Recently, I lamented that we only had one 360. In fact, we only purchased this console about six months ago. Our first foray into the big dollar console, we stepped into the world of the 360 for several reasons; the library of games, Netflix, and, most importantly, the online capability. However, I never would have thought we would be fighting over use of the console. I feel I’ve been transported to a time when I had to share my Super Nintendo with my brother.
Most of the time, sharing with my brother was quite easy; he’d only be interested in a certain genre (mostly sports and the occasional role playing game), while I was into puzzle games, action platformers, and role playing games. Often, these games would be staggered throughout the year such that game time was spread out automatically between the two of us.
One game that comes specifically to mind was Final Fantasy 3. I had actually purchased this just before the summer in hopes of filling my summer vacation with hours of this amazing game. Final Fantasy 3 (actually numbered 6 in the series, but third in America) had all but taken over my life when the summer started. Then my brother got a hold of it. One of my friends claimed it had turned my brother into “ the monster in the basement,” because the game had totally taken over his life. He would wake up, play the game until he became so hungry he had to eat, then pausing on weekends to shower, all whilst attempting to cram in sleep. It was a horrific sight at best. I didn’t bother to fight him to get off the console; he had become assimilated into the world of Final Fantasy. He eventually finished the game by the end of the summer and with a stroke of kindness, allowed me to finish the game as well.
In the 16bit era, we bought about five games a year because great titles were only released every few months. Now, competition is at its greatest and excellent titles have become commonplace; no longer are the best games few and far between. The current generation of consoles shaped a competitive video game industry where big titles sometimes fight for your dollars in the same week.
With our recent purchase of the 360, we had over three years of game releases to choose from. We quickly built up a wish-list of games; and, just as quickly, we purchased the entire list. In our six months of ownership, we’ve amassed a collection of 18 games! It was incredible how much we spent buying games. It seems that you can’t step anywhere without being peddled by big box retailers or the thousands of online retailers. It’s become a business entity beyond what I experienced when I was younger and the landscape has changed drastically since.
We’ve come to a point where it’d be more convenient to purchase a secondary console so that we can play all of the games we’ve acquired. However, I realized that I don’t own a PS3. I felt it would be silly to buy an identical console while the Playstation 3 library fills with tempting titles. However, we decided against a $400 God of War 3 player for now. I think Sony would be wise to sweeten the deal with a price drop, as that is what tempted us with the 360 and we’ve been XBOX fans ever since.
Oddly enough, we never fight over playing the Wii.
