Simple things that get complicated...

Since when has the act of buying a new videogame console gotten so freaking complicated?

Everyone knows my 360 Elite is faulty since May and I've been meaning to get a new Arcade unit. Now, making my research, I find a lot of factors that need to be taken into account in order to get one of the so called 'falt proof' Falcon chip machines. But let's back up - why are there so many models in the first place? Why not make the 360 a single model and offer the extra benefits as add ons? Seriously, buying a new system nowadays is like having a dangerous surgery - you can either get screwed or be fine, a lottery.

And it's not just the Xbox 360 that bogles my mind. I won't even get into how a company can put out a faulty system knowngly in the market... Sony has the same issue with the PS3. Different sized HDDs, with or without backward compatibility, the same compatibility being either hardware or software based, optical drives, USB ports, you name it, all the different models have their distinct features. Why make things so complicated to a new consumer?

I'll start sounding like an old man now, but when I was little and played a SNES, I knew all SNESs were the same thing. You could go out to a store and buy any system and it would the same deal - the biggest differences would be the pack in games. Now, we live in the supposedly simpler and easier future to live in, in the 2000s, and I feel like I need a degree in astromony in order to get the right video game system. Not to mention the constant fear of getting screwed up by the same company to which I'm giving money for a product. Good for them money can't falter or have different shapes and bundles. I'd love to make things complicated for them as well.