Touch Me, All Night Long

Well, it’s been more than 24 hours since I bought my Nintendo DS Lite.  All through the week I was in two minds about getting it, but come after 5pm on the Friday I bounded to Choices and made my purchase.  And Kevin Heames was serving – felt embarrassed buying Nintendogs and Project Rub!  Not so with Brain Training though.

Am I happy with my purchase?  Am I!  I always wanted a DS, and although the original was in silver, it was butt ugly.  The Lite is smaller, sleeker and sexier.  I had to get white – after buying my Creative ZEN Vision:M, never again will I purchase a handheld product in glossy black.  It came with an instruction manual, but even though I read it I didn’t need to.  Want something?  Touch it.  Want to leave a menu?  Touch ‘Exit’.  The device is very lightweight, the buttons feel okay (haven’t used them much though), the screen is very bright – the only problem is the quiet sound on some games.  Compared to the Sony PSP I have definitely made the right choice for me.  Everyone I’ve spoken to has said to get the PSP for the following reasons – I will give a counterpoint for each one:

• PSP has a widescreen display (DS has two displays, both much brighter and isn’t so bloody reflective)


• PSP has better graphics (graphics don’t make a game, they merely enhance it.  I still find games like Pac-Man and Tetris fun – do they require 3D polygons?)


• PSP has console-equivalent games (they’re console games, not designed for a handheld.  The analog stick is rubbish)


• PSP has well-established game franchises (I want to play some new games as well as old ones, not the same stuff I’ve been playing for years already)


• UMDs can hold more game data than cartridges (yes, and bring the marvellous world of loading to handhelds.  It was a couple of minutes before I could play GTA on the PSP!  Besides, they’re only going to fill it with FMV – so impressive)


• PSP has better sound quality (agreed it does – but the DS is no Atari 2600)


• PSP can play music (I have a ZEN for that – and a mobile phone)


• PSP can show photos (see above – and I hardly ever do this out and about)


• PSP can play movies (again, see above – again, hardly ever done.  Plus it takes a lot of conversion – more waiting!  And UMD movies?  Don’t make me laugh!  Also enjoy sucking your battery life with them)


• PSP can surf the internet (so can the DS with an add-on – and I have my phone for that.  I’ve heard it’s not a great experience anyway)


• PSP can run homebrew software (as long as you’re not using the latest firmware version.  And why bother – aren’t the built-in capabilities enough?)


• PSP is upgradeable (this is actually a good feature, although Sony use it largely as a way to disable running homebrew software)


• PSP looks better (have you seen the DS Lite?  Smaller, sleeker, sexier?  If you think fingerprints and seeing yourself and not the game looks better, then sure, PSP is the winner)

That’s all I can think of right now.  I’m not a Nintendo fanboy – I despise some of their earlier consoles.  And I’m not a Sony hater – I’ve been a fan of most of their products for years.  It’s just that both handhelds offer completely different experiences, and both excel in their fields.  What I don’t like is when people slate the handheld they don’t own, and mock people for their choices.  If it suits them better, what’s wrong with that?  Don’t just say ‘oh it’s crap because it has no graphics’ or ‘oh it’s crap because it’s just about graphics’ – the merit is the joy it brings to the owner.  If people stopped bickering so much, they could instead share experiences and enjoy something they otherwise mightn’t have had the chance to.  I for example am dying to play LocoRoco on the PSP, but it’s not reason enough for me to buy one.  If I knew someone with the game though, then I could satisfy my interest whilst they could be enjoying something on my DS.  Can’t we all just, get along?  (

Enough about the console – what about the games?  Well, I’m going to blog about each game individually – I feel they deserve it.

Until next time – Can you feel it?

Yo Ho Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me

Well, what a film!  I am of course referring to Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which I saw on Friday.  Cinema was packed and conditions tried their best to make it unbearable, but I did my best to ignore it and I was rewarded.  I thought the first film was brilliant, and it still is, but this one is bigger, badder and more slapstick!  I can’t wait to see the whole sequence again where Jack Sparrow is God of a tribe, and each characters makes their escape from the predicaments they are in.  Totally unrealistic, but this is film and this is dizzying!  Depp is as hot as ever in the role, but surprising Bloom didn’t do it for me like last time – he just seemed to plod along regardless.  Glad to see Knightley getting more of a role this time too.  I thought there was a bit too much camera panning, and it was quite slow at times, but these are just niggling issues at an excellent film.  I won’t spoil the twist at the end either, but I certainly wasn’t expecting it!  Make sure you see this one before it’s run ends on the big screen – if you don’t you’ll only be denying yourself!  Why though do we have to wait a year for the next one though (currently titled At World’s End)?  I want more now damn it!

Until next time – yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.  My name is Threepwood!

Two Can Play That Game

Finally got round to completing Tomb Raider: Legend today – what a ride!  But I must agree with the rest of the world – far too short!  It also didn’t help that I looked at a guide on how to defeat two of the bosses, but I’d been trying for ages and doubt I’d ever noticed the correct way.  I’m glad that she’s back on form after the God damn awful Angel Of Darkness.  Not enough strong female leads in modern games.

