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Good afternoon! Everything is so expensive in today’s world, given inflation, the pandemic, trade wars, and other issues. Gaming is a pricy hobby, but it’s more accessible than you might realize. It doesn’t have to be an exclusive hobby for rich kids and people with six figure incomes. Paradoxically, gaming can also be a cheaper hobby in some ways. Are you short on cash for the weekend? Just grab a game from your shelf and play for several hours. A decent video game library can keep an individual entertained for days, weeks, months, or even years. The majority of modern games also have excellent replay value. Retail can be intimidating with prices of $60 or even $70 per game, but you can work the system. Here are my suggestions for playing video games on a budget.
Watch for Digital Sales Many gamers are ditching physical copies in favor of digital downloads. Many online game retailers have frequent sales, specifically the PlayStation, Steam, and Xbox stores. I recommend checking their websites on a monthly basis. Huge price drops aren’t uncommon. I’ve seen digital games for as cheap as $5 and $10. Join a Subscription Service You just can’t beat Xbox Game Pass. It’s like Netflix for gamers. Xbox Game Pass costs $14.99 a month and gives players a huge library with more than 300 games. It adds new games every month, although a small number of titles leave each month as well. You can download these games directly to your Xbox or PC and play them any time. This streaming service has a big variety of games, including brand new and older releases from every genre. Check Out Less Expensive New Games Believe it or not, many new games aren’t expensive. I’ve seen a number of new games that range between $20 and $40, which is quite reasonable in the gaming world. A $30 game is obviously cheaper than a $60 game. Check out the video game sections on websites like Best Buy, Target, GameStop, and Walmart. If you’re a PC gamer, take a look at the Steam and Epic Games stores. You’ll probably find a number of brand new games that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Trade in Your Old Physical Games, Consoles, and PCs For those of you who still collect physical copies, you can get cash back by trading them in at GameStop and similar retailers. It’s not a whole lot of money, but you can get rid of unwanted games that are taking up space. Save a handful of games that you’ll never play again and trade them in as a group for a chunk of cash. You can also trade in old game consoles and PCs as well. Let’s face it. Are you really playing your old PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or six year old gaming laptop again? Probably not. Just sell them and reap the rewards. Keep an Eye on Amazon I’ve had remarkable success on Amazon. You can easily find new and used games, many of which are included with Prime’s free two day shipping. Seriously, I found new copies of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Until Dawn, and Doom for $15 a piece. You just never know. The inventory changes frequently, but it can be a real gold mine. Wait for Price Drops All games drop their prices eventually. If you don’t mind waiting, it might be worth holding out several months to a year for certain games, especially the pricier ones at $60 or above. This scenario includes both physical and digital releases. I know patience can wear thin, but your current gaming library should keep you entertained while you wait for prices to drop. Preorder Games for In-Store Pickup at GameStop Here’s a strategy that works for gamers who still purchase physical copies. You can preorder games to pick up in person at GameStop retailers. They only require a $5 deposit when you preorder a game. Truthfully, most games are available for preorder several months before their release dates. That means you can drop an additional $10 or $15 periodically until you pay off the game. That’s another good strategy for more expensive releases. A $60 or $70 game can get paid off in a few months. Turn on Twitter Notifications I have a tendency to follow Wario64 on Twitter, along with Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo because they advertise sales on a regular basis. If you have a Twitter account, turn on notifications for certain individuals because they might reveal deep sales for popular games. In fact, I see incredible sales through Twitter every day. Take Advantage of Black Friday, Prime Day, Cyber Monday, and Similar Shopping Events As expected, certain holiday sales can also provide good opportunities for gamers. Most people are spending their money on Christmas shopping for relatives and friends during these seasons, but it’s okay to tuck something away for yourself at a reduced price. There you go! I hope this post was helpful. Most people are probably looking for ways to save money and I don’t want anyone to feel left out. Do you think video games are becoming too expensive? Are you finding effective ways to play games on a budget? Leave a comment. Thanks for checking out my blog. Be safe and I’ll see you again next week.
