What's the greatest number of times you've bought a game?

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So after dutifuly buying Beyond Good & Evil HD this morning, the third time I've bought that game, I got to wondering: what's the greatest number of times you've bought a game? I want to hear about the most ridiculous repeat buys of the same game you've perhaps never fully admitted to. A couple ground rules:

1. This thread starts at three, and hopefully goes to the heights of embarrassment. Double-dips don't count as they're relatively common and usually reasonable.

2. The purchases have to be of essentially the same game. Ports and re-prints count, but Game of the Year editions and others that include substantially more value (e.g. expansions, etc) to the repeat buy may make too much sense for this thread.

I leave the second rule to individual discretion, but in the event of a tie the winner will be he or she with the less sensible reasons for buying the same damn game over and over.

To start:

Thief: Deadly Shadows is my winner at four times. I bought it day one for PC, but when I dumped PC gaming for a Mac and an Xbox, I traded it for the Xbox version. One day I went to play it and couldn't find it—had I, in a moment of insanity, traded it too? It was a mystery, so I duly went out and bought it again. When the 360 came out, I didn't like the torchlight bug, so after buying an iMac in 2009 and installing Windows on it, I learned of Thief: The Complete Collection—Gold, The Metal Age, and Deadly Shadows all on one disc. I immediately ordered it and the circle was complete.

Beyond Good & Evil, as mentioned above, is the first runner-up at three times. I bought it first for the Xbox, didn't get far into it and then my Xbox died and the game never made it on the backwards compatibility list. When I bought a PS2 a couple years, it was sitting on a shelf at HMV, brand new, so I grabbed it again. And never got around to playing it. Now this morning I bought the XBLA version. So while I still may not play it (ha), at least I'm part of the solution and funding that sequel.

I set the bar pretty low at three and four, so let's hear it!

Twice. I bought Civ 4 boxed, then couldn't find it one day so I bought it on Steam.

Where's Rabbit? I'm pretty sure he's bought Plants vs. Zombies on every platform ever made.

If you count ports, I've purchased The Ocarina of Time four times. I bought it on the N64, then I bought it on the GameCube not once but twice (Zelda collection and Master edition), then I bought it on the Wii Virtual Console.

Between me and my wife, we've bought Final Fantasy Tactics at least four times, including the PSN downloadable version.

Next time I get Dragon Age will be the third time, though it'll be the first time buying the Ultimate Edition.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Twice. I bought Civ 4 boxed, then couldn't find it one day so I bought it on Steam.

I'm going to interpret this skimming in the following light:
Civ 4 is so great it actually counts as at least 1.5 games.

If we're starting at 3, then I have nothing. I've bought a small number of games twice, but that's it. Closest I have to 3 purchases is I obtained X-Com 3 times. The first time was when my friend handed me a pirated copy and I had no idea what the game was. The 2nd time was on a PC Gamer magazine CD of old full versions of games and the 3rd was on Steam as part of the whole x-com pack for $2.

Also, I did, at one point have 3 copies of Metroid prime in my house. One I got as a present, one was via Metroid Prime Trilogy and the 3rd I married into since my wife had a copy of her own.

That's all I've got. I just don't tend to re-buy stuff I already own.

Oh.. Monkey Island, I've gotten that at least four or five times, starting with the original release, then a couple of times in Lucasarts packs, then the iphone release, and again for Steam.

Tanglebones wrote:

Next time I get Dragon Age will be the third time, though it'll be the first time buying the Ultimate Edition.

Yup, I did that. So I ended up buying DA three times: console, original pc release and the ultimate. Wow. Sad.

I bought COD4 twice. I bought it when it came out (boxed), sold it, and then a month later decided I was way more into the online mp than I thought I was and so bought it again. Dumbass.

I've also bought Freespace 2 about three times and a couple other games I picked up on GOG for three times.

I think I top out at three.

Believe it or not I only own PopCap games on one system. Strange, I could've sworn I'd bought PvZ at least twice.

Diablo 2 -

Spoiler:

eight times

. I wish I was joking. Quitting diablo 2 was to me what quitting WoW/other mmos seems to be for modern addicts. When the game released I was in high school which didn't exactly require much of me and in my free time/skipping classes I developed a pretty serious problem (I got to the point where I was leveling a character without using any items just to spice things up).

Thankfully I no longer have that problem in games, but the embarrassment of the situation lingers all these years later.

