Last night I felt old.

I have a group of high school guys that hang out with me on Wednesday nights. This group gets together to play video games and eat pizza. We normally play Halo 3 and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, but I wanted to change it up so things don't get too boring for the guys.

Last night I decided to break out my NES and my Super Nintendo. I figured, since they are into games they probably would be a bit interested in the old school. Boy was I wrong.

Every time I tried to persuade the guys to come and play Super Mario Kart or Mortal Kombat, I got nothing but complaints.

"Dude! These graphics are horrible! Look how lame these characters fight."

"I guess this Mario Kart started it all, but you can't even throw the turtle shell behind you."

"I don't want to play Ninja Gaiden. It seems pretty lame."

I was a little bit ticked. Don't these guys appreciate some old school? I suppose not. I can't blame them. Some of it is pretty dated compared to the new.

It might be time to start a game night for some older gamers that would love playing some of the old stuff. I mean I have bins of these games in my house. They should get some use other than me playing them.

My wife picked me up a used copy of Age of Empires II Gold edition that includes Age of Empires II, the conquerors expansion and the strategy guides for both. Total cost: $5. I'm pretty pumped. I was gonna use my gift card to pay for a new copy at EBgames, but now don't have to. How exciting!!! What a wonderful wife I have.

Gas prices have reached a point where I'm considering cutting my video game budget. Right now it is $3.09 a gallon in the Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati are and only getting higher. My wife and I are getting ready to trade in our SUV for a mini-van to save on our gas, but money is still going to be tight. I spend a fair amount of money on video games even though I only buy used games. I know there will probably be a pretty good sale going on at GameStop this labor day weekend, but can I really spend my hard earned money on a bunch of games I probably won't play all that often? I collect more than I play and this may change the course of my buying. I will have to look at only collecting games that are really dirt cheap or really good quality games that I would play someday. But how can I cut my budget? I love collecting games. I really enjoy getting a good deal on a bunch of games to add to my collection. The better solution is to figure out a way to increase my income. I guess it is time to really get motivated with some small business ideas I've got in the hopper and do a lot of praying.