At What Point Does Doom Get Doomed?

In a few months, we’ll see Doom III.

Many in the hardware world seem to think this will help to bring hardware sales out of the doldrums.

On the other hand, what you’ve been telling me in surveys lately leads me to have some doubts about that.

So let me ask those of you who fully expect to buy Doom III when it comes out a few questions. Assume for argument’s sake (no matter what you have) that you will have to spend money on hardware upgrades to get the game to run satisfactorily.

1) At what dollar point do you say, “Doing this just to be able to play this game isn’t worth it.”

Assume for argument’s sake that the maximum upgrade cost (not including monitor) is $1,000.

(Please don’t send me notes arguing about the hardware requirements of Doom III; that isn’t the point of the question. The point of the question is how much people would be willing to upgrade equipment just to play a single game or two.)

2) When you buy a demanding game, do you find you at least somewhat expecting to upgrade when you buy the game? Do you use this as an excuse to upgrade, or to justify an upgrade? Or do you buy the game sincerely believing it will run fine on your system, then find yourself forced to upgrade to get it to work well? If the latter, does that bother you? If so, what would get you to look first, buy game later?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Ed