Cost of Gaming: Nintendo Wii and Some Reflections

This post continues from Cost: Console Gaming vs PC Gaming. I won't be assuming too much this time around since if you really want to, you can just go read the older post. The most notable is that I've made accessories into an annual cost. There are a lot of accessories for the Nintendo Wii - the Wii Fit, the Wii Wheel, the Wii Zapper, Rock Band controllers, Dance Mat and so on. A Nintendo Wii owner is more likely to buy these things than any other gamer since they are casual gamers after all. They still buy the same number of games - because I think they're idiots. (And since I own a Wii, yes I'm an idiot.)

Nintendo Wii cost: USD250

Annual cost: Accessories (random pieces of plastic, Rock Band): about USD100 a year Games: USD420

I'm gonna assume it lasts six years, even though analysts say that's unlikely (we all know how good analysts at predicting things, for an example, see predictions of Australian dollar rise about 1.6 months ago). At a discount rate of 7% p.a., Wii gaming costs: US$2624.04.

It looks like the result is similar to the XBox 360. Here's the set of numbers again to refresh your memory:

XBox 360: $2635.94 PS3: $2447.61 PC: $2313.58 PC (with MMO): $2885.57 Wii: US$2624.04

It just shows what I've already shown earlier - any addition to the annual cost is a big hit to the cost of gaming on the console. And there it is - a comparable Wii number.

Remember to take all of these numbers with a grain of salt. In essence, they assume you spend money on the same amount of games. In real life, we know that's probably not true. For example, I play significantly less Wii and PC games than I do on my XBox 360 and PS3. I've also ignored the second hand market. If you play your cards right, you might spend only about $200 a year on games.

However, just to conclude - yes, PC gaming is relatively cheaper compared to consoles. But to be honest, you are gonna buy a nicer PC case. A nicer power supply unit. A new burner. A wireless networking card. And maybe even better RAM than what I've put there. When that all adds up, you find that gaming on any platform - will cost about the same.

So, stop ranting about which form of gaming costs less, which console is cheaper - and just start playing more games.

Talking about Traffic Lights

It came upon me a month ago that I hadn't really talked about walking to uni. I'm a strange person, so I do want to talk about going to uni. Walking anywhere is interesting, because you are less constrained by roads than any other road user since you can walk across parks, jump across ditches and so on. There are many considerations when trying to get somewhere by walking. How many traffic lights are on the way? Are there any diagonals you can use to get there faster? No matter how far you walk, you'll sometimes find yourself facing what I like to call the Consecutive Traffic Lights problem.

What is this problem I've randomly given a name to? It's really simple if you look at my diagram.

The arrow being the pedestrian, and X being the destination. If the first set of traffic lights turn green - do you cross the road at the first junction and then go to the second? If you said yes, then you have probably been wasting a lot of time waiting for traffic lights.

Why? Think of it this way. Assume the traffic lights behave independently of each other and their state when you get to them is random - and the chance of a green light in either direction (when you arrive at the lights) is 50%. This also means that the lights last an equal amount of time. As with most lights in Melbourne, crossing the junction horizontally, and then vertically or vice versa, you wait a minimal amount of time (about 15 seconds).

OK, so to my first example - the state of the first set of lights is green. Say you cross - then there is a fifty percent chance that you will get to the second set of lights in the right direction. If you don't cross - you have a 100% chance that you will get to the second set of lights in the right direction. This is just based on completely independence of the two sets of lights.

In truth (the real life scenario that I do walk every day), the lights are synced. This means that the go green in the same direction almost the same time. The problem with this? Crossing the junction and making it to the second set of lights is enough time for the second set of lights to change twice - what does this mean? There is an 80-90% chance that when you arrive at the second set of lights -> it will be red for the horizontal direction and green for the vertical direction you just crossed. Ah ha!

If you've been following this closely, you'll see that this argument doesn't hold water if you can get to the next set in three light changes - which alters the argument the other way round. However, this doesn't reduce travel time - all it changes is whether it matters that you crossed at the first traffic light or not.

