My mother and her roommate are moving this weekend, and did a little bit of destashing to avoid packing and transporting things they hadn't used in a while and likely wouldn't use again. I got to enjoy their clearing out a little bit, and I now have five new board games: Trivial Pursuit, Trivial Pursuit TV edition (from the very early 90s, and I'm lucky if I can answer one question every 10 cards), Battleship, a Lord of the Rings trivia game (this had never been used at all, as all of the question cards were still wrapped in plastic and the cardboard pieces hadn't been punched out), and one of the CSI board games.
I enjoy board games more than a lot of people these days, the downside to which is that few people ever want to play them with me. But I'm fortunate to have a couple of friends (including my roommate) who enjoy a good board game every once in a while, so this is going to give us even more ways to enjoy our time together.
Playing Trivial Pursuit is rather fun, since half the time if we don't know the answer we just give some sarcastic pat answer that doesn't make any sense in relation to the question. I try to have one sarcastic answer that I use all the time, which gets some really funny reactions sometimes.
I'm really looking forward to playing the Lord of the Rings trivia game most of all, though, but it'll be a while before I do. All of the questions are in relation to the books, which I don't know quite as well as the movies, so I want to read the books once more (and make sure my friends have read them) before we play. This'll undoubtedly save a lot of annoyance on all sides.
It really is great to get things like these games. I didn't spend any money getting them, have additional entertainment for when I'm bored, and in a way, helped my mother with moving, since she didn't have to pack these and cart them halfway across the city.
On a similar note, this is also why I love Value Village. They often have a lot of board games and puzzles for low prices, usually $2-5. Puzzles are a real hit-or-miss thing there, since there's never any guarantee that all the pieces are in the box, but sometimes you can tell right away if all the pieces of a game are there, making it easier to choose which to buy. I stood in line behind a family once who bought 7-10 games and puzzles around Christmas last year, as gifts for family, and I know some people who go there to buy new games for when they go away on a camping vacation, to help keep the kids amused. It's amazing the amount of entertainment you can get practically for a song!
Hmmm, now if only I could really sing for my games. That would be cheaper still!
Showing posts with label entertainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entertainment. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
21 things to do that don't cost money
A lot of people love to claim that entertainment these days is expensive and that it's nigh impossible to have a good time without spending a lot of money. They're right, so long as your idea of a good time involves going to concerts and seeing a new movie in theatres with your family every weekend.
But there are a lot of free ways to entertain yourself these days, even ones that are fun for the whole family. The shame is that so many people overlook them.
So here's a list of ways to keep yourself entertained that don't cost you a penny. (Some of them may require Internet access, but I assume if you're reading this blog, you already have that.)
1) Visit your local library - If your local library's anything like mine, not only will you have access to a lot of books to keep you entertained, but also video tapes, DVDs, and music CDs. If your library doesn't have what you're looking for, ask about inter-library loans. Plenty of libraries have book clubs, too, which can add a community experience to the event.
2) Take a walk - Either alone or with friends and family, going for a walk is a great way to pass the time and get exercise in. If you have small children, consider a nature hike. Challenge yourself or your friends to see how far you can walk in a day before you're too tired out to keep going.
3) Learn a new language - There are a ton of websites that offer introductory language lessons for free. I can't say you'll become proficient using only online tools, but you can certainly get a good feel for the basics of grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary for a lot of world languages, and even some fully-functional made-up languages.
4) Read or watch TV online - I already made posts about free online books and TV channels in Canada.
5) Listen to podcasts - Podcasts these days can range from general observations on just about any subject you're interested in, to full audiobooks written and read by up-and-coming authors. I myself have a backlog of over 500 hours of podcasts to listen to, and I didn't spend a cent on any of them.
6) Start a blog - Or join message boards. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that everybody has something to say, and there are always people out there willing to listen to your opinion. Take advantage of that. Write, and build a community around yourself.
