X-Box?

Holy piss... two days in a row with a blog entry! Hang on a sec...

*Pinches self*

Ok, ow. Must be for real.

Last entry was obviously supposed to be silly. None of that shit is going to happen. (At least, not any time soon.)

Last night I was REALLY gung ho about getting an X-Box 360. I saw the new game "Left 4 Dead" where you play with some friends and fight off ZOMBIES. Fucking zombies... and it's an FPS. WIN. (Not that I didn't think Dead Rising was an awesome game, I just couldn't get used to the controls. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't read ANY of the god damned text because it was too fucking small.)

I also wrote out some of the other games I would want to get either right off the bat or soon after. (Hal0 3, COD4, Gears of War, Bioshock... Hmm, bit of a pattern there.)

Then I talked about that with my Dad. Of course, he goes on the whole, "It's going to be a tight X-Mas this year son. Don't expect to get too much" spiel that has been the staple of the past couple holiday seasons. Of course, when X-mas DOES roll around, I get enough stuff that, all added up, would easily buy an X-Box or get pretty close.

My Dad's thing is he just doesn't like getting someone ONE gift. He thinks it isn't fair when you open the one expensive gift and then have to sit there when everyone else opens more. I suppose I can see the logic, but my counter-argument is this...

I'M ONLY EXPECTING ONE GIFT!!!

Why would I be upset at one gift when I've mentally prepared myself for that outcome? I'd be too busy geeking out about the X-Box, or I could be productive and clean up all the unwrapped paper and/or hand out gifts from under the tree? (Trust me, there is plenty to do on X-Mas morning at my house.)

Here's the other thing: I'm getting older. There will be a time when I'm probably not going to be an hour away from home or will have my own family to deal with. At that point, I will probably only get one gift from my parents anyway. Isn't it reasonable to call getting me one gift this year a "dress rehearsal" for the days when I'm only going to get one gift per X-Mas?

"Hey Nate-O, why don't you just have your family divide up the cost for the X-Box and have them get you Gift Cards from Best Buy so you can buy the X-Box yourself. PLUS, you'd be able to open more than one gift on X-Mas morning!"

Nope. My Dad hates giving gift cards. He says they aren't "personal". I say bullcrap to that too. Here are some of my reasons why...

1. Convienience: It's a whole lot easier for a shopper to get a butt load of cards instead of spend the whole day shopping.

2. What the hell do you want?: What if the gift you get the person isn't exactly what they want? You fucked up and now have to find the receipt so they can take the damn thing back. Why not just skip that and let the person get whatever the hell they want? And don't give me that "It's the thought that counts" crud either. I don't like thinking when I don't have to. I care about the person I'm buying for, but beyond that, let THEM think about the gift they get.

3. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: You can practically give anything with a gift card. Finding a gift card under the tree is like finding a shape-shifting piece of plastic! Take that card to the store and you can walk about with whatever the hell you want!

I don't mind giving/getting gift cards. I think it's awesome. Plus, I like shopping for myself anyway. Instead of walking around with people and dropping hints or just telling them what you want, then having to wait however long for X-Mas to roll around, you can get your gift card, go shopping and then walk out with what you want THE SAME DAY. (Sorry about the run-on sentence)


After thinking about all that, I started thinking about how often I'd actually get to play the X-Box.

I have a PS2 right now. Though I don't have many games for it, I never play the games I DO have. If I got an X-Box 360, I fear the same thing would happen. Play it for a few weeks/months, then just lose interest.

I'm no gamer. I like watching reviews and stuff about games, but the last game I actually got WAY into was Guitar Hero... and that's not really "gaming". Before that, it was WoW... and thankfully I put that away before my soul got trapped in my computer.

Hell, maybe I should forget the X-Box and find an old-school NES or SNES. It' would be WAY cheaper, I could get some CLASSIC games, and I'd play it WAY more often than a new console that would probably turn into a 300 dollar paperweight in a few months.

Damn... that sounds like a fuckin' great idea. I better check Ebay for some NES prices.

~Nate-O