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Frugal gamers share their tips for video gaming on a budget

Get hundreds of hours of video game entertainment for cheap or free

Photo credit: Canva

Beat the level, not your wallet

If you’ve been a video game fan that hasn’t really touched a game system since the Playstation 3 or earlier and want to get back into it, or if you’re a parent that’s unfamiliar with current gaming today that has kids that want to play, it can look very expensive. Seeing new video game titles averaging around $60 for the base game plus more money for additional downloadable content can give everyone a case of sticker shock. Per the Entertainment Software Association, Americans spent $57.2 billion on video games in 2023. However, gaming veterans have some tips for newbies that can save you big money in the long term while providing hours of entertainment. As brought up on Reddit and other social media, there are ways to start or continue your gaming habit during these more difficult economic times.

First is gaming hardware. Many longtime games recommend getting or using a PC for gaming over gaming consoles like an X-Box or Playstation. First, the vast majority of games, especially third party or independently made games, are typically readily available for personal computers to download through electronic shops such as Steam. Buying games digitally is typically cheaper since there is no packaging, shipping, and other costs that usually drive up the price of a physical copy of a game. Along with that, if you learn some know-how through YouTube tutorials, you can upgrade your PC every few years yourself so you can play the latest games at a fraction of the cost of the latest gaming console. If you want a throwback experience or show off games you grew up with to your kids, there are downloadable emulators that will bring your favorite past games to 2025.

However, if you prefer a current game console such as a Sony Playstation, Microsoft X-Box, or Nintendo Switch, you can still save some money if you have patience. New consoles will have the latest games but will be at the highest price. Even then, there will only be a handful of games. If you wait six months to a year, the console will likely be cheaper and there will be more games for it to choose from at a better price.

If you can’t wait, you can buy the previous generation console since it will definitely be cheaper, new or used, and its much bigger library of games will be cheaper, too. There are also plenty of second-hand gaming stores or Facebook groups to buy gently used games. You can also research to see if your local library offers video games to check out, too.



Much like PCs, many of these consoles have a digital store that offer downloadable versions of games that are often on sale. It’s not unheard of for a same to be $60 or more when it is first released, but gets put on sale at 90% off after six months. If you see a gaming title you like but doesn’t fit your budget, put it on your wishlist and check every once in a while to see if it’s on sale. It’s worth spending more money on adding digital storage space for your system, as you can potentially download hundreds of games at deep discounts over time. There are also subscription services such as Playstation Plus or X-Box Gamepass that add on new games each month that you can play for as long as you want at a fraction of the cost. Following social media accounts that keep track and alert followers of sales can also help you find great deals.

If you do want to upgrade to a current system, it may still be worth waiting to purchase it until the price goes down and more games are playable. But if you are willing to invest in a new system, it’ll be worthwhile to make sure that it is backwards compatible or that you’re able to redownload the games you previously purchased. Many companies are seeing this as a must-have feature, like Nintendo reassuring consumers that they’ll be able to play most of their original Switch games on the Switch 2.

It’s also worth looking into online and in-person gaming communities in order to learn about lesser known game titles to check out, trade with new friends, and find out about new deals to stay ahead of the curve.

Video games can be a great way to decompress and entertain yourself or your children. But with a little bit of research and chatting with other friendly folks in the video gaming community, you can enjoy this pastime by running through loop-de-loops like Sonic the Hedgehog rather than running through credit card debt.

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Joy

15 women reveal the 'underrated' reasons why they left their significant others

Modern society has created new reasons for people to break up.

via Moose Photos/Pexels, Christina Morillo/Pexels, Teona Swift/Pexels

Why are women breaking up with men these days?

When people are ready to leave a relationship, many feel pressure to have a compelling reason. There are reasons that no one will disagree with, such as a partner's abuse, infidelity, or trouble getting along with family.

But what if you just aren’t feeling the relationship anymore, or don’t think they appreciate all you have to offer? Those can be perfectly fine reasons, too. It's totally fine to break up with someone over reasons that some may find trivial.

