I, like so many others hitting middle age, enjoy playing computer games, and while many people simply throw their disposable income at a PS5 (£449.99 Sept 2022) or Microsoft’s Xbox X series X Bone 3001 or what ever its called, this father likes to make his money go further.
Now I understand that most of what forces people to upgrade to the latest console is the same as what makes some people buy an overly expensive pair of trainers…. peer pressure.
Yep the same force that made you dress the way you did in school, listen to the music you did, support the sportball team you may well still support today is the same force being used to make you fork out a fat wad of cash for the next or now current generation console.
Quite simply if your friends are on it then you need to be on it too… or you miss out.
So what can a frugal minded tech guy such as myself do to feed his gaming lust without breaking his carefully crafted budget??? Look to the past, thats what!
Right now “Retro” gaming is very much the big thing, which means that 70’s, 80’s and 90’s gaming products are not the bargains they were 15 years ago, but that does mean is there is a cut off point where a certain generation of console will be less desirable.
Speaking as someone who loves old computer games and is very much involved in “the retro gaming scene” anything newer than Sony’s original chunky Playstation 1 is frowned upon.
This retro snobbery (I’m joking… kinda) allows us to look at some truly wonderful consoles and their astoundingly great games, but which can be found at bargain prices.
Over the coming few months I will be investigating the pros and cons of systems such as the Nintendo Wii, Wii U, Sony’s Playstation 2 and 3, the original Microsoft Xbox plus its successor the 360 and I will be costing up how much bang per buck/quid/euro you can get from these and I might even give them a good old fashion arbitrary score out of 10.
Keep cool and carry on.
The Hack Dad