How to buy PC games on the cheap

How to buy PC games on the cheap

If you're paying full price, you're doing it wrong.

South Park: The Stick of Truth may be $59.99 now, but in a few months it won't be.Ubisoft

PC gaming may be on life support, but it's definitely not dead. Indeed, plenty of the top game releases of 2013 -- BioShock: Infinite, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Saints Row IV, Tomb Raider -- were not merely for consoles.

What's more, if you're looking for good gaming on the cheap, you really have to look to the PC. Although a decent desktop (one with a reasonably powerful discrete graphics card) will probably cost you a bit more than a console, you stand to save a bundle when it comes to stocking it with games. All you have to do is follow a few simple rules.

1. Wait.
If you buy a game within the first couple months of its release, you're almost certainly going to pay the full list price, or very close to it. Right now, for example, the just-released South Park: The Stick of Truth costs $59.99, while the recent reboot of Thief runs $49.99. Those are premium prices, and by exercising a little patience, you can avoid them.

For example, one year ago this month, the aforementioned BioShock: Infinite debuted with a $59.99 price tag. Today, Newegg has it on sale for $9.99 (actually, $7.99 if you apply coupon codeEMCPGPF98 at checkout). That's a savings of nearly 87 percent. And all you had to do was wait a year.

Sometimes it doesn't even take that long. Last year, barely a month after Tomb Raider made its $49.99 PC debut, Green Man Gaming ran a sale offering the game for just $20.

Needless to say, you should never buy a PC game when it first comes out. I routinely see $40-$50 titles selling for $10-$20 within months after their release, and it's not uncommon to find top-rated, high-profile games for under $10 within a year.

2. Shop around.
For any game you're interested in buying, don't assume that, say, Amazon or Steam has the best price. On any given day, you might find a better deal at GameFly, GamersGate, Green Man Gaming, or another store.

Of course, you probably don't want to spend a lot of time store-hopping, searching for the game you want at each stop. Thankfully, you don't have to: price-comparison sites like CheapShark andIsThereAnyDeal will look up online prices for any given game, and even send alerts when prices drop.

Sites like GameHour will price-compare PC games for you.Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

For example, if you simply cannot wait for South Park: Stick of Truth, CheapShark reveals that one store (GetGames) has it for 20 percent off the $59.99 list price. (I still say give it a few months, because eventually you'll be able to get it for $30, $20, or even less.)

3. Watch for bundles.
In your face, console owners! PC game bundles offer the kind of bang for the buck you simply can't get with a PlayStation or an Xbox.

Outfits like Bundle Stars, Humble Bundle, and IndieGala routinely offer some amazing deals -- usually for indie games (not that there's anything wrong with those), but sometimes for well-known commercial stuff as well.

This collection of a dozen indie games costs just $4.99 at Bundle Stars.Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

For example, earlier this year the Humble folks offered a name-your-own-price bundle of Sid Meier games. Last summer, Green Man Gaming put together a $10 Grand Theft Auto bundle, and before that the Humble Origin Bundle served up eight top-tier EA games for literally a few bucks. Come on!

A lot of these bundles give you the option of diverting some (or all) of your payment to charity -- icing on the cake, if you ask me.

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How to share your Steam gaming library with friends and family

How to share your Steam gaming library with friends and family

Valve’s new family sharing features allow up to five accounts to access a single person’s library. Here’s what you need to know to set it up.

Valve

Valve offers thousands of new and old games from hundreds of big name and independent publishers in one convenient place, its Steam digital distribution platform. The company frequently has promotions and sales that offer up hit games for cheaper than anywhere else on the Web. It's because of these sales that people like me have built vast gaming libraries with hundreds of titles.

Thanks to Valve's new sharing features, which the company unveiled last September, you can now share these games with friends and family members.

The process

Before you can enable Family Library Sharing, you must first have the Steam Guard security feature enabled. This can be done by opening the Steam settings menu, clicking on the Account tab, and selecting the "Manage my account with Steam Guard security" option.

Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

To enable the sharing feature, you must first log in to your family member or friend's computer with your Steam account. Next, open the settings menu, click on the Family tab, and choose to authorize the computer. You will then have the option to authorize any accounts that have also logged into the same computer.

Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

Once this is complete, log out of your account and let your friend or family member log back into theirs. They will then have the ability to download and install select games from your gaming library.

Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

You can authorize up to 10 computers and up to five accounts to access your Steam gaming library.

Benefits

While it's possible to do, the main purpose of the Family Library Sharing feature is not to share your library with a friend who lives across the country. It's aimed at parents who want to share their own personal Steam library with their kids.

Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

One of the benefits of using Family Library Sharing is having the ability for both you and your kids (or siblings) to play a game without interfering with the other's progress, saves, and achievements. It can also be used to test a game you are interested in (and that a friend owns, of course) to see if it's worth your hard-earned cash.

Limitations

As I mentioned above, there are some limitations. Only five accounts can access your gaming library from up to 10 different computers. You must also have an Internet connection to access shared libraries, which are shared in their entirety. Because of what Valve calls "technical limitations" and licensing agreements, not all games are available for sharing, such as those that require a subscription.

A shared game can only be accessed by one person at a time, which means you still won't be able to play any games together. The account holder will have priority access to his or her games. If you decide to start playing while another user is already in one of your games, they will be given the option to buy the game or end their session.

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Spring cleaning: Turn old movies and video games into cash

Spring cleaning: Turn old movies and video games into cash

It’s time to turn the dusty pile of old movies and video games into brand-new games, or some cash.

Jason Cipriani/CNET

Over the years it's easy to accumulate a stack of video games and movies. Eventually, games you used to love are thrown to the side after you beat the big boss for the millionth time. And movies lose their luster once you've memorized the entire flick, line-by-line.

