Buying console games (new releases anyway) has always been a costly affair. For us in South Africa we’re talking close to R1000 ($105) for a new PS3 game (Resistance 2). My main concern is that with the current state of the world economy, gaming might just become unaffordable.

Browsing through the shelves of local retailers, I often end up having to justify the big price tag to myself and why I have to have the game. More often than not I just put it back on the shelf, spending that much on a game (on credit) just isn’t worth it anymore.

2-3 months ago it was the same issue with Petrol. I’ve never said to myself “Wow, I can’t go that far because it’s going to cost me R150 ($15) to get there and back, but that started happening. Filling my car was costing ~R600 ($63) depending on where I filled up as the price of diesel is unregulated and sometimes you are ripped off. This has gotten better recently as a result of the credit crisis, but everything is being done to get oil back up again (cutting output etc.).

What about trying to get a house? Banks are refusing to give out mortgages because they just don’t have the money. This isn’t the only factor here, the national credit act makes getting a bond ridiculously hard simply because of what you have to earn to get something decent out of the bank. This makes my first point about expensive games irrelevant seeing as you won’t have anywhere to play them. It also makes my second point about petrol irrelevant seeing as you won’t have anywhere to park your car.

Then there’s your everyday expenses; food, clothes, bills and then something that could be a complete waste of time – insurance. Why a waste of time? What if you were told the insurance company you have been handing your money over to every month doesn’t have any money left to offer a service, in other words – bankrupt. This means your car insurance, household insurance and maybe even life insurance is now worth nothing.

This is more of a rant then anything else, everything is just getting expensive. You just have to wonder when the money will run out completely.

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