7) Browse your local Freecycle listing or Craigslist for free hobby supplies. - Books, yarn, cloth, furniture, there's always somebody giving it away for free, and there's no reason you should spend money when you can recycle and reuse and get the same benefits. More benefits, even, because you're taking part in both helping somebody declutter and saving usable things from landfills.
8) Volunteer - If you're so inclined, join a volunteer group in your area. Spend time with underprivileged kids, teach an adult to read, serve food to the homeless, or any number of things.
9) Play games - From board games in the closet to free online games, this sort of thing can keep you busy for hours! I speak from experience.
10) Go Dumpster-Diving - Your Mileage May Vary on this one, but I hear that Dumpster Diving is very entertaining and even profitable. Plenty of stores and companies just throw things away even when they're still perfectly good. From fabrics in no-longer-popular colours to canned food that the grocery store has decided to stop carrying, if you go with an open mind and a pair of rubber gloves, you can come away with plenty to keep you busy or fed for weeks! (A movie store I used to work at would rip the covers from unsold game guides and movie books and just throw them away. I can't count how many free game guides I got this way. Movie theatres will put the night's leftover popcorn into a single bag, nothing else in it, and throw it out though it's still perfectly edible. They can't sell it, often can't donate it, so they trash it. And their loss can be your gain.)
11) Be a local tourist - Cities often give tourist info away for free, and you'd be amazed at what you don't know about your hometown that tourists do because you've never taken the time to explore. Act like a tourist, look around, and I bet you'll learn things that you didn't even know you didn't know!
12) Learn a new skill - Instructional diagrams and videos are all over the Internet these days, so why not think of a skill you don't have that you want to learn, and go learn it. Juggling, quilting, knitting, bookbinding, any number of things! You can often learn the basics in only a few hours, and practice take care of the rest.
13) Alphabetize your books - It may not sound exciting, but it takes up some time, and you may come across books that you'd forgotten you even had.
14) Organize a neighbourhood yard sale - Not only will you get rid of stuff you no longer need, but you'll also get a little bit of cash for it, and have a chance to meet and greet your neighbours.
15) Get involved in a barter community - Just because you're not spending any money doesn't mean you can't get something new. If you have a local barter group, or can find one online, why not barter your skills or homemade stuff for something that somebody else has or does. It doesn't cost you anything (assuming you've got the materials on hand to trade, that is), and you get something new in return.
16) Make your own recycled paper - It's easier than it sounds. Take non-glossy flyers that plague just about everybody, rip 'em up, put 'em in a pot with some water, then wait until they're a soggy mess. Layer that mess on something that the water can drip through (old window screen work perfectly for this) and when it's dry, voila! Your own coloured recycled paper!
17) Read back entries of blogs - I love starting from the beginning when it comes to blogs, because I get to see how people started and go along with them until I get to today. I can learn skills that they wrote about once but may not reference often, or find link to other fascinating blogs and bloggers that they may no longer be in contact with for whatever reason. And if nothing else, if the blog is interesting, then I just enjoy reading it for the sake of reading it.
18) Clean up - Not the most exciting task in the world, but it does take up your time, doesn't cost you anything, and is beneficial in the long run. I myself ought to pay closer attention to this suggestion sometimes...
19) Take a bubble bath - Yes, men, even you! Bubble baths can be wonderfully relaxing things, good for destressing, and just taking a little bit of personal time to ignore the world and find your focus again.
20) Improve your cooking - See what delicious things you can make using the ingredients you already have in the house. Get a little creative and experiment with new flavours, look up recipes online or in recipe books, and try something new. It can be a lot of fun.
21) Go to gallery exhibits - Some art galleries and museums will have open-to-the-public exhibits, so check them out when you have the chance. You'll have the chance to meet people with similar tastes, and perhaps even meet the artists themselves! And you'll get to spend a great afternoon surrounded by culture.
Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list, and additional ideas can be found all over the place online. But it's a good start to filling your days with interesting and exciting events when you're really low on cash, and given the economy these days, finding free entertainment is getting to be high on a lot of priority lists.
