May 16, 2006

  • The idea that video gaming has become so accepted by the general public means that it's elevated itself from being just a kid's toy and are now more like "entertainment units" like a DVD player. With E3 recently occuring; and more specifically Sony's PlayStation3 announcement, the big question that every gamer is asking themselves now is "how much are you willing to pay for a video game console?" The xbox360 already costs $400, but it seems that price point isn't too bad, as the console is still selling very well. Nintendo hasn't announced a price point for the Wii just yet, but they claim it'll definitely be less expensive than Microsoft's offering. But are you willing to pay $600 for the PlayStation3? That's the big giant question right now. Are you willing to spend that amount of money for something that was predominantly referred to as a kid's toy for the majority of the video game industry's life? Not only that, but while the xbox360 games are averaging $60 a game, it's been mentioned that the PS3 games might go for $70-$80.

    It does have to be noted that the PS3 is also a blu-ray video player. But unlike when DVD hit it's stride over five years ago, how important is blu-ray for you? It also has to be said that the PS3 does have a $500 core unit, but just like how I've suggested to people that the xbox360's $300 core unit is a waste of money, I am now also suggesting the same thing for the PS3's core unit. Don't do it folks, do not buy the lower cost version just because it's cheaper, as it is simply not cost effective in the long run.

    The next question that gamers should be asking themselves is, how much time do you really spend on video games to justify the amount of money put into it?  The older you get, the less hours you can dedicate to playing games. Over a decade ago, I could average as much as 25-35 hours a week. Nowadays I'll be lucky if I ever go over 5 hours in a week. Also the majority of my time now in gaming, is dedicated to offline multiplayer games with my friends, as opposed to single player experiences. This is in contrast to the fact that I hear people complaining about how the length of gameplay in games nowadays are too short (I actually open my arms to that). For somebody like me, I really cannot justify spending that much on a PS3 (unless Shenmue 3 is somehow exclusive for it).

    The reality that this hobby has gotten to be really expensive finally hit everybody this E3 2006. Gamers will have to determine how dedicated they are to their favorite hobby, but at what cost?