Generous birthday gift money from my parents and my wife's family + a wife familiar with brickseek.com + poor impulse control =
A vocal (and often rant-y) Nintendo critic caving and buying a Nintendo Switch on a Saturday morning.
So I want to start out by saying one thing in my defense: I usually hoard my gift money and I usually wait for sales or bundle deals to spend any of it. But this year's gift from my parents was especially generous and I felt like it was time I finally spent some of my gift money.
Last Saturday, my wife checks brickseek.com for Nintendo Switch stock and finds 2 units at a local Walmart. She relays this information to me, knowing that I wanted a Switch but didn't want to want a Switch after how Nintendo bungled the Wii U launch and lifecycle (despite launching some fantastic games for the console which I thoroughly enjoyed). I called the relevant Walmart, confirmed 2 units were in stock, also confirmed that they're not allowed to hold product for customers, grabbed my wallet and headed out the door.
I arrived at the Walmart Supercenter, speed-walked through the massive store to the Electronics section, discovered both units still in the locked case, found a Walmart employee, and bought myself a Switch and, of course, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Yes, Mr. Frugal Gamer just spent $407 on a Zelda machine (Switch + Breath of the Wild + DLC).
I can skip nearly every game in the industry, but, for some reason, I am weak to Zelda.
Weak.
This isn't the first time a Zelda game has broken my resolve, either. The Zelda 3DS XL special edition (which is gorgeous, by the way, and still in excellent condition) bundled with Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is what broke my resolve to wait for a proper second hardware model for the 3DS (which came approximately 6 months after I bought my 3DS in the form of the New 3DS, a hardware announcement that inspired fury and self-loathing because I explicitly said I was going to wait for a new model before taking the plunge).
I'm probably going to rant and rage when Nintendo announces a new model of the Switch, so don't see surprised to see a wall of text detailing my mixed emotions regarding my Switch purchase within the next 12 months. I would very much love to be wrong, but, given Nintendo's track record, I'm probably not.
Nevertheless, I'm thoroughly enjoying Breath of the Wild so far and eagerly anticipating the trip to the game's first village. As gorgeous as the game is, the opening area is a little lonely--an opinion shared by my older daughter, who watched me play nearly the entirety of Zelda: Wind Waker HD on the Wii U (which was one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent years and made all the better by excellent use of the Wii U gamepad).
So you got me again, Nintendo. You got me again.
A vocal (and often rant-y) Nintendo critic caving and buying a Nintendo Switch on a Saturday morning.
So I want to start out by saying one thing in my defense: I usually hoard my gift money and I usually wait for sales or bundle deals to spend any of it. But this year's gift from my parents was especially generous and I felt like it was time I finally spent some of my gift money.
Last Saturday, my wife checks brickseek.com for Nintendo Switch stock and finds 2 units at a local Walmart. She relays this information to me, knowing that I wanted a Switch but didn't want to want a Switch after how Nintendo bungled the Wii U launch and lifecycle (despite launching some fantastic games for the console which I thoroughly enjoyed). I called the relevant Walmart, confirmed 2 units were in stock, also confirmed that they're not allowed to hold product for customers, grabbed my wallet and headed out the door.
I arrived at the Walmart Supercenter, speed-walked through the massive store to the Electronics section, discovered both units still in the locked case, found a Walmart employee, and bought myself a Switch and, of course, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Yes, Mr. Frugal Gamer just spent $407 on a Zelda machine (Switch + Breath of the Wild + DLC).
I can skip nearly every game in the industry, but, for some reason, I am weak to Zelda.
Weak.
This isn't the first time a Zelda game has broken my resolve, either. The Zelda 3DS XL special edition (which is gorgeous, by the way, and still in excellent condition) bundled with Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is what broke my resolve to wait for a proper second hardware model for the 3DS (which came approximately 6 months after I bought my 3DS in the form of the New 3DS, a hardware announcement that inspired fury and self-loathing because I explicitly said I was going to wait for a new model before taking the plunge).
I'm probably going to rant and rage when Nintendo announces a new model of the Switch, so don't see surprised to see a wall of text detailing my mixed emotions regarding my Switch purchase within the next 12 months. I would very much love to be wrong, but, given Nintendo's track record, I'm probably not.
Nevertheless, I'm thoroughly enjoying Breath of the Wild so far and eagerly anticipating the trip to the game's first village. As gorgeous as the game is, the opening area is a little lonely--an opinion shared by my older daughter, who watched me play nearly the entirety of Zelda: Wind Waker HD on the Wii U (which was one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent years and made all the better by excellent use of the Wii U gamepad).
So you got me again, Nintendo. You got me again.