You can now pre-order Resident Evil 5 for PC (Games for Windows LIVE) for $44.95, which is 10% discount. That’s more than what you pay for tax! You must order it from GamersGate.

If you use GamersGate, looks like you’re getting more than the discount though.

- 250 Blue Coins, which is a GamersGate currency (1,000 = $1).
- Price Guarantee so that if game price lowers before the release, you’ll get the change back.
- Pre-Load feature enables the gamers to load 6 hours before the official release time.

Sounds like a good deal to us especially if you prefer digital distribution.

Capcom has release the official minimum requirement list for the PC. Here they are:

Looks like many of the current gaming PCs can already handle these.
It might be a relief for PC users to know that the Windows Vista is NOT required, though no one knows how Windows 7 will handle the gaming systems yet.

I’m pretty sure there are many gamers out there, (myself included) that are really not happy about the prices of games these days. In fact I imagine one of the biggest dilemmas gamers face is a financial one. “Do I spend the remainder of my money on Resident Evil 5, or do I use it to buy my groceries?” Well, perhaps our dilemmas aren’t this dire, but its true that it’s very difficult keeping up with the most current wave of next gen game releases. However, I’ve discovered that just because we aren’t on the most current wave, doesn’t mean we can’t have a blissful gaming life. Though buying the newest cutting-edge games is exciting and sweet, there are definitely perks to following the wave of game releases a year or two behind.

Games in this day and age just cost a lot of money. The average cost of a PS 3 or Xbox 360 game is around $59.99. I understand some of you may not see this $59.99 the way I see it, so allow me to put this into perspective. Consider the following: with $59.99, you could buy 24 crunch wrap supremes, 130 twix bars, 60 packs of Shin Ramyun (Spicy Korean Noodle), or a nice dinner and a drink for you and your date at a respectable dining establishment such as Olive Garden (all you can eat breadsticks and salad is sweet). So all these examples might be a little silly (except for the crunch wrap supremes), but you get the point. That $59.99 has immense potential to be exchanged for a lot of great things.

So the real question is, does the joy and entertainment that this purchase bring justify the sacrifice of say 24 crunch wrap supremes? Hmmmm. That’s a difficult question. Now before you guys tell me I should be ashamed for not choosing gaming over short-lived indulgences, consider this: If I wait 6 to 8 months, that price will likely drop $10 to $15, and if you’re looking at used games, up to $20! Do you know what an extra $20 can get you? 8 crunch wrap supremes!

And the thing is, once you get started on this used game shopping, you can keep up with that. While waiting for the current new hits to drop in price, you can enjoy games that are used. I’ve also discovered that keeping this type of gaming lifestyle has given me the opportunity to discover and/or re-discover a lot of games that slipped through the cracks. There are so many games out there that I didn’t get the chance to play, either because there was a game I was into at the time, or didn’t recieve enough credit and thus I didn’t hear about. I’m also the type of gamer that likes to get everything possible in every single mode in a game, and have a perfect, or near-perfect save, and so being on a later wave gives me plenty of time to give into those impulses.

But I understand that there are games out there, like FPS, that put a heavy emphasis on ranked online multiplayer matches. Obviously, these games require you to be somewhat current, so that you can find others online playing the game, and that the rankings you do recieve actually mean something to someone. Fortunately for me, I’m not a big fan of FPS. But I am competitive. More and more games seem to support online gameplay and leaderboards, such as the aforementioned Resident Evil 5. Did I mention I’m a HUGE Resident Evil fan? Those two factors combine to make the purchase of Resident Evil 5, and other games like it more and more attractive and worthwhile.

So for now, I’ve come to this conclusion: I’ll purchase a new game if I’m a huge fan of the series, and also have merit in getting it now versus later, such a online gameplay. If either of those two elements are lacking, I am more than happy to go back to working on perfect saves for older games.

-PS- Some older games that I’ve played or are in que in my list of games to play (mostly PS2): Okami, Rogue Galaxy, Super Puzzle Fighter II, God Hand, Shadow of the Colossus and Katamari Damacy. I’ve played all of them through except for Okami and Rogue Galaxy. If you haven’t given these titles a try, I highly recomend them!