New Poll: Purchasing Downloadable Games

How often do you purchase downloadable games? Are you a regular Steam user? Do you buy games from Xbox Live Arcade every month? Do you like to spend your money in the PSN shop? Or are you a retro-gamer who likes to raid Nintendo's back catalogue on the Wii? Wherever you're spending your money on downloadable games, we want to know!

Comments

[Behrooz 'Bezman' Shahriari]

Since I caught up with the latest generation, I've been buying XBox LA games reasonably frequently. The demos have definitely increased the likelihood of my buying specific games.

I actually only really posted to complain about your usage of the word 'regularly'. If I had bought an online game once every 15 months, on the dot, since I was able, that would be exceedingly regularly, though not frequent. Seems to me the word 'regular' is being increasingly used to mean 'frequent'. This would be fine (I understand that language evolves of course), except that it doesn't really have a perfect synonym to replace its meaning!

Save the word 'regular'! Use frequent instead!

[Chargone]

only games i ever bought online and downloaded were expansions to paradox games, and only because that's the only way to get most of them most of the time [until they bring out their 'complete' editions a couple of years later, anyway] and a few x-box 360 demos. [less since they made the interface for that SUCK]

also, the whole regular/frequent thing gives me pause, in that every time i run into the word 'regular' in this sort of context i have to stop and figure out what's actually meant by it, because it seems equally likely to go either way. confusing.

not sure which option all that adds up to though.

[Mory Buckman]

Just yesterday I bought Tetris Party for Wii. That brings the count of games I've downloaded for Wii (Virtual Console and WiiWare) to, um.. 11, I think. For comparison, I have 9 boxed Wii games.

The regular selection of Wii games is so limited, and it's so awkward for me to get them to Israel, that I spend much more time with the downloaded stuff. I also play emulated games on the homebrew channel, though much less often. I prefer the Virtual Console format, and I'm perfectly willing to pay for the games, but Nintendo is so stingy with what they put on VC.

For that matter, they're stingy with WiiWare too. The Art Style games have been brilliant, but there are only three of them. With all of Nintendo's resources, they ought to be able to churn out at least one brilliant game per month!

Maybe I should be thankful the market is so weird. If Nintendo actually tried to sell to me, I wouldn't have any money left!

But I'm getting a bit off-point. Yes, I buy downloadable games.

[Duncan]

I recently got an xbox 360. Microsoft has done something great by enforcing strict rules about demos for all their XBLA games. Having the hard drive space is handy too. I'd buy more WiiWare games if I had any ideas of how much I'd like them or actually play them before I had to put up the cash.

Truth be told, I'd probably buy a lot more games in general if I had more ready cash. Downloadables would be at the top of my list most times too, because I find myself with more small chunks of time than large ones and downloadable games tend toward that kind of play more than AAA games.

[Peter Crowther]

"No, I'm vaguely interested in purchasing downloadable games and download the odd demo but haven't yet found one I want."

Which option is that?

[Katherine]

I don't buy a lot of games, though I do prefer to buy them through Steam if I can, so I voted "Yes, but not often."

And I agree with Bezman about the use of regular/frequent :P

[Chris]

Hi all!

Frequent vs regular: I concede that "frequent" would have been clearer, but not that "regularly" isn't viable in this context. The three key contexts of this term are currently:

1. at regular intervals or times
2. according to plan or custom
3. usually, ordinarily

I am using it in sense (3).

But I accept that "frequently" would have been 'cleaner' in this context. But alas, once the poll is launched I'm stuck with it - hence the reason that "Druid" appears twice in the RPG classes poll. That rankled for me much worse than a minor language niggle! ;)

Mory: I got the email about your new artlet/game by the way, but I have been too swamped to do anything about it yet. I will get to it, though, it just might take a while.

Peter: clearly these straw polls are crude buckets. Do you download a lot of demos? If not, you fall by default into the final box. But you still have the option to post a clarification in a comment, of course, as indeed you have. :)

It also seems to me that if you haven't yet found one you want then you are currently "not interested in purchasing downloadable games" - although I appreciate the tenor of that claim feels very difference from the specifics of your situation!

Thanks for the comments everyone!

[Behrooz 'Bezman' Shahriari]

I think there's no reason to use that third meaning of 'regular' - there are perfectly good alternatives and doing so muddies up the other meanings of the word.

Anyway, I've said my piece. I think slightly less of you but only negligibly so.

;-p