Have you ever bought a game on release day?

[Croconaw]

I'm sure everyone has, but what prompts you to buy a game on release day over waiting to get it?

I had Wild World, New Leaf, and New Horizons on release day, although they were not purchased by myself.

I have College Football 25 pre-ordered. It releases at the end of July. I've been waiting for this game for years. It was very important for me to buy this game on release day. The inevitable release of this game was a huge reason I got an XBOX Series X. My dad actually bought the console for me, but I really wanted one!

 

[Neb]

I tend to buy games on launch only if I am really excited about it, have been anticipating it a while, and I’m confident I’ll like it. If a game interests me, but I’m not not sure it’ll be great, I wait a little bit and see how well other players have received it well. There’s been several times I was looking forward to a game, bought it on launch, and regretted it since it was bad and didn't see what other fans thought. The worst example is Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town. I bought it on launch digitally without checking reviews, the game was bland and awful, and I had no way to get a refund or sell it. Now it’s rotting on my Switch’s redownload tab in the eShop forever.

 

[Chris]

I used to do it all the time. The price of new games has risen so much now (and I've much less time for playing them) that I only bother for games I'm really excited for. I can't remember the last time I bought a game at launch. Maybe Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life last summer.

 

[-Blue-]

I can't remember any time I have done that except for maybe New Horizon. But even then I am not sure if it was on release day or not. Most times it was because I couldn't afford the game because of being a kid and now as a adult I have other responsibilities so those come first and I usually get around to playing the game later. Which sometimes helps because then reviews come in and I can avoid some bad games that way.

 

[Seastar]

It really depends on if it can be afforded. I usually cannot and the last time I did this was when Kirby and the Forgotten Land came out.
If I could afford it, I would have gotten Splatoon 3 at launch, but no.

 

[~Kilza~]

Yes, I'll always buy a game on release day whenever it's something I want to play right away. It's happened a fair number of times over the years lately, I think I usually do it at least once a year. I picked up 3 games last year on release day (Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4, Pikmin 1 + 2), and while I haven't done so for any games so far this year, there's a couple I'm likely to buy on release day (Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Super Mario Party Jamboree).

 

[Pyoopi]

The biggest reason would be I'm really excited for it and can't wait to play it. Also, let's say it's PvP or multiplayer and the game has some kind of learning curve, I want to play with everyone new and not feel too embarrassed to be bumbling around, lol. Like at least there'll be a good handful of dumb newbies with me.

There will definitely two this year I'll preorder.

 

[ShadowLelouch97]

I've bought countless games on release day. I'm usually driven by the hype and excitement of a new game to play.

Noteworthy titles include: Astral Chain, Luigi's Mansion 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)/Black Ops 2, Pokemon Ultra Violet, Pokemon Shield, and Pokemon Scarlet.

 

[Xara]

I usually only get a game on release day if I'm 100% sure I'm going to like it and/or am so excited about it that I want to play asap! I'm pretty picky about the games I buy though, so this has only happened a few times. I've also taken to preordering games rather than buying them directly on release day the past few years, but I might go back to the latter since sometimes I don't receive my preorder on release day (the store won't let me pick it up for whatever reason, the game releases on a Friday and so I don't receive it in the mail until Monday etc).

I got New Leaf, New Horizons and either Style Savvy: Trendsetters or Fashion Forward (idr which) on their release days, and preordered Mario Party Superstars and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (the remake)!

 

[Doo]

I preordered New Horizons but it didn’t arrive until a few days after release, so i dont know if that counts
I bought Pikmin 4 pretty much as soon as it came out, and also Kirby and the Forgotten Land (maybe a week or so after release?). I’ve had a busy few years so I didn’t always have time to be looking into games.
I got ACNH right away because… didn’t we all? I really enjoyed Pikmin 3 on the Wii U, plus there was a demo for Pikmin 4 that I loved, so I got that. There was also a demo for Kirby so that’s why I got that.
I got Splatoon 3 shortly after release too - because I borrowed a copy of Splat2 and enjoyed that.

Basically, if there’s a demo before release and I’m really excited for the game, I’ll get it right away. Otherwise I’ll wait and see some reviews. Depends how busy I am too to be honest.

(I didn’t buy my own games before the Switch.)

 

[S.J.]

I definitely do occasionally, just for the fun of having it on release day. Just looking through things I've pre-ordered to pick up on release day, the most recent ones were Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (November 2022), Splatoon 3 (September 2022), and Kirby and the Forgotten Land (March 2022). It doesn't look like I got any games on release day in 2023, and so far, none this year!

I'll definitely pick up Super Mario Party Jamboree on release day, and very likely LoZ: Echoes of Wisdom. I have a bunch of games I haven't gotten around to playing, so anything else is TBD! I intended to get Princess Peach: Showtime! on release day, but given the aforementioned list of games I still need to play, I've held off.

 

[Sheando]

I only do this very infrequently. I bought New Horizons on release day because I'm a huge fan of the franchise, and because the lockdown meant that my partner and I had a huge amount of sudden free time (and additional stress). I have fond memories of playing together for multiple hours a day.

I've also been playing Destiny 2 (a large-scale first-person shooter set in a kind of space fantasy universe) off and on for over a decade. That game has a huge new seasonal release every 12-18 months or so, and for a while there I had a small group of friends who were also playing together regularly. So when the Beyond Light release dropped, I got it on release day and spent multiple hours trying to log in alongside the rest of the world, haha. But I haven't done that with every expansion.

I work at a library, so now I tend to just put games on hold in advance if they look interesting. I always end up waiting a few months for the hold list to reach me, but it's much cheaper than paying 59.99 for every single title that interests me. These days I only buy games like AC, Mario Kart, Pokemon, or other games that are going to be played and replayed over many months or years. Shorter games like a Mario or Sonic platformer are better to rent from the library and play for a month before returning.