Editorial

When You No longer Buy New Games

April 8, 2013

Several years ago I stopped buying video game consoles that you connect to the television (I continued to buy portable consoles like the Wiz and the Caanoo and play games for the iPad). The main reason was that I picked up a new hobby (fitness photography of models) and I didn't want to continue to spend the time, space, and money that the new consoles required. I already had a collection of games and consoles that I refused to sell or give away (Atari 2600, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Neo Geo). If I kept buying games and consoles they would take up even more space. It takes time and effort to keep up with the new games which keep coming out, decide which ones I am going to buy, and actually play them. The desire to let go of that was more important than the money the new games and consoles would cost.

Another thing that I took into account was that the new consoles like the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 basically required a high definition tv set, which I didn't have and again, didn't want to spend money or set aside space to get.

So now I play the old games I already have. Primarily I play them so I can take screen captures for this website. Some games, like Panzer Dragoon Saga, I loved so much that I set aside time to play them again even though they are featured here and I don't need to play them any more. I also bought and played a few games that I missed back in the day, like Shining Force CD.

It feels great to go back to the games I used to play. I also played some games that I bought a long time ago and never took the time to play. It gives me great memories, even though it also dates me and makes me realize how old I am. I guess as time goes on you get new interests and leave behind your old ones. No use thinking about "should've could've would've."

Of course, that doesn't mean the old games are better than the new games that are coming. That's ridiculous. When I saw my former roommate play with his 360 I realized that in many ways, the 360 was the first console that looked more or less how I imagined video games were going to eventually look like back when I played games for the Atari 2600. We have come a long way. I just happened to be able to set aside time and money to play video games on the 80s and 90s. The new kids are doing the same now, at the beginning of the 21st century.

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