I'm not going to win the thread, but I bought Bioshock three times (PC Boxed, PS3 Boxed, Steam).

mrtomaytohead wrote:

If we're starting at 3, then I have nothing. I've bought a small number of games twice, but that's it. Closest I have to 3 purchases is I obtained X-Com 3 times. The first time was when my friend handed me a pirated copy and I had no idea what the game was. The 2nd time was on a PC Gamer magazine CD of old full versions of games and the 3rd was on Steam as part of the whole x-com pack for $2.

Also, I did, at one point have 3 copies of Metroid prime in my house. One I got as a present, one was via Metroid Prime Trilogy and the 3rd I married into since my wife had a copy of her own.

That's all I've got. I just don't tend to re-buy stuff I already own.

3 xcom's here too... 2 dollars (too good to pass up). Except for it's not really a very playable game on the PC port. I couldn't get the controls to work in a way that would let me just play. The smoothing they put in for the paddles on the PS didn't translate very well to mouse world.

2 TF2's, really the orange box (one for the console and one for PC)

Other than that, I am pretty much about letting the memory of old games just linger because they are so good that way.

krev82 wrote:

Diablo 2 -

Spoiler:

eight times

. I wish I was joking. Quitting diablo 2 was to me what quitting WoW/other mmos seems to be for modern addicts. When the game released I was in high school which didn't exactly require much of me and in my free time/skipping classes I developed a pretty serious problem (I got to the point where I was leveling a character without using any items just to spice things up).

Thankfully I no longer have that problem in games, but the embarrassment of the situation lingers all these years later.

Till next year (yes, I know they leak it would be this year, I am just real) when Diablo 3 comes out.

Phishposer wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Twice. I bought Civ 4 boxed, then couldn't find it one day so I bought it on Steam.

I'm going to interpret this skimming in the following light:
Civ 4 is so great it actually counts as at least 1.5 games.

Phishposer's got my back.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 4 times (3 of which are because I'm an achievement whore)
The Orange Box - 3 times (only the last of which is because I'm a whore)

I can whip a clown's ass, at least.

Oh, if you're starting the tally at three and you aren't counting collectors/goty/gold/platinum/enhanced/complete editions, then my multiple re-purchases seem completely reasonable.

Oh, where's RukiTanuki and his TF2 item farming when we need him? I bet he's got us all beat.

Peggle and Peggle Nights probably win it for me. PC direct from Pop Cap, PC via Steam sale, I bought the original Peggle first for my iPod Classic, XBLA and PSN versions, and iPhone versions. That's six by my count. If they release an iPad version....

Spoiler:

Day one perch

Plants vs Zombies is a three time perch. PC, iPhone and iPad. I haven't caved on the console versions yet.

I have bought quite a few different versions of Chessmaster over the years, but they were all updates of one sort of another (or at least had different numbers at the end).

krev82 wrote:

Diablo 2 -

Spoiler:

eight times

.

That knocked it out of the park. My hat goes off to you, and I hope someone out there harbours an even more embarrassing story.

Itsatrap wrote:

Oh, if you're starting the tally at three and you aren't counting collectors/goty/gold/platinum/enhanced/complete editions, then my multiple re-purchases seem completely reasonable.

Unless you've bought a lot of Collectors etc editions! Like I said, individual discretion, but if you can out-crazy krev82 with a truckload of multiple editions, chime in.

Does it count as a repurchase when you resume your MMO subscription? If so, we've got a few WoW addicts who need to fess up.

Four times (original PC release, X-Com Collector's Edition, PlayStation, Steam) for X-Com: UFO Defense.
Three times (original SNES release, GBA remake*, Wii Virtual Console) for Final Fantasy II/IV.
Three times (original NES release, GBA remake as Zero Mission*, Wii Virtual Console) for Metroid.

[size=10]* These games technically introduce new content, but also introduce other annoying aspects that put them on the same playing field as the originals.[/size]

And I'll also add that I still own all of these versions.

jadefire21 wrote:

3 xcom's here too... 2 dollars (too good to pass up). Except for it's not really a very playable game on the PC port. I couldn't get the controls to work in a way that would let me just play. The smoothing they put in for the paddles on the PS didn't translate very well to mouse world.

Ummm what? Are we talking about the same game? X-COM UFO Defense here. The originally released on PC by Microprose in 1993 turn based strategy game that happens to be one of the best PC games of all time.

