Monday, June 15, 2009

Moment of Clarity

I was in Best Buy, shopping for a Father's Day gift and a CD for myself (Jeff Buckley's "Grace Around the World" CD/DVD), when I came to the video game section. I used to play regularly, but now it's only the odd weekend that I spend an hour or two with my Playstation 2. I have friends who own the current generation systems, and I enjoy/envy those when I'm over at their houses.

The store had a Playstation 3 set up with a 36 or 42-inch flatscreen monitor, and a demo version of "Guitar Hero: Metallica" available.

No kids around, so I picked up the guitar controller and rolled through a Soundgarden song on easy. Pretty awesome. These latest versions of GH/RB actually have the "singer" actually mouthing the words to the song, giving it a much more realistic feel to it. Then, I played "Sad But True" by Metallica, and holy crap, there's James friggin Hetfield ripping through the song, roaring out the words. I kept getting distracted by the amazing visuals, and dropping notes.

I finished my song and thought, man, maybe I ought to save up and get one of these, because that's pretty rad. There was a guy standing next to me, looked to be mid-20s, scruffy around the edges, glasses. I set the controller down, and with a wave toward the screen said, "All yours, bud." I walked around to the other side, where Rock Band was set up, but both controllers were worn out and not responding.

Scruffy poked his head around and said, "Yeah, that one's all messed up." I chuckled, "Yep. Too much love."

I am about to walk away, still considering how I may possibly afford to spring for a new gaming system in the near future, when Scruffy meets up with his friend (Pastey) coming down the aisle toward us. Scruffy then says to Pastey, "So yeah, my mom is buying me a thousand-dollar sound system for my room..."

A sick, stabbing pain hits my stomach. I grab my earlier selections and hastily proceed to the checkout.

That's why you don't get a $500 video game system, Dave. Because you're a grown-up now. Your Scruffy and Pastey days (if you ever had them), are long behind you.

4 comments:

Matt said...

come on now...i got the 360 and rock out to Guitar Hero...my wife even joins along...the kiddo gets a kick out of it, she loves music...i don't play all the time, but it gets brought out at least once a week...well, during school and football season it doesn't get used at all, to busy teaching and coaching...it's just like anything else, got to balance it in there with time...

Jaimie Teekell said...

I'm not going to be stubborn and condemn this. Is it okay to have a gaming station? Yes. Moderation is key, and I think you have a lot of entertainment in your life already. Games, movies, TV, sports... these are all the same.

Good for you.

Dave said...

For me it's the question of, at this point in my life, is this the best use of $500 bucks (or however much it would all cost)? And the answer is, no.

I might pick up one of these systems (or their later-generation counterparts) someday...after my current debt's paid off, I have a good-sized savings, retirement accounts are moving along, and I'm a good ways into paying off a house. Before then, I just can't justify it.

LeLe said...

I like this post. Thank you for the compliment earlier. And I never commented on your post the other day...I'm a loser. Sorry, man. Not that it matters what I say or anything. :)