I Swear I Wasn't Going to Buy it
A very good friend of mine texted this morning and said he'd ordered an Xbox Series X last night, even though he wasn't even sure he wanted it. He said he didn't expect it to be available, but it was, and he panicked.
I started laughing because I actually have a name for this. I call it the "Scarcity Imperative."
Console launches (with the exception of Nintendo) are usually pretty poor. Developers haven't had enough time to fully understand the power of the new console, so the games are usually not that impressive. Companies compensate for that by releasing as many launch games as possible. It's basically Golden Corral.
For some reason, though, that doesn't matter.
Consoles I've purchased on launch day:
PS1
3DO
PS2
Dreamcast
Xbox 360
Wii
PS3
Wii U
PS4
Switch
Honestly, it could have been more. That's just what I remember. And the only one I regret is the Wii U.
Do I remember a really memorable launch game for any of these consoles? NFL2K was fantastic on the Dreamcast. That definitely got my attention. Wii Sports was spectacular. And Legend of Zelda: BOTW was incredible.
Everything else, though, is easy to forget.
Knowing all this, and knowing that I am absolutely not purchasing one of the new consoles at launch because I'm in heavy editing mode, I still spent a few minutes last night looking for a PS5 pre-order, just because I didn't think I could find one.
I don't even think I would have followed through with it. I just wanted to know it was there.
In Soviet Russia, people automatically got into a line whenever they saw one. It was the prudent thing to do.
In 2020, I'm glad we're in line for consoles instead of shoes.
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