I really hate being the bringer of unending drama in your GS Friends' Blog List. Really, I do. But I really can't make stuff like this up. The following is a true story.

Date: Wednesday April 14th; Time: 7:00am

My mom and dad are in the kitchen making their coffee, breakfast, and lunch for the day. My dad finishes up and goes to exit the house through the garage. He opens the garage door with the push of a button. He walks outside into the cool spring morning air and walks down to the foot of the driveway to grab the newspaper. On his way back up the driveway, he notices that something's missing. He walks back into the house to inquire about what he's seen.

Dad: Did Matt already leave for the day?

Mom: Umm, I don't think so. *sneaks up into my room and sees I'm still in my bed sleeping; walks back down* No, he's still sleeping. Why?

Dad: His car's missing.

Mom: What???

Dad: It's not there.

My mom walks back upstairs and wakes me up. She tells me what's going on and I walk outside in a sleepy stupor to see what my dad's already seen. My car is not in the driveway. Where there once was a super sexy 2000 white Honda Civic, there is now only a car-shaped dry gap on the still-wet road. I know I locked the doors, had the windows closed up; I passed my keys on the kitchen island on my way outside, so it's not like they used my own keys to get in. Furthermore, there wasn't any broken glass on the driveway. So they jimmied their way in. I'm in a state of disbelief, as though I'm dreaming that my car was stolen. Except, I know I'm not dreaming because I'm definitely awake; my car really was stolen.

Naturally, the first thing I did was call the police. I was totally calm; I wasn't even sad or angry. I was just calm. Sadness and anger didn't set in until my mom called me later on in the morning to explain that what probably happened is that someone came during the night to steal my car for its parts because Hondas are a hot commodity and parts of Hondas are in very high demand. Apparently, some auto centers will actually buy used parts from these bozos instead of from the car companies themselves. So, it's perfectly okay to steal people's cars - that they still use! - for parts because other people need the parts to repair their own cars. If only those people knew... Heck, now I need those parts! Can I have my own car's parts back?

That, of course, implies that I got my car back. Fortunately (or maybe not?), the police found my car by noon. I don't know if they caught anyone, and I don't know where they found it. I can only guess that it was my description of my Eagle Scout and Jedi Council bumper stickers and the green Huntington magnet that helped them find my car that much quicker. They got some towing service to tow it to said towing service's lot, and the police dropped a report form in the mailbox.

On this form, it lists that the only items missing are the taillights, the ignition, my front hood, and my stereo. This is good because of course, it could have been much worse. Maybe my prescription sunglasses are still in the glove compartment. Maybe my iTrip cable is still in the car. Maybe, the speakers my cousin's brother installed into the car are still there (this car was my cousin's car for at least six years before she let me have it in late '08 ). That's really all I was concerned about while I waited to hear the news that they'd found my car. I didn't care about anything else except those speakers.

Well, now I come to find out that my dad says the report doesn't really tell the whole story. When on the phone with the police when they called to say they'd found the car, they told my dad that because of all the parts that were missing, the car could not be considered "in driving condition." Also, the report left out the part where the tards tore apart the interior of the car. If it's logical to feel sadness over something like this happening, then this bit of news is what put me over the edge. You see, when my cousin gave me this car, it was the greatest thing ever and the most generous gift I've ever received from anyone - I didn't need to pay her a dime. Out of respect for her and as a result of my own excitement in owning such a great, reliable car, I'd been keeping such good care of it. Regular oil changes, little repairs here and there, keeping the tires inflated, bimonthly washes in the driveway, and I'll be damned if that car didn't smell real good on the inside and was really clean physically, too.

And that's what sucks so much. My dad and I are going to go see the car for ourselves tomorrow, so that should be a fun little father-son field trip. While I really hope the speakers are still there, will it even be worth repairing the car (and definitely installing a car alarm)? Will it cost more to repair than to just get a "new" used car? Would it even be worth repairing the car, for the simple fact that whoever stole it this time might steal it again and take out all the new parts and put me down even more money?

