What determines if you actually buy a game?

I personally find it to be a mix of reviews & word of mouth. If I hear about a game with an interesting premise and the reviews are good, i'm generally inclined to pay attention to it.

It's almost like there's a certain threshold; if a particular game is Goon-Approved, shall we say, then most likely i will track it down. That's how i found many a worthy title(Fallout, Planescape, Arcanum, Psychonauts, Anachronox, etc).

of course, i myself tend to hype certain games(making certain game-specific threads on ILE, f'rinstance)

I rarely buy games these days, I'm still playing all my old ones. (Having said that I just got Sniper Elite, just to play multiplayer)

I'm so reluctant to make a purchase unless I know the game to be exceptional, I'll always check out the online community first for reviews before I commit.
Of course this rule is redundant if the game has the letters G,T, and A in the title. In which case it gets bought no matter what.

I suppose for me to even browse a new purchase it's just down to what I'm in the mood for, I can be up for a racing game one month and then yearning for a simple blaster the next.

I'm always on the look out for a decent zombie game too.

$$$

"goon-approved"?

It has to be something that I can't beat in a week and be done with. Those games, I rent.

Generally it has to be something that I suspect I'll want to replay a lot or something that takes a long time to get through.

I decide which ones to pick up based on my friend Robert, who writes for game mags and with whom I share a lot of taste overlap.

Okay, I should alter the thread a little.

What determines if you actually PLAY a game? i.e. what sufficiently raises your interest to go track down something?

ill generally play anything in the 'PRO' series. Skater, Snowboarder, Surfer. I refuse to play the BMX one though. Get a skateboard, losers.

I'll also play anything with a lot of stuff going on at once. Like GTA where you have a bunch of missions as well as silly little collector type activities as well as just driving around checking out stuff and killing people for $$$ and buying up real estate.

I stay away from anything too sci-fi and anything with too much of a storyline. The narrative bores the hell out of me. I usually X through it as fast as possible. I still dont know whats going on in San Andreas. Someones mom died and someones rhyme book got stolen? It took my second play through of katamari to realize why i was putting stars in the sky.

Also anything associated with a movie or tv or donkey kong I'll generally stay away from.

Why do you hate Donkey Kong? He is a lover rather than a fighter.

i seem to remember him throwing barrels at me. cunt.

They are barrels filled with love (and/or TNT).

Beta testing, friends with similar tastes, and of course monetary situation at the time.