Single Most Expensive Gaming Purchase You've EVER Made
 

In the interest of extremes, what's the priciest gaming thing you've ever bought? For the sake of being broad, anything game-related, be it a stereo system or a rare gaming action figure. However, it has to be a SINGLE purchase so not anything like buying a bunch of consoles and HDTV's in one swoop, but a single expensive item. It doesn't have to be something you shopped around for too; it can be something that was really expensive just because you didn't look around (i.e. it isn't really that expensive but you bought it overpriced).

Nothing to extravagant on my front, just a premium XBox 360. In all fairness, I did get it in a bundle for, like, 800 bucks was it? Yeah.

Damn, Valkyrie Profile off of Ebay for $85.00 USD then add $15 for shipping and another $7 for customs. Jesus, I AM NEVER doing that again. But yeah, I got it now, and it's safe in my arms. I finally got the damn thing after going to my post office on December 24th, 2005, just in time for Xmas.

:kisses case:

EDIT: Now you may point and laugh at me while you probably got yours for $25 from Toys R Us and such WHEN EVERY DAMN ELECTRONICS SHOP WAS SELLING IT AT THE TIME.

Actually, I thought this was just games only, if games related, then it's surely this from Yesasia.com, only $125 USD LOL.

When I built my new computer last fall, I spent about $1700 on it, but since that was with a variety of smaller parts purchases and for various reasons (Mostly gaming, but there were others too.), I'm not sure if that counts.

My HDTV was $800, so that's probably the most expensive single piece of hardware.

Just for the hell of it, I spent $130 on that Ace Combat 5 bundle with the FlightStick 2, so that's my single most expensive game ever.

Built my computer for $1600 strictly for gaming...

but as a single item purchase... I'd have to say Guitar Hero for $80.

The most expensive game I've ever purchased was Zelda Majoras Mask with the N64 expansion pack bundled for $80-$90 Canadian (bought it brand new when it first came out)

For more mileage, you can discuss, in addition to most expensive, most expensive in individual categories. In relation with the Ace Combat flight stick, I picked up the Gran Turismo 3 official wheel. Wow, dumb move considering I didn't even like racing games. I just got caught up in the hype machine ("Look! So cool, good graphics, Lenny Kravitz!").

This thread is going to convulse with all the "LOL MY PLAYSTATION 3 OF COURSE" when it comes out. It's pretty much inevitable at this point.

That said, my current record is a PS1 right now at $350 which it released at launch. Seems not too many people cared about that price tag, but then the PS1 was a finely crafted system. The PS2 however is master of the DRE.

I also bought a $1500 55" Widescreen RP HDTV last year, but that wasn't purely for gaming since I hook it up to my computer and use it to watch anime and TV/DVDs. Emulated games are hot on it though.

I bought a Ketsui arcade board for over $500. Now I play the shit out of it because everything else just doesn't compare anymore. At least it doesn't look like it'll be going down in value anytime soon if I ever decide I don't care for it anymore.

Not including systems (since that answer's going to get boring very, very fast), it'd probably have to be that copy of Final Fantasy 3/6 years and years ago. $120 Canadian. My brother and I split the cost between us, but still.... Ouch. Worth every penny, though.

$125 for a copy of the Japanese version of Sonic CD.

Is the Japanese one more rare than the American one? I remember seeing a friend play the American one and thinking nothing of it; now all I hear is that it's the best Sonic game of all.

Gamewise, it's probably Magna Carta or something... NEVER again will I waste $55 just to get this piece of crap. Once I get it back from my cousin, i'm selling it.

Consolewise, probably the Dreamcast or something... $300 on release day. And bought Marvel vs. Capcom with it. God, I love this system. And it still works. :D

Recently, probably the DS lite I just got. I realize it's coming out next month about $70 cheaper than what you can get it for on any import site, but i'm a desperate mofo, and i'm going on a trip. I wasn't going to deal with a broke down DS facing my fellow tripmates in download play. So I just decided to get this since no one on the face of the earth would know when the enamel navy color would come out.

I bought an old SNES game for about $65 once from one of my brother's friends. It was a title I later discovered somewhere else, so it was also a purchase I regret.

