the game rag

"We've finally reached the size where it's time to start a subscription service," said Cheapy D, founder of Cheap Ass Gamer. "People really love our site because they can find cheap deals on video games and save a lot of money. They'll definitely want to pay for this service."

Critics say that you can find this information for free and that a subscription service would only ruin the site. "I've been going [to Cheap Ass Gamer] for a long time now because it's easy to find everything lumped into one site," said malady57, a regular poster on the Cheap Ass Gamer forums. "I can find cheap deals myself. There's no way I'm going to pay for it."

D disagrees.

"We get the exclusive deals that other sites don't get. Sure, as soon as we post them, other sites will post them with in minutes, but wouldn't you rather get that information minutes before every one else?"

Cheap Ass Gamer is just one of the many video game sites to take on a subscription service in the past few years. Along with advertising and store affiliate revenue, subscription fees will double the amount of money that D will make this year.

"Last year, I made a lot of money. This year I stand to make double that amount. The next year I'll make triple the amount I made last year. The year after that I'll probably make like, three and a half times the amount of last year. The year after that, I predict a change in video game purchasing and people won't care about saving money. I'll probably make double again. Then, following what I'm calling 'the apocalypse,' we won't care about video games anymore and so my store will only sell gas masks and canned food - but, we'll help you find the best deals on those too."