video game luvin'

I think I have finally figured out what has fueled my love of video games so much in the last few years.

I have a monthly video game rental pass with Blockbuster. I know, I know. "Real gamers use Gamefly." Whatever; Blockbuster's right around the corner. That's not what this post is about, anyway. Since February, I've rented maybe 3 games, and put in a total of about 10 hours of game time. 10 hours?! Hell, I normally do that on a Saturday, alone. The bulb in my projector, finally bit the dust sometime in January after I got back from my vacation to the Keys. I can't complain too much. It did last the better part of 3 years of constant use. In case you don't know, projector bulbs don't come cheap, and they're not universal. I've been temporarily reduced to 17" flat panel monitor that I had lying around. Needless to say, movies, tv, and gaming just isn't the same. I've been watching more stuff on the 19" on my computer in my room.

Thanks to the gratuitous reimbursement from the IRS, my birthday present to myself was originally going to be a 360; but, given the list of titles, I decided to wait. Next, it was going to be a new projector; one that supports HD. Ooohh, the dream of XBox in HD with 5.1 audio.... mmmmm. Gives me mahogany just thinking about it. ;) Well, my laziness of not keeping up regular maintenance on the Jeep left me having to replace the radiator last month. So, 2 weeks, ~$450, a couple sets of greasy clothes (they needed to be tossed from the wardrobe anyway), and the entire cooling system (minus the heater core) later, I just ended up paying extra on some outstanding bills. I figured I had enough in savings I could wait a couple more months on the projector.

I've been jonesing pretty bad lately to get back into the gaming action, so I finally played Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2 (which I rented almost 2 weeks ago). After about 15 minutes of squinting and griping about not being able to really visualize the intricate detail put into the environment, I've decided to pull what I already have saved and just get a new bulb. The new projector will just have to wait until Christmas.... I really want to try to finish the dotHack series before then. I completed game 3 last November and have been constantly thinking about game 4 for at least 2 months, now. Worst case scenario, I've had a couple of friends ask me about buying the projector when I get the new one. I was just going to give it to them, since there was no cost when I acquired it, but maybe I can make a little bank back on the bulb cost and use it to buy a ceiling mount for the new one (or maybe that 5.1 receiver I've been trying to talk my friend out of for several months, now). :)

l8rs.