Damn right it's the best. It has the coolest stages, the coolest music, the coolest anything out of any Sonic game.

As far as I know, it's a lot more rare. When I got mine, it was the only one I could find on ebay. I got into a bidding war with someone else, but I won man.

275$CAN for a modchip in my Gamecube to play NTSC/JAP games and a copy of Biohazard (Resident Evil).

That game made me cum more than once.

It's getting too sexual up here.

Okay then.

That game stimulated me more than once.

Wow, that really made a difference.

I trade for new consoles, so the total money I waste is a lot more than if I were to pay in cash even factoring taxes.

For my used PSP of $220, I traded a bunch of stuff like:
Gitaroo Man
Wild Arms 4
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
Pocket Fighter
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo
Gamecube
Gamecube Controllers
Skies of Arcadia

and a bunch more. Considering that I bought all of these games I bought at full price (and some more than the original retail price since they became rare), I easily lost over $500 logically. It just doesn't feel like I lose when I trade even though it is severe. It also didn't total 220 and I had to pay an amount of cash and tax afterwards.

I think the same waste went towards my DS, although I still had to pay 80/200 dollars since the trades didn't equal enough.

Is that Gitaroo Man pre- or post-reprint? Also, did you get your copy pre- or post-reprint?

Hardware-wise, the most expensive thing I bought was my PS2, which was $325 with tax. I'm still angry about it though, because like a month or so after I bought it is when Sony announced a price drop.

As for games, it's a tie between Time Crisis: Crisis Zone with Guncon controller and Karaoke Revolution Party with microphone. They both cost me sixty dollars, but I would say they were worth it.

It'd have to be my PSP. Bought it at launch for $250, naturally. I considered returning mine as "broken" so I could upgrade to the Giga Pack for $50, but I never went through with it.

Not counting hardware, since their high price tags are a given.

Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty. I payed 75 EUR for it, which is roughly the equivalent of 95 USD. It wasn't a special edition, just a normal new game from a normal store at release day.

PAL <3

If a computer counts (since the main reason I built it was gaming), then roughly $600. If it has to be specific, then the videocard in it which was later upgraded for $250. Steel Battalion at $200 comes in a close second, though.

Steel Battalion for $200. What a steal. I would have gotten that if I had an XBox. That controller, didn't it even have controls for a fan inside the cockpit?

Buying a GCN at launch was a whole $330 AUS I was in the poor house for the next month!

The mot I've ever paid for a game is $115 AUS for Paper Mario on N64 and $110 for Metal Gear Solid on Gamecube.

Hmm, no fan that I know of, but there was an oxygen switch. In the original game it was only used during startup and had no effect during the game, but in Line of Contact, turning off your oxygen would cause you to eventually black out and your pilot would die. There was also a button to turn on your windshield wipers.

The controls worked perfectly though, I don't think any game was built for a specific controller better than that (or maybe it was the other way around). You can also hook the controller up to a PC with an Xbox USB adaptor and 3rd party drivers to use in PC games. I hear it works really well for the Mech Warrior games, unsurprisingly enough.

Also not counting systems, the most expensive gaming purchase is my three Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen games at $60 bucks US each. Add in $20 USD for Freeloader and you have a clear view of the amount I'm willing to pahy for my Naruto gaming fix. Speaking of which, I still haven't gotten Taisen 4 yet.

My friend, who's a huge Mech fanatic, went out to buy it when it came out. 300$CAN it costed and when he went there, there was a contest to win one and he did win it. Talk about being lucky.

The other thing that sounds dreadfully difficult in that game is the whole 'once you die, you're dead forever, start a new game' bit. I mean that's been done in, say, Way of the Samurai, but in a game like that with the apparently daunting controls, that seems really, hm, trying.

My most expensive console buy is my PS2. I spent £200 on it in November 2002.
Game wise it would be my Collector's Edition of Oblivion (PC), that set me back £40.
I did also buy a 7800GT for gaming on my PC, that set me back around £200.

I can proudly say I've never spent more than $200 on any single video game purchase. I got the Dreamcast a week after it came out for $199.

