Playstation 3 - Christmas gift?

Dark Zero

Dark Zero

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If this thread has been done, feel free to delete or move to proper section, figured get more hits here. *might add a poll later on. (ah crap i cant now :()


I'm currently at work, and my fellow co-workers are blabbing on what is good or not for their little rug rats for christmas, since we know they all get spoiled regardless. Our fellow CAGers that are adults and parents probably will understand my question more. So the young crowd, feel free to input, but you probably won't understand as does an adult or parent.

Since the co-worker in front of me is a grandparent, I decided to pose her this question. (Question was posed as if she was the parent) Would she justify the purchase of a $600 Playstation 3 for one of her children. Her answer baffled me, she answered with such simplicity and didn't even flinch. "yes i would, if thats what he 'really' wanted for xmas". So in other words, she has no problem justifying a $600 gift, not a multitude of gifts equalling $600 since you know kids like quantity over value. She just sees no problem dishing out that much cash for a "fad" gift that these little kids just have to have. They don't even understand the value of it, just because its the "new" thing they need to have it. (and no this co-worker isnt loaded, hell I sure as hell am not, thus why I'm on cag ;))

So, now to all of CAG. As a parent or whatever. Can you justify buying a $600 PS3 for a spoiled brat that can care less about it a day later? Can you buy it and not see a problem doing so? Remember, you buying this JUST for the kid without intention of you, yourself, using it. Don't not let that influence your answer.

Well, if my future kid ever asked for such a thing, he'd get a swift kick in the ass. Spoiled kids these days jeez -_-
 
i think a more interesting question is: how many grandmas are going to die waiting in line throughout that cold night?
 
Lol, if they make it to the line. But thats besides the point, just keeping the question to its basic form, is it justified. And no, being rich and spoiled doesn't count.

I was just speachless how fast and easy she answered the question without faultering at the price. Hell, these are people that need to save .25cents at ther supermarket on a can of tuna, but yet, $600 for a ps3 is justified cuz the snot nosed kid NEEDS to have it. *kick*
 
For my own kid? No way in hell. As a grandparent? Sure why not? Of course if my parents wanted to do something like that for my kid I'd tell them no way in hell. But there is a difference I think.
 
So a grandparent would have to dip in their 401k to get one? Anyway, grandparent or parent, I just can't justify it. I sure as hell wouldn't let my parents get any of my kids something that absurd, but they could get it for me ;). j/k

Ok, this may sound crazy. But I don't even think I would allow someone to get it for ME at that price. I'm 24, that money can be best used other things.


Anyway, thats why I asked her the question if SHE was the parent, because I know grandparents just don't apply to these sort of things, it is their grandkids afterall.
 
It's a grandparents job to spoil their grandchildren...

Not my grandma's though...she's a rich old hag that I hate.

Eggs+Her House=Halloween Fun!!!
 
Guys as a "parent" not a grandparent since they tend to do these things easier. I asked my co-worker that is a grandparent, but asked her the question as if SHE was the parent so I wouldn't get that grandchild biased garbage.

Speaking of eggs.....now I'm hungry :(
 
This brings to mind Bill Cosby trying to make his kids understand the difference between the people who raised him and the supposedly same people those kids know as their grandparents.

"These are not the people I grew up with. These are old people, trying to get into heaven."
 
So wait... systems for kids = bad?

I didn't get alot for Christmas, but I remember that day I got my SNES, and the christmas I got my Playstation. It wasn't just something I "forgot about the next day" (I played them both for a looooong time) and I sure wasn't a "snot nosed kid".

I'm glad my parents got me one gift I could actually use rather than a bunch of gifts I could care less about.

If I had a kid who wanted a PS3, yeah, I'd get it for him, because I know he'd probably play the shit out of it for its entire lifetime. He probably would only get one or two other very small gifts, but then again my kid would be raised to appreciate the PS3 and not just "forget about the next day". I'd rather get the kid something he really wants then give him a disappointing christmas... a child remembers their christmas's forever.

OP definitely has some problems with children, I think, or has only been around horrible ones his entire life.
 
Is the $600 justified? Alot of kids will play the hell out of it, while another group won't. Depends on how you look at it. While most kids need to have it for XMAS just because its the new thing to have.

