This started as a comment on Hemispheres, in response to this post on his favourite games, etc. from the past year.

I came to the realization that I’m still not sure if I want to participate in this generation… I barely ever touched my Gamecube; I mostly bought it in the first place so that relatives with kids could play with it; or it’d be there so I could have people over and we could use it (but, since I had practically no games, it was up to them to bring some).  On the plus side, that whole Gamecube thing probably only cost me $300 (Gamecube used off ebay, mem cards, 3-4 first party controllers (one of which was a wavebird) and a game or two)

I mean, all the current-gen systems sound cool and all… but I’m thinking that my computer is probably good enough (not the best, but adequate).  And I’m thinking that, if I want to invest in gaming, in two years I’ll buy a new PC and spend the  money I saved by NOT buying a console product.  Let’s take a conservative look at the dollars:

-$250 for the Wii (Cheapest of the three)

-$50ish for an extra wiimote with nunchuck (But, really, with a party system like the Wii, you’re going to want 4 eventually)

-All of that pales when compared to 10 games @ $70/game ($700!!)

= About $1000

That’s an adequately equipped computer, and it’s probably halfway to a good laptop.  Are the computer systems you can buy in that price range as good for gaming as a wii?  Probably not, but I’ll probably put in a lot more hours on a computer than on any other gaming system.  I’d rather pull out my laptop to check the headlines than sort bombombs by colour.

The price of the system only goes up as more games are purchased.  Figure the system lasts for 3 years; 10 games is only 3.3 games/year - Probably most people with a Wii have more games than that, and they’ve only had it for a month or two.  For some people, they’re probably buying 10 games per year; putting the three year cost somewhere around $2400.  That’s a wee bit ‘o coin.

Gaming, at this point, seems to be more of a social thing now than something I do alone.  Sure, I’ll play some solo games now and again, but I don’t seem to have those marathon play sessions I remember from the N64 days; where I could sit in front of the console for hours throughout a day.  (Hey kids! for fun, substitute “Drinking” for “gaming” and “play” and read over the paragraph again… bizarre, eh?)

Besides, I have no room for a TV and flailing - it’s one or the other.

How about people post some good news…

Any good news, could be in their life or something from the news.

As a restriction, it cannot be related to material goods.  I.E. “I just got a new wiimote!  Life is awesome”

I’m thinking more good personal achievements, good family news (Ie. “grandpa’s out of the hospital!”), good relationship news, anything - just so long as it’s not related to material goods, because let’s face it, that’s just a cop-out.

What good is happening in your lives?

Ch…Ch…Ch…Ch..Ch… CHANGES!

… I don’t even know the second line to that song….

From Microsoft, we find that they’ve changed their 90 day warranty into a retroactive 1 year warranty.  The fact that they began with only a 90 day warranty should worry pretty much everyone.  I always figure, if it’s a good product, the length of warranty should be immaterial to the manufacturer - if you’ve put out a great product, your returns will be pretty small in number whether your warranty is one month long or two years.

And from the country that brought you the nuclear bomb and illegal tarrifs on softwood lumber, we find that there’s a class-action lawsuit against the Wii (and Nintendo said, “Wii wiii wii!” all the way home…).  This one will be interesting to watch - as stupid as the whole strap thing is, Nintendo did put out a new model of strap - this’ll likely only work against them, as the prosecution will argue that it’s an admission that there’s something wrong with the straps as they were originally sold.

And, in the spirit of the season, there’s a wikiHow detailing how to care for your Donkey, should you receive one this holiday season.

Up to 86% off books from Chapters/Indego

There seems to be some good deals there; one that I noticed was ”Shadow of the Giant” for $5.00 - a savings of more than $30.00.  I’m not sure if I’ve read that particular book, but the Ender series in general is quite good; I’ve been impressed with the Bean storyline in particular.

So, if you need a last-minute gift cheap, or just want to give a gift to yourself, this looks like a great opportunity.

Check out this story.

Some poor kid got his leg shattered and nearly blown off working a cannon at a school football game.

The response from the normally close-knit community?  Either silence or threats.

The townspeople are afraid that if this incident gets media attention, they’ll loose their precious cannon.  This kids’ just hoping he’ll be able to recover from his injury.

Absolutely disgusting.  Some kid’s been injured - badly - and they can’t even raise money from his school to help pay for his medical bills.

Just scoped it out, only good for today though, so you’ll have to act fast.

500 GB Iomega USB hard drive for $229; its regular price is $399 (for the Arts students, that’s a savings of $170!)

It’s from Dell, so it’s not some crappy back-alley shop where this fell off a truck, it should arrive in time for Christmas, and shipping is free too!! Never say you don’t get useful information from this blog!