Gnomie amazenyou from the chat room writes:

Hey Mr. Pirillo, I have been viewing your top 5 and other lists and came up with one of my own. If you’re like me, you don’t have 59 bucks to waste on a bad video game and now even rentals are getting more and more expensive. So what do you do? You need to learn how to choose the video games to rent and/or buy. So, with that said, here are my tips for choosing the right game. Take note that I am going to exclude common sense things like owning the correct console or having a powerful enough computer.

Decide What Type Of Gamer You Are. Though it may sound like common sense, you have to know what types of games you like to play. But how do you know if you are a casual gamer or a hardcore, full-on geekus maximus? A good guideline is this: if you get angry because a movie lasts two hours, Grand Theft Auto is not for you. Also, if you have never been a gamer before and don’t know what kind of game to get, just take a look at your movie selection. If you are an action fan or sports fan or whatever, you’ll tell it from the movies you watch. But don’t be afraid to experiment now and then. I, for one, never played horror games until I recently picked one up and, though it scared me so bad that I slept with a TV on for three nights, it was a blast.

Research, Research, Research. Before you even think about actually spending money on a game, you need to do your research. Most of making a choice is research, so this step is very very important. The Internet, as always, is a great place to do research. My first stop when looking for a game is EB Games’ Web site. Not only do you get a good definition of the game and what to expect but you also get screenshots and reviews from your fellow customers. Take their reviews with a grain of salt, however, as people tend to either love or hate the game they are reviewing, there is no middle ground.

Also, Web sites like EB Games have searches where you can search by price, genre, gaming system, etc. This is handy when you don’t have a certain game in mind. Other Web sites, such as IGN or GameInformer, offer some great reviews and videos of just about any game you can imagine and should also be on your Internet checklist. As corny as this sounds, live.pirillo.com is a great place to get opinions on a game. Simply go to the chat and ask. The people there do not hesitate to give you their opinion on a certain game or genre.

If, for some unimaginable reason, the Internet is not at your command, never be afraid to ask people at your local video game store. They are usually very knowledgeable and not shy about giving you their opinion on a game. If they have not played it themselves they have seen how many people have bought it and how many traded it back.

Replay Value. One thing to consider when purchasing a game instead of renting is how long you will enjoy it. Video games seem to be the only item that people will drop 60 bucks on to use for three days. Look for reviews that say how long the story is and if there are any features that allow you to play this game over and over again. If you are a multiplayer person then you may well get many more hours out of a game, but I, myself, enjoy the meat of the storyline and thus average just thee days for one game. Some games have a given replay value because of the genre. A sports game is made to be played over and over again but a thriller/horror game isn’t much fun after the suspense of the story is gone.

Never Be Afraid To Rent. There is an old saying about the “best laid plans of mice and men…” No matter how much research you do, a game could still be flat out horrible. So, if you are unsure about purchasing a game for any reason, rent it. Renting, though getting more and more expensive, is still cheaper than buying a game, especially considering the sites that rent games now which increases the availability of the brand new releases. And remember that, should you fall in love with a game, you can always buy it later.

As you can tell, this whole list was focused on saving money — because we geeks need money to buy other cool stuff, right?