In celebration of the holiday shopping season kicking into high gear, I thought it would be rather fitting to bring forth an unwaivering miniboss of sorts that plagues all who purchase games and the systems needed to play them on. Yes, I am talking about Money. Money makes the world go 'round, and according to Pink Floyd, it's a hit. But some of us out there feel our wallets lightening and our bank accounts emptying recently with the slew of top-notch games being released week after week. What's an average gamer supposed to do?

Like it or not, everyone wants your money, kid. $60 here for a game, $10 there for downloadable content for said game, and maybe even another $40 for an extra controller to play with a buddy. Within a matter of minutes, the once humble sales total has now jumped quite a bit, hasn't it?  Wait until next week when another title you forgot about comes out, and you're left with pennies in your pocket and a goose-egg in your checking account.

Though Money is a formidible foe in the gamer's heart, there are many ways to escape its suffocating grasp. I won't get into specifics, but we all have our own personal ways of saving some coin while still getting what we wanted. Sometimes, though, Money just can't be defeated and we must succumb to its unrelenting torment.

What about the rest of you? How are your wallets (and your spirits) after the onslaught of awesome that has been the past few months? Found a loan shark? I might just need one to make it through this holiday. 

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

Aaron Mxy Yost

I hate the holiday season, mainly because everything good comes out right when I'm supposed to be spending my money on other people.

timtheterrible

I think $60 per game was one of the worst things to happen to gamers in a while. It makes no sense to me why the same 360 and PC game will come out at the same time, yet the PC game is ten dollars cheaper.

Burkhart

i normally wait until i can find a cheap used copy or borrow a game from my friends. If the price went back to 40 like it was when i was a kid i'd be buying new games all the time but on my college budget it is impossible to buy games AND food with the low pay i get.

Barcode

I'll have to agree with Mxyzptlk. I ended up finding myself making a list of game and such to buy for myself and realized that I still needed to buy stuff for other people.

And speaking of money, I've been finding myself buying older games that I would rent and not buy (such as those on the N64 and PS1) and playing them again due to the high prices.

BlindsideDork

I like to think of mine as "gold pieces."

CaffeinePowered

I spent way way too much money on black friday, my wallet weeps

rubadub

I didnt buy one thing from a store this year and im hyped. Instead I bought a few of the art boards from a friend of my wifes who just had his first comic published. Im pretty hyped how things are turning out this year even though it cost me probably double what I would have paid buying her something from a store.

raucci

I've recently bought Zack and Wiki, Naruto Rise of Ninja, Assassins Creed, Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Halo 3, DS games, etc. in the past 2 months.

I've literally had to cut back on food and gas money (for car) to ensure that I keep enough money for the holiday shopping for others and for next semester. Its been rough

Snaileb

I'm all out of Gil when it comes to shopping this month.

brad drac

Don't give me that do goody good bullshit. I'm actually really quite good with money for some reason. Unfortunately, I'm shit with my time so I have trouble getting around to playing all of my enormous mounds of purchases. Ah well, such is life.

Darren Nakamura

Honestly, this season, despite its slew of great games, money is not the issue. I finally have a "real" job, so I have the money to spend. The problem is that I don't have the time to play the games. It's a shame, I've got Orange Box and Rock Band and Bioshock and Contra 4 and I've hardly played any of them yet.

Samit Sarkar

Yeah, my friend always gets pissed at me when I say I’m going “Christmas shopping”, especially around Black Friday — he says I can’t call it that because I’m not buying gifts, I’m just buying stuff for myself (like DVDs and games). Let’s see...since the beginning of the school year, I’ve bought:

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS3, $99.99)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3, $49.99 with Best Buy coupon)
Everyday Shooter (PS3, $4.99 during current PS Store sale)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, $48 at Target on Black Friday)

I’m also going to be getting Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Rock Band on PS3, but luckily, the latter will be paid for by my mom as a late birthday gift (I turned 21 fifteen days ago). Still, that’s plenty of cash, and I’ve been buying more than a few DVDs and Blu-rays during the same period. I’m so glad that my work-study earnings are going into my bank account this year...

Knivy

Wallet has like 20 bucks and god knows how much I'm gonna need to spend this week con coffee/energy drinks (final essays for every class).

Rock Band and Mario Galaxy mock me when I'm at home and Dtoid calls me while I'm at work =P.

Bulrog

At least it isn't as expensive as games over a decade ago, my sister bought super mario all-stars for 80 bucks.

PrinceofCannedPeaches

NSNick

I still haven't been able to pick up two games I've wanted to get yet. (Mario and Assassin's Creed)

Batthink

Money is the main thing preventing me from X360 goodness. Will deal with this mini-boss in the coming months, once I can also sort out my transportation.

Bob Muir

I remember when controllers were just $35 new...it seems they're all $50 now.

AgentMOO

Gamefly.

Do you really need to invest in that game you're going to play through once and never touch again? For me the biggest economical problem is my time, I've got very little time to play games.