To Buy or Not to Buy...
...an XBOX. Damn it, I know that within a year next generation consoles are coming out. I know that I need to save up a bit, money ain't comin' down like rain from heavens above. And I know that most of XBOX games are coming out for or already been ported to the PC. And I know that one of my PC is decent enough to play these games. All it needs is a little tweaking out and everything will work out just fine.
But still, the temptation was strong enough. It was hard enough to put a restrain on myself from buying one straight away this weekend. I was walking around Mangga Dua on Saturday (that heaven-sent place for cheap electronics, if you know how to find 'em and haggle with merchants), and I asked around about the price of an XBOX. The best deal I could get was Rp. 2 million. You get a hard-disk capacity of 10 GB, 2 controllers and 15 free games. No, I didn't shell out my money right there and then. I was still thinking whether I would really buy one.
I was about to go back to that place of many copyright abuse if my mother did not ask me to accompany her to Taman Anggrek. Most of the time there I spent thinking about squeezing some time to go to Mangga Dua in the late afternoon (stores close at 5, so time is of the essence), but when we got home, I was already tired and I was still undecided.
There are several high-profile games for the XBOX. And software is what defines a console. But many of these games are also available for the PS2 (a console that I already own) and PC (one that I need to tweak a bit, but a bit reluctant to do remembering my somewhat limited ability in tweaking hardwares inside a CPU box). And there are still a lot of good PS2 games that I haven't finished playing. So, I shouldn't be bored.
It is true that XBOX has a better hardware performance than the PS2. And the graphics there is about 1.5 to 2 times better than the PS2. But most of the time, it's not graphic that matters. It's gameplay. And I could find many kinds of gameplay on the PS2 alone.
So, as I was playing Prince of Persia 2: Warrior Within (which is quite an enjoyable and challenging game, eventhough its predecessor is still a little bit better), I think back and try to understand why I started thinking about buying an XBOX in the first place. If it was to get rid of boredom, it's just stupid since there are better things to do than just buy more games. And, once again, I still have a lot of games I haven't finished playing on the PS2.
So, I guess in the end, the problem is not about to buy, or not to buy, an XBOX. I've been quite generous with the use of my money ever since I got myself a job and a steady monthly income (this desire to buy an XBOX is a manifestation of this problem). But the problem is not about what I do with my money. If I let this keep going on I'll be too comfortable with my daily job that I won't develop anything new anymore. No new stuff to learn about, no new experiences to...umm...experience (can't find a better word for it). And I would end up thinking that buying stuff makes me happy. In a way, they do. But that's not the point.
I gotta find something new. And I know for sure it ain't in game consoles.
In any case, if Rp. 2 million is only a hundredth of all the money I have, I wouldn't think about it like this. But still, by that time I may be one of those people who think about getting more money (I could feel the tendency within me: I could really be a spendthrift). Which is, in my humble opinion, is not the point of life.
And, please don't beat me up if the next entry is about how happy I am with a new, shiny XBOX. I'm only human anyways ha ha ha.
But still, the temptation was strong enough. It was hard enough to put a restrain on myself from buying one straight away this weekend. I was walking around Mangga Dua on Saturday (that heaven-sent place for cheap electronics, if you know how to find 'em and haggle with merchants), and I asked around about the price of an XBOX. The best deal I could get was Rp. 2 million. You get a hard-disk capacity of 10 GB, 2 controllers and 15 free games. No, I didn't shell out my money right there and then. I was still thinking whether I would really buy one.
I was about to go back to that place of many copyright abuse if my mother did not ask me to accompany her to Taman Anggrek. Most of the time there I spent thinking about squeezing some time to go to Mangga Dua in the late afternoon (stores close at 5, so time is of the essence), but when we got home, I was already tired and I was still undecided.
There are several high-profile games for the XBOX. And software is what defines a console. But many of these games are also available for the PS2 (a console that I already own) and PC (one that I need to tweak a bit, but a bit reluctant to do remembering my somewhat limited ability in tweaking hardwares inside a CPU box). And there are still a lot of good PS2 games that I haven't finished playing. So, I shouldn't be bored.
It is true that XBOX has a better hardware performance than the PS2. And the graphics there is about 1.5 to 2 times better than the PS2. But most of the time, it's not graphic that matters. It's gameplay. And I could find many kinds of gameplay on the PS2 alone.
So, as I was playing Prince of Persia 2: Warrior Within (which is quite an enjoyable and challenging game, eventhough its predecessor is still a little bit better), I think back and try to understand why I started thinking about buying an XBOX in the first place. If it was to get rid of boredom, it's just stupid since there are better things to do than just buy more games. And, once again, I still have a lot of games I haven't finished playing on the PS2.
So, I guess in the end, the problem is not about to buy, or not to buy, an XBOX. I've been quite generous with the use of my money ever since I got myself a job and a steady monthly income (this desire to buy an XBOX is a manifestation of this problem). But the problem is not about what I do with my money. If I let this keep going on I'll be too comfortable with my daily job that I won't develop anything new anymore. No new stuff to learn about, no new experiences to...umm...experience (can't find a better word for it). And I would end up thinking that buying stuff makes me happy. In a way, they do. But that's not the point.
I gotta find something new. And I know for sure it ain't in game consoles.
In any case, if Rp. 2 million is only a hundredth of all the money I have, I wouldn't think about it like this. But still, by that time I may be one of those people who think about getting more money (I could feel the tendency within me: I could really be a spendthrift). Which is, in my humble opinion, is not the point of life.
And, please don't beat me up if the next entry is about how happy I am with a new, shiny XBOX. I'm only human anyways ha ha ha.
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