System: PS2 with Street Fighter EX3 ($350) Second was probably the Gamecube, which I got with a memory card, Smash Brothers Melee and Mario Sunshine ($270 total). Of course, being able to buy my own systems played a role in that...

Single domestic game: Believe it or not, FFVI when it came out...$70 or $80. I rented it and then got around to digging up pennies to buy a copy. Same deal with Chrono Trigger, but I actually got it at a Blockbuster liquidation for a cool $20 before paying four times that amount later that day. I wouldn't entertain the thought of paying more than $50 for a game nowadays and even then, there's rarely any reason to if you shop around or wait.


Then again, I actually had the foresight to nab Suikoden 2 on the day it came out and VP about 2 months after it was out (Target had it down to $20 new). Otherwise, I might be saying a different name for this poll...

Import: Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Capcom vs SNK 2 for Dreamcast. Both ran $80 when they came out.

Luckly the game gives you a good chance to escape death. Once your mech starts to explode, you have about 5 seconds to hit the blinking red Eject button, and once you do that you're fine. But there is supposedly a "cockpit shot" which can penetrate the mech's armor and kill your pilot instantly, although it's very rare and you'd have to be very unlucky to have it happen to you. The risk of running out of money and not being able to afford any mechs to continue in the game is probably larger than dying, though.

Oh, and this thread actually just reminded me of something...I usually buy my consoles when they're $200. I got my Saturn when it dropped to $200, the Dreamcast when it launched at $200, the PS2 when it dropped to $200, and PS1 and Xbox I got at $150. Guess I've spent more on consoles than I realize...

My mint, in box copy of Earthbound after my old one got lit on fire. Long story. Anyway, never opened box. 250 USD. And I'd do it again, fuckers.

Hardware...uh..none. I never bought my own system.

Games..I guess..any $50 game, like Halo 2. I usually buy used games from Gamestop, or similar stores. Why? Because I'm cheap like that.

well for game i have to say Legend of Zelda: ocarina of time that was 92$can with taxes at that time and it a was a hell lot for a game and it stil is! (damn cartbidge cost a lot) and it term of prive I bough the dotHack series for 100$can but for 4 games wihich is a good deal because they were new.

all consle I have now was given to me as gift for birthday or christmas, but I'll buy the ps3 probably when it will come out so that will probably the most expensive things that i will buy for games...

Hardware-wise, the PSP was my most expensive purchase. I bought it at US launch.

Software-wise, I paid about $80 for the original Saturn version of Princess Crown.

Hardware: my DS for $119 or something like that. Soon to be eclipsed by $20 for the Lite.

Software: Radiant Silvergun, $150. Which was actually on the low end then and now would be a great deal. Luckily I didn't like the game very much and sold it at a profit.

Consoles: PS2 two weeks after launch so that would be around $300

Software: Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, or Time Crisis 2 with the Guncons.

But it's so damn worth it. I would pay that money for the game too. I'm also going to buy the PSP (i don't like it at all) to have a copy of Valkyrie Profile.

In my case i bought a japanese Xenogears for $100 bucks. I would have paid $100 more if they wanted to...

I was lucky to get valkyrie profile used for 50$ (and you check the cds and really it's like new) and yeah even if I got the original one I'll probably take the psp version

and I got Xenogears really cheap now that it got a reprint (with the square-enix logo XD) and doesn't cost that much. Like 15$ now and for a new one...

btw I forgot... I bought a psp too XD so that,s probably the highes I paid for games now XD

Probably my MGS2 Premium Pack which was around £70, I still touch it at nights :)

Software-wise it would have to be MK3 for SNES for $99 CDN (not including tax). I bought it on launch day. Cartridge games were damn expensive back then. I later sold the game for like $10 to Microplay...

Well, for the age I was, my SNES. I payed heck like $150-$200 for it. I don't even remember it was sooooo long ago. I saved for more than a year and bought it at launch....

(Brief pause to check Wikipedia)

Ok the SNES was released in 1991. I was born in '82, so at the time I was 9. Freaking NINE years old when I saved up $199 and bought that bad boy. My family wasn't rich either so when I say I saved for a year, I'm serious. I got Zelda for Christmas that year. It was soooooo blissful. I just remember being so happy and shocked. Good times.

