How much money do we honestly spend on gaming gadgets and gizmos?

There’s always a ‘must have’ accessory, or at the very least the essential piece of equipment that the hardware companies charge an extra arm and a leg for after you’ve already spent thousands of rand on a console (read: an extra damn controller that should come standard). Then of course there’s the motion sensing camera that doesn’t come standard. The special (and mostly useless) peripheral controller that doesn’t come standard. The peripheral interactive figurine that doesn’t come standard. The list goes on.

Of course, we all shell out for these extra bits and pieces because, you know, we ‘need’ them to enhance our gaming experience. But do we actually need all these extra bits and pieces? Would the games not be just as fun to play if we didn’t have all of these extra bits and pieces?

You can argue that the console manufacturers force us into buying these things, and yes that’s true, but it’s more that they convince us that we need them in order to get the most out of our gaming. How often do those extra bits and pieces actually just end up gathering dust? I’m just as guilty of this as anyone – I have a couple of PS Move controllers that I’ve used maybe a handful of times and then forgotten about as I’ve migrated back to the much more comfortable and intuitive controller. The same goes for the Kinect on my Xbox 360 (I haven’t got an Xbox One as yet) that I’ve used when I was going through a Just Dance phase and probably only once or twice since.

The result is that by the time we’re finished setting up a new console, we’ve spent more than many people’s monthly salaries. Quite ridiculous if you think about it. Think I’m exaggerating? Let’s do a quick calculation.

A PlayStation 4 with only one wireless controller currently sells for between R5 600 and R6 800 depending on where you’re shopping. I’m going to go with the lower price for arguments sake here.

An extra R1 000 for another controller. Add a PS4 camera for another R1 000. Many of us play using headphones, so a PS4 wireless stereo headset sells for another R1 300. The running total so far is therefore R8 900. Add to that a couple of games that range between R700 and R900 (let’s add one of each for argument sake), and you’re now looking at a minimum total of R10 500. If you’re lucky enough to find a bundle that includes games you actually want (we all know this doesn’t always happen) then you might be able to knock off between R700-R1 000.

The average minimum wage in South Africa is less than R2 000 a month. The South African Government dictates that your domestic worker must earn a minimum of R1 450.33 a month.

Think about that for a second. That’s only a bit more than the headset you just bought.