What, no Darksiders? We have to put that at least in the top ten.

My own experiences can be organized into three categories.

1. I didn't want to pay for it.
2. I already paid for it.
3. I'm gonna make sure it works before I pay for it.

Number 1 is pretty straight forward. The game is not that interesting and I just wanted something to play so I could pass the time. I knew I wasn't going to play it ever again and if I had gone to the store to buy it, I would have talked myself out of it by the time I got there. I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying I didn't care enough about it for it to matter.

Number 2 is the easiest to argue for. For example, I love Xenogears. However, I have played my copy so much that it melted. It literally has bubbled up in places and has ceased to work. Rather than pay an exorbitant amount of money online to somebody named "SugerBear1337" (who happens to have hermetically sealed away 500 copies back in 98'just in case), I choose instead to download it and save myself the fear of Suge knowing where I live. Still waiting for American PSN release.

Number 3 is where you begin to ride the fence. I like to play fps' a lot. I wasn't sure though, how my computer would play one in particular. Compy is pretty old and despite the joy that I've gotten out of the previous titles in the series, I was pretty sure that the loud box under my desk wouldn't survive this one. So, i downloaded it to try. I know that I could have just downloaded the demo and tried that. Not all maps are created equal, however, and the demo maps could have played fine while the others would run about as fast as my great-grandmother after her hip replacement. Rather than drop $50 on the "cross your fingers and hold your breath method" I chose to test drive it first and found Compy to be up to the task. In return for its hard work, I put forth some effort and drove down to the store to purchase the Collector's Edition in all of its metal boxy glory.

PS. Sometimes number 1 introduces me to a new game that I didn't think I would like and I end up playing the hell out of it. This is a rare occurrence but it does happen. I consider this occasion number 1b: "I didn't want to pay for it but realized it was actually worth a damn and did."