As I casually lounge in my apartment, it amuses me to no end that with all the electronics, DVDs and video games lying around it must look like I looted a Best Buy or two. What can I say? Other than that, I take my obsession with high-tech toys to an absurd level. But powering my electronic lifestyle really gets to be both expensive and time consuming.
Holiday season 2006 was a momentous occasion in gaming. November saw the release of Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3, stoking the fires of console wars once again. At the time, I was only interested in getting my hot little hands on Nintendo's bundle of joy, and did what it took to get one.
On the cold November night in question I bundled up in several layers, packed up a chair, candy, blankets and even some homework before heading off to meet my destiny at — where else? — Target. It was 11 p.m. when I rolled up in my trusty Ford Taurus to stake out my spot in line at Position 81. Yes, I sat out in the cold with about 100 other insane game fans for the opportunity to spend several hundred dollars. Armed with my trusty Target credit card I claimed my prize nine hours and $400 later.
But that was only the beginning. Later purchases of controls, and some extra games made my wallet scream. I even sunk low enough to pay almost double what the Nunchuk controllers are worth on eBay to snag a pair and finish off my set. To be honest, I just sent the last $150 payment to Target last week, so only now can I say I officially own my Wii.
What better way to bring in the New Year than with another quick trip to the land of red and khaki? My original intention for this trip was to buy my roommate a belated Christmas gift, but I walked out with oh, so much more. When perusing the electronics department, I usually take a look at new releases and such, but this time something made me look through the glass case marked PlayStation 3. Much to my surprise, what I saw was a $600 price tag staring back at me, teasing me with the shiny console it was affixed to, saying, "You know you want to."
Damn right I wanted to, and I did. It was the $700 impulse buy that still makes me quiver when I see my credit card statement. I justify the purchase with the rationale that a stand-alone Blu-ray movie player would be $1,000, so I am clearly getting a deal.
Much to my disgust, the PS3 is enjoyed more by my roommate these days, as I just have no time to play it. The same really goes for the Wii, as I have not played a single game of tennis in more than a month. I am sure my Wii is getting lonely, not to mention out of shape.
Everywhere I see the fruits of frivolous spending collecting dust. Mark my words, I will triumphantly pick up the PS3 controller the day I send the final payment, regardless of workload, and revel in every race I win and creature I blast into oblivion. Sadly, however, such a day is nowhere in sight.
My love of all things video game-related extends beyond the realm of home consoles to pocket-sized trinkets. As you can see from experiences like the Wii camp-out, I am one of those people who must have whatever new gadget is released at exactly the moment it is publicly available. For the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable, I was again one of the insane souls waiting outside closed doors to get my hands on handheld games fresh out of the shrink-wrap.
The DS was less expensive than the PSP, requiring less money to get operations up and running. I recall that when the PSP was released, 1-gigabyte memory sticks were top of the line, but it was nearly impossible to obtain one through the traditional means of just going to a store. At the time, as embarrassing as it is to say, I dropped $170 on a memory stick to fill my PSP with music videos and a handful of photos. Needless to say, I was hot shit — for a while. Now you can pick the same memory stick up for a fourth of that price.
When it comes to movies, I possess a DVD collection that rivals Blockbuster. From my mother, I have acquired the horrible habit of buying a movie just because I want to buy a movie, with no knowledge of what it is about other than what I can gather from cover art. She is truly a woman who takes "DVDuesday" (Tuesday release day) very seriously.
My obsession is especially troublesome in regard to foreign films. If I read a review or see a trailer and really want to see a movie, but Netflix can't deliver, it is back to eBay for a quick fix. If I can't rent it, I might as well buy it, since I doubt any video store in America carries half the movies I would like to see.
Of course it is always a gamble, since I obviously could hate the movie, and after waiting days for it to arrive in the mail, this would be most upsetting. Fortunately — or maybe unfortunately — I have not once been disappointed with my selections, so this vicious cycle will continue. I am a sucker for subtitles, and that is all there is to it.
Just in case you were curious, as I was, I crunched a few numbers to get a ballpark figure of how much I have thrown down since my birthday. With big purchases like the game consoles, a new cell phone, new camera, etc., I figure that I have spent an astounding $2,580 in less than a year on what are, for all intents and purposes, toys (give or take a little for taxes and sales). Just looking at such a number, I realize that I could almost pay my tuition with that, but who needs books when you can have Mario for so much longer than some one-semester class?
When all is said and done, some people choose high fashion, and others choose high voltage. Certainly, I am the latter.
The only question is, 'Where will all this spending lead me?' Sure, I am keeping up with paying for my toys, but gradually they are getting more and more expensive. I shudder to think what my room of doom will look like when I can spend real-world money, from a real-person job.
Until then, here's to the fun, toy-filled future, where inconceivable debt is only a quick swipe of plastic away.
Justin Voss is a sophomore majoring in Japanese. Have you gone bankrupt buying video games and accessories? E-mail your cautionary tales to [email protected].