It’s your life; you can’t live it with your chosen people.

A Reddit user named Grand_Gate_8836 asked the AskWomen forum, “What is a very underrated reason for breaking up with your significant other?” and many women shared that they broke up with their partners because they just weren’t feeling the relationship. Others brought up reasons that people may not have had in the past, such as pornography addiction, immaturity and spending too much time playing video games.


On a deeper level, the discussion made many women who feel insecure about their reasons for leaving someone feel a lot better about following their hearts.

Here are 15 of the best “underrated” reasons for breaking up with one’s significant other.

1. Mental health

"I think bad mental health can be a big reason for splitting from someone. Nobody tells you how lonely it can get to be with someone who has mental health issues. It can take years for you to understand them and then eventually realize that you can’t help them until they choose to help themselves. This is due to severe unawareness around mental health issues I feel." — Grand_Gate8836

2. They don't find you attractive

"At the risk of sounding petty: they don't 100% love the way you look, even if they try to spin it in a positive way. I mean statements like 'she's not beautiful but I love her personality and sense of humor"'or 'she's a 5 on a good day but I guess so am I' or 'she's not what I'd consider my type but there's something about her.' I appreciate honesty as much as one can, but in my opinion, this is just depressing. Beauty comes in so many different shapes and forms. How can someone not find it in a person they claim to love? To me it basically means your SO is settling for you and will be forever comparing you to some kind of ideal you don't match." — JankyRobot42069

3. Not the outdoorsy-type

"I broke up with someone who had very conflicting interests and hobbies to mine and assumed I would just be on board with taking them up with him. I like the outdoors. I do not like devoting every weekend to hiking." — Justwannaread3

"Imo, this is so underrated. 'I enjoy X, but I do not enjoy devoting all of my free time to X.' is absolutely valid in and of itself. And leaving someone who doesn't grasp that is so much better for mental health in the long run." — DragonFlySunrise

4. Different goals

"You know, one thing that doesn't get talked about enough is having different life goals and values as a reason to break up with someone. It's not just about whether you both like the same movies or enjoy the same hobbies. It's about where you see yourself going in life and what you believe in. Imagine you're super into traveling the world and experiencing new cultures, but your partner is more about settling down in one place and building a stable career. It might not seem like a big deal at first, but over time, those differences can really start to wear on the relationship. You might find yourself feeling like you're not on the same page about the important stuff, like where you want to live or what you want to prioritize in life. So yeah, having different life goals and values might not be the most obvious reason to break up, but it can definitely be a deal-breaker if you're not aligned in those areas." — Good1Mufferaw

"It never ceases to amaze me that people ignore compatibility issues. It's the most important feature in a relationship. And marriages that continue regardless of how whack the lack of compatibility is." — Savagefluerelis23

5. You're not happy

"They're just not making you happy. You're just not happy with them, and you deep down feel you could be happier elsewhere either alone or with someone else. They're a good, kind person, a responsible adult, etc, but they're not "it" for you. This is often considered a trivial reason to end a relationship or marriage but it's such a BIG DEAL. You should want to be happy and should want them to be happy too! You know when you're not happy. This idea that you should only leave a partnership or friendship because of something deemed "more serious" doesn't feel right to me. One of the hardest things is walking away from someone who is not abusing you, is really good on paper but it just NOT doing it for you because society will always shame people and especially women for leaving because of unhappiness. That inkling feeling underneath of 'they might not be it for me,' we are taught to just not listen to ourselves." — The_Philosophied

6. Bros came first

"He prioritized his friends over me. I think prioritizing friends and family are important, but it got to a point where I was miserable. We were both mid-thirties, and he wanted to go to parties and bars all the time to see his friends. We never had quality time together. It reached its breaking point when my aunt suffered cardiac arrest and was airlifted from 700km away to the hospital in my city. Instead of coming to the hospital with me, or even emotionally supporting me when I went to be with her, he went to the bar and got drunk. I didn't even get a text or call for 24 hrs he just disappeared. When I got upset, he said, 'Seeing Dave is more important, he's my friend' I broke up with him the next day. My aunt died a few hours later." — MeatCat88

