How do you search for games to try out?

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Captain Murphy

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As some of us know, the Steam summer sale is on right now. I was looking at all the deals and I recognized a lot of popular titles, like Tomb Raider, on sale. I decided to check on IGN, Reddit, and just simply used Google to see if the new Tomb Raider was a worthwhile game. I read tons of reviews and a bunch of player feedback, yet somehow I still wasn't convinced. Then I got to thinking, what is it that really sways me to buy a game in the first place?

Sometimes my friends will tell me, but honestly that rarely happens. So, I end up only buying games that are within franchises I already play. The very first games I ever bought came down to which had the coolest game description and features displayed on the back of the disc's case.

So, I can't say I have a good answer, but I thought I could ask you. How do you find out about games you want to play? Do you read / watch reviews online? Have you noticed what it takes to sell you on a game?
 
Well... I like to be as spoiler free as possible for when I play a game. So what I do is watch a short gameplay video to see how the game functions. That's my main way. However, most of the times I don't look it up and jump right in and hope for the best. Though I never, ever check ign or any of those site for reviews and all that. Only because everyone has their own opinions on games. I mean most of everything game Skyrim a 10/10, but I think Skyrim is a terrible game. Like every other Elder Scrolls game. Everyone says that Sonic 06 is a terrible game, but Sonic 06 is like my 3rd favorite Sonic game next to Adventure 2 Battle and Generations. Actually I like Shadow the Hedgehog too.
 
If it's a game that isn't part of any series I usually play it is usually down to the cover to first bring me in. This then makes me look at trailers and usually then I know whether I want the game or not :P There have been games that I have got as everyone else has it (Fire Emblem: Awakening being one of them, amazing game!).

Well... I like to be as spoiler free as possible for when I play a game. So what I do is watch a short gameplay video to see how the game functions. That's my main way. However, most of the times I don't look it up and jump right in and hope for the best. Though I never, ever check ign or any of those site for reviews and all that. Only because everyone has their own opinions on games. I mean most of everything game Skyrim a 10/10, but I think Skyrim is a terrible game. Like every other Elder Scrolls game. Everyone says that Sonic 06 is a terrible game, but Sonic 06 is like my 3rd favorite Sonic game next to Adventure 2 Battle and Generations. Actually I like Shadow the Hedgehog too.


I agree with you, reviews aren't good places to look if you want a game, Guild Wars 2 had such high reviews, which persuaded my dad to buy the game, it was one of the worst MMO type games I have ever played!

Yeah, Skyrim had dull stories, they seemed to focus on graphics rather than gameplay :c Oblivion <3
 
Well... I like to be as spoiler free as possible for when I play a game. So what I do is watch a short gameplay video to see how the game functions. That's my main way. However, most of the times I don't look it up and jump right in and hope for the best. Though I never, ever check ign or any of those site for reviews and all that. Only because everyone has their own opinions on games. I mean most of everything game Skyrim a 10/10, but I think Skyrim is a terrible game. Like every other Elder Scrolls game. Everyone says that Sonic 06 is a terrible game, but Sonic 06 is like my 3rd favorite Sonic game next to Adventure 2 Battle and Generations. Actually I like Shadow the Hedgehog too.



I see... your opinion typically goes against the popular one. In that case, watching game play videos does make the most sense so you can decide on your own. So I'm guessing you go to the store and see games or see commercials for games and then decide to look up videos? Or typically do your friends tell you about new games?

If it's a game that isn't part of any series I usually play it is usually down to the cover to first bring me in. This then makes me look at trailers and usually then I know whether I want the game or not :p There have been games that I have got as everyone else has it (Fire Emblem: Awakening being one of them, amazing game!).



So whenever you have a little extra cash to spend, you go down to the store and browse? That's a pretty simple and direct way to do it. Do you get a lot of good games this way? ...or do you end up playing some garbage :p
 
Well... I like to be as spoiler free as possible for when I play a game. So what I do is watch a short gameplay video to see how the game functions. That's my main way. However, most of the times I don't look it up and jump right in and hope for the best. Though I never, ever check ign or any of those site for reviews and all that. Only because everyone has their own opinions on games. I mean most of everything game Skyrim a 10/10, but I think Skyrim is a terrible game. Like every other Elder Scrolls game. Everyone says that Sonic 06 is a terrible game, but Sonic 06 is like my 3rd favorite Sonic game next to Adventure 2 Battle and Generations. Actually I like Shadow the Hedgehog too.



I see... your opinion typically goes against the popular one. In that case, watching game play videos does make the most sense so you can decide on your own. So I'm guessing you go to the store and see games or see commercials for games and then decide to look up videos? Or typically do your friends tell you about new games?


Pretty much yeah. If I see a trailer for a game that interests me I'll get it. If it's a game I've never heard of I look it up and see gameplay of it.
 
If it's a game that isn't part of any series I usually play it is usually down to the cover to first bring me in. This then makes me look at trailers and usually then I know whether I want the game or not :p There have been games that I have got as everyone else has it (Fire Emblem: Awakening being one of them, amazing game!).



