Being Lazy & Poor Ain't All That Bad...

I'm lazy in the sense that I don't keep up with the latest in movies, music, and video games anymore. I basically just pop into a store, see what they have in stock, and blindly buy things. Well, not always; sometimes I just stick to the "classics" that I've seen, heard, or played before but don't own anymore for some reason. I find that I'm generally much happier with my purchases that way.

I'm poor in the sense that I just don't have $60 to spend on every new game that I want. Actually, I don't have $60 to spend on any new game that I want. I'd love to snap up a copy of NBA 2K11 and put Jordan on a superstar-packed team and have myself a ball, but the reality is that I just can't. Why do that when I can buy last year's game for $10? Or download an emulator, and ROM of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball and play with Michael Jordan on the Bulls-- with hair!

Yeah, that dude with the ball (and the hair) is Michael Jordan.

I'm sure that NBA 2K11 would give me a much deeper NBA experience than a Tecmo game from 17 years ago. But is it worth $60? That's the question I ask myself every time I even consider purchasing a new game. There's nothing I hate more than buying a game at full retail than bringing it home, playing it for a few days (or hours, even) and loathing it. I end up forcing myself to play through it so I can justify the purchase by saying I got my money's worth. I could have used that $60 in much better ways: paying bills, bolstering my savings, or buying my guinea pig more guinea kibble. The possibilities are endless. But no, I'm stuck with a game I don't really like.

Sure, I could trade it back for $25 or so, but even then I'm out $35. What a waste of my money and my time. It's almost depressing to think about. It's sad that buying new releases has become painful. As a result, I end up buying games I know and love (and their remakes) usually a year or so after initial release, and almost always pre-owned. I make very few exceptions to this rule: pretty much any Atlus RPG (especially if it's Shin Megami Tensei or a spin-off), re-releases of older Final Fantasy titles, and compilations of classic games. Usually they are priced lower than a big-name release, and thus it's easy for me to spend some coin on them while they're still fresh.

So that's what this blog will focus on (mainly): my experiences with these older games. Opinions, rants, maybe some full-fledged reviews. And probably lots of angry diatribes. Yeah, I've been known to go on one of those every now and then.