'Now I can faff about in the comfort of my own home!' by Kara
Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 9:30 AM

So it hasn't been the best of weeks. And the weekend should be ... erm ... interesting. I'm streamlining my schedule as much as is possible without dropping actual con duties. It's not gonna be fun for other people, but ... welp, no room party, no crowd-entertaining in the room. Usually I'm all about that, but not this time. Maybe next time, kidlets.

Anyway, went to the mall last night to grab a few things. With the week (two weeks, really), I figured I deserved something shiny for myself. So ... you're not gonna believe this, kids ... I bought myself a DS.

I have an old GBA that a friend gave me (so old that it's not backlit), but it's so old that I can't trade it in and get the DS cheaper. So I said screw it and just bought one and a copy of the Assassin's Creed prequel since Co-Writer has been singing the praises of the real one. I played a bit last night when I was resting between doing real work. It's fun, the graphics are hot (especially for that little thing -- yes, I'm still getting used to the overall quality of the DS), and taking out aggression rocks.

I was disappointed in one thing, though; a lot of people said half the fun of Creed is getting to wander and kill random people. Not a lot of wandering you can do here, at least so far. That may change as I move to other cities. And you can't kill anyone unless the game says you can. Although you can rough up other people a bit, which I suppose is something.

However, the difference between the DS and any other system is -- yep -- the stylus. And they made interesting use of the stylus. So far, it has been used for two interesting activities: pickpocketing and torture. They're both 'steady hand' minigames, which I'm either really good or really bad at depending on when you get me. The pickpocketing is pretty much nothing but that. But the torture! They give you a little stock anatomy drawing of the back, and indicate pressure points that you have to hit at certain times. Then you twist his arm up behind his back. That's pretty cool, but I only got to do it once. I wish to do more 'interrogation.'

Despite now finally having one proper gaming system, I will still look for a modded PS2 at the con.

If you have been, blugh.