Ikaruga made me buy a GameCube.

Gradius V made me buy a PlayStation 2.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma made me buy a PlayStation 3.

I may soon find myself pulled into another killer-app-driven hardware purchase. Battlefield Bad Company 2 is alluring, particularly because of the ridiculous amount of fun I had back in the day with Battlefield 1942. I did indeed skip the Battlefield games in between (with the exception of Battlefield 2, which I played very briefly) but for some reason the latest installation in the series is making me want to play. I refuse to play it on a console and so I must look into the PC version. However, to quote Weird Al Yankovic, "my PC is obsolete; it takes an hour just to bring up the screen!" so I would have to invest a large amount of capital into upgrading the PC before being able to enjoy it. Of course, I would be able to do many more things than just the game with a modern PC, but I'll have to convince myself that this sizable investment will balance that equation. It also doesn't help that I (gasp) haven't had the same amount of time for games lately that I have had in the past.

I find it as humorously ironic as anyone else that I, the kid who was always buying the latest and greatest gear and upgrading and rebuilding his PC every year in high school is now finding it hard to rationalize upgrading his woefully outdated PC that hasn't been upgraded in years.