Most expensive game? I don't remember paying too much for any of them, but I suppose it was probably FFIV or FFVI (FF2 and FF3 US). Either that or Oblivion a couple weeks ago! :)

I guess the most expensive thing I bought was a PSP for $250 around its release. I kinda regret trading it for my 360, as there's shit out for it right now and PSP is starting to pick up with good games, but my girlfriend has one now, so I guess it all worked out in the end. :)

Didn't spend a dime for the 360 though. Just had to give up a good chunk of my games. But it was mostly stuff I didn't play anymore anyway.

Consoles shouldn't count for the purpose of this thread. No duh, they're expensive.

My most expensive purchase was paying $88 USD for a rare, near-mint PAL copy of U-four-ia for the NES. It was one of the last games produced for the system and was released in very limited amounts. The game received high praises from reviewers, but because the market focus was shifting toward the SNES, the developer, Sunsoft, scrapped their plans to release it in Europe and North America.

It's a fun game and works perfectly. I doubt I'd ever sell it since the odds of finding another copy are slim to none. I must've staked that auction out for a week. I even requested the day off work so I could be home to snipe the last bids.

It's not as much as some of your purchases, but I splurged $60 on a primo arcade stick for my Dreamcast. I got some really good mileage out of it, though. I used it for Soul Calibur, Marvel Vs. Capcom 1 and 2, and Power Stone. I consider it a splurge because I rarely get accessories and/or odd controllers.

But then we'll see how this goes come 11/17/06.

I ordered both Tales of Eternia and Breath of Fire III PAL versions for my PSP from Lik-Sang. Came to about $130. T_T

Poor Southjag.

My most expensive purchases that aren't systems would have to be the GC Resident Evils. $110 each for RE, RE0 and RE4. Apparently because they have two discs they should be more expensive over here.

'Sup $750 launch price for PlayStation 2. That's $570 US for the viewers playing at home. Although I did trade in all my N64 stuff, resulting in a much cheaper price. And me jumping off a building for realizing what I'd done, because after the excellent SSX and Sky Odyssey, there was a gigantic lack of games that interested me. BUT IT WAS A DVD PLAYER TOO, EXCELLENT. No really, it was excellent. I got to watch Billy Madison on DVD! The delightful bastard is still running fine, making me one of the elite launch PS2 owners in the universe. Except for the DVD playback part, that broke. But it's a horrible DVD player anyway. Oh hype.

Apart from that, Earthworm Jim 2 set me back $130 of birthday, christmas and junk mail delivery money. Wow deliver four hundred thousand Woolworths catalogues and get three cents, what an excellent job for kids. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY DOLLARS FOR A GAME. It was pretty much worth it!

Speaking of which, Infernal, I pretty much shit my pants when I was in Sydney/Brisbane and saw your new games at $100 a piece for PS2 games and the like. Seriously how much are we looking at for a PS3/Xbox 360 game now.

What? Why poor me? If you bought all the Gamecube RE games....

Poor Grub.

My psp, memory stick and game came to about £300 on launch day.

When I bought my PS2 a few years ago.

PS2, a second controller, memory card, two or so games.

It was definitely $300+, but I don't remember the exact price.

I would say when the gamecube came out, I bought
- a Gamecube console system
- 3 extra controllers
- Luigi Mansion
- Wave Race Blue Storm
- Super Monkey Ball
- 2 basic Memory cards (Memory 59 or something like that)

around 850$ CAN (taxes included) if I remember well.

Well, the majority of Xbox 360 games are $120 now. :( I guess PS3 games will be about the same, or maybe they'll jack them up even more for fun, "THESE GAMES SHOULD BE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN 360'S TO GIVE THE ILLUSION OF GREATER POWER!"

Whaaaaat?

Haha! I got mine for $10 canadian (cartridge), including the player's guide! :tpg:

Like RABicle I spent $110 for Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, but unlike him I got Paper Mario for N64 for a cool $85.

Hmm...I'd have to say, the single, most expensive purchase I've had for Gaming purposes was probably my Graphics card (GeForce 6600GT a year ago at about $200 from Newegg). Yeah I know, I'm cheap.