(As a little aside, too, Sudsmuffin is having their anniversary contest, so drop by their blog and enter for the chance to win some free stuff to pamper yourself with.)
But there are a lot of free ways to entertain yourself these days, even ones that are fun for the whole family. The shame is that so many people overlook them.
So here's a list of ways to keep yourself entertained that don't cost you a penny. (Some of them may require Internet access, but I assume if you're reading this blog, you already have that.)
1) Visit your local library - If your local library's anything like mine, not only will you have access to a lot of books to keep you entertained, but also video tapes, DVDs, and music CDs. If your library doesn't have what you're looking for, ask about inter-library loans. Plenty of libraries have book clubs, too, which can add a community experience to the event.
2) Take a walk - Either alone or with friends and family, going for a walk is a great way to pass the time and get exercise in. If you have small children, consider a nature hike. Challenge yourself or your friends to see how far you can walk in a day before you're too tired out to keep going.
3) Learn a new language - There are a ton of websites that offer introductory language lessons for free. I can't say you'll become proficient using only online tools, but you can certainly get a good feel for the basics of grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary for a lot of world languages, and even some fully-functional made-up languages.
4) Read or watch TV online - I already made posts about free online books and TV channels in Canada.
5) Listen to podcasts - Podcasts these days can range from general observations on just about any subject you're interested in, to full audiobooks written and read by up-and-coming authors. I myself have a backlog of over 500 hours of podcasts to listen to, and I didn't spend a cent on any of them.
6) Start a blog - Or join message boards. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that everybody has something to say, and there are always people out there willing to listen to your opinion. Take advantage of that. Write, and build a community around yourself.
7) Browse your local Freecycle listing or Craigslist for free hobby supplies. - Books, yarn, cloth, furniture, there's always somebody giving it away for free, and there's no reason you should spend money when you can recycle and reuse and get the same benefits. More benefits, even, because you're taking part in both helping somebody declutter and saving usable things from landfills.
8) Volunteer - If you're so inclined, join a volunteer group in your area. Spend time with underprivileged kids, teach an adult to read, serve food to the homeless, or any number of things.
9) Play games - From board games in the closet to free online games, this sort of thing can keep you busy for hours! I speak from experience.
10) Go Dumpster-Diving - Your Mileage May Vary on this one, but I hear that Dumpster Diving is very entertaining and even profitable. Plenty of stores and companies just throw things away even when they're still perfectly good. From fabrics in no-longer-popular colours to canned food that the grocery store has decided to stop carrying, if you go with an open mind and a pair of rubber gloves, you can come away with plenty to keep you busy or fed for weeks! (A movie store I used to work at would rip the covers from unsold game guides and movie books and just throw them away. I can't count how many free game guides I got this way. Movie theatres will put the night's leftover popcorn into a single bag, nothing else in it, and throw it out though it's still perfectly edible. They can't sell it, often can't donate it, so they trash it. And their loss can be your gain.)
11) Be a local tourist - Cities often give tourist info away for free, and you'd be amazed at what you don't know about your hometown that tourists do because you've never taken the time to explore. Act like a tourist, look around, and I bet you'll learn things that you didn't even know you didn't know!
12) Learn a new skill - Instructional diagrams and videos are all over the Internet these days, so why not think of a skill you don't have that you want to learn, and go learn it. Juggling, quilting, knitting, bookbinding, any number of things! You can often learn the basics in only a few hours, and practice take care of the rest.
13) Alphabetize your books - It may not sound exciting, but it takes up some time, and you may come across books that you'd forgotten you even had.
14) Organize a neighbourhood yard sale - Not only will you get rid of stuff you no longer need, but you'll also get a little bit of cash for it, and have a chance to meet and greet your neighbours.
15) Get involved in a barter community - Just because you're not spending any money doesn't mean you can't get something new. If you have a local barter group, or can find one online, why not barter your skills or homemade stuff for something that somebody else has or does. It doesn't cost you anything (assuming you've got the materials on hand to trade, that is), and you get something new in return.
