Waiting for Next Gen

Over the years I've had the privilege of being able to own pretty much every console that's worth anything, from the NES on. Weather I got it right away, or years after it was on store shelves, I still found a way to buy every console, and put it through it's paces. This year's launch is really the first launch, not including the Wii U, that I will be an adult for. With being an adult comes having a lucrative job, and with that job comes a very small amount of cash. I do have the money for one, but for some reason I don't feel the need to go out and spend my hard earned money on a console, that I really don't need.

When the xbox 360 came out, I was 15, and didn't have a job to pay for one, and although a couple Christmas seasons came and went without receiving one, I didn't really care. During those two years I was able to play a lot of games, that wound up in bargain bins when stores were trying desperately to get rid of their extra stock of PS2 and Xbox games. Not only that, but I was able to play through other older games from years past. I can foresee the next couple of years going in a similar way. The only thing is, I've played most every game from this generation that's even worth anything, but the problem is I haven't had the time to finish all of them. In fact, I've never once received 1000 achievement points, or gotten a platinum trophy in a game. That's something I really want to do. There are countless games from even as far back as the NES era that I've always wanted to finish, but never had the skill, the chance to, or I just lost interest in the game, and by the time I came back I was completely lost.

In the summer of 2007 I got my first real job in the world. I was lucky to work doing landscaping for a guy who owned a lot of rental property, and at 10 dollars an hour, I was living the good life. All of my friends had jobs that got them barely minimum wage, but not me. With no responsibilities except paying for gas, I decided that fall to go out and get a 360. I would have gotten a PS3, but at the time I believe it was around 100 bucks more. In my mind, that was 100 dollars more I could spend on games. I walked in that Gamestop with a couple hundred bucks, and walked out with more games than I knew what to do with. You see, if I had gotten that system at launch I'd be paying 60 bucks for games that I might not have had that much interest in, but since I did wait I was able to come out with a stack of games for the same price I would have payed for two games at launch. I think this is a great strategy for this gen as well.

This summer my laptop broke, and I was faced with a choice to either buy a new laptop, build a new computer, or just use my old desktop, and ipad for a portable solution. I opted to build a fairly good gaming PC for just a little over 500 bucks, the price of an Xbox One. Right now I can play Battlefield 4 at Ultra settings, and haven't run into a game that even remotely comes close to chugging my computer. Even though I don't have a console to play some of these games on, I'm sure a big majority will make their way to PC. Especially since these new consoles are the closest things we've ever had in terms of a console being like a PC.

I'm really excited for these new consoles to come out, although for some reason, I'm fairly apprehensive about purchasing one right now. There aren't any standout games, that I really can't go without playing. When Uncharted 3 was about to come out, that was when I bought my Ps3. When I heard Final Fantasy 13 was going to be coming to 360 as well, I jumped in. Although it wasn't for a specific game, I saved up one summer to be able to buy my Dreamcast because of the game selection on the system. Where it stands right now, the only games I'm really stoked for haven't even come out, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Ouya emulators will be a much bigger part of my gaming habits this next year as I try to go back and beat some of the old RPG's of yore. As for everybody else? Well I hope you guys enjoy your consoles so that I can buy your used games when your done with them!