This means that the dominant strategy is to ignore the first traffic light and go straight for the second set of lights, since this will probably reduce the expected travel time. Why? Since even if you don't have any information on how well the traffic lights are synchronised, you will get to cross when you arrive at the second junction. This is true as long as you can cross on all sides of the road, and some set of pedestrians can cross at any given time.

Funny E-mail

I got this in my e-mail about a week ago entitled 28 + 4 ways to know if you're Chinese Since I am Chinese, I found this e-mail really amusing - so I thought why don't I write a blog post about it and make comments on how much of it is true? 1. You unwrap gifts very carefully, so you can save and reuse the wrapping (and especially those ribbons). - I do this, but it's actually because I like keeping things the way they came in. My friends in Melbourne gave me Singstar for my birthday - we've already opened it and used it, but I'm still keeping it the exact way it came - except for the game's plastic wrapping, which is too thin to be salvageable. I found the few times I kept anything to reuse the wrapping, I never used them. -__-

2. When there is a sale on toilet paper, you buy 100 rolls and store them in your closet or in the bedroom of an adult child who has move out. - I don't buy that many rolls since I'm living alone, but when I'm at home in Malaysia, we do have this huge stockpile of toilet paper, but my family goes through toilet paper pretty quickly, so it's more because we don't want to visit the store that often rather than because it's cheap.

3. You keep a Thermos of hot water available at all times. - I don't have a Thermos since I don't drink hot drinks often enough to bother.

4. You save grocery bags, tin foil, and tin containers. You use the grocery bags to hold garbage. - I think this is what every student does with their grocery bags. It's hardly sensible to go buy garbage bags when you get bags for free in a significantly more manageable size.

5. You hate to waste food - as a note, I do waste food and it's usually rice. Australian Chinese restaurants give you WAAAAY too much rice.

a ) Even if you're totally full, if someone says they're going to throw away the leftovers on the table, you'll finish them.(Your mom will give a lecture about starving kids in Africa) - indeed I was given this comment before, but that was when I had appetite problems about 14 years ago and still didn't eat it anyway LOL.

b ) You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one leftover chicken wing. - I hate leftover food, especially if it wasn't meant to be leftover.

6. You don't own any real Tupperware-only a cupboard full of used but carefully rinsed margarine tubs, take out containers, and jam jars. - I don't own any real Tupperware because it's too expensive. I do however have IKEA containers. :P

7. You have a collection of minature shampoo bottles that you take every time you stay in a hotel. - Guilty as charged!

8. You wipe your plate and utensils or wash them in a small basin of hot water before you eat every time you go to a restaurant. - if only Chinese restaurants here were that nice.

9. You own a rice cooker and a slow cooker. - I didn't own a rice cooker until last year, and I didn't own a slow cooker until my neighbour abandoned his at my place.

10. You wash your rice at least 2-3 times before cooking it. - I thought this was normal?! Starchy isn't a quality you usually want with rice.

11. You fight (literally) over who pays the dinner bill. - It's a strange habit to fight, but Chinese don't like to lose face.

12. You have a teacup with a cover on it. - I don't even have a teacup.

13. If you're under age 20, you own a really expensive walkman if you're over 20, you own a really expensive camera. - I have never owned a really expensive walkman. Even now the most expensive music player I own cost me AU$120. Hardly even close to what an iPod costs. I don't have an expensive camera, I do plan to get one, but not until I need it. My cheapskate camera will have to do until then.

14. You're a wok user. - Heh.

15. You only make long distance calls after 7pm. - Long distance calls? Come on - we're more stingy than that -> Skype.

16. You prefer your shrimp with the heads and legs still attached - it means they're fresh. <- XD

17. You never call your parents just to say hi. - Guilty. :P

18. If you don't live at home, when your parents call, they'll ask if you've eaten, even if it's midnight. - Indeed a strange habit, but they always do it. In the case of chewxy or me, sometimes we really haven't eaten at midnight, so not that strange a question I guess.