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Welcome back, movie buffs! People have a lot of time to stream, rent, and buy movies because the pandemic is still keeping the public indoors. However, I’ve been incredibly disappointed with this year’s movie slate. It might be even more difficult to make a top ten list for 2021 than 2020. That’s crazy! Fortunately, more films are coming out during the last four months of the year. I’m waiting for home release, but you can venture to movie theaters if you want. Here’s several interesting titles that are coming out in late 2021, unless the film industry has more delays.
Candyman This movie is actually in theaters now, but I’m waiting for PVOD. It’s a soft reboot of the Candyman legend with an artist who has a mysterious connection to the original Candyman. It’s getting really good reviews, so I’m curious. I think it would be a good option for anyone who enjoys horror films, especially urban legends. Will you dare say the Candyman’s name in front of a mirror five times? To this day, people are still afraid to tempt fate. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings I have a feeling Shang-Chi might be the most impressive film of 2021. It’s also getting excellent reviews and premiering only in theaters on September 3rd. Shang-Chi looks like a breath of fresh for the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a new protagonist and a completely different setting. I’m sure it will tie into the overall MCU story, but it should also be a decent stand alone film. It should be entertaining for anyone who enjoys martial arts movies. Allegedly, it will go on Disney+ forty-five days after it debuts in theaters. Malignant Honestly, I don’t know anything about this horror film. It’s going to be on HBO Max, so I’m checking it out. Seriously, you guys should subscribe to HBO Max. It’s one of the better streaming services and criminally underrated. We can stream it on September 10th. No Time to Die Daniel Craig is definitely my least favorite James Bond, but the trailers look very convincing. It’s finally coming out on October 8th. I don’t think Amazon is going to push it back anymore. Regardless of audience turnout, they’ll probably release it in theaters anyway. Let’s face it. Movies aren’t going to be profitable for a couple years. I wish they could release it directly on Amazon Prime, but that will probably violate some type of contract. Keep in mind, Amazon bought MGM, so they get to make all the big decisions. It also means we’re going to see more MGM films on Amazon Prime. Halloween Kills Will the third Halloween movie really come out in 2021? I’m not sure. Hopefully, it’s a lot better than the previous Halloween release. Many people enjoyed the semi-reboot with Jamie Lee Curtis, but I just thought it was another dumb Halloween film. I should keep my expectations low for this one. Some tension and effective death scenes might be good enough to impress me. At this point, this movie is premiering exclusively in theaters on October 15th. Dune I lost interest in this film until it became part of the HBO Max slate. Basically, Dune is a massive space opera with heavy social commentary. It was also based on a really long sci-fi book. Warner Bros. delayed it several times and the current release date is October 22nd. I don’t think it will be a good idea to delay it again. Even without a pandemic, it doesn’t seem like the type of movie that would generate box office sales. It seems more like a niche sci-fi release. I’m also pretty sure it will be very long; probably two and half to three hours. Why pay for movie tickets? A viewing on HBO Max should be fine. Last Night in Soho Have you seen the trailers for this horror movie? It looks super trippy. Last Night in Soho is debuting only in theaters on October 29th. If you’re still going to movie theaters, it might be a fun watch for Halloween. I’m not entirely sure what’s happening in this film, but it seems like psychological horror. The protagonist appears to have more than one identity in different time periods. I’m very curious, although the movie will probably be really weird. We’ll see it’s really a theatrical release only. I could picture the studio giving it a simultaneous PVOD release on iTunes. Antlers Darn it! I want my monster movie! Is that such an unreasonable demand? I’ve been waiting for this film to come out since April of 2020. Now the release date is October 29th, right before Halloween. That’s actually a good release strategy. Even if the pandemic gets worse in the Fall, Disney will probably keep it on the schedule. They obtained Antlers from the 20th Century Fox acquisition. So, it must debut in theaters instead of streaming because that was part of the deal. That means I’ll have to wait until it drops on PVOD or streaming. Check out this one if you like gruesome monster films. It should be fun. The Harder They Fall Here’s a rare western that debuting on Netflix. It looks pretty interesting with a release date on November 3rd. We don’t have to pay extra money for this film, so let’s give it a chance. Lately, Netflix is producing content that has similar or better quality than major studios. Streaming movies get a bad rap, but Hollywood in general seems to have issues. Eternals I don’t know what to