Must have been Gran Turismo 3, during those days I was switching from pocket money to spending my own income so it's not sure if GT3 was still a gift and GT4 was actually my first self bought game.
I do remember i owned the platinum edition of GT3 and GT4 was bought at release.
It was definitely worth it, Up until today I still dream about owning a race sim setup to do some serious racing and developing my skill. But I never got past a used Logitech G29 mounted to a desk and a chair that kept rolling away from the pedals type of setup.
I had a fairly long term of being unemployed during Covid which ended up in me buying that G29 as I spent a lot of time playing GT sport and finally for the first time ever got all gold on the licenses, so I knew I was making some good progress from all the time spent.
I even dared to try online racing and as I got better slowly managed to hold myself among others, which made me happy.
It depends per case, my friend kept studying while I dropped out (due to private circumstances).
My friend ended up at the same employer for the same pay only years later, he wasn't a good fit for his field.
A few years later I jumped ship to try and develop myself into a better paid job, I am now an actual crane operator with a beefy wage. My friend is still there making the same low wage.
But he got lucky on a different matter, due to him living at home until 33 he did manage to buy a house with massive savings. I haven't yet.
This is life, there aren't any given certainties. Only people who claim their experience will be the same for you.