I've Spent At Least $338.58 Re-Buying Games I Already Own

A couple of weeks ago, while buying Final Fantasy IX and Breath of Fire III, I had the dreary thought that I’ve probably spent a lot of money re-purchasing games I already own. So I decided to do some math. The numbers are… not cool. Between Virtual Console games, PS1 classics, and PSP games that I wanted to play on my Vita, I have spent a metric fuckload of money on video games that I’ve already owned, all for the sake of modern convenience. Why track down the old SNES when I could just spend a few bucks to get Super Mario World on my riches888pg Wii U? Why mess around with composite cables when I can just buy Final Fantasy Tactics on my phone? Surely you can understand; most gamers have done the same. Allow me to show you the damage, platform by platform. I should note: I couldn’t get the data from my Wii, since the system’s no longer with us and there’s no way to access my purchase history anywhere else, because Nintendo. I think I bought a few other Virtual Console games on there, but I don’t remember exactly how many. Also: game jinda44 publishers have sent me various codes for older games that I’ve covered on Kotaku, like Earthbound for Wii U, so those aren’t included here. These are all games I’ve bought. Wii U: 5/2/13 – Super Mario World – $8.70 7/3/14 – Zelda: Link to the Past – $8.70 4/10/15 – Deus Ex: Human Revolution – $17.23 5/1/15 – Paper Mario – $10.88 Total: $45.51 Both SMW and Link to the Past were great purchases. I haven’t replayed Paper Mario yet, but I will. Not sure if I’ll ever get to Deus Ex again, especially with the new one coming out later this year. I don’t know why I bought that. 3DS 5/30/13 – The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons – $5.43 5/30/13 – The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages – $5.43 12/28/14 – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX – $6.49 2/23/15 – e19 The Legend of Zelda – $5.41 8/6/15 – Chrono Trigger (DS) – $27.99 9/11/15 – Super Mario Bros 3 – $5.41 Total: $56.16 Rebuying and replaying all the Zelda Game Boy games was a good reminder that the Zelda Game Boy games are fucking incredible. As is Chrono Trigger. And Super Mario Bros. 3. Good show, 3DS. I don’t regret any of these purchases. Vita (PS1 Classics): 2/8/13 – Final Fantasy IX – $4.99 8/26/13 – Vagrant Story – $5.99 11/30/13 – Final Fantasy VIII – $9.99 12/9/14 – Suikoden II – $5.99 2/9/16 – Breath of Fire III – $9.99 Total: $36.95 I also own Xenogears, Suikoden, Legend of Dragoon, Grandia and Chrono Cross thanks to codes from Sony. Pretty solid collection, IMO. It would’ve been nice if Sony had found some way to let people transfer their PS1 discs to modern systems, but hey, then they wouldn’t make money? Vita (PSP Classics): 1/6/13 – The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky – $19.99 7/7/13 – Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together – $19.99 5/4/14 – Lunar: Silver Star Harmony – $14.99 Total: $54.97 I bought all three of these games on the PSP throughout 2010 and 2011, then again on the Vita just a couple years later. This was probably a mistake. PlayStation 4: 12/5/15 – Final Fantasy VII – $10.87 Total: $10.87 I have a feeling this number is going to get higher soon. iOS 8/27/12 – The World Ends With You – $21.66 9/20/12 – Lunar Silver Star Story – $7.58 2/6/14 – Final Fantasy VI – $17.33 2/2/15 – Heroes of Might and Magic III HD – $10.83 2/9/15 – Final Fantasy IX – $18.41 Total: $75.81 Why, yes, some of these games do appear more than once on this list, not even counting when I bought them on PS1. Don’t get me started. PC 10/1/10 – Planescape: Torment – $9.99 4/14/13 – Sid Meier’s Colonization – $5.99 5/11/13 – Alpha Centauri – $5.99 9/6/13 – Baldur’s Gate 2 – $9.99 6/29/14 – Baldur’s Gate – $3.99 6/29/14 – Icewind Dale 2 – $3.99 6/29/14 – Dungeon Keeper 2 – $2.39 2/6/15 – Heroes of Might and Magic 3 – $9.99 4/29/15 – Zak McKracken – $5.99 Total: $58.31 These classics—which are all excellent—are from GOG. I owned every single one of them on CD-ROM back in the day. I’ll never forget picking up Baldur’s Gate for the first time, seeing that it came on six discs, and thinking “Holy shit, this game must be incredible.” (It was.) FINAL TOTAL: $338.58 Dear lord. You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jasonschreier