Mine would have to be when I got my Dreamcast on launch day, 9/9/99. The Dreamcast alone was about $200, but with Sonic Adventure and a Visual Memory Unit (VMU) and tax, it came out to around $300. Still got it, and it still works, last I checked.

fuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyou

It should be worth saying that $110 AUS is roughly $85US

I PAID THIS FOR METAL GEAR SOLID!

I remember Nintendo going nuts during the end of the N64 era. While normal games costed something about 100 DM, which is roughly $65, they decided that it would be a good idea to sell their last games for over 150 DM. Back in those days, being ten years old, having to pay $100 for James Bond: The World is not Enough or a whooping $125 for Conkers Bad Fur Day wasn't funny anymore. :(

Hmm, that must be my PS2. I got it at launch, and only had to part with $684.99.. That's without a memorycard, so I guess it's closer to $736.36. As it has never failed me, I can't say that it wasn't worth it...

$400-something for the PS2 on it's launch date. I got the system, a memory card, and Summoner.

Most expensive purchase? Easily Xenosaga II Premium Box (Japanese version). $300 + shipping. Then tack on that I went and got my PS2 modded right after that so I could play it, tack on another $130...

So in a sense that purchase was $430+.

A PlayStation 2 bundle with an extra controller, memory card, remote control, Soul Calibur II, Suikoden IV and Spider-Man 1 & 2 DVDs for £169.99 split between me and my brother. I'm a cheap-ass gamer...

My playstation 2 costed me $1400 (not american, but just so you get it, it was almost 750 US dolars).

My copy of Final Fantasy X in the week it was released, I traded it for my Dreamcast.

I bought Tekki for 200 bones when it was released here in the states, but I sold it a week later for $300 to some poor sap on ebay.

I'd have to say my Pop'n Music controller from DA.
It costed $225+shipping~~

That's quite a lot just for a controller to play a music game lol

If consoles count here, mine would be a PSOne ($300 around launch? Hey, why not?). Given that I was young and unemployed at the time, I had to trade in an SNES and a shit-ton of games just to come close to having enough cash for the system.

As for the priciest game I've bought, I had to pay something like $65-70 for a copy of Illusion of Gaia for SNES when the game was still relatively new. Sure, it was a decent game, but the price tag seems kinda obscene in retrospect.

I got a PS2 and a copy of R&C after Christmas 2002 for a total of $240 ($216 after Target card discount). Really it's one of the better $240 purchases I've made.

My PS2. I bought it a little while after release, and got it for $300, along wiht memory card and 2 games, grand total about $450.

A $4500 dollar gaming PC in 1998.

It was 400Mhz.

Well, a computer can be used for other things as well as gaming, so for me I guess it would be my ATI x850 XT AGP graphics card. Yeah, I could've gotten a PCI-Express card of the same power for half that price, but then I would've had to upgrade CPU and mobo. AMD dual-core chips are just far too expensive still, and I don't want to go Intel.

I never buy a console over $199. Bought PS2 at $199 price, Dreamcast at $199 price...

To be serious I don't purchase many gaming things my self, I usually get them as presents.

Well the most expensive thing gaming I purchased was back in 02' when Mario Sunshine was released I bought it for 80 dollars brand new (well to be exact about 78 dollars and something cents).

This is more like the single most expensive gaming purchase compared to what it's worth:

A friend and me decided to get a GBA SP each so we could play some good old Doom 2 multiplayer on the fly, only we never played it anywhere than on that God damned couch.

Well, my friend picks it up at the local EB for about $8.
Nice - let me get one too and HAHA last copy. Ever. Go away!

Ebay to the rescue, only there's only this one copy in the world willing to ship to nowhere, price is like $45, but no time to lose gotta get quick snap 'Buy It Now'! Forgot about shipping? No problem, it's only $15 ripoff.

3 weeks goes by and suddenly it's here. So fast. Oh well, now I just have to pick it up, no biggie, just remember to pay them duties and you are off. Duties are only $45! Point of no return - fun grabbing by the balls!


So yeah, Doom 2 GBA ~ $105 :(

Wait, are you talking about *this* Ketsui? The one that's supposedly owned by 2 people in the world? Dang, dude.

