Kate's guide to cheap video game thrills

Until recently, Paul and I operated on a much less restricted budget; that is, we thought nothing of buying a new video game once in a while (especially if they were on sale!). Now that we've gone into one-income mode, our entertainment budget has dwindled to next to nothing. We've had to become a lot more creative about how we satisfy our inner geeks.

I know we're not the only one living on the cheap right now. Plenty of sites have great tips for free or low-cost entertainment, such as going to museums on free or pay-what-you-can days. (This guide is a good starting place.) But there are quite a few ways that bored geeks can get a cheap video game fix, too.

It's important you notice I said "cheap," not "free." That's because there aren't too many ways to keep your budget truly at zero without leeching bandwidth from your neighbors or pirating things online. And since those aren't kosher, we're not going to talk about them here. Instead, these are ways to get a lot of bang for your buck:

• When buying games, consider their replay value. I've bought plenty of games through the years that were fun to play the first time ... and only the first time. One franchise that comes to mind is the Pokemon series. After you beat it, the biggest thrill is "collecting them all" – and that can be tedious. It's all subjective, but a couple of franchises I could play over and over include the Castlevania series and the Super Mario series.
  
• Get an console network subscription. Xbox Live Gold is $9 a month; the Playstation Network and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (for both the Wii and the DS) are free. These subscriptions allow you to play with others remotely. Xbox Live makes up for its $9 fee; the system runs smoothly with few connection issues. I've found Wi-Fi for the DS to be much spottier ... but then again, it's free.
• Choose single-cartridge multiplayer games if you have more than one controller or handheld. Among DS games, Tetris DS, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and New Super Mario Bros. have single-cartridge play. But make sure you check the box for details; other handheld games, such as Animal Crossing: Wild World and Pokemon Diamond and Pearl require each player to have their own cartridge to play. It's easier to pick out multiplayer console games, but if you need some hand-holding, try Wii Sports, Mario Party, Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
• Check for used games. A lot of websites, including eBay and Gamestop.com, sell used games at decent prices – sometimes lower than new-game prices at big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Just make sure you add in the cost of shipping before you snag that "great deal" online. If you're into instant gratification, you can buy used games at Gamestop stores as well as locally run game/movie resellers.
• Trade games, and I'm not just talking about with friends. There are plenty of online forums in which members can trade games already in their collection, which means you're essentially paying only for shipping. This can be a much better deal than selling your old games online or to a reseller. One caveat if you're trading games online: Be careful about the people with whom you trade. Use common sense.
• If you knock out games quickly, try Gamefly, which works much the same way as Netflix does for DVDs. The upsides are that the selection is good and the monthly fee is fairly low ($16/month to have one game out at a time, $22/month for two games) – certainly cheaper than buying even one game a month. But there are a couple of big downsides. One is shipping time, which is dictated by how close you live to one of their warehouses. Another is that you lose value if you play games slowly (like me!). While you can knock out a Netflix movie in two hours and pop it back in the mail, many video games have play times between 10 and 20 hours, which translates into fewer games a month unless you sit on your butt all weekend to finish a game.
• If you're into PC games, look for ones with no monthly subscription. A few of these games, such as Maplestory, are free to download and free to play. Other games, such as Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4, are free to play but require the initial purchase of the game.
• And here's a bonus tip: For movies, check out Netflix for its instant queue feature. My Netflix subscription is $9 a month – which allows me to have one DVD out at a time – and most Netflix subscriptions come with instant queue. More than 12,000 movies and TV shows are available to stream over your computer, and if you own an Xbox, TiVo HD DVR, or some Internet-connected Blu-Ray players, you can stream them to your TV as well. We actually get more use out of instant queue than the DVD service.
  

If you know of any other free or cheap geek thrills, post them in the comments. I'm always looking for new ways of getting my fix for less.