They let GTA loose into the big bad world of videogames last last week. Now I'm wondering whether to get an Xbox 360 because of it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't exactly get kicks out of looking for those overly well endowed females and get it on with them in the car parked along some quiet street. I don't have such a fetish, sicko.

The truth is I've been playing every single console installment in the franchise since the first GTA and somehow it doesn't feel right to leave this one out. I am not really a fan of the series, so I just find it strange why I feel like getting a game that I've played on and off through the yearsbut didn't really care much for.

I see that my last post was ... oh so long ago. Things are so different now - I'm out of college, and in a position where most of you gamers would probably want to be in - in other words I do game reviews for a living (but trust me, it's SO not a glam job). It's strange that other than the Wii, I don't really have a 3G console, and I thought it high time to buy one. But does my reluctance stem from the fact that I face all these stuff when I'm at work?

Sometimes I don't know the different between work and play. And I don't know if that statement is a good or a bad thing.

It sure feels pretty mmuch like a desert out here. While there are plenty of game shops in Singapore and the shops in turn are stacked full of games, I can't find anything that interests me! I've been wondering like some kind of weird phantom in and out of the game stores the past few days, but nothing seems to catch my eye. Being a girl gamer is not exactly something "normal" in Singapore. For starters, MOST game store owners think you are some tech idiot looking for a birthday present for your kid cousin or something, and try to sell you the worst possible games at the most impossible prices. A typical scenario would be something like this: I enter the game store and some male sales staff (its always a male sales satff, as if the world of game retail is only open to men like some kind of weird monkhood or something here) will come over and say (typically in some Chinese dialect, or else very bad English, more on this later): "Xiao Jie (Miss in Chinese) what you looking for?" Me: "I'm just browsing." The sales staff/owner will now take it that you are one of those oh-so-clueless girls trying to get a game for they boyfriend: "Eh you want to buy game for who? I show you lah. This one ... (picks copy of some 200-in-1 pirated game from the back of the counter) very good one ... got many game lah, only $100." Me: "Er ... I'm not interested in pirated games." The GUY: "No lah, pirated, this one not lah, how can like that say? You want PeeAss Two game right? Have have, this one latest one! (Shows copy of a bargain bin title) Latest game lah! Sell you only $95! Want or not? Very very cheap lah! Your boyfriend have a PeeAss Two right?" Me: "Do you happen to realize that I won't even pay $19.90 for that?" The GUY: "Eh, how can say like that? Ok lah ok lah, this one the latest lor, (takes some recent, but not very popular title) only $120. You want not?" Me: "Thanks but I'm outta here!" The problem with MOST game stores in Singpore is that they are run by ... rather uncouth people, most neigborhood stores deal in pirated games like nobody's business and usually try to charge rediculous prices for customers that they know (or assume) don't know about games. The exchange rate for Singapore is about SGD$1.65 to USD$1.00 so a typical top-of-the-line latest PS2 game would cost about SGD$80 to $90, while DS and GBA games run a little lower at about $70 to $80. Basically the prices are reflective of the recommended retail prices in US dollars plus or minus a dollar or two depending on the quantity imported. (For example rarer games like Steambot Chronicles would cost more because the imported quantity is lesser than say, a Final Fantasy game.) Aside from the only place I trust to buy my games (Funan Center Singapore) other places are pretty notorious when it comes to taking advantage of ladies wanting to get a game either for themselves or as a gift. A message to game store owners in Singapore: not all girls don't know what is going on when you try to make a sales pitch. And, oh yes, suggest some interesting game that I might like ... please?

Gee, I wonder if the reason I'm playing Steambot Chronicles for the 5th time is because: - I'm broke and cannot buy another game - I am THAT sick of Dynasty Warriors square square square triangle - The game is really really short (15 hours) - I really like this game Don't ask. I have no idea either. But recently the other girls are working part-time at some cosmetic exhhibition (I can't go 'cos I sneeze whenever I am near perfume) so there are just fewer and fewer nights out at the movies. Not like there are any movies in this hot and miserable country that I live in. Oh dear, I wonder how many times I described Singapore as hot and miserable? But it is I think, just hope that the Tourism Board does not think I am doing too much of a disservice.

What should I say? Oh whatever. Currently playing Steambot Chronicles. Already completed it, but planning for another go at the game due to the millions of things I missed rushing through the game like that. Got Harvest Moon: DS lined up next on purchase list. But Steambot Chronicles was an unintended purchase anyway. Saw the ad in EGM and thought it was good. Well, hear that EGM? Ads work!