Considering the current economic climate it's safe to say most of us are feeling a bit of a pinch. It's not unusual in times like these to start looking at the things you consider luxuries and start trimming your expenses. Your spending habits on games, WoW Gold, Aion Kinah and consoles are likely to be pretty near the top of the list for the chopping block, but it doesn't have to be, not only can you game on the cheap, you can enjoy it too.

Anyone can game on the cheap, there are literally dozens of poorly made, un-fun, free-to-play MMO's and shallow casual games available for download. Great gaming on the cheap, especially hardcore gaming, now that's a bit of a trick, but let’s see what we can do to get you started.

PC or Console? This is easily a debate that could encompass an entire article on its own, but for the sake of brevity and my sanity we'll cut things short and focus only on the financial merits of each choice.

Out of the gate this might seem like a no-brainer, considering the fact that they range between $250 and $300, you'd think consoles would be the way to. Not so fast, there are hidden costs you need to think about and be aware of when picking up a console. If you're getting a Nintendo Wii, then you're probably going to have to spend another $35-$40 on a second controller to really make the console sing, games will run you between $40 and $50 a pop, depending on how quickly you finish your games, and how often you want new ones, that could get expensive, fast.

If you're thinking about getting one of the higher end systems, like a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360 then things can get dramatically more expensive. To make the best of your experience you’ll want to get a High Definition Television, not exactly cheap. In addition, going online with your Xbox 360 to play against others will cost $50 a year as you'll need an Xbox Live Gold account. All this without factoring in paying for hard drives (to store game saves and data), WiFi adapters, and the games themselves at $60 a title.

If you already own a console, the best cheap gaming advice I can give would be to stick to the titles available for download on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and on Nintendo's WiiWare service, there's a decent variety and most are available at a good price. However, if you're willing...

Consider the PC. If you're reading this, chances are that you can probably play most of the PC games I'll be recommending in this article, yes, even if you just have an integrated graphics processor.

That said, if you are in fact looking to upgrade on the cheap you should be able to get Nvidia's GeForce 8800GT for less than $70 and an extra gigabyte of memory shouldn't run you more than $20.

The GeForce 8800GT may no longer be Nvidia's top of the line graphics card but it's arguably the best card they've ever made and it's still relevant, it will handle even newer games like Call of Duty: World at War, Crysis, Age of Conan and the upcoming Aion: Tower of Eternity from NCsoft with relative ease at conservative resolutions, just stick to 720p (1280x720 pixels) and you should be fine.

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