2 Hour late start

Thanks to the horrendous weather outside I have a little time to compose another pile of compost for this compilation. Maybe about... computers!
I <3 Video Game Sales! Ever since I've adopted my 'Wait for it!' purchasing strategy I have been enjoying a nifty little meta-game: browsing the sale sites, looking for neat games. Luckily, my shift in buying habits coincides nicely with several online retailers recognizing the huge market of 'budget' gamers. Amazon has daily and hourly lightning deals in their video-games section. Steam has offered several amazing weekend and mid-week deals for the past few months. Impulse has just started a trial program where they will offer 24 hour coupon codes through their system-tray application... add all that to just the regular run of the mill sales and discounts that are offered and it is no longer a question of 'if,' but 'when' a popular game goes on sale.
There may have been a different catalyst to this movement, but for me personally the leader seemed to be Steam. As a digital distribution platform, Steam is in a unique position to track buying patters, and after a few early experiments they were able to conclusively show that dropping the price moved product. And not just a little. A lot. One of their first big sales for one of their recent games resulted in a 3000% spike in sales. They sold more copies of the game during that sale than during launch.
So now I shop for deals, and it turns out that I'm buying MORE games than before. Thanks to this new attitude about price-point I'm spending much much less. The normal price for a video-game these days ranges from $40 - 60 dollars at launch. A month after launch it is not unusual to see them dropping by 25 -75% for a day or two. It's a great time to be a gamer!