There's no way I can top krev82 for single-game repurchases, but I'd guess that there are, oh, I dunno, 20-30 games in my collection of which I own multiple copies? To be fair, most were bundled or duplicates from the bargain bin. A handful are games of which I own floppy and CD versions. And of course, I have Steam versions of a handful.

Doom (PC, SNES, Sega 32X, PS1, XBLA, GBA "bootleg import", N64)

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Does it count as a repurchase when you resume your MMO subscription? If so, we've got a few WoW addicts who need to fess up.

Not unless they sold the disc and then had to buy it again.

X-Com - 3 times
Beyond Good & Evil - 3 times
Morrowind - 3 times

But the winner will probably be the 5 or 6 copies of Zork and a couple of other Infocom games from various platforms (going back to the Atari 800) acquired through various system upgrades and in various collectors sets.

Gravey wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Does it count as a repurchase when you resume your MMO subscription? If so, we've got a few WoW addicts who need to fess up.

Not unless they sold the disc and then had to buy it again. ;)

Oh thank god! I have never actually cancelled my Sub. I have been playing since closed Beta... 14.95 or whatever it is times 6 years...yeah the math is not pretty

I don't think I bought any game more than 4 or 5 times, if you go by the rules established up there. I've owned Super Mario Bros. in 6 different formats. Once on the NES, once on the SNES in Super Mario All-Stars, once on GBC in Super Mario Bros. DX, once on GBA, once on Gamecube in Animal Crossing, and once on the Wii. I'd have bought Super Mario All-Stars on the Wii as well if it was anything more than just the SNES game on a disc. I doubt Super Mario All-Stars on SNES counts because it included The Lost Levels, which was the biggest reason why I bought it, and Animal Crossing definitely doesn't count because I bought Animal Crossing, and it just happened to contain Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 probably both sit at 3 times bought (by the thread's rules) but 4 times owned. NES, SNES (All-Stars, so it doesn't count) GBA and Wii.

Super Mario World would also be 3 times. SNES, GBA and Wii.

Super Mario 64 is also resting at 3 times. N64, DS (does this count? It included new characters, some new levels and 30 new stars to collect) and Wii.

Hell, even Lost Levels sits at 3 times. SNES, GBC (it was included in Super Mario Bros. DX) and Wii.

The only other game I've bought more than 3 times is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Once on SNES, twice on GBA (just so I could try Four Swords) and once on the Wii.

I own Ocarina of Time 4 times. One on N64, two on Gamecube (pre-order bonuses, so they don't count as purchases) and once on the Wii. I'm also going to buy it on the 3DS.

The original Legend of Zelda is something I owned on the NES and currently own on the GBA, the Gamecube (pre-order bonus) and on the Wii. Even Majora's Mask, I own on the N64, the Gamecube and the Wii.

It's like a sickness.

Those Midway collections and XBox Live Arcade have me purchasing stuff multiple times, so far Smash TV is in the lead with 6 times. I had it for NES, SNES, Genesis, the PlayStation Party Pack, XBLA, XBox Midway Collection.

Looking through my list, I have a 4-way tie between:

Dragon Age: Origins - I bought this once on Steam, once on 360, then a 3rd time on Impulse (which included Awakenings, but I bought it for the core game)
Civilization 4 - Steam, then Steam again (for my partner), then Steam a 3rd time so I could get Colonization.
Final Fantasy 4 - SNES, GBA, DS (and likely a 4th time when the huge PSP collector's thing comes out, but not yet)
Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past (SNES, GBA, Wii VC)

Runners up include Final Fantasy 6 (SNES, GBA), Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (360, Steam), Super Metroid (SNES, Wii VC), Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3 (bought each in their original form, then again in the collection), and many many others.

EDIT: MechaSlinky reminded me of LTTP, which I've bought at least 3 times, possibly more.

Beyond Good & Evil - 4, maybe 5 times - Gamecube and PC on release. Later on via Steam and at least one magazine pack-in.

Final Fantasy I - 3 times - Twice on the NES (the first time it was stolen) and then later via the Playstation's Final Fantasy Origins

EDIT:
Duke Nukem 3D - 3 times - PC in 1995, came with my used N64 in 2000, and then via GoG's sale on the Atomic Edition last year.

Serious Sam: The First Encounter - 4 times - 1x on release, then via the Gold edition (1st and 2nd encounter together), magazine pack-in, then the HD version via magazine pack-in.

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