Expensive Gaming Gear

Courtesy of Sega

Courtesy of Nintendo

You're all set and ready to game. You have your $300 Playstation 2 with the $35 controller, the $40 steering wheel and the $130 mega-speaker system. If that's not enough you have your computer with the $250 video card, the $300 monitor, $100 sound card and $100 mouse. With your PS2 you can play games so realistic it's better than TV and your computer has so much power it can almost fly. If you're loaded up with all these kick-butt toys, then you've definitely got game. What you probably don't have is any money left.

New game gear costs a fortune. You can blow anywhere from a hundred bucks for a new Game Boy Advance up to a couple of hundred for a Playstation 2 or Dreamcast and even a grand or more (ouch!) for a hotshot computer. If you were one of the first people to pick up a Playstation 2 you've probably even heard of crazy people spending thousands of dollars for one online. That's a lot of cash.

Game companies keep pushing the systems to be more powerful, faster, stronger and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. All this power costs money. The super-powerful PS2 and Xbox each carry a $300 price tag. That's a serious chunk of change. Even the $200 Gamecube wants you to splurge an extra $100 on a Game Boy Advance (GBA.) You need the GBA to unlock secrets in some games so you're still gonna end up spending $300.

It's all about keeping up with the cutting edge. After all, nothing's cool unless it's brand new right? Wrong! Check out the Dreamcast or the Game Boy. They're both slower than the newest systems but they're a blast. Everybody and their cousin has a Game Boy and there are tons of cool games for it. I've been ignoring my super-powered computer games to play Zelda: Oracle of Ages (the review's on its way) on mine. The two systems are totally affordable too so you'll have cash leftover for a couple of games and a pizza.

All this goes double if you're buying a computer. If you buy the top of the line you'll pay through your nose and it'll be a total rip when the price plummets the week after.

Do you have a gaming toy you want to brag about? and tell us all about it.