See that. That’s every (boxed) Xbox 360 game I own. The Xbox being my primary console, every game there has been played to completion or there about at least once (Still playing through Lost Odyssey though). More than a few of those games I only own due to friends suggesting them to me under the impression that we can play co-op and multiplayer together. However, I don’t shit money.

The Xbox is a very multiplayer-centric console, I think. My most played games are easily due to the fact that I play online games with friends more than multiple campaign playthroughs. This is why I get irate when I buy a game on the advice of others only to find that no one actually wants to play said game.

I’m a tight-arse when it comes to buying games. Notice that the Gears of War 2 box is covered in Malaysian characters. That is because it is an import. It arrived a week after release for the sake of £15 off the RRP. To me a brand-spanking new game for that price a great deal, even for the small wait. However, I have none of the map-packs and have clocked hardly any time at all in the multiplayer (largely due to it being completely broken).

Another fine example: When Call of Duty: World at War was announced some of my friends instantly classed it as a day one purchase. I on the other hand never had much interest in the series even though I did enjoy Call of Duty 4, I just don’t care for most World War shooters. However this iteration was to have co-op and presumably another excellent online multiplayer so I decided to get it as well. On release day my buddies bought it for near it’s full RRP of £44.99 from retail stores and burned through it, whereas I got it a week later from ASDA for £27 exactly. By the time I had purchased it and wanted to give the multiplayer a spin with them, they were already sick to death of it.

A week. That’s all it had taken for them to be completely satisfied with their expenditure enough for them to rarely play it any more. Not even because it was a bad game. It’s quite good (broken spawns and offensive map pack matchmaking aside). Even now I don’t play much CoD:WaW because the people on my friends list seem to be like me in their taste for war shooters and like you I much prefer the company of friend list members when playing a game. I will play almost any game if it is with friends.

And now Rocket Riot and Worms 2: Armageddon are available and people are going weak in the knees and moist in the crotch over them. They’ve every reason to as they’re both excellent games. In fact I’d be buying them too if it weren’t for this clear fact: In a month or two, almost no one will be playing them. For games which the multiplayer is such a massively important feature, friend groups not playing together is big deal. It happens all of the time. Especially with pick-up-and-play arcade titles. Even now I have 1000 Microsoft pretend money points but I absolutely refuse to be nickel-and-dimed by impulse purchases just because they’re convenient and easy like so many of you people are. Hell, I even got those MS points free and I still don’t want to throw them away like that! I want to squeeze every drop of value from my purchases.

You should too, rich spoilt bastards!