I was recently hired as a tutor at my college, so I've been earning cash while helping young minds to expand (not really so young, they're often in my grade). It requires a lot of thinking and caring, so it definitely isn't an easy job, but its fun in its own way. And each paycheck is going into the cookie jar to save up fo
r a glorious XBox 360.I've been eyeing the XBox 360 ever since I started playing Halo 3 last fall. Since then I've watched closely, and I'm still convinced its the best of the three for me. While I hope the Wii succeeds, I just wouldn't be as satisfied with it. I've played Smash and Mario Kart and Zelda all before, and while the new games are undoubtedly fun, its still more of the same. There is a reason I watch movies instead of TV shows, I want fresh experiences. The Wii offers fresh control setups, and some fresh game-play, but the characters, stories and genres all feel the same.
I've already decided on which 360 I want, I'm definitely going with the Pro. It costs $350, but comes with the 20g hard drive, the headset, all the cables and the starter subscription to Live. The Arcade just isn't worth it without the hard drive, and the Elite is far more than I need.
The real question isn't what system I am going to get, it's when I will get it and what games I will be able to afford. With $350 for the system, another $50 for a second controller, and $50 for the year's worth of Live, I'm already up to $450. And every game after that is another $60. My birthday is in a week, so I'm hoping that with some cash presents I
'll have enough to finally leave the gaming stone-age.
When it comes to games though, I don't know where to best put my bills. Halo 3 I think is a must, but there are so many other best-buy games out there as well. I can't stand not knowing what all of the twists are in BioShock and Assassin's Creed, everyone keeps hinting at them and I need to play to find out what happened. As soon as I solve those mysteries, I'll have to start playing Mass Effect. I came up with a complex game proposal/design a few years back that was almost exactly like Mass Effect, and I want to see if my dreams made reality are as cool as I had imagined them.
If I could afford them, I would also buy Call of Duty 4, Gears of War, Devil May Cry 4, Lost Odyssey, Rock Band and Condemned. But who has $600 to spend on games? Not I, sadly.
So until I write a best-selling novel, I'll have to content myself with one or two games at a time. And until I do a lot more tutoring, I won't even have that. Hopefully in a week or two I'll be rolling high with a brand-new 360.
- Scott