7. Pornography

"Porn addiction. Society has brainwashed people into thinking this is normal behavior." — 1989sBiggestFan13

"This is what killed my relationship with my ex-fiance after 7 years. I genuinely thought I was asexual -- nope. He just watched so much, such intense porn (even when I was putting out) that I stopped having any sexual interest at all." — Arwynn

8. Conspiracy theories

"There wasn’t an insane conspiracy theory this dude didn’t believe. ...The first one he told me: on our second date was around the time of the Miami Mall incident. He truly believed 8ft tall shadow aliens invaded the Miami Mall and the government was keeping hush about it. His further conspiracy was that the government was overrun by 'replaced people' basically aliens pretending to be people." — SinfullySInless

9. Video games

"Video games are far more important than spending time with their partner. I'm a very simple person. I don't care about gifts or having money spent on me. Let's go for a walk in the park, just spend some time with me. My ex-husband would find any excuse to not spend time with me. The most common was 'gas costs money, I'd rather hang out at home.' His idea of 'hanging out' was him playing video games with his online friends while I sat quietly watching TV, but with the volume super low so his friends wouldn't be 'distracted.' God forbid I laughed at all, he'd get so mad at me for it." — NatAttack89

10. Peter Pan syndrome

"Peter Pan syndrome. When my 60-year-old boyfriend told me (53F) the reason he had not 1 dollar saved for his retirement is because he is a 'risk taker' and I’m not, I realized I’d have to support him for the rest of his life while he looked down on me for it and walked away." — Slosee

11. Domestic burden imbalance

"Incompatible cleaning habits. Seems like an easy thing to remedy but in reality different standards of cleanliness will create an uneven burden of domestic labor for the partner with higher standards, or create a living environment in which that partner is uncomfortable, or create a situation where the partner with lower standards feels constantly berated/nagged to do something they don’t see as benefitting them in any way. I know multiple couples who broke up at or just before the 'moving in' stage for this reason, and I think it’s a super valid way to decide you’re not compatible in a long-term domestic relationship." — Angstyaspen

12. Stuck in a rut

"Disinterest in trying or experiencing new things and only sticking with what they know. If you’re someone who enjoys trying new restaurants, going to events, exploring new cultural experiences, etc and your partner is content to sit at home in their comfort zone, it eventually gets frustrating. I refused to date someone because of this mentality. If it wasn’t happening within a few miles of his house, he wasn’t terribly excited about doing it. Also, men who think basketball or gym shorts are acceptable casual attire." — Edjennersmilkmaid

13. Fell out of love

"Because you don’t love them anymore. I say this is an underrated reason because so many people think they need a catalyst event in order to justify breaking up. But if you’re not happy and the relationship isn’t fulfilling, that’s a solid enough reason." — Lydviciousss

14. Immaturity

"It felt like parenting. Like I was hanging out with a kid all the time. I was doing all the work, all the driving, all the planning. Like I was managing a child. 'This ain’t my job.'" — K19081985

15. Geographically undesirable

"Not agreeing on where you want to live. I've seen people start a relationship while one or both was living abroad, thinking 'We'll figure it out.' But actually building a life and having kids somewhere far from your own roots, or just in a place you don't really like, is a lot." — Princess Sophia Black

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Pop Culture

Watch a 13-year-old boy become the first person ever to beat Tetris

The classic 80s video game was considered unbeatable…until now.

Classic Tetris/YouTube

Thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson is the only player ever known to beat Tetris.

Few video games are as compelling and addictive as Tetris. Nor are other games, even the most difficult ones, literally impossible to beat.

The task behind Tetris is simple: rotate the falling blocks to fit the puzzle. But as those pieces fall at a faster and faster rate, at some point even the most skilled player becomes outmatched. In fact, no player (other than an AI bot) has been known to ever actually beat the game.