I hate this so much because I just got the largest paycheck I've ever gotten so far at this job and I was so glad because I knew I wouldn't be spending much money at all until June (ModNation Racers, etc.). Now, either way, I'm having to dole out a large stack of green on auto expenses.

There is, oddly enough, a wee bit of karma-tastic humor to go along with all the awful stuff. The stereo I had in the car is the same stereo that my cousin had used. Thus, it was old...and kinda broken. It would only tune to one radio station, so all I could do was plug in the iTrip cable and listen to my iPod because I couldn't access any radio stations. This was fine by me because all the radio stations SUCK in my area, especially since they turned the only alternative rock station into yet another hip-hop station (because we needed another one of those, but I digress). I could still adjust the volume, bass level, treble level, etc. so I was okay. Well, the morons didn't know all this when they stole the stereo sooooo joke's on them! I'm just glad I never bought a replacement stereo. For the last two years, I've been looking around but I never commited. My parents even wanted to get me one for my birthday this past January, but I told them I still didn't feel like I really needed or wanted a new stereo and so they held off and instead, are helping pay for some of the cost of the PS3. Could you imagine if I'd gotten one then? Not even three months with a $200 stereo and then POOF! gone. Yeah, can't believe how lucky and glad I am that I made this decision over time.

The folks in the "PC Hardware Discussion" forums here and the forums at Cyberpower are making my brain hurt. I'm just not nearly as technologically knowledgeable as those that are trying to help me and as a result, I come off sounding like a total idiot and I have no idea what they're telling me more than half of the time. Yikes! The good news is I think I managed to pull out a few good suggestions and bits of advice and info that might help me out. Maybe....maybe?

The colors for the upcoming 5th generation of Pokemon have been announced. They are............BLACK and WHITE! :D I'm excited...but I'm not holding my breath. They're promising an awful lot of renovation and innovation and I just hope it's true and delivers. It'd suck to go from remakes of arguably the best two-some of Pokemon games ever made to another terribly lame, stale iteration like Diamond and Pearl were. Ugh, don't remind me about those two. First Pokemon game I actually had to force myself to play through to completion. :(

What I'd honestly like to know, though, is why some gamers have reacted to this news with immature racial comments related to the titles. Black and White. Get it? Which version is better...which version will have the better exclusives...what the towns and PokeCenters will look like in each version (based on the real life races' socio-economic and geographic trends), and so on and so forth. It's absolutely disgusting to me. People, they're colors! Don't look too much into it lest you hurt yourselves. It just bothers me so much! Makes me sick. Because in my honest opinion, the only reason why racism still exists in this day and age is because people insist on propagating it. *gets off randomly-appeared podium*

And that's all for now. The title of this post did say it was going to be short and sweet, hahaha.

P.S. Actually, here's some more. My good friend from HS, Steve, came over last night to hang out and I showed him Pacific Rift for the first time. I figured the crashes, explosions, and monster trucks alone would be more than enough to draw him in, but it turned out that after just two races, he'd already grown disinterested (real word?). It really sucked because I was totally banking on getting lots of split-screen mileage out of that game with him. Guess I'll have to rely on online races with strangers and some of you awesome people...once I conclude this WiFi drama saga!

I still think I suck at MSPR, but I'm definitely getting better and I'm falling in love with the game more and more the more I play it. That said, I'm trying really hard to give up the addiction and move back to FFXII. I tried it on Sunday and it was surprisingly easy for me to jump back into my five month old gamesave and pick up where I'd left off. So that's a good sign.

Now as for my "getting KenobiEagle online" quest, I've made quite a bit of progress, but I think I've really only been walking in place the whole time, metaphorically speaking. I did return that router that I mentioned in my last post, and in its place, I bought a NETGEAR RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Router with 4-Port Ethernet Switch. It wasn't a hasty decision; I spoke with an employee that I hadn't spoken to the previous Saturday and after relaying my situation to him, he told me all about his situation, which turned out to be very similar to my own. This is the router he suggested because he uses it himself. It can't hurt; I can always return it if it fails me.

