I couldn't find any thread on this so here we go.

There's a lot of trading threads on here but I have to wonder; do you ever give games to friends as gifts?

I give games to my friends in real life and online all the time.
For one, I got him Resident Evil Code Veronica X, Phantasy Star Online, ChuChu Rocket, Devil May Cry 3,
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Super Hydlide, and the box set for Lethal Enforcers with the light gun.
They've all gathered dust last I've seen from him.

Another friend I gave Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Xenosaga Chapter 1 and 3.
The prospect of actually learning how to play these games is what turned him off, he said.

This also happens with online friends too. I did a giveaway for Don't Starve Together
and gave it to a person who participated in the giveaway, and he barely ever played it.
For another friend of mine, I won a giveaway for 100% Orange Juice and gave him that because it was on his wishlist.
I asked him beforehand as well like, "Do you still want this?" and he said "yes".
Two years and never opened it once. Still sitting in his Steam library.

So, I don't buy games for people anymore.


P.S. This is not me expecting something in return. When a friend recommends something to me,
I make it a first priority to get it and finish it. Being given it for free is an immediate greenlight.

I'm hopeful that this has only happened to me, so perhaps you have some stories about
gifting video games to people? Or are you just a 'take and no give' kind of person?

M4g1cW4rr10r : I only buy people games who deserves it like if I have seen what they have done in life or done something worthy I would get that person a game as a surprise. I don't often do it, but I do in some occasional times.

I don't buy games for anyone but I always let my friends use my discounts. Just a few days ago my friends girlfriend wanted 2 switch games so we ordered and used all of my sales and discounts so she could get 2 $55 games for like $40.

This has happened a lot whether it was for a recent game like the new Pokemon game or if it was back in the day when Amazon Prime members got 20% off of games. Other than that my friends never really had the same systems and I never gave them any games.

I've bought games for friends a couple of times but not nearly as many times as they have for me. A lot of games I own were bought for me by my friends simply because they wanted me to play them with them. I think the first one they bought for me was Tabletop Simulator and that was because they wanted me to try out a card game called Weiß Schwarz (Weiss Schwarz) with them.

It depends on the circumstances and the person. I usually just give my dad Steam gift cards at this point, since he played the game I gave him once and never touched it again. On the other hand, one friend of mine was interested in a PSP, so I ended up getting him one for Christmas and it's seen no chance to gather dust so far. It depends entirely on the person whether or not I'll get them a game or a gift card.

I'm broke literally all the time, so I never have the chance. However, I would buy friends games if they mentioned they'd really like to have it. The people I talk to regularly typically don't bring up a game unless they're really interested in playing it, so I know they would really appreciate it were I to do that. It's something I hope I can start doing once I start making some money.

It's funny because I actually planned on doing this today since Target was selling lots of $20-40 games for $5 for 3DS. My 2 best friends and friend A's girlfriend all have 3DS's. So I was thinking about buying 1 or 2 for each of them.

Though knowing me, I probably would have just told them that I paid full price.