Been playing FF4 on my DS. "YOU SPOONY BARD!" has to be the best mistranslation ever. CATS has nothin' on Tellah. The game itself is pretty good, but I'm still liking FF1's GBA remake more.

What would I do with 599 US dollars? Buy a PS3? No. Buy a Wii? Not yet. 360, maybe? Also negative. I will be buying the Wii this generation, but not until Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Super Paper Mario are both out for it. When the Wii releases, the only game I'd be interested in picking up is ExciteTruck, and it doesn't seem worth 300 dollars. YOU SPOONY BARD.

Instead, I went shopping yesterday and picked up a load of games for a steal. If you have a PS2, X-Box, GameCube, DS, or GBA and haven't yet been able to upgrade, don't worry. It's impossible to get all the good stuff for a system the first time around, and there's never a better time to buy games then BEFORE the new systems release!

Take note, bargain-hunters (and spoony bards):

* I bought Bomberman Jetters, Lego Star Wars, and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for 15 dollars each. That's 35 bucks less than the usual price (although I think Bomberman released as a 20-dollar budget title).

* I also found Bomberman DS for 14 dollars and Dig Dug: Digging Strike for FIVE dollars. I don't care if these games are mediocre; at 5 bucks I'd try amost anything!

* Do you like RPGs? Do you like the GBA and the DS? Square's releasing one quest after another on the little buggers, and if you can get past the vomit-inducing offical art for some of the Final Fantasy games, you'll find some quality stuff, especially if you (like me) missed out on all these ports the first time around. Here are just a few of 'em:

-Final Fantasy 1 and 2: Dawn of Souls (GBA) - Yay, Black Mage and White Mage!

-Final Fantasy 3 (DS) - After the awful characters of FF2, we go back to cute little duffers for the third installment. I'm glad.

-Final Fantasy 4 Advance (GBA) - YOU SPOONY BARD

-Final Fantasy 5 Advance (GBA) - I got nothin', sorry

-Final Fantasy 6 Advance (GBA) - Don't play with the octopus, kids!

-Children of Mana (DS) - EVIL HAS POISONED THE MANA TREE?!

And for you fellas with a PSP, there's a Valkrie... or Valkery.. or whatever Profile game out, so Square's kinda-sorta thinking about you... >.> So if you spoony bards ever wanted to play the entire 2D FF series start to finish, the DS is your system (And GBA, if you leave out FF3)

* GBA double-packs are popping up everywhere all of a sudden, providing a perfect oppurtunity to score two games for the price of one. You may already know of the Castlevania 2-pack, but how about the Sonic Advance 2-pack? It's got Sonic Advance and Sonic Pinball Party together for 30 bucks. I'll take that! Oh, and there's a Hot Wheels GBA 2-Pack, but I don't think that one's very exciting. What spoony bard greenlit that idea? >.>

* Okay, I'm starting to sound like a Circuit City flyer (with spoony bards). Sorry.

My point is, if you're low on cash but still crave games, go check out the nearest game store NOW, before the PS3 and Wii shove the GameCube, X-Box, and GBA into Dead System Hell. This oppurtunity only comes around once every five years. Take advantage!

Oh, and you (spoony bard) should always keep an eye out for used games. I got eight N64 games today for only 5 bucks each, and they're almost all tried-and-true classics, like Banjo-Kazooie, Mario Party, and my favorite game, Paper Mario.

...YOU SPOONY BARD!