19. Your parents tell you to boil herbs and stay inside when you get sick. They also tell you not to eat fried foods or baked goods because they're heaty (yeet hay in Cantonese). - My family doesn't believe this, and doesn't really believe in herbs either. I find that walking outside usually makes you feel better, but Malaysia's hot weather, and Melbourne's random weather usually make you better off staying inside.

20. You e-mail your Chinese friends at work, even though you only sit 10 feet apart. - I IM my housemate (applies to both kl and my current housemate), who is physically 2 meters away.

21. You always cook too much. - I cook too much because my estimation sucks. Bleh.

22.You eat every last grain of rice in your bowl, but don't eat the last piece of food on the table. - True in most cases - the last piece of chicken, the last piece of tofu, the last piece of vegetable usually goes round the table like 20 times before someone finally takes it, and usually not without informing the whole table LOL.

23.You starve yourself before going to all you can eat buffet. - The last few times I went to a buffet I did eat properly before then. It's usually the opposite - you can't eat anymore after that for at least most of the day.

24. You know someone who can get you a good deal on jewelry or electronics, computers. - I also know where to source Magic cards and completely random items like consoles and modchips. o_O

25. You own your own meat cleaver and sharpen it. - I don't have a meat cleaver, I'm too lazy to cut meat myself.

26. Your toothpaste tubes are all squeezed paper-thin. - I thought that was normal too - being a stingy student.

27. You know why this list consists of only "28" reasons. - My favourite number is 4, so I obviously don't care.

28. You take this message and forward it to all your Chinese friends. < ----- See blog.

There are four more indications that you need to add:- *29 You wrap with napkins all the knives, spoons and forks of the airline that you fly on and put in your travel bag as souvenirs - I don't do this, stealing is still frowned upon, in my opinion.

*30 You never forget to take with you all the unused bath and facial tissues when you check out from the hotel because you believe that you have paid its all. - I only take it if there's a chance the next hotel doesn't give me enough toilet paper. You won't believe how many times I've actually been saved by this small bit of toilet paper.

*31 You will laugh at yourself when you read all of them - ROFL

*32 And you will always proud because you're Chinese - Indeed.

My Thoughts on Battlestar Galactica

I realised that as a fan of Battlestar Galactica, I've never talked about where I think the storyline is going. We now know - and have confirmed 11 of the 12 humanoid Cylon models. There was that odd issue though - one of the Cylon models predate the first Cylon War. And then we have the funny fact that the Cylons have begun to wage war among themselves. There is dissent among the model numbers themselves and among the current commanding six models. It's pretty fun that things are going the way they are.

Deciding on a Place to Live

When you're a overseas/interstate student - there might come a time you might have to move - be it by your choice or otherwise (like me), and then you have to look for a place to live. However - if you're a student - your choices might not seem too obvious. I'll be talking mostly about my situation - so no general examples. Usually - you've already decided on the location you want to live in, or the proximity to the university you want to live in. So what considerations might you have?

1. Rent - The most important of all considerations. This is ultimately the base number you are going to be paying every month - and hence the number you will want to adjust to other considerations.

2. Bills - How much of the bills are included in the rent? Is water included? Is gas included? Is electricity included?

3. Furnished status - if you're not a student, there's no question - you want the place unfurnished. Otherwise, you'd probably have a choice to make. If it's furnished - you'll want to see what you get. Do you get a microwave? What about the size of the fridge? And the bed? Are there enough tables and chairs - or will you need to supplement it?

4. Size of the place - higher rent usually means more space - but remember that while you will be willing to pay more for more space - the landlord/agent is sometimes annoying - and intends to mislead you into paying more for less space. Careful.

What haven't I put here? There are a lot of other non-student assumptions, but let's say you are a student. That usually means - you don't need a car parking space, you don't care too much about your Internet service, you don't need a phone and you have to do laundry (LOL if you don't). I've searched for places at least twice now - and I usually found myself having to compared non-equivalent place.

