It’s about that time of year when gamers’ heads fill with the delights of holiday wish-lists but their pocketbooks empty of any usable coinage to make those wishes come true.

Face it: you know that when you asked Grandma for Halo 3 a few years back, she got confused and got you the third book in the Left Behind series instead. If you leave it up to well-meaning relatives, you have a goomba’s chance in the Mushroom Kingdom of getting any of the games you want. Sparky, you’re just going to have to get them yourself. But how do you build a fully stocked video game library when the only cash you have on you is what you found in your couch? Luckily, you’ve got Uncle Tombstone to help you along. Hell no, I’m not giving you any of my hard-earned ducats! But I will share my penny-squeezing tips to make your own ducats go a little farther.

· The first tip is the simplest yet also the hardest. Never buy a game when it first comes out. That’s right — show some restraint, for chrissakes! You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Plus they’ll usually have a lot of bugs worked out, additional content will be available for download, and you get a chance to learn whether the game has merit or is just an over-hyped POS.

· A correlation to the first point and a personal rule of mine is to never pay more than $20 for a video game, period. If that game is all that and a bag of chips when it’s $60, I imagine those chips will taste even better when you can buy three bags of them and still have enough left over for a tasty beverage.

· Never buy new. Much like buying a car or consummating a marriage, a video game typically drops 10%-20% in value the moment you remove the wrapping. Some stores offer additional discount programs for purchasing used games.

· Visit other second-hand stores outside of the typical video game store. Most second-hand stores have a selection of video games to choose from. The best ones will have competitive deals, clearance bins, special sales, and/or negotiable prices. When was the last time you tried to haggle with the clerk at your local video game outlet?

· Get a job at the places you buy video games from. Hey, not only does this get you out of the basement for a few days each week, but it also entitles you to an employee discount and access to the store’s inventory unavailable to the regular customer. This could mean getting first crack at a sweet deal or taking home a fixer-upper for free. Heck, some places even let their employees take games home for a few days to try them out (much like your local crack dealer).

· Do the research. Check out web sites like Half.com or eBay to find more buyer-friendly fare than most brick-and-mortar stores. eBay hint: check out the “Completed Auctions” link to see what people have been actually paying for the game you’re looking for. Consider buying online from trusted sellers.

Now, some of you may claim that if everyone were to follow these tips, there would be no video game industry at all. In response, I would adjust my glasses, consider your views thoughtfully, and counter-argue with “Bullshit!” It’s true that the economic model that drives most industries embraces the motto, “Out with the old; in with the new.” The video game industry would not be the only one based on a wasteful “disposable culture” mentality. But as in any other industry, the consumer drives change with his or her purchasing choices. If we give in to the advertising and keep buying games at retail prices when they first come out, the industry will continue to grow fat and lazy on our excess. But if we start to shop smarter, the industry will adapt to a smarter consumer. It will have to start making smarter choices of its own in order to survive.

Admittedly, this may mean that the larger companies will try to appeal to the lowest common denominator, sort of like Hollywood trying to make every movie PG-13 because that’s what sells the most tickets. Less money usually means less risky ventures will be chosen over riskier innovations. But there will always be the smaller companies who will thrive in this environment as well, those who make their name by experimenting with new ideas, offering something different to those who want it. And the industry will be run by those who love the games rather than those who want to sell them. Everything will be rainbows and sugarplums, and we will each get a sparkly unicorn of our very own to ride and befriend.

Or you can keep paying $60 for games, turning them in for $10 in store credit two weeks later so that I can pay $20 for them a couple months down the road. That works for me, too.