I haven't started paying back my student loan yet, even though I graduated over four years ago. In my defence, I'm yet to actually make enough to get me to the stage where they force me to pay up. It's true though - I could have started paying back already, if I so chose. But I didn't. I have gotten rid of my credit card debt though. Well, okay... my parents paid it off, but at least it's gone. I am out of my overdraft however. At least, I was. It was two weeks ago. I'd just been paid and I checked my balance. £12 in the black, I saw it on the screen. Granted, on the way home I had to do a spot of food shopping so yes, I was only out of it for around eight hours, but that has to count for something.

Why am I telling you this? Well, the thought first occurred as I signed the credit card slip earlier today for my new DS. It is charging in front of me whilst I write. But it's not that which I'm pondering. I admit, a part of me at least does question my lack of willpower when I spend nearly £250 on a Friday afternoon (you can't buy a new machine without some games, right?). But what concerns me more is the copy of Super 64 that's sitting next to my new handheld. I'm sure it will be a great game and that I'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it, so it's not that I resent the price. But I already own this game. And I'd owned it before that too.

Back in the day I bought an N64 and with it I got Mario 64. It is a great game. I loved it, played it and eventually when the day came, I sold it. Teenage years are like that. It's a bit like my Transformers. Do you remember Transformers? The toy robots that changed into cars and planes and were a massive phenomenon in the 1980's? Well, I had loads of the things, over a hundred in fact, if I recall correctly (spoilt only child, you see). Then I got to that age, around 13 or 14 I guess, when suddenly you begin to take more of an interest in your appearance. You start drinking on the sly a little, seek out your mates dad's porn when he's out, have a lot more fun in the shower - you see what I'm getting at?

Well, toys and things are distinctly uncool and very un-grown-up when you're going through this stage. So I sold them all at a car boot sale. I made quite a bit of money at the time (with which I bought a SNES) and didn't think about it again for years. But eventually you grow yet further. You start to care less about your appearance once more and the things you like and the stuff you want to do suddenly becomes more important than what people might think about them. My girlfriend would most likely not react brilliantly if she came over one night to discover that I had made a base out of shoes in the corner of the room and was setting up an intergalactic battle between my Autobot and Decepticon toy collection. But I don't care. I want to do that. I'd love to have my back and if I did that's exactly what I'd do.

Any ardent gamer will know the feeling. There's many systems that I previously owned, sold off or traded in and have since bought again. By the same token more than once I've traded in a game only to buy it back a few months later when I realised what a mistake I'd made. Mr Moskeeto, for instance, is a game that I've now bought three times. This is why I no longer trade my games in. These instances, however, I can put down to my own ineptitude (as well as my reckless spending habits and sad obsession with gaming, I suppose). Super Mario 64 DS though is a little different. My first copy I sold - my fault. The second one I have sitting on the shelf beside me. I went out and bought it just after my mate gave me his N64 about a year ago. However, now there's a new bit of kit - the DS. If I want to play the game on that I need to buy it again, as no matter how hard I may try, the N64 cart simply won't fit into the DS's slot. You could argue that I don't need to buy it again. If I want to play the game I can just boot up the N64 - it's sitting under my TV, set up and ready to go right now. But what if I want to play it on the train? Granted, train journeys aren't an especially large feature in my life, but what if? Also, what about the new features? The multi-player? The touch screen mini-games? The N64 version offers none of this now does it? I admit, perhaps I am not indicative of the typical gamer in that the majority of people that play games kind of do other stuff as well. Games are my job, are my life - I'm an easy target for such moneymaking ploys.

But you can see why the gaming companies do this. Take Super Mario Bros 2 for instance. In theory I could have bought this game four times by now without repeating a single purchase. In the first instance, I remember specifically getting it for my NES. Years later, I got the same game as part of Super Mario Allstars on the SNES (a truly wonderful piece of software). Then, once I'd treated myself to a lovely new GBA SP (a rear-lit companion to keep my lovely original GBA company) of course I bought the Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Brothers 2 version so I could play it, well, on the train again I suppose. I might also have chosen to start collecting the NES Classic GBA titles upon their release earlier in the year. If I had done so, then when the next wave of games hits the streets soon I will also need to pick it up again to complete the collection - yes, Mario 2 is to become a NES Classic as well.

One game, four purchases. This sort of thing is absolutely rampant in gaming. Got a PS2? Lucky you, but it certainly takes up an awful lot of room compared to the new PStwo. Why not treat yourself? You could ask what more the new model will offer other than the extra few inches of air that will be allowed to circulate around the space that the old model has left since it's departure, but that's not what it's about. We're consumers, you and I, and given the opportunity we love to consume, naturally, whether we like it or not. I've actually so far resisted the urge to buy one of these new PS2's (not least because of the European shortage of it in the shops) though that doesn't mean I wouldn't like one. It is very small, after all, and it comes internet ready. The same thing has happened to the GBA. Release one model that does the job, then release another a bit later that does the same job but offers a tiny bit more (in this instance a backlit screen) and looks nicer. The previous GameBoy came in three version - original, Pocket and Colour. The Megadrive was re-launched with a new design, as was the Mega CD. There's the as well and the Lynx amongst many more. All of that before we even begin on things like the Aqua or Silver PS2's or any one of the five million different "Limited Edition" GBA's that have hit the shelves at one stage or another.

And I haven't even begun to talk about how franchises are recycled endlessly as new formats are introduced. Played Mario Tennis? Then try Mario Power Tennis. How about F Zero X? In that case, you're going to love F Zero GX. Metal Gear Solid? 2 Sons of Liberty. Paper Mario? Paper Mario 2. 1, 2, 3, 04, 2005. Super Mario Kart? Mario Kart 64. Super Circuit. Double Dash. Mario Kart DS. Ridge Racer 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and R Racing. 96, 97 ,98, 99, 200, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005. I admit, these re-releases do to some extent serve a purpose. Supposedly these sequels do offer improvements over and above their predecessors and often this is the case. Pro Evolution keeps getting better, Burnout 3 was great and San Andreas is awesome. Too often though a sequel in merely a replica of the previous game, differentiated only by the strong course of steroids and market analysis that has occurred between the two. Yes, I'm talking about EA. 2005, for instance is the best in the series, even if it is in fact only minutely superior to its also excellent forbearer. Worse still, sequels can often be worse. Mario Kart 64, This is Football 2004, Crazy Taxi 2, 2, Driv3r, Rally 2... there are many more.

Still, the GameBoy Pocket was a lot better to carry around than its predecessor. The GBA SP's screen is certainly far better than that of the first GBA, even if its shape does induce severe hand cramps after prolonged bouts of Super Circuit. The PStwo is certainly a lot more compact and stylish than the first even though I still always much preferred the original Megadrive (an original Megadrive - Mega CD combo is a thing of beauty to my eye). I also do approve of firms re-releasing the decent quality titles of yesteryear for newer gamers to enjoy. What I do resent though is companies trying to get money for nothing. If I've bought something once before why not let me use the old software on the new system? Thank you then to and Nintendo for backwards compatibility. Pro Evo 4 is great thanks, and I look forward to PES5. FIFA 2006, however, I really don't need. Another GBA model with a limited edition picture of a flying gibbon on the front? No thanks, guv. No, no, no - you're going to have to work a lot harder for my money than that. At least that's what I'd like to think...

By Ben Parfitt