On the home front, lots of different driving experiences. GTA: LCS, GT4, Test Drive: Unlimited, and finally, NFS: MW. The first three on PS2, the first one also on PSP (for guide-writing purposes) and the last one on the PC.

Test Drive: Unlimited actually proved the strangest. The disturbingly dashboard view - from my Saturn Sky at least - is a bit hard to get used to when most of the car is on your right. That and you can use aggressive tactics to get ahead...though dirt shortcuts slow you down. During certain races, taking dirt detours for too long will end the race on an "off-road penalty." As this is on a system for commoners, there are no Ferraris/Lambos/Porsches, and no bikes as far as I've gone. The cop AI is also inexplicably...messed up. They can actually arrest you if you're reversing full-speed away from one, so no Driver-****Reverse 180 getaways.

Speaking of PSP, I got firmware 3.40 this week. Funny how they actually "removed" (read broken up and moved) an option this time around. The big mover is with the music though.

I never figured iTunes would have this much value. Especially when I tuned into radioIO's 80s-pop channel. I might have to clear out a couple of folders to make way for a third 80s selection...or maybe my Vice City One (late 80s) and Vice City Stories (early 80s) playlists. I seriously miss that decade, even if I only spent the first three years of my life in it. All this greenie conscience über-political drivel of the 21st century is actually getting on my nerves...but I'm digressing.

At least 80s rock ballads make for great running music during this 5K fun run I had Sunday Morning. Eye of the Tiger, lawl!

Went price-shopping at Virra Mall (it's no longer officially called that since it was renovated beyond recognition a year or so back, it's more the "popular" name) after church. Quick update - I'm expected to get my PSP repaired sometime this week. And my Wii bro* - who wants a DS - doesn't seem to want it much anymore after learning it doesn't come with a free browser.

I have made another convert. ;.=.; That and my 360 bro* said he'd really only get the 360 for "Halo 3," which he said he'd "play every day."

Hmmm....

Also seem to have an interest in Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift 2 . Tested it out (yes, you can in this country...just not in as many stores as there used to be), didn't get to the cool Initial D FRs but it's interesting how the AWDs and FWDs handle when you jam on the brakes like a GT/FM player. Funniest quirks ever too - like the countdown is actually understandably 2-1-0-go! and when you finish a race, the game displays "Conclude!"

No really. Not "Finish," not "You Win/Lose," actually "Conclude." Wth. XD

Biggest find this time around though was the Game Boy Micro. Not just any GBM though...it was a Japanese version of the notorious 20th anniversary "Famicom" Micro.



The storekeeper lady showed me what was inside the box - the Famicro felt like cold metal contrary to the more "plastic" ones I've seen before. Apart from the shine and the color scheme (grooved front metal *drool*), there was also promotional stuff from the Japanese "Club Nintendo", which unlike American "official" system-makers' clubs actually appears to reward gamers based on systems and games they register with them through a sort of "frequent buyers" points system.

The system cost P4000 (just over $80), and was advertised at EXACTLY the same price as the black GBMs sold there. I was hankering to get one as I left the mall today...though the lack of pricing data in the States is sending some rather unclear signals. Pretty sure JP GBs can play US games though. Remember that I also do not have a GBA SP (360 bro has one though but he's very territorial about that) so this would be the first one with a backlight should I decide to get one.

So...should I get one?

And yes, the DS is still on my future-purchase list, so don't worry.

*My two bros are named Vince and Matt, both younger than me but only just under a year apart. I sometimes think of them as "Gulf Brothers" because Vince was born a few months before it began and Matt about a month after it ended. Interestingly, my dad has a complete set of Gulf War "trading cards." Seriously! Card Number One = George H.W. Bush.

Lawl.

Anyhoo, Vince wants a Wii, Matt wants the 360, and I (still) want the PS3. Somehow, we all get along nicely. That oughta spite all those console warmongers.