Well, it already kinda failed me. Apparently, it requires that the computer connected to the modem has a wireless G or N network adapter set up in its tower, something the seven-year-old computer in the study does not have. "Frick!" I said. I was totally planning on returning it this coming Saturday when I remembered that I had asked a question similar to the one I asked in my last blog post to the folks in the PS3 forums. Somebody there had suggested the TRENDnet TEW-647GA Wireless Gaming Adapter. It sounded really promising and really set itself up to be my last hope. It arrived in the mail today and well, it just so happens to also require that the computer connected to the modem and router (which means I can't return the N router after all) has a wireless network adapter set up. So now I'm browsing the internet for a cheap, reliable adapter for the computer in the study that no one ever uses ever because it's old, S-L-O-W, old, and did I mention, S-L-O-W. Any suggestions?

Believe it or not, I'm still really excited about all this. I feel I've bought some great equipment. Hopefully, everything will fall into place once I buy the network adapter and my PS3 will become the bee's knees. Playing user-created LBP levels online solo or with others, online MSPR races, and let's not forget ModNation Racers in all its sharing goodness!

P.S. I'm really sorry about the recent lame as all heck blog posts; I just feel that as this has become quite the saga, some of you might be interested to hear the play-by-play, especially since if this all works out alright in the end, I'll be able to play with some of you online and you'll know exactly how I got in the position to be able to do that!

P.S.S. It seems I failed to mention a rather humorous part of this past week's progress. Two days ago, I called Verizon again to see if I could make an appointment to have someone come to the house and determine if it would be possible to have a second modem installed in my bedroom. Evidently, this is impossible for two reasons: 1) Verizon doesn't do house calls (WTF?! They should!) and 2) the two modems would each send their own signals which would conflict and wage invisible war with each other. The guy I spoke to didn't end the call there with all my hopes dashed, however. He gave me two tips to try. 1) Wrap a wok or frying pan in aluminum foil and stick it half a foot behind the modem pointing in the same direction as the modem's antenna (Seriously. But it is working. The PS3 still hates the internet like it kicked its puppy in the face a few times while forcing it to watch, but my desktop computer acts as though it's in a sponge bath of euphoric, sudsy wireless internet goodness.). 2) Plug an ethernet cable into the jack I have in my room and see if I can get a wired connection in my room after all (turns out I can't because the jack is too small for the cable. Blegh.).

P.S.S. Speaking of the bee's knees, I got a hold of the soundtrack for Pacific Rift and have been listening to it on the way to and from work. It is amazing. Rock, electronica, electronica-infused rock. Win, win, win. It's one thing that a majority of the songs are stellar simply as stand-alones, but it certainly doesn't hurt that when certain songs come through my car's speakers, my mind goes straight to that incredible first trailer that started my fascination with the game or that one amazing race in Razorback or Badlands Volcanic that went down just a few days ago while my brother was still home for break, fighting through ten other far-more-skilled-than-us AI racers, vying for a spot in the top three alongside me.

P.S.S.S. If you're going to click on any of the links in the postscript above, I highly recommend pumping up your volume. 8)

I'd bought a new Cisco Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router last Saturday, but I'm very hesitant to open it, due to the fact that it cost a whopping $200 and user reviews online, it turns out, primarily point out that it SUCKS. The point of buying the router in the first place would be to boost the range and signal of the modem my family has from Verizon such that I'll be able to actually do online gaming on my PS3, as opposed to what I can do now, which is log in to the PS Store (but not be able to download anything) or connect in any game (but not well enough to do anything that would constitute online gaming within each game (case in point, I can heart community levels in LBP, but I can't play them)).

I'm going to post a similar topic on the forums, but I have so many of you friends that own PS3s so I thought I'd ask here as well. What's your setup so that you're able to play reliably online with your console? Remember: My modem and router would be down in the study, the farthest away you can be downstairs from my bedroom upstairs, while the PS3 is chilling in said bedroom. I wonder, is your PS3 wired directly to your internet or is it accessing the connection wirelessly? If you own a wireless router, what model is it? G or N?

