Trix may be for kids, but not all video games are.

There seems to be a common misconception out there among many parents these days. That misconception is: Videogames are for kids.

These people, I firmly believe, think this way because they haven't picked up a controller since the days of the Atari 2600. I have noticed on many an occasion that young kids (ie. ages 8-11) seem to be able to get their hands on videogames that are clearly age inappropriate for them. How do they get them? Either by young store clerks who forget that they have to check ID when selling or renting videogames out, or by relatives. Parents mostly, but grandparents, aunts and uncles are to blame here, too.

The Boy (who shall herein be referred to as "The Boy") had a friend just down the street from our old house that was a year older than him. About 4 years ago, he brought Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas over to our house for the two of them to play. Since The Boy is 12 now, do the math. The question is why did his parents give him that game in the first place? Did they want their young son to be exposed to cop killing, drug dealing and prostitution? Or do they fall in to the "Games are for kids" category? I'm not a betting man, but I'd put money on the latter. This is not the only time that I as a parent have had to deal with age inappropriate games. It's hard to maintain rules as a parent when everyone around you seems to not share the same standards.

I think what really irks me about this is that these same people take the time to ensure that kids watch movies and TV shows that are age and subject material appropriate, but seem to ignore those same ratings on video games. We're not jumping over barrels to rescue the girl from the ape anymore. Games have come too far too fast to ignore the labels on the packaging. I may be mocked as being too old to game, but at least I know what's in the game when I hand it over to a 12-year old kid.

Come on parents, wake up and smell the "Hot Coffee". Believe it or not, it's not just a beverage anymore.

Obsession? Compulsion? Disorder? All of the above?

I never have enough time to do the things I really want to do. I have so many video games in the wrapper that I really want to play but never get around to. Yet I continue to buy them. I sometimes refer to the Mel Gibson quote from Conspiracy Theory about why he always buys a copy of The Catcher in the Rye when he sees one. That's kinda how I feel. And for myself, I always buy new. I had a couple of bad "used" experiences. I'm apauled by how some people treat their stuff. Some of the discs and cases in the used section of EB games look like they've been chewed up and spit out by the family dog.

I've been a little better lately about the games I select. I used to love dumpster diving (ie. sorting through the bargain bin) to find the hidden gems at blowout prices to add to the collection. The problem is that I seldom play any of those games. I used to brag about having them in my collection but they never saw the light of day. In the past year, I have re-evaluated my position on my game inventory and I've started weeding some out. Trade-in deals, garage sales, and eBay have helped to thin my collection down by about 10-12 Xbox360 titles.

Not that long ago, I also made the decision to get rid of my original Xbox and my xbox games. Part of it was because Microsoft made the decision to kill the Xbox servers so online play was dead (au revoir, battlefront). Part of it was because I found myself looking forward to the next new 360 title rather than going back to the old favorites. And part of it was because I felt I should try to prove to myself that I do not have a problem. I'm still not convinced.

I had 50 xbox games but I chose to keep 10 only. All are sentimental faves that are backwards compatible, with the exception of one that I've wanted to play forever but have to find the time to do so. The rest have either been sold or are in the process of being sold. As I sorted through them I noticed that this that about a half dozen of them were still in the wrapper, so this behavior had been continuing for some time.

My original Xbox console/controllers/DVD playback kit was sold at a pre-moving garage sale to a couple of kids who looked like they came from a less affluent family and were just happy to have video games, never mind the latest and greatest. While I felt like I wanted to jump them and take my system back as they walked away, I also felt good knowing it was going to people who really appreciated it. I even threw in a free game to get them started.

While I showed some significant self-restraint, I'm still not convinced. I shouldn't have needed self-restraint. This shouldn't have been a decision to agonize over. Hell, as I write this I have 4 games pre-ordered and want to lock-up copies of two more. A few months ago I picked up a couple of PS3 titles because I really wanted them. One hasn't been played yet and one has not been played half as much as I would like. As I flip through the weekly barrage of store ads that come to my house, I see that some of the games that I haven't played yet are now $20-$30 cheaper than when I bought them. Even though I know that games almost always go down in price over time, that still doesn't sit well with me. I'm generally a very patient guy. I could have waited and bought them at a cheaper price, but somehow i just can't do that.

As I think back to my childhood, I started to realize that I've always been like this. Star Wars toys, Atari 2600 games, comic books, hockey cards,... I've ALWAYS had collections and I've ALWAYS been very anal about them. I guess some things never change. Perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on myself.

Now if I could only get my old X-wing fighter back...

The new Xbox PS360

Yup. You read that right. If they put a blu-ray player in it, it would be a PS3.

I bought a new system for myself despite having a perfectly good one at home. Spent $300 on it. Why? Well, there is a method to my madness.

As some of you may know, we moved a couple of weeks ago. As such, the router is no longer located three feet from my game consoles. I strung a LOOOOONG Ethernet cable along the basement floor, but my girls started having a tug-of-war with it. Since one end was connected to my 360 and the other to my router, I decided not to let it go long enough to see which one was stronger. I had to buy a 360 wireless-N adapter. Cost: $100.

The boy's 360 has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. He's been complaining about disc drive errors for a while now, but recently it has started throwing out different combinations of red light/green light errors. This particular console has no warranty on it. Repairing it would be cost prohibitive, so I thought about buying an arcade model to replace it. Cost: $150

I bought it a supermarket with a decent sized electronics department. They had a promotion in their weekly flyer that you would get a gift card if you spent $250 in the store. Luckily, game consoles qualified for that. Card value: $25

So this actually leaves me with a difference of only $25 and I get what I hear is a more reliable console. The boy gets my old one (still with a 1 1/2 year RROD warranty on it) and we all game happily ever after. Now, if I could only find the time to hook it up and transfer the data...

Hijacking of threads for personal gain

QJB should be ashamed of himself. Disgusting. Purely disgusting. :-P