If you’ve been around for more than a month or so you already know my dirty little secret…I’m an early adopter. I buy consoles at launch. I can’t help it. I argue with folks on the podcast about how I’m not going to pre-order something, not going to buy it until several months after launch, just not gonna…not this time. And then launch week finds me scrambling for someplace still taking pre-orders or promising to have limited stock on hand on launch day because the Early Adopter in me has reared it’s ugly head yet again.
This year is no different. With two new, pricey consoles being released this month I made a decision. The XBox has been my primary console for the last 6-7 years. I have grown to love many of the XBox exclusives and I use it for my primary media machine. I stream video and audio on it. Pea knows how to surf Netflix and find what it is she wants almost as well as she can on her iPad. So an XBox One (aka XBone) pre-order only made sense and the PS4 could wait until after the Christmas madness.
And then launch week rolled around. I was bombarded with PS4 ads. On my television, on my phone, on my console, when I went out for grocery….I’m surprised that it wasn’t printed on my toilet paper! And it has weakened my resolve. I know that no one is selling pre-orders anymore, but all of the big box stores are telling me that they will have units in the store that are not reserved for anyone. But the responsible parent in me knows that I can’t make my child late for school (or play hooky) so that we can be at stores when they open (which is also 15 minutes before classes start at her school). Luckily, those same responsibilities do not stop me from hanging out in the comfort of 24 hour big box stores waiting for the midnight hour to hit. And at this point I have basically resigned myself to my Thursday night/Friday morning fate.
I will be sitting quietly in a corner at the store with my 3DS, Vita, and iPad drinking some manner of caffeinated beverage and waiting to make it to the promised land. Oddly, I think that this is part of the excitement for me. Taking me back to the days before pre-orders when us OGs (Original Gamers) did shit hardcore. Sit back youngin’s and learn something. And if I crap out at least invite me over to play some Knack and Killzone. I’ll bring the pizza.
