I just love how people throw blanket arguments like "250 bucks is an impulse buy, or you are too poor".
Different countries, even developed ones, have different income brackets; even within the same country, purchasing power varies (e.g. West/East coast, USA vs central USA).
What is an "impulse-buy" anyway? An impulse buy is an unplanned or otherwise spontaneous purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse buyer.
In other words, this is comparative to the person who goes to a shopping mall with his girlfriend, walks by a store and sees a console that he ends up buying. He had no intention of going to buy a console, but given he was there, and the console kept winking at him...
An "impulse purchase" for gaming consoles has been traditionally/historically pegged at maximum $400, with the sweet spot at $250; having said that, people with high disposable incomes may not hesitate to impulse-buy a $600 console, and people with little to no disposable income will not impulse-buy, or "any-buy", a $250 console.
I make pretty good wages, but I'll be damned if I'll go and buy anything over $125 on "impulse" alone. I normally do my research before buying anything. Case in point: I scoured websites and read two months' worth of reviews before buying a mobile phone that cost me $200. (Consoles are different: I normally buy them all anyhow, such is the rabid gamer in me).
In any case, impulse-buying is not tied to some magical number; it's the product's ability to make the owner throw pragmatism into the wind and open their wallets as if guided by some unknown force.
So, the real question is: How many of you were counting your beans prior to buying the Wii? The PS3? The 360?
If you didn't count the beans and just went out and bought the console then you are a brand loyalist.
If you counted the beans and then went out to buy the console you are a "conscious" buyer.
If you had no plans to buy the console, but saw it in a store and magically opened your wallet, that is an impulse buy.
Edit: I think it would be safe to say that any VGC member automatically doesn't qualify as a console impulse-buyer - we already know we want them damn consoles!
