Why It's Good To Be Married.

If I didn't have a wife, I'd probably have all the toys I want...I'd have an XBox 360, a Nintendo Wii, and a PS3. I'd also be living at my parent's house and very very lonely. Me and my wife have a good back and forth relationship. I'm the spender, she's the saver. I'm the little kid who never grew up, she's the little kid who had to grow up fast. In alot of ways we really do complete each other. Sometimes she has to work very hard to reign me in.

I've been itching to get a next generation game system since I purchased my HDTV earlier this year. The PS2 in 480p just does not cut it. Being a new father one as to be responsible. As my loving and caring wife is quick to remind me. This quickly eliminates the PS3 from contention as a possibility. Even I can't rationalize a purchase like that. So that leaves the XBox 360 and the Nintendo Wii as finalists. While the Wii is fun to play (my brother's own one), the XBox has something that no other console has: XBox Live.

XBox Live is simply the killer app for the XBox. My brother's (who live at home, are sometimes lonely, and have every video game system imaginable (they're also quite a bit younger)) have shown me this. All my other gamer friends who have XBoxen have shown me this. No other gaming system has an infrastructure that can come close to what Microsoft has put together.

The only debate has been if I should wait until the new revision comes out or if I should get it now. Well, as my wife was quick to point out, with a 3 month old "now" isn't going to happen. I've been told that I have to save the money up first and pay with cash for the system and accessories. With the date of the new revision ranging from "soon" to "June" to "Christmas", I've decided not wait on Microsoft and will purchase the XBox as soon as I have the money saved up.

I've already got a start. With the $100 gift certificate I won at CodeMash and a $20 rebate from SanDisk, I figure I only have about another $700 to go in order to get everything I want (including the HDDVD drive). Here's the breakdown:

Xbox System   399.99
Wireless Network Adapter 99.99
Xbox Live Gold 12 month  59.99
Gears of War Game  59.99
HDDVD Player   199.99
---------------------------------------
Total:     819.95
Less:    120.00
Remaining:   699.95

So I got a while to go, and the new XBox will probably be out by the time I get the money together (not to mention no one will be playing Gears of War by then). In order to help expedite this process I'm opening the floor for donations. If you feel like helping a guy out, feel free to click on the donation button on my blog and send me some cash (even if it's only a buck). This isn't any charitable cause, you won't be able to deduct this from your taxes, you won't get monthly letters from the child who you're providing an education to , you won't get any stickers to put on your car to help you get out of a ticket. In fact, if all you have is a buck to donate, go to them first please. But if you can help me out, you'll get the satisfaction of knowing you helped a fellow gamer out. If I get enough donations that it significantly helps me towards my purchase (more than $300) I'll let my readers choose my gamertag.

Regardless, I'm happy that I married the woman I did. She makes me a more responsible person, I'm actually waiting and saving up to buy something. I never would have done this before I met her, I'd have just thrown it on a credit card and let my balance go up some more. Honey, I love you. Even if it does drive the child in me crazy.

Please Help Support My Gaming Habit: Friends don't let friends play Sony.