16) Make your own recycled paper - It's easier than it sounds. Take non-glossy flyers that plague just about everybody, rip 'em up, put 'em in a pot with some water, then wait until they're a soggy mess. Layer that mess on something that the water can drip through (old window screen work perfectly for this) and when it's dry, voila! Your own coloured recycled paper!
17) Read back entries of blogs - I love starting from the beginning when it comes to blogs, because I get to see how people started and go along with them until I get to today. I can learn skills that they wrote about once but may not reference often, or find link to other fascinating blogs and bloggers that they may no longer be in contact with for whatever reason. And if nothing else, if the blog is interesting, then I just enjoy reading it for the sake of reading it.
18) Clean up - Not the most exciting task in the world, but it does take up your time, doesn't cost you anything, and is beneficial in the long run. I myself ought to pay closer attention to this suggestion sometimes...
19) Take a bubble bath - Yes, men, even you! Bubble baths can be wonderfully relaxing things, good for destressing, and just taking a little bit of personal time to ignore the world and find your focus again.
20) Improve your cooking - See what delicious things you can make using the ingredients you already have in the house. Get a little creative and experiment with new flavours, look up recipes online or in recipe books, and try something new. It can be a lot of fun.
21) Go to gallery exhibits - Some art galleries and museums will have open-to-the-public exhibits, so check them out when you have the chance. You'll have the chance to meet people with similar tastes, and perhaps even meet the artists themselves! And you'll get to spend a great afternoon surrounded by culture.
Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list, and additional ideas can be found all over the place online. But it's a good start to filling your days with interesting and exciting events when you're really low on cash, and given the economy these days, finding free entertainment is getting to be high on a lot of priority lists.
(As a little aside, too, Sudsmuffin is having their anniversary contest, so drop by their blog and enter for the chance to win some free stuff to pamper yourself with.)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Free online TV in Canada.
So I promised a post earlier last week about free online TV for Canadians. Most of the free online TV channels that gets mentioned a lot are, sadly, for Americans only, which means that even though Canada gets American stations, we can't watch them for free online.
I can see some degree of sense in that. After all, most of the free channels a person can get are local anyway, and another country's stations don't count as local. We'd pay to get access to them. So I can see why official sites and the like wouldn't give free online TV to Canada.
But there are plenty of unofficial sites that host TV shows that don't have a TV station that one would pay for anyway, and yet will only broadcast if it detects that you have an American IP address. Meaning that great sites like Hulu are out if you happen to live in the frigid north.
We do have our options, though, limited though they may be. And I'm not just talking about sites like YouTube or GoogleVideo or other such sites. They're great, and I use them all the time, but for those concerned about doing things the legal way, the TV shows you watch on those sites are often uploaded illegally, without copyright holder consent. It's a risk you have to take when watching shows on sites like that.
(For those that don't mind dubious legality, though, you can always use SurfTheChannel to find TV shows, movies, documentaries, and so on, that have been uploaded to free video sites.)
But as for the legal stuff...
Global has videos for a lot of the most recent primetime shows. Downside is that if you happen to be interested in a show but haven't seen it from the beginning, you're out of luck, since they don't keep man back episodes on hand to watch.
The Comedy Network is great... if you're into comedy and/or watch every single episode of South Park. (For some shows, you'll have to install SilverLight, a new Microsoft media product. It's not harmful or annoying in itself, but I hate having to download programs that I'll only use to watch one of two things on one site.)
CTV isn't bad, but it's much like Global in that you'd better only want the most recent episodes, or at best the most recent season.
The Discovery Channel seems to, thankfully, have a few more options for back episodes, and is great if your tastes tend towards educational as well as entertaining. Even if you can't access entire back seasons, though, you're not likely to start watching halfway through a story arc of some kind, which makes this a bit more tolerable than on other stations.
