I hardly ever buy a retail copy at full price. I try to pre-order a retail copy for iterations of franchises I like, but it's a bit sporadic. In general, if I want a game at launch, I buy retail.

On a semi-related note: I wanted to pick up Rayman Origins this week, that game is retailing €10 cheaper than what it costs on steam. Sadly the shipment hadn't arrived yet so I left empty-handed.

I try to wait a month or two and then sometimes a game I want is around $40 or lower on amazon.

I don't buy many games, but when I do they're normally full priced.

Yes, I do.

Last game was sfxtekken, next game is witcher 2 and/or ghost recon future soldier

I normally buy them when they're released (though even then the RRP is usually somewhat discounted), but given the sheer number of lemons I've ended up with over the past year, I think I may need to reconsider that rather rash policy.

Only pre-order the Must Have Games! Ex: Skyrim Uncharted3 Assassin's Creed
Also depends on the Bonus Items aka the Swag that comes with a pre-order. Otherwise i wait for price drops or ebay.
Sometimes i'll wait to buy a game if i am currently trying to finish too many other games, such as when Bioshock came out... $20 woo!
I'm still waiting for PvZ to drop below $15 on PSN... not bc its not worth it, but bc i have it on PC already.

I bought exactly three games last year: Minecraft, Rage, and Skyrim. I preordered Rage and bought Skyrim a month after it was released, so I paid full price for each of them. I got Minecraft for cheap since I bought it right after it went into beta, but this wasn't intentional.

When I want a game, I buy it right away. I don't wait for the sales.

I preorder physical copies...
I wait for sales on digital copies.

Depends on the game

In 4/5 years I have only bought 3 games new at full retail price

Skyrim
Dragon Age 2
New Vegas

All other games have been 2nd hand or in sales

Sometimes I pay full retail, other times I wait depends on how much I percieve I am going to like a game. Although I'm not the most perceptive person so I've felt burned on buying some games I was highly anticipating (then they got released as total flops) so rarely looking forward to getting many games lately I've only got like 4 on my list of games for this year.

Depends. When it comes to PC games I almost always wait for a sale. It's rare I'm willing to drop a full $50-60 on a brand new game. I like Steam sales a lot, but I also have to keep myself away from them lest I end up with 500 games and no time to play the damn things in.

When it comes to console games I usually have such a good time-lag that the games aren't new enough to coust $50-60. Take the most recent game I purchased, Chrono Trigger on the DS: got it new for $20.

The only time I actually consider getting a game full price is the rare case of a game I've been waiting for and anticipating a long time. Skyrim was a recent one I paid full price for. I wouldn't do that with just any game, and being a Morrowind fan puts Bethesda games in the forefront.

Due to my backlog and the sheer number of great games already available at low prices, it's very rare that I pay over $20 for a game, nevermind full price. I think the last game I bought at release for full price was The Witcher 2, and before that... I can't even remember. The vast majority of games simply don't offer enough value to me to be worth their initial asking price in light of the various other gaming options available to me.

I don't find myself paying full price (its too much!), unless its an MMO (*sad face*)

Because of Steam I find myself waiting for games I want to be on sale, paying full price is for svckers

There's usually only a few games per year that I feel like I "must have now, now darnit now"...those I pay full price for, since annually it doesn't amount to all that much. Other game purchases I may make in a year....it's not that I purposely wait for sales....I just don't tend to care enough about the game to want to spend much cash on it. Kind of like saying "Hm. I'll wait for it to come on DVD rental/HBO" with a movie.

Edit: Sometimes with the latter, it'll end up becoming one of my fave games...and if I'd realized that, I would've paid full price for upon release. But one doesn't always know what might truly appeal ahead of time.

If the game achieves what I find sutible for it I will buy it.

A few examples

Battlefield 3 did not confirm mod tools due to such I waited until a week prior of B2K to purchase the base game only for $35 that was on sale on origin and B2K a week later for $15 spending $50 (standard PC price) for everything.

Skyrim however did confirm mod tools and due to that I pre ordered it and pre downloaded it through steam. If Skyrim did not confirm mods I would have not purchased it for full price because BGS are not know for their solid releases which turned out to be the worse for Skyrim.

Guild Wars 2 have proved to me that it does change the very aspect that MMORPGS have used for over a decade and already have me sold resulting into me pre purchasing it on the 10th so I can get into Betas as well as 3 days head start for release.

So pretty much if I don't get what I expected the game to have I wait for it till a later date if ever. Of course when its $5-10 its easy to look over the flaws or missing things within the content.

I'll gladly pay full price for a game I know I'll really enjoy and want to play right away, or for a developer I want to support.

The rest of the time, though...my rule is always to wait for a sale, especially when it comes to buying stuff on Steam. What's offered now for $20-30, I can get for $5 if I play my cards right and wait for the next big sale. Really, a few pre-orders aside, I can't remember a time I spent more than $15 for a game.

...And yet somehow, Steam is still managing to take all my money.

That's more your fault for letting yourself get hyped over a game as opposed to having realistic expecatations.

As for me I mostly shop sales, mostly from Steam. I'll buy multiplayer games new if a group of friends is buying it or if I was looking forward to it for a while. The first few days of a new multiplayer game are the best when people don't have any idea what they are doing.

After paying full price for FONV and DA2, I'd think ALL games would be sales from then on

Rarely buy fresh games. Mass Effect 3 is the only game ever that I've pre-ordered. Skyrim is probably the second fastest bought which I got some two weeks after release - a decision which I kinda regret though.

90% of games I buy are on sale. I usually wait for that $20 mark. Very seldom will I go higher on a game. Last year I bought 4 games at full retail: Brink, LA Noire, Rage, and Skyrim. This year I've only bought 1, FFXIII-2.

I am buying day one full price the games in the series I really love. I don't really care how fast the prices drop, I need to play them asap.

That depends. I usually buy games used or when the price has dropped but I made a few exceptions this generation. Red Dead Redemption, Fallout: New Vegas, AC: Brotherhood, Skyrim... two of those I regret paying 60 dollars for.

FONV was good and I'm happy having paid full price for that. DA2 was a disappointment and considering I bought it based on how good I thought Origins was I was a bit sad at the final product.

Mass Effect 3 is definetly going to be a sales game based upon DA2 and the DLC content issues upon release. Hopefully a GOTY edition will have it all for a good price that isn't basically legal theft