Inspired by this week’s Webcomic Weekend and the launch of the Wii in Japan, I ask the question: Why do you try to get/view things on the day they’re released, or why do you avoid doing so? To put it simply, do you feel the call of “IT MUST BE MINE!” or not?
My family has always been all about the early adopting of devices, so I know that I got that part from them. But then again, we’ve also always been tech savvy, so when those first generation devices do go bad we have a better understanding of how to fix them (or decide they can’t be fixed, and complain.)
There’s another factor at work though, and that’s the psychological compulsion to get things on the day they’re released (or in the case of movies, see them on opening day.) Sure, you know that 99% of all these things will get cheaper if you’re patient, but that often doesn’t matter. I personally attended opening day showings of all three original Star Wars special edition rereleases, and an opening day showing of all three Star Wars prequels. In the latter case, after the first one, I knew they weren’t going to be good movies, but I went anyway. And it also wasn’t like I was afraid of spoilers- I pretty much knew the ending already! (Except for the classic Noooooo….)
But in the case of something like the Wii, it was a heavily hyped machine, and maybe that’s why I fell into it. I certainly enjoyed having a bunch of people over to play the first weekend after I got it and forcing them to make custom Miis, and this past weekend I was able to expose my Wii to a new group of people (heh heh heh.) Maybe it was the rush of “popularity” that some of us never got in high school, I dunno.
There are downsides though: last Saturday I got a call at 3 AM from my little brother and his friend asking when I was coming home with the Wii. They had stayed up all night just to play!
I almost always feel the pull to get these things as soon as I can, or see movies when they’re released, but these days I’ve become more practical and pragmatic. I often look at the cost issue, and amount of time needed, and usually decide to just wait. With videogames specifically, it’s MUCH cheaper to just wait and buy things later.
We’re always behind on the games we’re playing, most of us at least, and so why not just try to catch up as much as possible, have fun doing it, get a sense of accomplishment while you’re at it, AND save money to boot! That’s my present philosophy.
It comes down to self control really. We live in a society where, if you dont have the latest greatest and shiniest object your considered lower class.
I refuse to be a part of that. And its not just Idealism. Its ,as barton said, cost effective. Im poor, dirt poor, and I have responsibilities. as much as I would LOVE to go out and buy the latest system and all thier games I cant justify that anymore.
Rewarding yourself is important, yes, but so is restraint. I went wild when I found out I got accepted into CIA. I thought, hell I have worked 70 hours a week for a year and a half so I said to myself, im gonna treat myself to an awsome computer I always wanted!..
Sad to say I feel this thing is half wasted. I use it alot yes, but I could have done the same with one that didnt cost me 3 grand.
I think those of us who remember the rush of waking up early on Christmas day re-live it in some way with the “wait”. Christmas is more of a “going through the motions” anymore, but, these kinds of unbridled excitement reminds me of opening presents in the wee hours of the morning. Since I’ve always had a joystick in my hand in some way growing up, rushing out to get a new video game system is an extension of this.I mean, there’s a part of this that is psychological where the “hunt” is more fun than the “kill”, too.
I can’t really say I always agree with the idea that this kind of selfish indulgence is a bad thing. Getting to spoil yourself a bit is a nice way of rewarding yourself for all the extra lame customers most of us have to deal with. On the other hand, the trend these days seems to be a ruination of that. The ps3 launch is a great example of this. The way that some people behaved to attempt to get one was pretty terrible. Why? The average person buying one DIDN’T want to actually play it. They wanted to re-sell it. For those who got one from the Wii launch, this was Christmas morning all over again… again.. 🙂
I don’t usually want to get consoles when they first come out. If I want it, I can wait.
I had the opposite upbringing from TheGame in that regard; if I don’t need it, or it may go down in price, or it might be better later, I had to wait.
When the N64/PS1 came out, and likewise the GC/PS2, I wanted to wait in line and get the consoles ASAP for two reasons: the sheer excitement of better graphics and new games made me gitty and I was younger then and didn’t have much else going on in my life. Likewise, the reasons why I am the opposite now and am in no rush to get the new consoles are two-fold: I have learned to put my school work and mundane life first and well…..WoW.
I guess this sort of thing comes down to priorities in your life. If saving money is more important to you than buying the latest console a little sooner, then you wait. But if playing the latest console sooner is more important than saving money (or time) then it’s worth it to camp out.
Also, I think it’s worth noting that just because consoles (for instance) may be more important to you than saving money, and thus you’re willing to camp out for the latest ones, that doesn’t mean you’d be willing to do the same thing for movie tickets, or concert tickets, or football game tickets, etc.
I, for instance, would never be willing to camp out for consoles or concerts, but I would be willing to do that for football tickets or movie tickets, under the right circumstances. Now if you are willing to camp out for anything then maybe we are talking about some type of personality difference as opposed to what your particular hobbies/likes are…
First of all, this: “We live in a society where, if you dont have the latest greatest and shiniest object your considered lower class,” is not even close to true. Just needed to point that out.
Secondly, I think this is a two part answer for me. I would love to get everything the day it is released (as I can be very impatient). However, I find the idea of waiting in a long line for hours, or overpaying on ebay to be, quite frankly, dumb.
So while I always want one when these consoles first arrive on the scene, I always find myself waiting out the holiday season. Unfortunately though, I usually buy one before the price drop occurs. (That’s probably dumb too).