After thinking about it for a couple more weeks, I’ve decided to ask my fiancée for the Super Mario Maker bundle for Christmas this year. That’s not entirely in-line with the thought process I outlined in On Console Gaming, but I think it’s the right call. We decided on a budget of $300 for gifts this year, which means if I wanted a new system (not refurbished or used) I was only going to have the bundled games for the first few weeks. Given that, I just had to go with the bundle which included the game that spurred my interest in the system to begin with.

I won’t have the casual games that I wanted right away, but I can always acquire those over time. I also won’t have a physical disc for Mario Maker, but that’s something I can purchase down the road if I continue to feel strongly about it. No big deal.

The upside, though, is that I’ll be able to play the game I’m most excited for, right out of the box (after downloading it, naturally) and I’ll have a nifty 30th Anniversary Mario Amiibo, to boot.