Cutting costs to make room for PC (not console) gaming.

This economy sucks. Retail sales are down, the stock market’s trying (and mostly failing) to recover from the previous crash, restaurants can no longer afford to remain full-staffed, and, worst of all, the invincible videogame industry is currently experiencing a year to year sales decline! I’d contend a lack of tolerable content impacted the last one more than a stagnant economy, but the belief’s not popular (developers can do no wrong!), and pointing a finger better serves this article.

Whether money’s not coming in like it used to, or interactive entertainment never found a comfortable place to sit in the living room of your monthly budget, rest easy. You can still game. Together we’ll lift your financial exile from the land of videogames.

But before I start, please slam your face directly onto last month’s bank statement. Stay there. The ledger may be riddled with nasty little unnecessary expenses. Find them.

If you need help, consumer empowerment blog The Consumerist can assist. Crushed by massive credit card debt? The editors suggest going without cable television and to stop eating out, among others, in the article “5 Expenses You Can’t Afford If You Have Credit Card Debt.” Spending too much at the local grocery store? Stop buying pre-chopped food, suggests writer Meg Marco in “7 Ways To Save on Groceries Without Using Coupons.” Do you think you’re so smart you don’t need to read these tips? The Consumerist has an article for you. “10 Stupid Ways That Smart People Waste Money” suggests even those privileged with a larger frontal lobe can sometimes forget to pay bills, suffer excessive overdraft and ATM fees, and let food spoil in the fridge.

You may or may not have a bit more room to work with. Either way, there’s only one gaming platform option (if you only have one choice): PC.

No other offers greater return on investment. And the investment itself can be as low as $200 or stratospherically high in the tens of thousands. For this article, we’ll keep our budget under $400. But first, let’s take a look at why the PC’s so effin’ neat.

Read the rest of the article at IPR's Multimedia blog.