When do you buy new games/consoles?

[Starry]

Judging from the "most anticipated games thread," most of us have a few games coming up in the next year or two that we're pretty excited for. Persona 5, Starfox, Fire Emblem Fates, Yarn Yoshi, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Yook-a-Laylee, etc. Many of us would like these games to be out in the stores by tomorrow, but what if they were.

Let's say a game or console that you are really excited about/are interested in comes out tomorrow. Do you go out and buy it immediately? Wait for the reviews? Wait for a price drop? Pre-order it? Etc.

I'm usually one to wait for a price drop or sale, especially for consoles. Although, recently, I've been more of the habit of waiting for reviews. Most consoles and games drop in price after a few months, but by a lot of their content is spoiled everywhere by the internet, so if most reviews of the console or game are good, then I go out and buy it ASAP.

[Rocket]

I usually buy games soon after they come out, after I see other people start an LP of it online and I see decent reviews. Although sometimes I have to wait for a price drop, because our family isn't the richest, and the games can be expensive.

[Dragonite]

Depends on the game. I bought X the day it came out and finished it that same weekend, went to GameStop at midnight for AlphaSapphire, and a few other games the day they came out or shortly after. Pre-ordered Mario Maker weeks ago, probably going to have a hundred hours on it by the end of September. A couple indie devs I know reasonably well, whenever they publish something on Steam I'll probably own within a few hours. Games that I'm like 95% sure I'll be all over, I'll get on the first day or first week or so.

Other than that, I can wait. Steam has sales on digital games all the time, and Nintendo has been known to do them too. If you really feel like waiting, you can get most games used on Amazon for like five or ten dollars. I'm not strictly against spending money (I have a job and save like 95% of what I make) but it's always nice when you get a $40 game for about a third of the price.

[Tuxy]

If it's a game I've been anticipating for ages, I usually buy it as soon as it comes out, sometimes I preorder.
For everything else, I wait until I know more about it (reviews, Let's Plays, friends' opinions, etc.). That can be anywhere from a week after release to three years later.

[Blade Lord Nayru]

I decide what games I want based on some reviews and what people talk about, but when I get them depends entirely on when I have money and when I can access a gaming store. Even then, them having it in stock is quite unlikely until maybe 4 months after the release.

TL;DR: I buy them when I get the chance.

[Aaron]

I try to buy new games as close to their initial release date as possible. I don't like to miss out on the fun while I see other people enjoying it. If I can't, though, I normally just buy them whenever I have enough money.

[Kyoits]

Personally, it depends on how hype I am for that game. When Smash Bros came out, I got it as soon as it was released because it was my most anticipated game at the time. I have never attempted or thought of ever pre-ordering a game.

[Growth]

I rarely ever buy games anymore. It has to be really good at a first glance to catch my attention.

That said, I pre-order every game that interest me whenever pre-order is available, assuming I have the cash at the time to pay for it. Right now I'm mashing the refresh button daily on Battle.net because I want to pre-order Legion.

[ShadowMr.L]

With most games, I wait a little bit, see if I like any of the gameplay, and lookout for reviews. I make my choice then.

Also, I wait for price drops, so there's that.

[marissachu]

I went with the "I wait until a good number of decent reviews are out there" option because I feel like that probably fits best with my approach to purchasing games. Unless it's something I'm incredibly hyped about or almost guaranteed to enjoy (like, say, a new main series Pokemon game), I tend to hesitate a looong time before buying. I mean even on games I want I'll usually wait until I'm sure that my life would be happier with the game than without.

It's also somewhat a matter of frugality, especially when it comes to consoles. At this point, I'm pretty much not going to get a Wii U and am just hoping maybe one will magically appear in my household before something I really want comes out on it. Consoles just cost too much money for me to buy them for one or two games that I'll play for a few hours alone. x_x