I just want to make sure that the router I end up with is actually going to solve my problems and make a real online gamer out of me.

Sincere thanks in advance. :)

Laid out for your entertainment! :D :D :D

Actually, this is truthfully more for me than anything else. With so many games coming out, especially before the halfway point of the year, I feel I need to have a reference for when everything's going down.

Wii

• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - May 18
  
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 - May 23
• Metroid: Other M - June 27

PS3

• Split/Second - May 18
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - May 18
• ModNation Racers - May 25

Huh, that doesn't look so bad. Oh wait, I've still got FFXII to play and three new, barely touched PS3 games on my desk. Ha-ha. At the moment, I'm leaning more towards the PS3 PoP game because elemental powers are awesome. But, depending on reviews (or regardless of reviews), I might wait til the price goes down on that one. Also, I might buy the Wii version later on as well, because it is a completely different game than the PS3 version, and depending on how that does in the review circuit and whether or not I like the PS3 game, I may check this one out, too.

I want to say Split/Second is an absolute buy for me, but again, I'd like to wait and see the reviews. I'd especially like to see how it compares with Blur; there's a racing game rivalry there.

P.S. I don't suck hardcore at Pacific Rift anymore. Don't get me wrong; I don't not suck at all, I just suck less than I did before. I can actually finish a race with a position in the upper half. I actually won a single race against a single opponent in Free Play; THAT was glorious. ...It's going to take me such a long time to familiarize myself with all the tracks and their multiple paths and which vehicles should be used on which conditions and which paths to take with said vehicles. But I'll love it.

P.S.S. SadPSPAddict, I hope you see this. I was wondering, since you've beaten the game before, if you could share any driving/racing tips with me. I kinda did okay with an ATV yesterday on Riptide, using the handbrake at the start of turns, hitting the gas a little, then finishing the turn off with some boost, but I have no idea if that's the proper way to go and I figure that doesn't work with all vehicles (racing trucks do NOT want to turn once you've got them speeding along!). Anything you say would probably help bigtime; I just figured I should ask a pro. :)

Hey there! This just in! The adventurous and self-proclaimed "devilishly handsome" gamer known to many only as the "KenobiEagle" has allegedly gotten a little closer to being able to make a stand in the Playstation 3 online gaming realms. Sources say that via a call to Verizon FiOS tech support, KenobiEagle was able not only to get the internet to work reliably (and not to mention, much faster) on his desktop computer, but his PS3 is now able to connect to the PSN! But alas! He has come across a new, treacherous obstacle in his quest for online domination. While he has gained access into the menus of the PSN, his ventures therein have been plagued by an incredible lack of speed and a plethora of vile error messages! An anonymous tipper claims that he heard the KenobiEagle shout angrily that such issues made the PSN feel like "traversing through a thick effing swamp of especially viscous molasses".

We don't need to tell you that the KenobiEagle will continue to try to make his way through the PSN and perhaps into the online realms, but for now, he needs your help! What we do know is that at this very moment he is still tirelessly trying to connect wirelessly to his internet connection. Signal strength remains at around 40-50%, but even so, it has failed all connection tests. Anyone out there who has either experienced similar problems or has a possible suggestion or solution that may help, please don't hesitate to leave a message in the comment box located below this bulletin.

Time is of the essence! We cannot dilly-dally! The KenobiEagle must prevail!!!!!

EDIT: Some of you might see Friend Invite messages from me when next you turn on your PS3. Sadly, this does not mean I've figured out my bedroom internet woes; it does mean, however, that I was so determined to download/install the DLC and get you all setup in my Friends list that I'm currently sitting Indian styIe in the middle of my family room, with my 19" SDTV and the PS3 plugged into the outlet behind our primary SDTV.:? For whatever reason, having the PS3 directly below its original position in my room (putting it on the same floor as the router) is good enough to make everything run perfect. I don't get it.