Really, aside from news channels, that pretty much cover the big-name stations that give us some online show access. But still, considering it's free and actually accessible in Canada, I can't complain too much. I don't watch much TV as it is, but it's nice to know that if the mood takes me, I can watch a little without paying extra for it, even if my choices are limited if I don't want to come into something halfway through Season 4.
I can see some degree of sense in that. After all, most of the free channels a person can get are local anyway, and another country's stations don't count as local. We'd pay to get access to them. So I can see why official sites and the like wouldn't give free online TV to Canada.
But there are plenty of unofficial sites that host TV shows that don't have a TV station that one would pay for anyway, and yet will only broadcast if it detects that you have an American IP address. Meaning that great sites like Hulu are out if you happen to live in the frigid north.
We do have our options, though, limited though they may be. And I'm not just talking about sites like YouTube or GoogleVideo or other such sites. They're great, and I use them all the time, but for those concerned about doing things the legal way, the TV shows you watch on those sites are often uploaded illegally, without copyright holder consent. It's a risk you have to take when watching shows on sites like that.
(For those that don't mind dubious legality, though, you can always use SurfTheChannel to find TV shows, movies, documentaries, and so on, that have been uploaded to free video sites.)
But as for the legal stuff...
Global has videos for a lot of the most recent primetime shows. Downside is that if you happen to be interested in a show but haven't seen it from the beginning, you're out of luck, since they don't keep man back episodes on hand to watch.
The Comedy Network is great... if you're into comedy and/or watch every single episode of South Park. (For some shows, you'll have to install SilverLight, a new Microsoft media product. It's not harmful or annoying in itself, but I hate having to download programs that I'll only use to watch one of two things on one site.)
CTV isn't bad, but it's much like Global in that you'd better only want the most recent episodes, or at best the most recent season.
The Discovery Channel seems to, thankfully, have a few more options for back episodes, and is great if your tastes tend towards educational as well as entertaining. Even if you can't access entire back seasons, though, you're not likely to start watching halfway through a story arc of some kind, which makes this a bit more tolerable than on other stations.
Really, aside from news channels, that pretty much cover the big-name stations that give us some online show access. But still, considering it's free and actually accessible in Canada, I can't complain too much. I don't watch much TV as it is, but it's nice to know that if the mood takes me, I can watch a little without paying extra for it, even if my choices are limited if I don't want to come into something halfway through Season 4.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Free books at your fingertips.
When it comes to free books, most people will advise that you go to the library, and this isn't a bad suggestion. Your local library's bound to have a ton of interesting books for you to peruse and read through, after all.
But if you're like me, there are going to be times where you wake up at 2 AM and can't get back to sleep, and you'll want to read some book you read a few weeks ago but had only borrowed, so it's not in your possession anymore. Waiting until the library opens to go and borrow it again isn't always the most convenient thing when we have jobs, families, any number of obligations that come before enjoyment.
To help combat this, I've turned to free books online. It's not the best solution ever, but it gives me great access to a lot of books without even having to leave the apartment. And best of all, because they're free and easily accessible, if I want to read them again at 2 in the morning, nothing stops me!
The Baen Free Library hosts a small (but still decently-sized) collection of fantasy and science fiction books published by Baen that are available to read for free online, or for personal download. I've made use of this site many times.
I'm sure most people have heard of Project Gutenberg by now, the site devoted to creating free online books that have an expired copyright. The expired copyright means that essentially the books are in the public domain, and Project Gutenberg is collecting them all to make them more public than antique stores and libraries can manage. Thise is a great site if you like the classics, or, like me, are interested in historical books or all kinds, since the expired copyright often means they're old and obscure.
Questia has a similar online free library of books with expired copyrights.
FullBooks.com is a site I only recently discovered, but it seems to have great potential. I found the autobiography of Helen Keller on here, and that's definitely been added to my "To Read" list!
