How much does gaming cost you per hour of fun?

[Lance]

}Inspired by a comment in the 'not really impressed by Fury' thread{

The calculation is fairly simple for me at this time. I just purchased a new game console 32 days ago and although I bought 4 games, I've played one of them almost exclusively. Throw in the cost of that game plus 2 overpriced memory cards, and the total cost comes to about 270 U.S. dollars. I've played from 10 to 15 hours per day for all but a couple of those days, but lets assume for ease of calculation and conservatism on the higher cost side that I played 10 hours per day for 30 days. So in this very short period early in the life of the console and the resulting relatively small total use and high cost compared to what will come, my hourly cost of fun has been >
90 cents per hour.

[Aeroracer]

lol..just worked mine out...im paying 35 euros per hour..for playing games...

Ermmmm i gonna have to seriously rethink my life.....:?:?:?:?:?:?

[blackwiggle]

My biggest cost would have to be the needed replacement of the lamp and air filter in my projector every 2500 hours AUS $570.= 23c PH

Then the electricity PJ + Surround amp + PS3 console = 50c PH

HD cost $25 hours played 500 = 5c PH

Wine drunk while playing wipeout = $20 PH

[okam]

I've had this thought before, actually it's how I convince myself that I can indeed afford to buy that new game/toy I want :P

Look at hours played divided by cost of game/toy, and there is no way you an deny yourself something that only costs a few pence an hour! Works for me...

[Lance]

So how much does that add up to per hour, exactly? ;) Is it really only a few pence, or is that just what we like to believe?

[Lini-R]

Mmm, well I don't spend all that much on video games tbh as I usually tend to design/make them. I would say the last thing I bought was my Xbox 360 this christmas. (Must of been about £180) and with the games/modem (£120). The actual last game I bought was Wipeout Fusion today for £1 in the bargin bin because I lost my instructions on my old copy.

Just worked it out, roughly £1-5 ph

So not really that much, about I would say an avarage gamer. :)

(Although actually coming to think about it, I do spend a far bit on old retro consoles like NOMAD and N64DD).

[blackwiggle]

If I was to add up the same with my Xbox elite it would be around $15 ph

Just because it just sits there and doesn't get used,I haven't played a game on it in a year at least,I've only ever finished 2 games on it,Mass effect and Bioshock.

Ace combat 6 [I think,2 levels],Oblivion got bored with it,HALO 360 never bothered past the first level,I spent more time playing Tetris than anything else.

[ACE-FLO]

}So in this very short period early in the life of the console and the resulting relatively small total use and high cost compared to what will come, my hourly cost of fun has been >
90 cents per hour.

I'd buy that for a dollar... lol

Anyway, I consider myself lucky as I don't pay the broadband at our home - my brother does lol... I pay for the sky channels and subscriptions lol, so for me - I game for free heh heh hehe:robot

[Chuckzombie]

Admittedly the price of games for this generation of consoles is very expensive (especially when you're a PC gamer and used to getting cracked copies of everything :pirate ) But when you compare gaming to other forms of entertainment (such as seeing a football match, renting a DVD, going to a movie, going out for a drink etc), you do get a lot more value for money. Then in addition to that there is the replay value due to many games being playable online. When I look at it from that perspective, I can't really complain about the initial outlay, because if sure works out cheaper in the longterm. I mean, I've had months of play just from Wipout HD alone, for less cost than a months rental of Sky TV...

[MrSmadSmartAlex]

Gaming costs me about 100 hours of misery and frustration per hour of fun.:lol

[RedScar]

I don't want to try and figure this out for my PS3 since I haven't played it much nor spent much money on it.
HOWEVER, for BF2 I have about a 6.744 cph (cent per hour) cost of the original game according to http://bf2s.com/player/44094852/ (scroll down, near bottom on the right above weapon unlocks). I'd say that is pretty good bang for you buck.

WoW, after buying the game, both expansions, and 2 60 day cards it is roughly 160-180 and with roughly 381 hrs in it comes out to be roughly 50 cents per hour, all in all not bad.

[ACE-FLO]

Gaming costs me about 100 hours of misery and frustration per hour of fun.:lol

pffft.... is that online or offline smaddy? I'm guessing online for now! and I know you're joking - however, is there any truth attached to that statement? :p

[MrSmadSmartAlex]

:lol Both online (weapons and ramming) and offline (TT - I can't run consistent laps). 100 hours is maybe an exaggeration, though (a bit).;)
That 1 hour of fun makes it all worth it anyway.

[xEik]

My copy of Monster Hunter Freedom 2 cost me about 20 € and I've played for about 1200 hours (two profiles: 900 + 300). If we were to ignore the cost of the PSP (which had been paid for a couple of years before) in order to see the marginal cost of playing that precise game, it comes at less than 0.02 €/hour.

On the other hand, spending so much time on MHF2 means that I have games I've paid for that are still unwrapped. For those games the cost per hour could be seen as infinite. Although dividing by zero is nonsense and not the same as dividing by something that approaches 0.

[okam]

So how much does that add up to per hour, exactly? ;) Is it really only a few pence, or is that just what we like to believe?

Hmm, well my PS3 and HD TV are both about 10 months old, and have seen much use, so it's a bit hard now to tell what the rate per hour has been so far... I assume we don't count electricity, internet and rent and such?

Going by price of product (copy of game) alone: I have 150+ hours played in Oblivion (done all quests, stepped on every square inch of land on the map, cleared out all map locations), which I bought for roughly 200 NoK (about £20 (used copy)) so that's 8p per hour. Games like WoW, Morrowind, EverQuest, Final Fantasy series etc would probably be less than 1p per hour.

Of course some games would be more, but if you were to work out an average I think I would still come out at 20p or less an hour per game (because I'm cheap, I buy used, and I replay a lot of games).

[DividedXZero]

Although dividing by zero is nonsense....

What did i do to deserve that? :? (lol, j/k)

But i do agree with MHF2, the reason i got a psp. Now at 700+ hrs over a year later.

It's odd this topic comes up, since it's been a topic of disagreement with my gf. I explained to her about me making long term investments in entertainment (regarding myself of course). So if I buy myself a game for $30-$35 and i play it at least 6 months but normally it's a year plus...i definitely think i get my $ worth. Considering i still have a decent collection of ps1 and ps2 games that i still play (but not as much).

[Lance]

I don't count the cost of the television because I would have that anyway, gaming or not. But the cost of the gaming machine itself should be included because that is what it is bought for. If you get to use it for free, lucky you. :) I don't, so it's added. I'm not on the internet with my game machine, so that wasn't a factor for me, and probably not for anyone who would have the 'net for other reasons than games. I would include membership on PSN or Xbox live because that's part of your gaming cost. Cost of games, and cost of auxiliary cables bought separately from the console if you use them to connect to display devices, should be included. Extra controllers... yeah. It can add up, but remember this; It's probably gonna cost a whole lot less per hour than visiting Disney World.

[DividedXZero]

It can add up, but remember this; It's probably gonna cost a whole lot less per hour than visiting Disney World.

And it will last longer too! (But some people will argue you have the memories..yet the same applies to your gaming experience)

[xEik]

And increased skill as a bonus. ;)

[Mu5]

Wine drunk while playing wipeout = $20 PH

Heh - brilliant :D :+

I think the cost per hour for wipeoutHD in particular is very low, and good value. This is a strategy by Sony though .... its bait so they can screw us with advertising in the future ;)