If you own a Nintendo Wii and plan to buy yourself or someone else a copy of Super Mario Galaxy 2, stop reading this for now and check this out.

Back? Great! :D Yeah...I read that and I was all over it in seconds. I'm totally going to use that credit either on FFXIII or ModNation Racers, whichever I can't find cheaper elsewhere at that time (sooo, probably ModNation Racers). Sure as heck makes me a happier gamer!

I actually like that the promotion doesn't kick in until two days after the game has shipped; that way, I'm not tempted to use the credit to buy FFXIII earlier than two months from now. I mean, I've already got four too many games to play, haha! Seriously though, this is great for everyone who's got other games they really want to buy this summer. The only thing you have to make sure of is that you use the credit within the month following the shipment of your copy of SMG2. One of the Joystiq commenters mentioned that and whether or not it's true, I'm going to make sure I don't waste that credit. It'll be okay, though. That credit won't be in my account for long after SMG2 ships. Ohhhh no. ModNation Racers comes out two days later...and since last week, the plan has been to buy FFXIII right alongside ModNation Racers, hahaha.

P.S. Any DKC2 fans out there? If so, go here now. You'll LOVE what you hear.

I finally managed to set up my PS3 sometime around 10pm last night. I didn't play any games, but I did pop in Advent Children Complete to see how the Blu-ray player worked and performed; I'm not disappointed. This morning, however, I broke out LBP and from there, I was able to possess some first impressions of the console in general.

The PS3 looks great on my desk and as far as the XMB is concerned, it's just like the PSP's...so I already knew my way around and was glad to see things just about the same. Also, I'm loving the L2 and R2 buttons. That was an interesting discovery at first, lol! The only serious problem I'm having at the moment is my inability to connect wirelessly to the internet. Connecting to the internet from any location upstairs has typically been an ordeal full of frustration, simply because the router is all the way in the study, which is the room downstairs farthest from any location upstairs. No matter where I go, the signal must pass through at least a couple walls before it reaches me. Laptops, for whatever reason, seem to have no trouble at all getting a signal, albeit a "Poor" one, but you really wouldn't know that unless you looked; internet service on our laptops is really great...unless you try to use more than one simultaneously. Then it becomes a game of "internet signal strength tug of war". I could really go on and on about how much the internet generally sucks at my house, but suffice it to say, the desktop computer I have in my room has a very hot-cold relationship with the wireless internet and as I waited for the PS3 to arrive, I actually prayed that it too would have similar problems. Why? Because if it was just my computer having the issues, then I wouldn't know where to begin to try to remedy the problem. Thankfully, between the laptops' good but literally poor signal, my computer's hot-cold thing, the fact my DS lite can never connect to the internet, and my PSP can only connect to the internet from my room when it's pointing through my closet towards the study (and can only reliably download PSN media if it's sitting in the study, right next to the dang router), even if it was just my computer having the severe problems, I'd still go and call our internet provider. I've held off for a while because I've been able to just steal a laptop for internet use when my comp's been internet-dead and I don't download much onto my PSP. BUT, now that I've got the PS3 and there's boatloads of DLC I wish to download and much online gaming to be had (save for WoW, I've yet to experience online gaming. I'm kind of excited.), the time is now for action! I may call Verizon before the day is done.

Getting back to LBP, it really does feel like a proper sequel to me, since I experienced the PSP version before experiencing this one.

• There are three layered planes instead of two.
• Graphics, obviously, are greatly improved.
• You can see, both in the level select screen and in the pause menu, exactly which objects, decorations, stickers, and costume parts you've picked up in each level, in addition to specifically how many such items you've still got to try to find in each level. This feature does not exist in the PSP game and when I first discovered this in the PS3 game this morning, I screamed in elation. Media Molecule took this out for the portable version?! WHY?! At least now I'll know how much I still need to hunt down and, if I ever wish to, I can go back and check out where I found certain items.

