseHavok // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:08 pm

I have become a lot more judicious about which games I purchase. My “system” is primarily based off of previews, reviews, videos and the occasional demo. I have bought my share of bad games in the past (Castlevania 2, State of Emergency and Bloody Roar 4), but these games typically don’t become part of my permanent game library.
5 BawdierUrchin // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:25 pm

If i had to put money on it (which i have a very small amount of) i would say that oblivion would be my choice. I bought that game when i got my 360 last march and i still crack open that purty translucent green case from time to tie, as for my old games i sometimes give them to friends or trade amongst the people i know so that maybe someone else can have the game they want. I also disagree about how the trade in value at places like gamestop work. It would be a lot better if they gave you 1/2 of the retail price and sold it for 3/4 but that will never happen because they are just money hungry corporations like everyone else.
6 thesenderof8 // Feb 13, 2008 at 1:28 pm

i have one word for my system. gamfly. if i know ill play the game over and over again then i consider buying it. if not i send it back.
7 Weapwnsmaster // Feb 13, 2008 at 2:38 pm

The game that I feel gave me the most for my money was Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I’ve spent at least 100 hours on that game, so much, in fact, that I won’t buy the expansions, because the game is just boring now.
8 Keith K // Feb 13, 2008 at 2:45 pm

Thats a very reasonable method of quantifying purchase value and I have to say I agree with the logic behind it.. though I NEVER find value in any kind of First Person perspective game… Completely removing my own characters design from the game is a total cop out.. How do you spend millions upon millions of dollars on a game without designing a main character? Just a floating gun.. (which in many cases was already designed by the US military) ugh..

That said, Im not against shooters.. Warhawk is probably the best $40 I’ve ever spent in my entire life.
9 gingerbob // Feb 13, 2008 at 3:50 pm

I would have to agree with Oblivion, I spent 143 hours of my gaming life to finish it, and thats not including the DLC. Mass Effect lasted me about 22 hours too (I am a completionist: all the side missions were completed). Also Assassins Creed, reaching almost OCD levels of flag collecting. And finally COD4, for re-awakening my online FPS addiction, after being pasted every time I tried to go online with Halo (Some people just have NOTHING else to do).
10 Pojut // Feb 13, 2008 at 4:11 pm

My system is quite simple; if after completing a game I find myself saying “man…I gotta get my friend Mike to play this!” then that usually means to me that it was money well spent. There is no better way to show your enjoyment of a game than to actually be excited about having your friends play it so you can discuss it together.

http://www.livingwithanerd.com
11 irish boy90 // Feb 13, 2008 at 5:13 pm

look up dungeon keeper 2

Should cost about $5
Was out on pc in 1999

I have spent more than 30 hours on it at least.
12 Sam // Feb 13, 2008 at 5:35 pm

For me, my best £ to hours ratio has to be Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. I bought it for £40 and got hours upon hours of gameplay out of it. However, I think the best value game I’ve bought in the last 12 months is probably either Call Of Duty 4 or GHIII, simply because they are so enjoyable and it’s difficult to get bored of them.

I’m probably more of an impulse buyer, although reviews do have quite a big influence in what I buy and what I don’t. Assassins Creed, for example, was a game that I didn’t plan on buying, however I just couldn’t resist buying it when I saw it sitting in the shops on its launch day. God, I regret it…

With some games, I often wait until the price goes down before buying. For example, the other week I managed to get both R6: Vegas and Splinter Cell: DA for £20- a bargain.

I never trade in games, so any stinkers I do buy either stay sat on my shelf or are handed on to friends/relatives.
13 8bitBass // Feb 13, 2008 at 5:48 pm

I only buy games that I am 95% sure I will like, I spend much time reading reviews and forums before I make a final decision. With 5 systems to buy games for, I need to be epecially sure that I will get my money’s worth.

I do agre with your equation, I need to know that the game will last me more than 4 hours.

Unlike you though, the online portion gives me extra mileage out of games.

I spent over 400 hours alone on phantasy star online back in the day.

Others: Oblivion, Halo 2-3, Final Fantasy 12, Bioshock etc.

FPS are may favorite genre, I see them as even more immersive when I look through the eyes of the main character, RPG’s are guarenteed to be long so I will probably get $$ worth.

As far as bad games, it does happen and I just have to move on to another game, I sell alomost all of my games after I play through them 1x or 2x, though I sell them on EBAY to get 60-70% of my money back. (vs the pitiful trade in value at gamestop etc.)

I just don’t have time to play them again and I don’t have any friends that game as much as me that I ant to share them with.
14 TOO KINGS // Feb 13, 2008 at 8:41 pm

I agree 100%. your take on the value of your games is dead on. Although CoD4 is one I enjoy so is warhawk. the one I got the most worth out of was Uncharted, what a game.