Example one of my younger cousins. He didn't get PSP for christmas like he wanted, so poor kid was all sad for the entire weekend. But he did get a brand new Dell PC, guess that wasn't enough. The kid isn't spoiled by any means, but they later on that week went and got him his PSP. Does he even play the gift he o'so desired? That stupid thing is sitting in a drawer. Ok ok its a PSP bad example, but still an example.

All I'm saying is the price of it justified. I rather waste 600$ on mutliple gifts he wants and get it later on when it drops, all the hardware issues that might occur are sorted out, and more worthwhile games come out. I know plenty of family members that received a ps2 when it came out and just had to have some of those junk launch titles. Just wait for some good games, why buy crap ones just because they available? I'm looking at you ridge racer -_-


And I like what you added, you'd raise the kid to APPRECIATE it. Then there, yes I can justify it sort of. But most of these kids these days don't appreciate it and some parents can careless about it either. But appreciating is one thing that is hard with alot of people these days.
 
I don't think a $600 PS3 is really worth it for anyone. Not a kid, a parent, a grandparent, a ferret, a puppy, a zombie....yeah anyone really.
 
Hardest to think of is, the people that dished out for the 360 not to long ago, and have no problem dishing out for the ps3 for the kids at christmas.
 
Jealousy? To some maybe, I could really care less. Just curious on people's opinions on the matter. Everything is justified to the one that does it, even murderers ;)
 
$600 is too much to spend on a game system. My kid would be disappointed. If he throws too much of a tantrum, I'll wrap up my old Pong machine and make him play that.
 
Well, as someone who will probably be a parent in the next few years, I've chatted with my girlfriend about these things. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with the kid wanting the system, but he or she would have to understand its price and be willing to accept sacrifices in the future...for example, a toned-down birthday or something (it's irrelevant that i'd play it as much as the kid ;)). Even if I'm essentially made of money in the future, my kids will know the value of things, and they'll know that you have to work for some things in order to get them. My folks got me an NES for one Xmas and a SNES a few years later, but I typically got maybe 2 games a year if I was lucky and decided to forgo any other serious presents. I generally got nice things as incentives for doing well in school, in swimming, etc, but it was pretty clear that I wasn't entitled to these things just because they were my folks and that was their job.
 
You summed it up pretty well ;) Another thing, offtopic: as you put it if you were made of money, your kids would need to learn the values of things. I would probably be the same way. As in some rich people getting BMW's for their kid's 16th birthdays. While I have no problem with that, hell its their money, I rather get my kid some beater so they learn to respect the road, learn to drive, and respect ownership of a car first. Then later on, who knows. They'd learn that life isnt all about being materialistic.

Man I should have made a poll :/


*update* asked a few other co-workers to see their replies, mostly got "HELL NO" and just the one "sure" that started this entire topic. My supervisor: "No way I'd get that, damn then the games probably be around 75$, no way."
 
[quote name='Dark Zero']And I like what you added, you'd raise the kid to APPRECIATE it. Then there, yes I can justify it sort of. But most of these kids these days don't appreciate it and some parents can careless about it either. But appreciating is one thing that is hard with alot of people these days.[/quote]

Kids don't appreciate anything. They might look back later in life and appreciate it but never in the moment. Kids are just impossible to please greedy little bastards.
 
Well we can try to pretend they appreciate it, maybe it'd make us feel better instead of thinking how easily they can play with us.

Maybe an appreciative kid is like an oxymoron...
 
[quote name='Dark Zero'] As in some rich people getting BMW's for their kid's 16th birthdays.
[/quote]

Well, I did get a BMW for my 16th birthday, but it was a 1987 Bimmer and i turned 16 in 2000...so by then it was a beater :lol: Still have it, too...
 
[quote name='TahoeMax']Well, I did get a BMW for my 16th birthday, but it was a 1987 Bimmer and i turned 16 in 2000...so by then it was a beater :lol: Still have it, too...[/quote]

Hey guess a BMW is a BMW eh? Imagine if it was a 2000 at that time :lol:
 
[quote name='javeryh']Kids don't appreciate anything. They might look back later in life and appreciate it but never in the moment. Kids are just impossible to please greedy little bastards.[/QUOTE]


true. especially 2 and 3 year olds...you give them a new toy and they play with the packaging :lol:



$600 for a ps3 for a kid...I wouldn't do it. I'd get them a DS and a couple games.
 