I also earned my first four trophies and that was pretty neat. I like how when you win one, a very subtle gray box temporarily appears up in the top right corner. It doesn't tell you what you did to get the trophy, but you can learn that later. While I enjoyed getting the trophies, I really don't think I'm going to go crazy collecting trophies. I've experienced WoW achievements, you see, and after hunting obsessively to rack up a large achievement point score in that game (World Explorer, Loremaster, Seeker...just to name a few of the more ridiculously time-consuming ones), I really don't want to be like that again. I'll get the ones I can get and that's it. It's still fun that way. In the XMB, there's a way to check out your Trophy Collection by game. That is really cool. I can see the percentage of trophies earned in a game, the distribution of platinum to gold to silver to bronze, and more specifically, the name, caliber, and task of each trophy, along with the date and time you earned each. I knew there was going to be a place to check out your collection, but I honestly didn't think it was going to be this extensive.

I also noticed that it's possible to have different users. Is this how it's possible to have different people have different saves on games, since there's no such thing as a PS3 memory card? If so, that's neat. I can just make a new user when I want to replay a game from the beginning, I guess (am I right here?). Haven't found a way to delete a user yet, though.

Something else I haven't figured out yet is how to add people to my Friends List. All I have under Friends at the moment is something called the Message Box. I want to add all your IDs, but I don't know how! :? [Dur. Just did a little online research and found out I need to be signed into my PSN account in order to add friends. Makes sense. Looks like I'll have to wait a little while to add you all myself. But you can all go ahead and add me. The account is made, so you shouldn't get any "User does not exist" messages or whatever, heheh.]

Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm gonna check out Pacific Rift next. I'm stoked.

EDIT: So I'm at work now, but I did spend half an hour or so trying out Pacific Rift. My primary conclusion? I presently suck at the game. That's "suck", as in S-U-"couldn't get higher than 12th place out of 16"-"kept crashing into everything I could find to crash into"-C-K. But you know what? I'd be totally lying through my face if I said it wasn't an absolute blast. I don't care if I never earn a single trophy or ever make it to even Rank 5; this game is so much fun to play. Racers scattered on the course, taking all kinds of routes, never knowing if you're going to get smooshed by a monster truck coming down from a ramp or taken out by a fallen tree branch you never saw coming because you were keeping your eyes on the other racers for a split second too long. With no powerups whatsoever, all you haveare your skills as a driver to keep you on the track and inching ever closer towards first place. I love it. Bottom line: It only took half an hour (technically, less than that) to turn years of beloved Mario Kart racing into nothing but a series of colorful kiddie bumper car matches (how AWESOME would it be if crashing in MK caused your racer to be propelled out of their seat into the air like crashes do in MSPR! Now that would be an evolution in the series, heheheh.).

I'm...at a loss for words right now. I don't really know what just happened, nor do I understand what happened. On a completely random whim, I just went on Kmart's website to see if they had any PS3's. Two days ago, their site said they were out of stock and when I called my local Big K, they told me the same thing. So imagine my shock and surprise when for the first time in three days, I did not see an "Out of Stock" message beside the pic of a PS3 on sale somewhere for the MSRP of $299.99.

Oh, I looked for it for a minute or two, all while incredibly paranoid that my temporary stalling - rather than immediate buying - might actually prevent me from taking full advantage of this, this potentially fleeting opportunity. Alas, it was nowhere to be found. Loud, insane laughter (the kind of laughter a crazy person would possess) ensued shortly after I gave up the hunt. It was over. It was all over. At least I hoped it was.

You see, the whole time I was going through the checkout process, I kept thinking that at any moment, it would close me out of said process, saying that the item was now out of stock. So once I'd decided to take the plunge and buy one from the site, I rushed through that checkout like I've never rushed through an online checkout before.

Evidently, it'll arrive sometime between this Friday and next Tuesday. Final price? $308.19.

...the whole episode just seems like it was a dream. But that could have been because I'd literally just woken up a minute or two before.