As a budget shopper, I have to say that this story made me both laugh and cry. God, I didn't know those ridiculously high-priced auctions on Ebay ever worked...now I realize how even they can end up selling.

I'm talking about this Ketsui board.

And, yeah, I'm pretty sure more than two people in the world own it, since I can think of at least half a dozen other people I know have it off the top of my head.

I bought a preowned DS at £65 and Super Princess Peach at £30 as a present. Pretty damn expensive for me.

A fucking PSP for about 400 bucks and yet I rarely even touch it.

A PC for $2200. Granted it wasn't only for gaming but that is one of the big things I've used it for. This was about five years ago. It's starting to show it's age although it can still play all the games I want.

I bought an Nintendo Gamecube, ultimately for Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes only (but it came with Metroid Prime as well) :P So yeah... huzzah!

FFXI! It cost me a total of £119 including monthly fee's. But, it also cost me a year of my life and alot of my friends. Im clawing my way back up now though, cause I quit it last week.

Today I bought a premium XBOX 360 and three game for $552. I hope it'll be worth it. I bought everything at a Gamestop.

xman25

2000 dollars on my gaming pc. Im not gonna list specs and shit. I got it 2 years ago to play Farcry. It was worth it. Still using it today with happening results.

About $500 on a PS2 right when it came out. Makes me want to cry when I see the new sexy slim version selling for 1/3 of the price...

Well the most expensive thing I have purchased, just gameware alone not including any consoles is $1832 from yesasia.com

I am a Japanese game collector, where the import games costs around AUD150+ still remember the time where I bought a batch of Japanese games with free shipping but the bloody tax was AUD230 <_<.

I think I got a few Artbooks (~$335), OSTs (~$500) and 7 PS2 games (~$1000)... yeah... that got me all broke back in 2005 :D Its worth it I guess :p

The next most expansive this THIS YEAR is my preorder of JP PS3... I put down $700 alredy for the console and currently saving up more money to get at least 4 games before release.

Same here, and I even bought Everybody's Golf for it. Ended up trading the game for Star Wars Trilogy Box. Now I only have Spiderman 2 UMD for it, I'm trying to find cheap BoF III, or Tales of Eternia.

Other expensive purchases I can think of right now was buying Xbox 360 with HD and PGR3, only $584... :rolleyes:
And modding my PS2 for Suikoden III, paid $215 for the modding and the game. Back then I had no means for importing game or burning, I had no equipment for it, and no credit card. So paying that price for playing one game was considered for pretty weird for some people.

A Nintendo DS for $150. All of my other consoles/handhelds were bought for me as gifts, and I won my 360.

Oh, unless you count my $700 HDTV as a gaming purchase, which is essentially the main reason I bought the damn thing.

I would say the NES + Megaman 4 + original Metoid, and Mario/Duck Hunt w/ light gun, as a birthday gift for a friend, but that counts as a bundle. So I'll say Disgaea for $55.

The most expensive game I've bought was the collector's edition of World of WarCraft at $80. That's about it. No console bundles, Panzer Dragoon Sagas, or mech time machine toaster peripherals for me.

Hmmmmm....I bought a Neo-Geo home console in 1990 with 2 games....spent about a grand. Thats my biggest purchase I guess. Since then I have accumilated over 40 games (carts).

my most expensive gaming purchase was $105 for a dreamcsat with all the accessories and 27 games. then i got a PS2 for free (woot for easy to fix DRE!)

mine is a ps2 and a game with an wextra controller and a memory card, cant remember the price but it was somewhere around 35o$ or something.

I finally beat out my Magna Carta as my highest paying game.

Got Jump Superstars while I was in Chinatown today. $59... T_T

The first time I bought an arcade game, due to exchange rates and my relative ineffeciency at shipping, set me back over $1000CAN. A year later I had three more shipped in, and only spent $2100 on the lot.

But it's not really a gaming purchase - it's a business investment... or at least that's what I tell myself...

Besides, the arcade version is the only good version of Bosconian.

Hmm, gotta be Valkyrie Profile for $110.50 off eBay when everything was all said and done.