While DVDs make for fun drink coasters and game cases make for good door stops, there's a better use for all involved. Take your movies and games and turn them into money. There are a few methods to make this happen, but before I cover them, I need to make sure I point out the obvious: the discs themselves have to be playable. A disc with a ton of scratches that skips or is unplayable is better off as a Frisbee -- and retailers aren't afraid to tell you that.

Trade-in

GameStop and Best Buy are two retail stores offering a trade-in service for video games. GameStopprovides a general idea of what you can expect to get for a working game or console. The trade-in values vary, depending on whether or not you want in-store credit or cash. Store credit is going to net you a higher return on your trade, but it limits you to using the trade amount in GameStop itself.

Best Buy's trade-in site allows you to enter the games you'd like to send in, offers an amount, and then gives you a prepaid shipping label to send everything in. Once the team at Best Buy looks over your trades and determines the condition to match what you entered, you're sent a Best Buy gift card for the agreed-upon amount.

For those who would rather have cash, but Best Buy is offering too good of a trade value, consider selling your gift card.

Amazon Trade-In

Amazon offers a similar trade-in service to that of GameStop or Best Buy. But in addition to letting you trade games, you can also trade in old movies. Now, before you get too excited and head over to Amazon's Trade-In site and start counting your riches, you need to know -- movies aren't worth a lot. Take "Frozen" as an example. You can purchase the two-disc set for $22.62. Not a bad price, but if you were to try and trade it in right now, you'd only receive $7.65 in return.

The same can be said about game values, but (to me at least) it appears games hold their value longer than movies.

In any case, when you have a stack of games and videos to trade, the amount adds up quickly.

After sending everything in to Amazon via prepaid shipping, you'll receive an Amazon credit for the amount.

You can check out Amazon trade values for movies or games on its trade-in page.

Craigslist

Craigslist makes it too easy to list items for sale, and best of all, it's free. If you opt to sell old games and movies yourself, I recommend stacking all of the cases (after wiping them down with a wet rag, of course) and taking some photos.

You should also list a price for the entire collection, in addition to individual prices. To make it easier on yourself, shop the trade values and average out the value of what you own. You can then get a total value (say you have 50 movies, average trade offer is $2.25, for a total of $112.50). Or you could list your collection as "$115 for everything, otherwise $3 a movie." Obviously, you can set your own price for everything, but don't get carried away and create more work than necessary.

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Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge or S5 -- which do I choose?

Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge or S5 -- which do I choose?

Samsung has a dizzying array of flagship smartphones. CNET's Marguerite Reardon helps you break down your options.

Lovers of Samsung Galaxy smartphones have a lot to be excited about. The latest flagship phone from Samsung is available for preorder starting this weekend.

With a sleeker design, a better camera and easier-to-use software, the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are being called Samsung's best smartphones to date. But truth be told, the Galaxy S5 was no slacker either, even though it didn't sell as well as expected. And for savvy smartphone consumers, it shouldn't be ruled out entirely when buying a new device.

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I help a reader decide which Galaxy S smartphone might be right for her.

Dear Maggie,

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 that I need to replace. I know the Galaxy S6 is about to come out. Should I wait and upgrade to the S6? Or should I get the Galaxy S5? Also, is the Galaxy S6 Edge really worth paying extra for? I'm not even sure what the difference is.

Thanks,
Margaret S.

Dear Margaret,

A newly designed Samsung Galaxy S6 is just around the corner. All four major wireless operatorsstarted taking preorders for both the Galaxy S6 and its sexier sibling, the S6 Edge, on Friday. The devices will be on sale starting April 10.

Meet the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Samsung's latest flagship phones share very similar specs and designs, but a few key differences help them stand apart.Josh P. Miller

With this in mind, I think you should wait till the S6 and S6 Edge are available before you buy a new device, regardless of whether you decide to get one of the newer phones or opt for last year's model. By waiting, you'll have the option of getting one of the new devices, which comes with a brand-new design and a few upgrades over the Galaxy S5. Also, even if you decide to forgo one of the newer products, the Galaxy S5 will be offered at a reduced price once the S6 is available. So either way, it makes sense for you to wait a couple of weeks longer before upgrading your device.

If you can't wait to try the S6 and S6 Edge, both devices are already available in carrier and retail stores to check out.

Design, design, design

Samsung says that it's listened to customers when it comes to the design of this year's Galaxy S smartphones.

Even though the Galaxy S5 is loaded with great features, the phone wasn't a big hit with consumers. Why? Most Samsung fans complained that its plastic body felt too cheap in comparison with competing flagship devices from Apple and HTC, which both use premium materials like aluminum for device bodies. Up until the Galaxy S6, Samsung argued that the plastic casing was more durable, but the company finally relented in the latest version of its flagship. Gone is the plastic casing of the former Galaxy products.

Instead, the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge feature a glass back and matte metal frame, wrapped in glossy Gorilla Glass on the front. There's no question these are prettier and slicker smartphones than previous generations of the Galaxy family of smartphones. The new design makes these phones narrower and thinner than the S5. Samsung has also made them a smidge taller.

In terms of specifications, the S6 and S6 Edge are pretty much the same device. The big difference between the phones is the design and the price tag. The lower-priced S6 has straight edges, while the sexier S6 Edge has a curved edge on each side, creating an infinity-pool-like effect. Both devices look remarkably similar to the iPhone 6, but it's the S6 Edge that's likely to make even iPhone fanboys and -girls jealous.

CNET Reviews Senior Editor Jessica Dolcourt said in her review of the S6 Edge that its wraparound screen "transforms an already great phone into Samsung's best-looking handset. Ever."

But before I get too deep into offering advice on which S6 model you should choose, you should decide if you really want the newer design or whether you'd rather have the S5.

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