Until now.

Thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson, better known as “Blue Scuti” when he’s gaming, was about 39 minutes into a Tetris competition, rotating blocks at lightning speed, when he achieved a “True Killscreen,” signaling the game couldn’t keep up and crashed.

In other words, Gibson did the impossible. The 34-year-old old game was finally beat…by a teen.

As soon as it happened, the young gamer threw up his gloves in shock and screamed, “Oh my god!” nearly hyperventilating with excitement.

“I can’t feel my fingers,” he said in the live broadcast of the game.

According to 404 Media, Gibson’s history-breaking success is thanks in part to a revolutionary new technique that became popular in 2021 called “rolling,” where he holds the controller in a way that allows him to push the D-pad up to 20 times per second. This method surpasses the “hyper tapping method,” another well known controller technique among Tetris players.

In an interview following his historic win, Gibson dedicated the game to his father, Adam Gibson, who died Dec. 14, 2023. But his mom was there to give him the ultimate “I have no idea what any of this means but it’s important to you so I’m proud” high-five.

Gibson's remarkable feat of both beating a computer game and outplaying AI stands as a reassurance in the lasting potential of the human mind as discourse about artificial intelligence makes it appear obsolete. Even in the digital age, humans constantly strive to learn, adapt, evolve and push the limits. And they succeed. Suddenly a simple game has a much more profound meaning.

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Parenting

Mom gets savvy and tells her daughter to defrost dinner via Roblox

21st century problems call for 21st century solutions.

ChaCha Watson Facebook

Mom gets savvy and tells her daughter to defrost dinner via Roblox.

Parents have been contending with kids and video games since the first arcade game was introduced. Kids get immersed in the fictional world and forget—or sometimes downright ignore—that there are responsibilities to take care of outside of the game. A mom from Chicago, ChaCha Watson, used the Roblox video game to get her daughter's full attention.

Watson repeatedly called her 11-year-old daughter, Miracle, to tell her to take dinner out of the freezer to defrost but Miracle didn't answer. Instead of jumping to the worst-case scenario, Watson knew exactly what her daughter was up to and how to get her attention.

Miracle was immersed in the video game Roblox instead of answering her mom's phone calls, so Watson decided to join. Yep, the savvy mom hopped into the Roblox game from her location and jumped into the car with her daughter's avatar to tell her to take the lasagna out of the freezer. She shared the screenshots of the exchange on Facebook where it went viral.

Watson told Today, “She just so happens to be in the beginning stage when you first pop up on the game. So when I popped up, she just so happened to pull up. And I said, ‘You see me calling you!’ and then she was like, ‘I'm sorry mom.’" Roblox has been around for a while now. It's an interactive game where kids can create avatars that look like them, build things and apparently, drive cars. Watson had been playing the game with her daughter as a way to bond with her, she told Today.

If you've ever been a "latchkey kid" or just the oldest child at home while your parents step out, then you know the cardinal sin is to forget to take the food out for dinner. There's really no way to fake your way out of unthawed food because the rock solid item will tell on you every time. Before video games, parents didn't have the luxury of popping into one of their kids' video games to remind them to unthaw dinner.

Parents across social media are loving this mother's ingenuity of getting her daughter's attention. One parent tagged a friend and said, "We gotta figure out how to do this."

Another person replied, "Screaming! It was the 2nd pic 'It’s your mom, I know you saw me calling you,'" with multiple rolling on the floor laughing emojis.

It seems that most parents commenting on the post are planning to download Roblox and Minecraft to drop in on their kids when they're being ignored. But Watson advised that parents actually try playing the game with their kids and not just download it to tell them what to do, according to Today.

Watson told Today, "Being a single parent, you just want to make sure that you're spending time with your kids. That's really important to me — to make sure I'm spending quality time with her. So I downloaded Roblox and … that was just one of the best things ever."

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