On a closing note, I just went back to Kmart's site to check if they still had some stock before I went to Gamespot's PS3 forums and blasted from the rooftops that my fellow brethren had a chance to claim one for themselves like I did, but would you believe it, they're already out of stock. Almost makes you wonder...was I supposed to endure the past two days and randomly happen upon success this morning at the exact time that I did?

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EDIT: I think I've come up with a solid PSN ID for myself. It's not something that I feel I will regret having chosen in a year or three. So, I'd like to thank everyone who threw out suggestions, as believe it or not, those suggestions definitely helped point me in a good creative direction. That said, I've decided that my PSN ID will be.........KenobiEagle. The first half is self-explanatory; he's my favorite Jedi of them all. The second half, though...while the tiger is my favorite animal (and I think I also happened to be born during a Chinese Year of the Tiger), not just the animal but the word "Eagle", possess far more significance to me than many, many other things. Why? Because way back when I was in the first grade, I started on a journey that would take twelve years to see all the way to its end. I'm an Eagle Scout and I'm damn proud of it.

So that's going to be my PSN ID. I hope you all add me into your friends list, even if we don't have any of the same games at the moment (we might in the future!). Please, please share with me your IDs (if you haven't done so already ;)) and we'll see what happens!

A couple of you may already be aware of what I'm about to say, but over the last two days, I feel like I've practically stolen three PS3 games. In other words, on Ebay, I was able to get brand new, still sealed copies of Uncharted 2, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, and LittleBigPlanet: GOTY Edition all for shockingly low prices (or at least I think so). I'm not about to give away my bidding secrets, but let's just say I've gotten really good at playing the game and utilizing psychological warfare against my opponents.

Uncharted 2 - I got this game for $42.49, of which $3.49 is the shipping cost. While I wish I could have won it for lower, I still think that's pretty low, considering that's right around the lowest price I was able to find anywhere else.

MotorStorm Pacific Rift - I got this game for $31.06, of which $2.00 is the shipping cost. I was very happy when I won this one. All the other auctions at the time had prices that exceeded this final price by at least $5.

LBP GOTY Ed. - I got this game for $33.00, with freakin' free shipping. The story behind this one is nothing short of glorious. Coming out of yesterday's depressing hunt for a PS3 console, I knew that I had this auction's late night conclusion still to look forward to. The auction was scheduled to end at 1:49am. So, I went to sleep a little after midnight (NeonNinja, that's pretty much when I stopped responding to your messages, LOL), but set my cell phone to make insanely loud noises ten minutes prior to the auction's end. I had been the owner of the game for most of the auction's duration, but some fools thought it'd be great if they incrementally tried to rise above my maximum bid. I laughed at their efforts, out loud...like this: HA! HA! HA! HAAA! Because while they thought I was either going to let them have it or that I had moved on to greener pastures, the truth remained that it was still a very cheap copy - going for $29 at the time - and I couldn't pass it up. Not when the game goes for $54.99 on Amazon, for crying out loud. So I went to sleep and woke up an hour and a half later. The game now cost $30. Still awesome, still totally winable. So I waited until time was almost up, refreshing all the way (the price literally wasn't budging, which I thought odd), and then seconds before someone else was about to obtain my glory, I kicked them aside (in the face, no less) and took all the glory for my own. I had set a new maximum bid and no one got close to reaching it, not when I'd left them just about no time to try. Mwhahahahaha. I was ecstatic; I still can't believe how much money I've saved on that game (I can guiltlessly buy more DLC!).

So here's the rundown:

• The combined cost of the three games altogether is roughly equivalent to 88.8% of the cost of only two of them if I'd paid full price ($59.99) for both.
• The combined cost of the three games altogether is roughly 59.2% of the price I would have paid if I'd paid full price for all three. I essentially got 1.2 PS3 games for free. :D

Now, as far as my quest for a PS3 is concerned, I've turned my attention to my current favorite place: Ebay (btw, I have to give credit to lightchaos for originally bringing this idea to mind). There are at least ten as-of-yet-still-untouched auctions for brand spankin' new 120GB PS3's ending around midnight tonight and I'm currently watching them all. One of them will. be. mine. 8)