I'm expecting a pretty sizeable chunk of change back from the Internal Revenue Service, and personally, I'm still on the fence about what to do with it. But if you, like me, have a refund coming, and you don't have a GameCube, that should be your answer. The current-gen Nintendo console retails for $99, and you should be able to find it bundled with at least one game for that price.
Now, I'm not an especially huge fan of Nintendo, beyond my nostalgic memories of the 8-bit NES and 16-bit SNES. However, the GameCube, while it didn't offer much in the way of quantity of games over its lifetime (especially in terms of support from third-party game publishers), still has a decent lineup of top-flight games that I consider to be among the best of this console generation, such as Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil 4, Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Paper Mario. It's also home to some great quirky games like Animal Crossing, Pikmin, and Killer 7. The Cube even has some very good multiplayer/party-style games like Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and Super Monkey Ball 2. All of them have been marked down at retail (last year's Game of the Year is only 20 bucks!)--to say nothing of the deals you might find on used copies at your local store.
And just about all GameCube games are made better with one of the best controllers of this generation, the wireless Wavebird controller, which in my personal experience works great and is very easy on batteries. And costing just $99 for the console, a controller, and at least one game, the price is right. I'd advise any hardworking folks who missed out on the console and has a check from Uncle Sam in the mail to grab a Cube, consider picking up a Wavebird or two, and start rummaging around the bargain bins of your local game store for some of these games. At these prices, it doesn't matter if you're a Nintendo fan or not--there are a bunch of fantastic game experiences on that $99 GameCube that just about any game player can enjoy, and they're priced to move.
Greg Kasavin, Executive Editor
Uncle Sam owes me some big-time money now that I've gotten hitched, settled down, and reproduced. Yes, during this past year, I've finally completed my duty as an American and as a human being. So now that my life's work is complete, what do I do to wile away the rest of this mortal coil?
Simple: I wait. I've got nothing but spare time, and once my big, fat refund check arrives, I'm going to let slip away even more of that interest-free loan to the government by sitting on it until the Revolution and the PlayStation 3 come out later this year. That's when I'll splurge.
At least I think I will. I'm tentatively planning to get both of these systems as soon as they come out, but I'm also sort of on the fence about it, depending on what sorts of games are available at launch. For that matter, I'm not sure where I'll stack them on my increasingly cluttered television. You know why they make widescreen TVs? So you can put all your crap on top of them. Even with so much surface area to work with, I'm still running out of room. So I might need to earmark some of that money for some new shelf space, or maybe just some new storage space where I could retire my current-gen systems. After all, one advantage of this new batch of consoles is that they're backward compatible. With the TurboGrafx-16, in the Revolution's case.
With all the constant debate over which of the Big Three will win this next battle for console supremacy, there seems to be little attention paid to people like me, who'll purchase every system sooner or later practically without question. Everybody wins in my version of this war, especially me. It's not that I routinely swim in gold doubloons or anything--it's just that games and game systems are always how I've spent my discretionary income. I can't imagine not owning the next system from Nintendo or Sony. It's easier to imagine life without clean water and warm clothes.
Just writing all this, though, it frankly occurs to me how much of a materialistic and spoiled person I've become. Maybe I should just forget all those ultimately useless worldly possessions of mine and donate all my money and my time on this earth to a greater cause. Like the petition for Shenmue III.
Andrew Anderson, Content Producer
As someone who used to run a game store where games and systems were traded in, I was subjected to a favorite trick for getting games on the cheap. On just about any busy day, my store would be packed with people looking to purchase, trade, or just play games. Unfortunately for me at the time--but great for anyone looking for a deal--those people wandering around turned into easy prey for anyone looking to make a transaction. Every person there wants cash for their games, despite the fact that most stores won't give them cash, and the store credit offered is paltry compared to the original price. Since most game stores never give more than $10-15 for any game coming in, and since those same games sell for $20-30 at the cheapest, a new kind of shark would take over my store. The process is simple: Wait for a disappointed customer to hear the trade-in amount, or even just hit them up before they get to the counter and try and worm your way into a sale. Offer them 80-100 percent of the trade in value in cash, and there is next to no reason for them to say no. All it takes is a few loose dollars and a willingness to approach people and negotiate, and you can offer those people money for the games, getting them for 50-80 percent off their normal price.
Even if your local store tries to stop this behavior, they are usually operating under a set of limits. The first is that they can't watch everyone, since they are usually operating with only two to three people, meaning they can't efficiently watch everyone all the time. The second is that even if they try to kick you out, moving just 10 feet from store property means they can't touch you (at least in California).
Now that I am no longer obligated to stop this behavior, I can honestly say that I have employed this trick a couple of times with good success. The biggest problem is that you might not be able to get an exact game if that is your goal, but just spending 2-3 hours on a busy day gives you the opportunity to put your negotiation skills toward a couple of games that belong in your library. It doesn't work every time, but when you can get a game for $8 cash when it would cost you $25 used and $50 new, the extra effort pays off.
If you managed to convince Uncle Sam to give you back more than a few hundred dollars, you could be practical and save that money, or invest it in something called your future. Over the years you could watch your hundreds turn into thousands, and eventually, sometime in your sixties, you might be able to afford a small island in the Bahamas.
None of that equates to fun now. Heck, you might not even reach the ripe old age of 30. Eat all your nuts now, and mooch off that other squirrel when, and if, the time comes.
With a few bills in your pocket, you could actually play Oblivion the way it was meant to be played. Go out and grab a Radeon X1900 XTX and thrill your senses silly. Provided you already have a beefy CPU, it's sure to send your frame rates through the roof. If you really have some dough to blow, consider getting a pair of them. On the more budget-oriented side, definitely consider the GeForce 7600 GT. It's bound to make your games run smoothly, and it'll leave some extra change in your pocket so you can actually afford to buy a game, too.
If upgrading your PC doesn't sound like fun and you have scads of cash coming back at you, say goodbye to 720p (it was soo last year) and say hello to 1080p. The 60-inch Sony KDS-R60XBR1 will forever etch this definition of beauty into your retinas.
At this point, my 2005 tax return is the rumor of a memory whispered to a deaf person by a ghost. Its existence is based largely on the conjecture of scholars--though even if it ever truly existed, it was during the ages of yore, a time that has long since passed. But, for the sake of conversation, let us all pretend that both my federal and state checks have not already been hastily spent on hot wings, DVDs, and Thai horse-fighting pay-per-view events. In this high-fantasy scenario, what game-related hole would my tax return drop into after burning clean through my pocket?
Top of the list would be an Xbox 360, had I not let my out-of-control early-adopter instinct guide me down to the CompUSA on launch day to get one. An HDTV would go well with that 360, but my tax return wasn't big enough to pay for a new set that would sufficiently replace my 36" Trinitron. My actual game needs are pretty well-covered by an intoxicating cocktail of the GameSpot private library and GameFly.
So what do you get for the kid who has everything? Considering that my need for shiny high-tech baubles has not subsided in the least since I bought my 360 back in November, I'd be quickly and assuredly rationalizing the importing of a Nintendo DS Lite. I would be paying a premium on its Japanese retail price for bringing it stateside, but that's just the kind of thing tax-return money is for. Further justifying the 200-plus dollars I'd have to spend is the fact that, despite some very convincing rumors that the DS Lite is coming to the US around the same time as New Super Mario Bros., Nintendo still has yet to announce an official US release date.
Are You Ready for Tax Day?
Did you get a huge refund from Uncle Sam? Or are you still hurting from that monster check you had to write? Either way, we're here to help you figure out how to still afford games for the rest of April.
