Do all of you buy all your games??

lalisb · 10-22-04, 09:06 AM

Ive been readin thru the forums and alot of you have a large collection of games/apps that would accumulate to hundreds of dollars.. Do u guys buy all these, use the demos, or find other ways around it? Cause at most good things bein 20 a pop it can get quite costly.

10-22-04, 09:28 AM

This forum rejects all discussions or attempts at piracey. I have always wondered too, but after reading the posts in the video game forums, they are way above anything I know. Most of the time I can't figure out what they are even talking about! LOL Most of them are in the field I suppose and test out software so mindless schmucks like me can buy a video game once in a while that works better.

lalisb · 10-22-04, 09:37 AM

I know that talk about piracy is not allowed, and im not asking for any links or anything like that.. Like u i am also amazed at the amount of apps ppl have, and was just wondering how they got them all..im workin with mostly demos right now lol

StanleyR1 · 10-22-04, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by lalisb

Cause at most good things bein 20 a pop it can get quite costly.

It's very difficult for me to drop even $20 on productivity software--money being what it is. Scarce. Right now I'm in the last day of an Agenda Fusion trial and facing the purchase decision. Great software, btw. Question, of course, is how badly do I 'need' it?

I've never purchased a game for my pda (Ax is new, used a Palm for years) and very few for my computer. I enjoy them, but in terms of priority for my dollar, they rank very low. Generally I look for decent freeware. Sometimes I'll try shareware and demos but drop them when it comes time to buy. Sometimes I'll get hand-me-down software from my brother who's more than willing to buy but loses interest fast.

What games do I have?

Backgammon by Avantgarde Digital (freeware)
Big Two, written by James Lee (freeware)
Dominoes (freeware)
CEZebra (freeware)

and of course, solitaire and jawbreaker.

--Rick

Raynne413 · 10-22-04, 12:10 PM

I really don't think that if someone has "found a way around it" that they will admit it here. However, the majority of my games I have bought, some I received for a review, and others I get for beta testing.

Don't Panic! · 10-22-04, 12:13 PM

I use a lot of freeware and demos myself, Alot of the games are to darned hard and I can't even beat the demo's but I have dropped at least $150 on games in the last 4 years since Pocket PC's were introduced.

Don't Panic!
Bobby

10-22-04, 01:00 PM

Almost everything on my X30 is either freeware or paid for. The exceptions are a couple of shareware apps thatI am currently testing, and one with an expired demo period (won't work without a reg code) that I will eventually buy.

BraTTy · 10-22-04, 01:09 PM

I try alot of freeware games for PPC.It would have to be a pretty good game for me to buy it for PPC.There is alot of good freeware games (Quake1&2 and such).I have only bought a few games for PPC.Many for PC and console tho

10-22-04, 01:53 PM

I mostly use freeware or tryware.
I have also won some games at other sites (you can probably find links here, since this is where I heard about those sites).
I guess I don't have the patience for some of the more difficult games, so the free trials is enough for me.
Also, I can't really see playing a game on the small screen of my Axim for very long.
Mostly what I have that I do play on my Axim are puzzle games, and there are bunches of these around (again, do a little searching). I think developers might try some puzzle game to figure out how to create a program for the PPCs and them move on to something else, but give away their first game (sometimes they are not as refined, but still play good).

10-22-04, 02:01 PM

I have purchased a lot of my games. I've picked up a slew from beta testing :) and a handful from reviews.

Nancy Stanphill · 10-22-04, 02:24 PM

I have bought a few, won a couple, and use freeware alot. I tend to get bored with games, so I use a couple of freeware titles for awhile, then delete them. Also, many games have a free trial, so you can know if it is one you would use. At Handango, for instance, you can get reward points for each purchase and they often send a discount coupon for a percentage off your next purchase. Sometimes that makes a game a pretty good deal.

neonkoala · 10-22-04, 02:42 PM

Try *link removed* and look on ebay for game packs (search pocket pc apps)

EDIT: Link was removed. The link is to a site full of cracks and serial numbers to apps.

lalisb · 10-22-04, 02:52 PM

Thanks everyone for the replies, and its good to see everyone is gettin the games the legal way. I have also downloaded alot of demos and so far they are plenty...but there are some games that Im gona buy later on today

Wheel of Fortune
Jeopardy
Links

speaking of gaming, it would be nice if there was some attachment that would allow u to play games with a small "joystick" that would clip on over the buttons and (-) pad or something. Do I play games to much lol If someone replies tellin me there is something like this avalable ill be amazed :)

Artuk · 10-22-04, 03:01 PM

I keep my eye open for deals. Over time, I have picked up a number of decent titles pretty cheap. I am also very selective. A lot of PDA software is a complete rip off.. games like trade-winds which is just a facelift of stuff so old I played it on my trs-80. To ask $20 for it is criminal. Always play the demo. Chances are, that will be enough to tell you this is a game you would yawn at as a freeware java applet, never mind a 10-20 purchase.

Some games really have production value.. but sadly I have found that few PPC titles other then puzzle games live up to the hype. Most of the really good ones are conversions.. like AoE, Warlords II, and such. AoE was painful to play on the itty bitty screen and had some really poorly conceived interface conventions which sucked a lot of the fun out for me.

For Pocket PC specific games, my two favorites so far have been Pocket EQ ($20) and Strike Force (on sale for less then $10). For me, pocket EQ is fun more as a nostalgia trip, so that title may or may not appeal. I bought Warring Nations ($15) and Plant Tycoon (half off for $10) but they have not lived up to my expectation. Whish I had saved my money and bought Warlords II, the demo for which was great fun.

If you are looking for a way to play some decent games on the cheap, look into emulation. Morphgear is free.. and allows you to play any SNES roms, for instance.. of course you should own the roms you are emulating. I like military madness (a turbographx game) the best, and some snes games like chronotrigger, battle ogre (just getting into that one), monopoly, and nogabunga's ambition, sim city, and civ I. Ufortunately you are restricted to dpad and buttons which limits the fun of emulation. There is a product under development to allow you to hook up a psx paddle to a pda.. if that happens then emulation will be a whole other ball game.

Another good game that can sometimes be picked up for sale is Redshift Legacy. I have had some problems with the dpad response, and have trouble getting into a genre I burned out on 15 years ago, but its a great value if you enjoy that type of game. THe Demo lets you play to level 6 which is more then enough time to sample.

So.. to answer your question.. play a lot of demos. In the end.. you will find there is not all that much out there actually worth spending money on. The state of PDA games was a little dissapointing to me after I got my axim.

And NEVER NEVER buy a game you cant demo. Too many have glitches with different operating systems or just plain stink.

Regards,

Artuk

lalisb · 10-22-04, 03:58 PM

very interesting. Thanks for all the info. I got the emulator u mentioned and bought the GBA one. There is alot of crap games and apps out there so the demo option is quite handy. Those gba games look excellent on the x30 high :)

speakin of games, is there any playstation emulator that actualy works properly on the high end dell?