WikiBooks is a compilation of open-source textbooks, and so if you trust open-source content (and/or can take it with a grain of salt if things don't seem to be adding up), then this can be a wonderful resource for anyone interested in continued learning. Very handy, I must say!
OnlineNovels.net is a site for authors to host their own novels and short stories and the like. You may be taking a chance on quality, but remember that not even unpublished author is unpublished because they can't write well.
If romance is your thing, why not try Public Bookshelf?
Literature Master has a lot more expired copyright books, though these are a bit easier to search through than Project Gutenberg, and are more likely to be ones you've heard of before.
This article has a listing of even more free online book services. Just in case the ones I listed aren't quite enough to keep you going!
If you prefer audiobooks, then why not give Podiobooks a shot? These are serialized audiobooks, often written by new and up-and-coming authors, and there are some wonderful things to keep you entertained here no matter what your preferred genre is!
Librivox is like a cross between Podiobooks and Project Gutenberg. They take books that are in the public domain and turn them into audiobooks for your listening pleasure.
Still prefer the feeling of a good old-fashioned book in your hands? Then maybe Paperback Swap is right for you. List the books you have that you no longer want, and mail it to whoever requests it. In return, you can do the same for the hundreds of books listed to trade across the site. This not only helps you cut down a bit on clutter, but can also act much as a library does, only by delivering the books right to your door instead of having to go out and get them. And unlike the library, if you really like the book and want to keep it, you're not under obligation to return it!
The downside to Paperback Swap is that it's useless to people who live outside the United States. Go figure. Someday people will remember that Canada exists, I swear!
Tomorrow, I'll go over some free online TV sites that are actually available to Canadians! Yes, they really do exist!
But if you're like me, there are going to be times where you wake up at 2 AM and can't get back to sleep, and you'll want to read some book you read a few weeks ago but had only borrowed, so it's not in your possession anymore. Waiting until the library opens to go and borrow it again isn't always the most convenient thing when we have jobs, families, any number of obligations that come before enjoyment.
To help combat this, I've turned to free books online. It's not the best solution ever, but it gives me great access to a lot of books without even having to leave the apartment. And best of all, because they're free and easily accessible, if I want to read them again at 2 in the morning, nothing stops me!
The Baen Free Library hosts a small (but still decently-sized) collection of fantasy and science fiction books published by Baen that are available to read for free online, or for personal download. I've made use of this site many times.
I'm sure most people have heard of Project Gutenberg by now, the site devoted to creating free online books that have an expired copyright. The expired copyright means that essentially the books are in the public domain, and Project Gutenberg is collecting them all to make them more public than antique stores and libraries can manage. Thise is a great site if you like the classics, or, like me, are interested in historical books or all kinds, since the expired copyright often means they're old and obscure.
Questia has a similar online free library of books with expired copyrights.
FullBooks.com is a site I only recently discovered, but it seems to have great potential. I found the autobiography of Helen Keller on here, and that's definitely been added to my "To Read" list!
WikiBooks is a compilation of open-source textbooks, and so if you trust open-source content (and/or can take it with a grain of salt if things don't seem to be adding up), then this can be a wonderful resource for anyone interested in continued learning. Very handy, I must say!
OnlineNovels.net is a site for authors to host their own novels and short stories and the like. You may be taking a chance on quality, but remember that not even unpublished author is unpublished because they can't write well.
If romance is your thing, why not try Public Bookshelf?
Literature Master has a lot more expired copyright books, though these are a bit easier to search through than Project Gutenberg, and are more likely to be ones you've heard of before.
This article has a listing of even more free online book services. Just in case the ones I listed aren't quite enough to keep you going!
If you prefer audiobooks, then why not give Podiobooks a shot? These are serialized audiobooks, often written by new and up-and-coming authors, and there are some wonderful things to keep you entertained here no matter what your preferred genre is!
Librivox is like a cross between Podiobooks and Project Gutenberg. They take books that are in the public domain and turn them into audiobooks for your listening pleasure.
