Initially I played the demo near the release time of the game. It was fun but not overwhelmingly so, so maybe I would have bought the game for $25. Time passes and any hype surrounding the game goes down, so my willingness to buy the game goes down, as does the price- but not fast enough, until I see the game on a shelf for $6, at which point my willingness price intersects and the purchase happens.
For GTA San Andreas, I had played through the earlier two games so I knew I would like it, and get a lot out of it. I thought to myself: Why pay $20 each for two or three older games I probably will only sort of enjoy when I can play a brand new game I know I'll like? Also, I knew the game would be successful and take a long time to get to the bargain bin.
This graph is more speculative, since I was willing to buy the game brand new for $50. But theoretically if I would have waited, or if I had not gone into a game store until months after the release, I would have waited for the price to drop, hype for the game dies down, so my willingness price drops below and periodically rises above and lowers. A year or two later I fully expect to pay price reduced, but my expectations perhaps don't match reality (and I have no idea what the real price time curve for GTASA was).