think about this film. The trailers are unbelievably weird. It doesn’t look particularly accessible to the public, kind of like Dune. Also, I don’t know if Eternals will actually reach its November 5th release date. Disney might delay it to 2022 if the pandemic gets worse. Alternatively, they could switch to Premiere Access on Disney+, even though the situation with Black Widow was a disaster. Be honest. Did you really care about seeing Black Widow? Does anyone want to Eternals? I’m pretty sure most Marvel fans are waiting for Shang-Chi, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Thor, and future releases. But this movie is part of the MCU, so I’ll give it a chance. Ghostbusters: Afterlife Are you guys looking forward another Ghostbusters movie? I’m actually looking forward to this one because it’s nostalgic. The Real Ghosbusters was one of my favorite childhood cartoon shows. Afterlife seems more like a traditional Ghostbusters film with a mixture of whimsy, humor, and mild scares. Sony also brought back several of the original cast members, including Bill Murray and Annie Potts. It’s coming to theaters on Novembers 11th, unless Sony pushes it back again. Red Notice This Netflix original appears to be a spy thriller and action movie with Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. I like this trio of actors and it’s going to be on Netflix on November 12th, so count me in! Honestly, it probably won’t be worse than anything else coming out in 2021. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City Let’s face it. There’s no such thing as a good Resident Evil film. In fact, video game adaptations are usually awful in general. But that’s not always the point. Sometimes, moviegoers just want to watch something fun, interesting, and maybe scary in some cases. Welcome to Raccoon City is a total reboot of the Resident Evil film series, which is good because this brand needs a fresh beginning. At the moment, this film is debuting in theaters on November 24th, but that seems like a really weird release date for a horror flick. I’m going to temper my expectations and wait for streaming or PVOD. Spider-Man: No Way Home This movie sounds like the most convoluted Spider-Man film of all time. It’s going to have a multiverse, including heroes and villains from much earlier Spider-Man movies. I appreciate seeing Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, but this film could become a really confusing mess. We’ll just see what happens. It might also be a fantastic experience if everything comes together. Is this film really coming out in theaters on December 17th? It might depend on the situation with COVID. Truthfully, Sony could delay this film to 2022 and it shouldn’t hurt Marvel’s schedule very much. The Matrix: Resurrections Sure, let’s check out another Matrix film. The sequels didn’t make a lot of sense, so this one could redeem the series. I always thought the franchise had one great entry and everything else was a bunch of nonsense. Warner Bros. hasn’t released many details about this movie, which is a little strange because it’s supposed to premiere in theaters and HBO Max on December 22nd. I have a feeling Warner Bros will push this long awaited sequel to 2022. Additionally, they won’t have to dump it on HBO Max if it runs into the 2022 calendar. September is right on top of us, so a December release date seems unlikely. Regardless, I hope it will be an interesting film anyway. The King’s Man You won’t believe the delays for this movie. Seriously, The King’s Man was supposed to have a theatrical release in November 0f 2019. It was supposed to premiere before the pandemic! That’s insane! Disney can’t dump it on streaming because all of their films from 20th Century Fox were supposed to have theatrical releases. I can’t imagine another delay, so they’ll probably bite the bullet and release it in the Winter anyway. On the positive side, the Kingsman films are a lot of fun. I highly recommend both of the current movies. This prequel might be worth the wait. That’s everything I can identify for the last quarter of 2021. Several earlier releases are on my radar because I’m waiting for PVOD or streaming, including Free Guy, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, Old, The Night House, and Don’t Breathe 2. A couple of current streaming movies are also on my list of things watch, such as Reminiscence on HBO Max and Sweet Girl on Netflix. I also heard Venom: Let There Be Carnage is being delayed to next year. Some time in 2022, I’ll give you my complete list of favorite and least favorite movies from 2021. It’ll take some time for me to catch up with the PVOD releases. Are you looking forward to any movies at the end of the year? What do you think is happening to the movie schedule in 2022? Do you think the pandemic will change theatrical release strategies permanently? Leave your thoughts in the comment section. Be really careful if you’re visiting movie theaters. I also recommend a booster shot when it becomes available later this year. Thanks a bundle to everyone who’s trying to be safe. I really appreciate the effort. Keep watching for more content and have a good week! |
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May 2019
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