I rememeber when I was younger my Mother used to tell me that arcade games are a waste of money. It made more sense for her to buy a game for a console or the computer, than to let me stick a bunch of quarters in an arcade machine. This logic has stayed with me most of my life, and as often as mothers repeat themselves there is no wondering required as to why. The more I think about it though, the more this logic seems completely wrong. This only makes sense, but who does know more about video games: The kid or the parent? If I asked my mother about it now, she would probably tell me that it was only an excuse so she didn't have to give me any money. I'm an adult now, and I pay for the games. I've been through all the relationships involved, and I'm ready to share the wisdom.

On the arcade machine you don't need to buy a $200 console or even pay an extra $60 for the game, you get a whole game for 2 quarters. Life span? Nothing to worry about. When you get sick of playing, dump her. No commitment gaming, can't complain. Only problem is you sometimes wake up lonely late at night, wanting to play some more but can't... The arcade is closed.

Consoles have a lot of advantages, one of them being "Try before you commit." What that means is relatively simple. A lot of places that rent videos also rent console video games. These same places often rent consoles. They are rather pricey to rent, and often have BIG security deposits, but if you are not sure what to buy this can be a good thing. Rent the game machine; rent a few games of interest. More no commitment gaming. If you like her, head down to about any store that carries electronic equipment and bring her home. Best of all, you can still go to the video rental place and rent more games than you can play in an evening for about $10. If you like those or couldn't complete them, run to the store again and buy them, or rent them for another night.

The least cost-effective way to play video games is a home computer. If you buy one of those $999 or less computers that are out now, don't expect to be able to play any new games on it next year around this time. Buy a top of the line computer from $2000 on up to $4000 and you will still only manage to get two years of gaming out of it, if your lucky. Note that those two years will also include about $400 worth of upgrades during the second year. Only upside of your new spouse is that she can cook now that she is old and gray. In other words, it makes a good word processor and it can browse the internet.

Home computers are not the best gaming machines. As you know by now they have to have an operating system. This operating system is made to be general purpose, unlike the ones found on the consoles, which are dedicated to games. The problem with this is that the OS is not optimized for game performance. Once you figure in patches to fix games incompatible with the vast diversity of PCs out there or the system crashes... Well, your old girl friend the console is looking very fine indeed, though after the money you just shelled out you might not be able to afford an affair.

Simply put, the home computer is a very costly game machine, and game companies do not appreciate the money you pay for it. They are constantly making games that take advantage of technology that is still on the horizon. If you want to play the game they hype for so many years it is going to cost you. Seems the computer industry really likes to screw over its loyal gamers. Sure, the game only costs $40, but is it worth the $2000 for the computer to run it, or the extra $300 you'll have to find for the ultra-cool graphics card to run it at frame rates your monitor can't keep up with? I doubt it, considering your spending over ten times the cost of a console.

Don't like that option? There is a simple solution: Don't buy it. Don't buy the new computer. Don't buy the game. Want to throw the whole computer gaming world on its ear? Don't upgrade, and convince your friends to do the same. What will that do? They can't sell games if no one owns the computers the game is made for, and if they can't sell games, they don't have jobs. It won't happen though. It is a hypothetical Arthur Dent lying in front of the bulldozer of Progress, and too many people would never go along with that plan to derail the train.

So what are you to do? Well, I think I'm going to give this overpriced word processor a break and head over to the arcade. I've got a little bit of pocket change left over from the weekend. I just have to think up an excuse for the "wife."