Random + Ramblings = Ramblings. Bah.
(games) Ever since I downloaded Pac Man CE from XBLA a few weeks ago, I've been playing it with a Gamestop brand Xbox 360 controller I picked up. I really only picked it up for the d-pad, which resembles the solid cross molding that Nintendo employs on its controllers instead of the molded disc that's on the regular 360 controller. Oddly enough, it still doesn't work that well with Pac Man CE. The d-pad is too stiff. I found that the analog stick actually works really well, though, making me think that I basically wasted my cash. However, I thought about it for a second and decided to boot up Street Fighter II' Diaper Fighting. Lo and behold, Shoryukens come out smooth as silk - no more fussing with the awful default 360 d-pad. Works great for Street Fighter III: Third Strike (which is backwards compatible by the way!). The stiffness does make it a little difficult to play as Liu Kang in UMK3, though. Review forthcoming.
(basketball) My body is sore, and I am getting old. The same adolescents I saw running around on the court in the park are now lean, strong and athletic high school kids. I'm just happy to still be able to halfway keep up - playing with people better than you is a great way to burn calories. That's because you're always chasing them. But then you have to be careful not to stop trying to rebound when you realize that they're grabbing all of 'em.
(games) Continuing the controller tip, I recently invested in an X-Arcade Solo. My initial experience was not pretty at all. Windows XP wouldn't recognize it as a USB device, so I tried the PS/2 connector. It worked... once. When I rebooted and tried again, nada. My Windows 98 backup box didn't recognize it as a USB device either, and the PS/2 connector also crapped out on me after one try. The nice guy over at X-Gaming sent me a new USB cable, though, and now it works *awesome*. The thing comes with a (legitimate and legal) disc of Midway arcade ****cs, which was a really smart move. I'll be picking up connectors for all consoles, so that I can play Soul Calibur 2 (GCN), Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (Xbox) and Virtua Fighter 4 (PS2) - among other fighters - with it. Hell, I'll even pick up a Dreamcast adapter and try to find a copy of Garou: Mark of the Wolves. The thing works great, though once in awhile the diagonals on the joystick don't respond very smoothly in the game you're playing. It's also significantly larger than, say, a Hori stick. So you gotta have room to stow it away. Review also forthcoming, though probably not for a few weeks or so while I get the other adapters.
(movies) Ratatouille = great. 1408 = pretty good. Transformers = ugh - don't talk to me.
(booze) I had never been to the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria Queens, NY, until yesterday. What a nice place. According to my friends who have been there often, the crowd there is amicable (a claim which was backed up by the gregarious people who were sitting at a table right next to us), the space is nice and large and the open air doesn't hurt either. Too bad such things aren't feasible in the winter :P Lousy weather channel.
(question) Did you buy an iPhone? Will you buy an iPhone?
(my own answer) No I did not, and not a chance in hell.