It is beginning to look like acquiring Half-Life 2 through a retailer would be the most effective way of playing the game. Despite this, I cannot justify the purchase. How do I hate purchasing computer games? Let me count the ways:
My personal computer is a piece of shit laptop that is good for typing, listening to music, watching videos, and playing games that are equivalent in requirements to Half-Life. Yes. The original. Purchasing a new game that will not even run on the system I am shackled to for two-thirds of the year does not seem to be a sensible purchase. The only reason I was able to play Portal was because of my desktop at home.
I need to save all of my co-op money for school. Yeah. Between what I make on my co-op term and what I have to spend for school, I usually end up breaking even. Which - of course - means that I have absolutely not dispensible income. And that sucks balls. It is also what has forced me to delve into the pirate underground to get a taste of television shows, movies, and computer games that would be unavailable to me in a perfect capitalist society.
Our dollar is currently equivalent to or better than the American dollar. However, prices in Canada have yet to adjust for the difference. So, in Canada, we are literally paying 10 or 20 dollars more for the same games available in the United States. And - to be quite frank - this is bullshit. I have abstained from purchasing anything but the necessities until this situation resolves itself. That’s right. No Phantom Hourglass. No Half-Life 2. No Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles. No fuckin’ Super Smash Bros. Brawl if it comes right down to it.
I do not like to spend money if I can avoid it. It is one of the reasons that I generally prefer to do nothing. Doing something tends to cost money. And I do not like to lose money. I did not have an allowance or anything when I was little. So I always had to budget the Christmas money that I received from my relatives to last throughout the whole of the year (and sometimes into the next year). And because of this, I try to avoid spending money on as much as I can. And anything I do end up getting, I usually spend an absurd amount of time obsessing over.
I hate this pricing bullshit. It is really pissing me off. I hope that if any of you are buying anything while our dollars are 1:1, you should order it from the states. Our dollar has been slightly better off, which means we get a touch more for our dollar down there. And, since the prices are cheaper in the US already (due to a lack of an adjustment), you save even more. A lot of big online retailers have shipping == free when you order a purchase over a certain dollar value. And if you are buying electronics, you usually surpass that threshold easily.