Still prefer the feeling of a good old-fashioned book in your hands? Then maybe Paperback Swap is right for you. List the books you have that you no longer want, and mail it to whoever requests it. In return, you can do the same for the hundreds of books listed to trade across the site. This not only helps you cut down a bit on clutter, but can also act much as a library does, only by delivering the books right to your door instead of having to go out and get them. And unlike the library, if you really like the book and want to keep it, you're not under obligation to return it!
The downside to Paperback Swap is that it's useless to people who live outside the United States. Go figure. Someday people will remember that Canada exists, I swear!
Tomorrow, I'll go over some free online TV sites that are actually available to Canadians! Yes, they really do exist!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Hypocrisy, or good judgment?
People who know me have sometimes asked if it isn't a bit hypocritical to be trying to live a simple life while still playing and enjoying video games. I can see where that impression might come from. To play video games, both the television and the video game system must be on and thus using electricity, and it's not like video games come cheap. When we play video games, we could be doing things just as entertaining, like reading books, which usaes up considerably less energy. So yes, I can easily see where one would get the idea that it's hypocritical to play video games and to say that I'm trying to live simply and frugally.
On the other hand, here's how I justify it. For one thing, Rachel and I are not one of the modern breeds of gamers, the casual gamers, who'll buy the newest video game systems and maybe a few sports or rhythm games and that's all they'll play. We don't buy video games systems unless there are a good number of games for them that we want to play, for one thing. Our most up-to-date system, an XBox 360, was a gift from my father, after he foolishly bought it for a single game that turned out to not be much fun. He gave it to us, knowing we'd use it. The rest of our systems are older ones.
Secondly, we both tend to play role-playing games more than any other kind of game. Most role-playing games offer between 20-40 hours of gameplay. Assuming they cost $70 a game, that comes out to a cost of $1.75 and $3.5 per hour of entertainment. I, for one, have a tendency to try to master games, which usually involves hours of level-building my characters and searching for hidden things and doing everything I can. It's been my experience that this at least double the amount of gameplay time. So that's now between $0.87 and $1.75 per hour of entertainment.
And that's only assuming we play through a game once. It's not unheard of for us to start a 3rd, 4th, 5th playthrough of a game.
And considering we often buy our games second-hand and thus a bit cheaper than breand-new, the cost for an hour of entertainment is now only pennies.
It may not be simple, but it certainly is frugal!
The trick is to know what you like, to know your price limits, and to shop around. Much like finding a good bargain for anything. We don't feel the need to "keep up with the Joneses" by buying the newest systems and games just because they're the newest systems and games.
On the other hand, here's how I justify it. For one thing, Rachel and I are not one of the modern breeds of gamers, the casual gamers, who'll buy the newest video game systems and maybe a few sports or rhythm games and that's all they'll play. We don't buy video games systems unless there are a good number of games for them that we want to play, for one thing. Our most up-to-date system, an XBox 360, was a gift from my father, after he foolishly bought it for a single game that turned out to not be much fun. He gave it to us, knowing we'd use it. The rest of our systems are older ones.
Secondly, we both tend to play role-playing games more than any other kind of game. Most role-playing games offer between 20-40 hours of gameplay. Assuming they cost $70 a game, that comes out to a cost of $1.75 and $3.5 per hour of entertainment. I, for one, have a tendency to try to master games, which usually involves hours of level-building my characters and searching for hidden things and doing everything I can. It's been my experience that this at least double the amount of gameplay time. So that's now between $0.87 and $1.75 per hour of entertainment.
And that's only assuming we play through a game once. It's not unheard of for us to start a 3rd, 4th, 5th playthrough of a game.
And considering we often buy our games second-hand and thus a bit cheaper than breand-new, the cost for an hour of entertainment is now only pennies.
It may not be simple, but it certainly is frugal!
The trick is to know what you like, to know your price limits, and to shop around. Much like finding a good bargain for anything. We don't feel the need to "keep up with the Joneses" by buying the newest systems and games just because they're the newest systems and games.
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