Want vs Need

So I am in a conundrum right now as to how to spend my money, while at the same time, not wanting to spend my money at all.   I have 3 video game related issues that need taking care of.

1.  My Pentium 4 computer just doesn’t cut it anymore.  I would really, really, really like to upgrade this.  But that costs a fairly large amount of cash USA dollars.

2.  My PS3’s bluray/disc drive crapped the bed, and it’s not under warranty anymore.  Sony wants $150 to fix it.

3.  There are two games out right now that I want pretty badly, Battlefield: Bad Company and Grid.   I’ve never been a superfan of the battlefield games, but I have gotten pretty into a few of them and the demo for this one was pretty fun (which was surprising because I found the beta to be pretty lackluster… good job tightening it up, EA).  Grid also has an amazing demo, and I love arcade racers, or at least I used to.  I guess it’s been a while since I’ve gotten one.   But both games could potentially be tons of fun for me, or a waste of money.

So my problem is simple.   Right now I can afford to go to the store and buy Battlefield or Grid.  That could be made even easier if I trade in games that I’m not playing anymore.  But, even if I do trade in games, and only spend like $10 of my own money… that’s $10 not going towards a new computer or fixing my PS3.

I have Rock Band on the PS3 and that’s something my girlfriend and I have really enjoyed playing together, but other than that I don’t have any overwhelming need to have the system fixed right now (actually scratch that, we watch a decent number of blu rays also).   I seem to be primarily a PC gamer these days, between Age of Conan and World of Warcraft and Warcraft 3 and Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4…  most of my gaming is done on my PC.   But to upgrade the PC it will take a long time of saving money, and not buying things like Battlefield or fixing my PS3.  Also, I will need to buy less snacks!  And I love snacks.    Difficult decisions are difficult.

Man, I just don’t know what to do!  I really want Battlefield: Bad Company.  But if I get it and don’t play it, I’ll be really pissed at myself.   I mean I’m knee deep in my Age of Conan addiction right now, so that tends to dominate my game playing time…  so will I even play it?  And AoC runs like complete ass on my computer so I would be so very, very happy to get a new computer to get it (and the rest of my games) to run much smoother.  But that’s so in the future!  I mean, I just got promoted and a raise at work, but I have other non-video game needs I need to take care of (like my muffler that mysteriously fell off).  And of course there is rent and bills and all of that.   But if I saved I could probably get a decent computer in a month or two.  But during that time I will have nothing on the xbox 360 to play and a broken PS3, and I’ll continue to run around in Age of Conan at 10-15 frames per second.  And that just isn’t cool!

Right now I am leaning towards trading in the 360 and ps3 games I don’t (or can’t) play and getting Battlefield, I mean I will do it for the good of the blog!  It would be nice to get a review, right?   So yeah, I’m totally gonna do that for *YOU*.   Then I’m gonna save for a PC.  No more console games!  NONE!   Grid can suck it!   Then, by late summer, I should have the PC and I’ll have the $150 to fix my ps3, which will be right in time for the big fall releases.   I think this is a sound plan.  Or me lying to myself.  Either/or.

Also, and completely off topic from this thread, I stumbled upon a lens for the seminal shooter Counter Strike: Source for the PC.  The lens is hysterical, and I feel bad saying this, but only because the lensmaster’s grasp on the English language is a comedy genre all its own.  Hell, it may even be on purpose.  But check it out and have a chuckle.

What is a cash strapped gamer to do?  Come tell me on the forums. Maybe even my girlfriend will make a post yelling at me to save my money.