[quote name='Apossum']true. especially 2 and 3 year olds...you give them a new toy and they play with the packaging :lol:



$600 for a ps3 for a kid...I wouldn't do it. I'd get them a DS and a couple games.[/quote]


Ha that reminds me at christmas when they ransack the presents and play with the gift wrap/boxes. The parents are there "here, open this, play with the toy car." The kid throws a fit and is all happy playing with the box instead. Ah, the joys of being simple....
 
i still love it. runs like a dream after almost 20 years. There's definitely something to be said about paying a premium for a quality German car. Even the Hondas my family has typically bought have deteriorated into little more than scrap after 10-12 years.
 
[quote name='TahoeMax']i still love it. runs like a dream after almost 20 years. There's definitely something to be said about paying a premium for a quality German car. Even the Hondas my family has typically bought have deteriorated into little more than scrap after 10-12 years.[/quote]


SHHHH!! Don't tell that to Honda people, they think their civics are tanks!


Speaking of boxes. With your imagination a box can do alot of things, while the toy car, imagination or not, is still just a car.
 
[quote name='Dark Zero']Ha that reminds me at christmas when they ransack the presents and play with the gift wrap/boxes. The parents are there "here, open this, play with the toy car." The kid throws a fit and is all happy playing with the box instead. Ah, the joys of being simple....[/quote]

My girlfriend told me a story about how her parents got each other a new washer and dryer for Xmas one year since they needed them anyway. That Xmas was apparently the best she ever had since she and her sister each got a GIANT box to play with:applause:
 
I think the best example here is the N64 kid. He stopped playing with his N64 after a year. And I guarantee that was his most desired present that year.

So no, $600 ain't worth it unless that's all they're getting for Christmas. And when they stop playing it, I get to trade it in and keep the credit. :D
 
[quote name='TahoeMax']My girlfriend told me a story about how her parents got each other a new washer and dryer for Xmas one year since they needed them anyway. That Xmas was apparently the best she ever had since she and her sister each got a GIANT box to play with:applause:[/quote]

You sure the parents didn't equally enjoy stuffing them in a box and wishing to ship it away? Only kidding....maybe
 
I have and always will Love my Grandfather for buying me a N64(per my request) at launch for a christmas gift. Even after he was specificly told by my grandmother NOT TO BUY IT and that $200 on games is a waste of money. Here's to you grandpa!
 
$600 is too much to spend on one kid. I'd keep telling him he's getting one, then come Christmas morning, he finds a Nintendo Wii. :roll:

As for grandparents, yeah, it's their job to spoil the grandchildren and make the parents look like cheap bastards.
 
[quote name='botticus']I think the best example here is the N64 kid. He stopped playing with his N64 after a year. And I guarantee that was his most desired present that year.[/quote]

Didn't you see his auction a couple of months ago? He got $1,051 for that N64! It's like they gave him an investment account with a 50% annual return. That's a helluva Xmas present...and a very responsible one, too ;)
 
Now he was a smart kid to do that. Hmmm, curious if it truely was the N64 from the video. He could have gone to gamestop and gotten one.

Now he can get himself a PS3 and not bother the parents for one ;)
 
I'm a father of two (one boy, one girl) and my son is as obsessed with videogames as I am. He's right at that point where he may or may not still believe in Santa (I'm really not sure), but I told him a long time ago that Santa has to get his games and hardware at the store like everyone else, so he shouldn't expect all the newest and most expensive stuff. He's never questioned it, and every year when he gets a few games that are old enough to have dropped to the $20 range, he's perfectly happy with it. I don't really expect that to last forever, but we've been telling him to save his allowance if he wants a Wii.

To answer the original question, no, I don't think a $600 PS3 at Christmas is justified. I can't afford to spend that much on anyone's Christmas, so it's kind of a moot point at my house. In fact, $600 is roughly what my wife and I spend at Christmas on both kids and ourselves all put together, and she still thinks we spoil them. To anyone who can afford it and sees nothing wrong with it, more power to you, but even if they use it every day, I doubt they will appreciate what a huge gift it is until much later in life, if ever.
 
I was going to mention something about having two kids. If you wasted the $600 on one kid, either you'd have to spend the same on the other child, or that 2nd child would probably be left out slightly.


edit: damn im editing too much today.