I have furniture - but I believe here's rule number 1 - it's a sunk cost. Don't care about it. If it will cost you more to continue using your own furniture, give up on it. It's just not worth it to care about it. Not to say you shouldn't care - my cost of moving into a place that's unfurnished is smaller since I have furniture. If the place ends up being $200 a month more expensive just because you want to use your old furniture (which could happen if you have to move from a shared to a single bedroom/studio), it does build steadily - and in a year, that $2400 could've bought you a whole new set of furniture and appliances - so don't fall for sunk cost - since absolute cost does matter. Getting attached to your $800 bed doesn't help you. I've used it for more than a year - so it cost me $15 a week, or $2 a day if I were to just count the year I used it - yes I didn't use it the whole year - but I pay for the apartment then too - we want a comparable measure. If I were to spread it over the 17 months I have paid for the apartment - then I would have paid roughly $11 a week and about $1.60 a day.

$1.60 a day for good sleep is hardly anything to complain about - anyway - back to a benchmark. As my benchmark - I decided to take all my furniture and appliances with zero salvage value after one year. This means dividing everything into weekly expenditure so that I can get a value represents (in my benchmark) how much I actually paid to live this place.

While you can argue that furniture and appliances do last longer than year, remember that I'm not moving out by choice. It's a loss I already accepted a long time ago. So, using all this (the amount I paid for stuff and dividing it by weeks - we have a cost closer to - $27pw. Hold your horses! This includes shared value in a laundry - readjusting this value gives me $21pw. How much do I actually value a personal laundry facility though - $9 a week (I won't explain how I got to this number - but let's say that's roughly how much it would cost me in a laundromat). It doesn't matter - what this number is - since I am completely ignoring it in my adjustment.

My place is underpriced market wise. That means that as long as I choose to move to a similar/equivalent place - my rent will increase - by a lot. I can't be doing analysis by using my current place as a benchmark since I can't stay in my current place. Know your options well - and never ever compare to an option you don't have.

Some people derive utility from just having a housemate. I don't. I derived utility when kl was my housemate - but not with my current one. Having a housemate almost automatically removes utility I gain from privacy - so in this case my current housemate gives me a disutility from having him around. (No offence to him, of course, it's just that an extra presence causes that.)

OK - enough with the rants - it's time to look at number.

My share of the rent: $190pw Furniture + applicances: $21pw

So that makes: $220pw

I ignore internet costs/gain - because even if I am a geek - internet doesn't matter that much as I'm still a student. I don't play games online, and even if I'm a heavy downloader, I don't need to download all that much.

OK - so moving to College Square Swanston (at $260pw) will actually cost me $40 more per week than accomodation cost me last year the $3 is from an adjustment for laundry. I went to inspect a significantly smaller studio unit at Unilodge@740 for which the asking price was $275pw. This will cost me $46 more a week (minus $9 for laundry). Well being both smaller and more expensive - I would be insane to say that this is superior - even if it comes with internal laundry.

And then we have Arrow on Swanston. The last time I e-mailed them about a studio - they wanted to rent one to me one was available only until 30th Sept - for $316pw. However - note this includes utilites of $50 so let's adjust that downwards - so the rent is $266pw. So moving here - would cost me... *you guessed it* $46 more per week.

Currently - the most dominating option would be to - move out with my housemate. There are problems with this though - I am willing to pay more to live alone - not otherwise. Rental has gone up crazily - and a good 2 bedroom (should you be able to find one) will likely cost you $450pw. That means that my cost will increase (on an absolute level) by merely $35 per week!

On another note, the absolute increase in cost should I move to CS Swanston is $70 pw. Hardly cheap - however, it's not expensive - especially if you were without furniture to begin with. As for me - I'll keep looking.

NOT. My landlord has agreed to have me stay until the end of my university term. YAY!!!