So whenever you have a little extra cash to spend, you go down to the store and browse? That's a pretty simple and direct way to do it. Do you get a lot of good games this way? ...or do you end up playing some garbage :p


Yeah, I usually just put things like '3DS' into amazon (I'm too lazy to travel to the nearest game store which is an hour away by bus) and look through the list of games to see what I want. If there's a cover I like, I will take a look at images of the game and then I will know whether I want it or not ^^

It is how I got my PS4 games list together!

I don't think I ever bought a game that I completely hated o.o I mean, there's games I like less than the others, but I loved them still :D
 
Yeah, I usually just put things like '3DS' into amazon (I'm too lazy to travel to the nearest game store which is an hour away by bus) and look through the list of games to see what I want. If there's a cover I like, I will take a look at images of the game and then I will know whether I want it or not ^^


It is how I got my PS4 games list together!

I don't think I ever bought a game that I completely hated o.o I mean, there's games I like less than the others, but I loved them still :D



I guess it's best just to make things as simple as possible! Nice strategy, lol. :P
 
Well for newer games, I'll look for trailers, or gameplay clips, I also like to follow my instinct, if I think the game is going to be bad, it's likely going to be bad, at least in my opinion. The games I think that are gonna good normally are for me.

As for older games, the majority of the games I re-buy I've played, so it isn't much of a problem for me when it comes to this.
 
I always read the IGN or Gamespot reviews, and occasionally look at the MetaCritic as well. While there have been games I've loved that the reviewers did not, I'm looking more for general opinions and comments on any technical issues. Usually, the majority opinion is close to the mark. I even read reviews for games I know I'll be buying anyway, like Star Fox or Pokemon, just because I like to know if there's something I need to look for. I've never found that the reviews 'spoil the game' for me.

I've never understood when people complain they get a bad game, then say they didn't check up on it before they bought it. Honestly, the resources are a brief google away to make sure your games are always quality and don't have any tech issues. It's just silly not to make sure. My husband's bought a few games just because they were on sale on the PS3 store for only a few dollars and they turned out to be crap- I'm like, "Dude, google them first!" I know they were only a few bucks, but it's a few bucks we won't be getting back!
 
I tend to watch video reviews, those will usually let me know if the game looks like something I'd want to play. I used to watch GameTrailers a lot simply because they were the first big website to do video reviews. So video reviews is how I find out if I want to play a game, but how I find out about a game is usually through forums. I spend a lot of time on GameFAQs.

EDIT: I also like to use GameRankings.com just for a general list of what the great games are on each platform. Gotta be careful though because there are some truly great games that get the shaft when it comes review time (I'm looking at you Alpha Protocol!)
 
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I always read the IGN or Gamespot reviews, and occasionally look at the MetaCritic as well. While there have been games I've loved that the reviewers did not, I'm looking more for general opinions and comments on any technical issues. Usually, the majority opinion is close to the mark. I even read reviews for games I know I'll be buying anyway, like Star Fox or Pokemon, just because I like to know if there's something I need to look for. I've never found that the reviews 'spoil the game' for me.

I've never understood when people complain they get a bad game, then say they didn't check up on it before they bought it. Honestly, the resources are a brief google away to make sure your games are always quality and don't have any tech issues. It's just silly not to make sure. My husband's bought a few games just because they were on sale on the PS3 store for only a few dollars and they turned out to be crap- I'm like, "Dude, google them first!" I know they were only a few bucks, but it's a few bucks we won't be getting back!



This is what some people don't seem to grasp, I think. I could attain much more information from a review than just what the writer thought of the game. Obviously, if the reader is familiar with the reviewer he could read between the lines of what the reviewer is saying. Also, there are things in video games that are simply objective as to what experience they provide. Long loading screens, graphical errors, glitches, and whatever else are things that could make an already mediocre game not worth it. So, learning about things like this from online reviews is helpful.

I tend to watch video reviews, those will usually let me know if the game looks like something I'd want to play. I used to watch GameTrailers a lot simply because they were the first big website to do video reviews. So video reviews is how I find out if I want to play a game, but how I find out about a game is usually through forums. I spend a lot of time on GameFAQs.

EDIT: I also like to use GameRankings.com just for a general list of what the great games are on each platform. Gotta be careful though because there are some truly great games that get the shaft when it comes review time (I'm looking at you Alpha Protocol!)



Video reviews are usually pretty efficient for what they set out to accomplish I would say. I mean relatively, as compared to video game forums... I tend to get hyped about a game when discussing about it on a forum because there are many others sharing my interest. And then in the end it turns out I was just getting a little bit too excited and looking through rose colored glasses at the trailers and such. So video reviews typically save me money while forum discussion costs me money, lol. :P
 
I'd watch the trailers. If that doesn't work, ask your friends. If that doesn't work, come on this website and ask us. I'm sure many of us play Steam.
 
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