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access_time March 23, 2012 at 4:03 PM in Culture by Ryan Bates

Should I Pay Or Should I Go? Let These Guys ‘Decide’

 

Still haven't gotten around to buying Modern Warfare 3? Decide.com recommends you hold off just a little bit longer...

It’s more painful than an uppercut from a prime Mike Tyson. More painful than three midterms on the same day. And almost as painful as being stuck behind a screaming baby from Los Angeles to New York. It’s the feeling of “buyer’s remorse,” the feeling that you get when you paid too much for games… or worse, when you finally invest in that game console and the next-gen comes out a few short months later. But fear not, for there are people out there who are determined to end the weeping and gnashing of teeth caused by buyer’s remorse.

Decide.com has launched their website and mobile apps with the intent of saving people money on their electronics purchases, and according to Vice President of Product and Marketing Michael Paulson, “The gamer is a big part of the population Decide.com is trying to service.”

Decide.com says the time to pick up Battlefield 3 is now...The website reviews and aggregates tens of thousands of prices and gives consumers the best prices they can find, advising consumers if they’re getting the best price, or if maybe they should hold off for a bit… even if that’s not always the nature of the gamer. “It’s unique,” said Paulson, “in that most gamers, most hardcore gamers, will go out and buy the game the day it comes out, regardless of price, so telling someone to wait two or three months for a price drop won’t work. They won’t wait that long… but they may wait til tomorrow to save five bucks. They may prioritize something else and let the new game wait a week.”

Decide also reviews the game and gadget sites for the latest news and rumors, and also studies historical trends to give a green or red light. “You go in, you buy a new laptop or phone or TV, and a few months later there’s a newer, better one, and you wish you had waited for the newer one,” said Paulson. “Decide.com could have warned you that there was a new model coming out soon, so you might have held off a few months for the newer version.”

In fact, all those looking at picking up a new Nintendo 3DS might want to think long and hard about that decision. “If you look at the trend lately with Nintendo handhelds, they have been getting upgrades fairly regularly,” Paulson said, referring to the ancestry of the console. Indeed, shortly after the Nintendo DS came the DSi, then the DSi XL before its current incarnation. Decide.com recommends waiting on the 3DS as they project with 76% confidence that there will be an upgraded model within two months, and 94% confidence of an upgrade within five months. Conversely, they recommend going ahead with buys for the PlayStation Vita, as no price drop is foreseen anytime soon.

Not only does Decide.com help gamers, but according to Paulson, it helps those that love them. “The other thing we’re finding very useful in the gaming world is that it’s a useful service for gifting,” he says. “A lot of people right now, parents, aunts, uncles, are looking at the portable consoles right now. If they’re clued in, like I’m sure readers of your site are, they know what’s going on, but most of the world is completely unaware of the scene, and we can help recommend a good buy.”

Decide.com is also available for iOS and Android, which Paulson calls one of the most useful things for gamers. “When they’re actually in the store with that game in their hand, they can pull out their phone and check the app to decide if they should buy it now or wait for it. They can also make sure the price they’re looking at is the best price around, or if they should go somewhere else to buy it. They can quickly reassure them they were getting a sound price.”

Paulson summed it up simply: “Decide.com is all about saving consumers money.”

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