Console gaming vs going on holiday: cost comparison

Going away for this long weekend sounds good on paper, but it can be a costly exercise. If you’ve taken leave on Monday 30 April you’ll have 5 days all to yourself, which you can either spend going away, or gaming at home.

Staying home will avoid highway traffic jams, plane boarding queues, and crowded restaurants. It’s cheaper as well, as the brief comparison below points out:

Buying a console

Let’s assume you don’t own a console, and need one for the weekend. There are a range of console bundles on special at the moment, including a PlayStation 3 from Makro that includes the following:

• Sony PlayStation 3 320GB console;
• God of War 3;
• Gran Turismo 5;
• Dead Rising 2;
• Juiced 2.

The above will cost you R3,599.00.

Makro PS3 bundle

Since you’re staying at home, the only other expenses you need to consider are food and drink. A budget of R1,500 (it is after all a long weekend) should cover a case of beer (or two) along with a variety of McDonalds, KFC, Debonairs and Steers to last you the 5 day stint.

So the total cost to having a great time playing games at home this weekend: R5,099.00.

Going on holiday

Flights: Booking return flights down to King Shaka airport from Johannesburg on Kulula this weekend was quoted at around R3,100. This is departing on Friday 27 April and returning on Tuesday 1 May to try and make the most of the holiday time.

Car hire: Because everyone and their dog are going away this weekend, most of the car rental agencies in Durban have no cars left on offer. However if Hertz did have spare cars in its fleet, it would cost around R1,400 to rent a Honda Jazz (or similar hatchback) for the 4 days according to their site.

Accommodation: Rather than go for something quite posh and over the top, we’ll spend the four nights in Durban North at The Willows, a 3 star establishment with air-conditioners and Wi-Fi accessibility. The room is R550 a night, bringing the accommodation total to R2,200, breakfast included.

Food and other expenses: Is there a point to going away on holiday without spoiling yourself a little? R2,000 seems like a fair amount for food, drinks, entertainment and other expenses, though you’ll probably end up spending more than this.

So the total cost of going on holiday (by yourself) to Durban this weekend without including entertainments costs (since you’re by yourself): R8,200.

The Willows in Durban

Conclusion

The above is of course just one example. Holiday goers could drive rather than fly, get group discounts on accommodation and eat nothing but dry spaghetti, dropping the cost of going away significantly.

Similarly, the chance of gamers having a gaming console or PC is quite high, so the cost of staying home and gaming the weekend away can drop by just as much if not more.

So there you have it then, staying home and playing games will probably be much cheaper than going away. And let’s face it, who wants to visit the beach in autumn when you have noobs to frag at home?