This week I’ll probably be playing games more than I have done all year – I’ll be backing up my main PC, Gitaroo Man should be delivered and I might buy the Nintendo DS Lite this weekend.  I completed Gitaroo Man a long time ago, whilst I rented it free from the local library.  They’ve still got it but I wanted to own it, and Amazon have recently added it at a budget price – huzzah!  Bring on the riffs!

Just looking at my calendar I notice this weekend is pay time!  After all the trouble I’ve had with technology the past few weeks I feel I deserve a new gadget, and that will probably the sleek Nintendo DS Lite.  People have laughed at me for wanting it, saying the Sony PSP is the way to go, but the DS is more my scene.  The PSP is impressive – console-quality, music, movies, web browser – but I’ve already got a console, portable media player and mobile phone – I want my quirky Japanese games!  Plus with Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, it might make me smarter!  Anything is possible…

Lastly, with the dual PCs up and running, Darren and I found a use that took us both down memory lane – separate games of Transport Tycoon Deluxe!  No more sitting and watching someone else play – both can!  Didn’t try to play against each other as Darren’s going on holiday soon, but it was still nice to be doing the same activity.

Until next time – Game Over

Two Heads Are Better Than One

Well it’s been two days since my sister from Ireland came over to visit, and although there were a few threats from both machines before her arrival and afterwards, it seems my dual PC setup is working as intended – she has the lesser-performing PC, perfectly capable of handling teh Internet and chat; I have the more powerful PC, with all my music, movies and games, and the hardware to run it.  Normally she’d hog my main one and break it – not happening this time sis!  Haven’t had time to figure out how to share files between the two, just the internet (darn all that security!) but it’s not a major need for the time being.  After having to replace the motherboard on my main PC it’s been a while since I did a backup, so that’s going to be an exciting week for me then!

Until next time – why have one when you can have two for twice the price?

Cruel Summer

Bananadarafarmerama couldn’t have said (or sung) it any better.  This weather is fucking ridiculous.  THIS IS GREAT BRITAIN, NOT THE SODDING BAHAMAS!  Where does the sun get off making everyone irritable, tired and so very moist?  What annoys me though is the people who are clearly in artificially cooled surroundings saying it’s lovely, and then they go outside and moan.  They moan that it’s cold, they moan that it’s hot – same with wet and dry – there is no pleasing these people!  At least I’m all smiles when it’s winter – these people are morbid all year round.

I thought we had our heatwave a few weeks ago, but clearly that was just a prequel.  I hope this is the worst of it – I don’t know if I can take much more.  As soon as I walk into the light it sucks the life out of me.  Even now typing this, in the twilight hour, I’ve got a fan on and it’s not making any bit of difference!  I say we take note from the many so-called ‘dastardly’ and ‘maniacal’ plots from comics and cartoons, and block out the sun when it gets like this, or at least filter it out!  We could all do with our own personal and portable cooling solution if the filtering is too far-fetched – that would be bliss as well.

Sadly, as for a lot of bad things, there are benefits.  You know what I’m going to say – stripped off totty!  Yes, and very nice a lot of it is!  I hope they haven’t cottoned on to my blatantly obvious ogling whenever I’m walking the streets (and now that I’m working and having lunch breaks at the hottest times of the day it’s like happy hour for me in that respect!).  All these lovely toned and tanned bodies, nice, long and sometimes hairy legs – if I wasn’t so lethargic from the heat I’d be pointing without my hands.  Also there’s thunder and lightning – always a pleasure – although there hasn’t been any yet.  Crime.

I’m still adamant about hating the ‘lovely’ weather though, so I have to point out more flaws.  Crying children seem to be at this worst at these times – oh how they’re always on hand to make a bad situation worse.  People are dumb – they walk around aimlessly and get in my way, and generally act dumber than a brain dead zombie.  They also wear sandals (well, I feel they’re a no-no for blokes – makes them look like a pensioner).  It’s difficult to get cool – most shops don’t bother with adequate cooling and there’s never enough shade.  I also want to try that Magicool stuff but I hear it’s expensive.  It always threatens to rain whilst being hot – I don’t care though, I’m not wearing a sodding coat in this heat.  One more thing – I suffer from blondstroke.  A mix of the blond frame of mind and heatstroke, if you will – once it takes hold of me my mind turns to mush and I have the attention span of Nikki from Big Brother – I’m just not in the mood to do anything at all.

Reprieve is hopefully round the corner, with autumn and winter to warm my cold heart – this will bring a smile to my face once more, and the miserable looks on the masses will only help to make it bigger.  We’ve also got Halloween, Bonfire Night and Xmas as well to look forward too – my favourite holidays of the year!  Maybe next year I’ll try this hibernation thing some animals do, but of course the ‘correct’ way…

Until next time – It’s too hot to handle, this heat has got right out of hand.

Colours Faded Into Darkness

I was left alone…