If you want to see spoiled, when I was younger and worked at a TRU. This woman came in, bought I believe 3 xboxs, and no lie about 17 games for each. She was probably haurding for something I don't know. She claimed it was for her spoiled kid, in her own words, yet she the one doing the spoiling. She had some of the crappiest games I ever saw in that pile, but yet bought them due to pricing on some, why bother?! And another woman some other day, was buying her kid a GIjoe, and he wanted another one. SHe looks at me, and says "as if the 500$+ I spend a week on this kid isnt enough", but yet went and got him the other GI-joe's he wanted. He also was holding another bag with 3+ ps2 games. *sigh*
 
When I was an ASM at software etc., there was this lady that had twin sons that refused to share. She had to buy 2 of every system and every game. I loved it when she came in because she would easily drop a grand everytime.
 
I had a Geo that I really miss. Last christmas, some asshole put his car into my driveway wrecking the thing. That was quite the loss for me.

Anywho, I come from a household where my grandmother lauded a bag of coal that she gave her youngest son for being a bad kid one year. Funniest thing I've ever seen, but as a kid it left quite the impression. That's not to say that there aren't kids who wouldn't truly appreciate a PS3. It's just that it sounds like she's clueless and will end up dropping a grand a half on a PS3 off of Ebay when she gets ignored during Christmas dinner as the kids are in time out requiring six degrees of seperation.

As a hypothetical situation though, I would spend the night outside of Best Buy to get a PS3 simply because I couldn't justify doing it for myself, but for myself and a kid....
 
[quote name='furyk']

As a hypothetical situation though, I would spend the night outside of Best Buy to get a PS3 simply because I couldn't justify doing it for myself, but for myself and a kid....[/quote]

That is a good point. We're all gamers here. Talking about getting a PS3 for a kid isn't quite the same if we're thinking of getting the same thing for ourselves. Wouldn't it be more of a family gift, and thus much easier to swallow? Hell, if my kid was savvy enough to use that logic on me, I'd get him the thing just because he was smart. The parents I'd be thinking about are the ones who are not gamers, yet have kids that are pestering them for the same thing. They're the ones in a tricky spot.
 
Those are the parents we are all refering to, the ones that aren't gamers. I think even some gaming parents wouldn't bite that bullet so soon.

Do some of these kids appreciate the lengths some of these parents go to get these things? I mean, c'mon if you don't get what they want, they throw tantrums or "hate" you. But if you get what they want, they "love" you. Kids are such little fakers -_-. Its like a false sense of love they giving parents. And those parents go to these lengths to get that false sense that the kid appreciates the gift. Oh well, their life, I'm probably just ranting random nonesense now....
 
Kids have very little opportunity to wield power when they're young. If they sense a way to get some power, whether by jumping between "love" and "hate" or by throwing a fit, they'll probably do it if it has been effective in the past. Parents need to nip that kind of behavior in the bud early, or they'll always suffer.
 
[quote name='TahoeMax']Kids have very little opportunity to wield power when they're young. If they sense a way to get some power, whether by jumping between "love" and "hate" or by throwing a fit, they'll probably do it if it has been effective in the past. Parents need to nip that kind of behavior in the bud early, or they'll always suffer.[/QUOTE]

Indeed. How many kids do we see throwing a fit to a parent who takes a very hands off approach to parenting over a toy or game in Wal Mart or Toys R Us these days?
 
The question isn't really is $600 worth it as much as is $600 all you'll have to pay? If you don't get one right away, I'm sure they'll be through the roof on eBay.

I'd suggest going the 360 or the Wii route. They likely are asking for a PS3 not because they want a PS3 as muhc as they'd like a new game system. The Wii looks like a blast for parents and kids alike and the 360 doesn't have the "launch famine" in software. And for $600, you could get killer setups on both systems rather than a system, controller, and no game.

But, that's just me.
 
[quote name='TahoeMax']Kids have very little opportunity to wield power when they're young. If they sense a way to get some power, whether by jumping between "love" and "hate" or by throwing a fit, they'll probably do it if it has been effective in the past. Parents need to nip that kind of behavior in the bud early, or they'll always suffer.[/QUOTE]


You seem wise beyond your years. Sadly most parents don't seem to share our views. I see it all the time with one of my little cousins. Kid is literally the devil, does what he wants at age 8. His parents think that sitting him in front of TV does good enough a job of raising him. I won't get into more details, to much to explain but everyone here probably knows how it is.


Daroga, thats something that I mentioned, if not i should have. That's one of my points, they don't really want a "ps3" but rather see its something new, such as a new system, and just want that.
 
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