Business

So I went to mall today to take care of some business and buy some things I needed/wanted. Unfortunately I realized that most of said things cost far more than I expected them to, and thus I refrained from purchase (I'll just make do as always). I did get a new phone however, since my old one's screen has been dead for quite some time. Its simple little guy, nothing flashy, but that's all I really need. I had to get a new contract as well, but I was intending to do so anyway; my original plan was under my parent's name, which meant I wasn't authorized to make any changes to it or utilize any upgrades. This will be much easier in the future.

I also made the mistake of walking into Power Gamer, a local owned game store full of games both old and new, import and domestic. I like to support this business as much as I can, and so I often buy stuff from them even if I can get the same thing at EB (which usually dosen't happen, since the stuff I get at PG is often on the obscure end of the spectrum.) Anyway, they were the only store in the area to have a particular, brand new game I've been pining for, and it was only $40 versus the standard $50. Thus, being the consumer whore that I am, I walked out with a copy of Shadow of the Colossus. I don't regret my choice; anything made by the people behind Ico is worth looking at (and I haven't even finished Ico: that's how good it is), and from what I'm hearing, word of mouth is rapidly spreading, and the title is selling out in a lot of populated areas. If it becomes one of those rare gems that no one can find after a year, I'll be even happier with my choice.

An old co-worker of mine from Wal-Mart, who also happens to be a good friend, has had a chance to try out the Xbox 360 demo kiosk they just got. His initial reactions are not too positive. The two demos they had were for King Kong and Kameo, and while they played well enough, he said that both games sported a terrible amount of jaggies nad graphical glitches. I'll have to see it myself before I pass any sort of judgement, but if this is true let's hope that these are simply early builds being presented and that this is not foreshadowing of the upcoming launch. Right now the pessimist inside is saying that the latter could be the case; reports on a lot of multiplatform ports (like American Wasteland and Madden '06) are saying that the 360 adds little if any graphical upgrades. If that's the case, then we may have a next generation launch that doesn't really usher in the next generation. And if that's the case, then a lot of people may end up waiting for the Playstation 3's release to get their first taste of the future. We'll see come November....