warning: following post a geeky gaming rant not likely appreciated by girls (not the friends i know reading this, at least.)

i’m utterly addicted to Crimson Skies! having abstained from gaming (despite bringing the PSP along to beijing) for a whole month whilst travelling, i spent a good 4 hours on the xbox today playing that, only stopping because we were late for a movie and it couldn’t wait. (but can the xbox? answer me that, answer me that.)

understandably, it’s scored high ratings on online forums and reviews, because it’s really addictive in the way that it’s pretty fast-paced, but surprisingly able to hold your attention with its script, despite your basic actions being that of chasing and shooting the whole time. and it’s pretty, too.

it’d be great for the PSP, i think, but the PSP lacks the second analog stick control, so that pretty much wrecks everything. besides, i doubt a microsoft xbox title would hop over, so we can forget about that. on a related note, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is set to be released for the PSP, but only following the european launch of the PSP (sep 1st). so it’s going to be a wait.

how come cool stuff like Spiderman got released for the US PSP launch, and europe gets Grand Theft Auto, while the asian (japanese) release got Mario playing golf?

it’s no wonder the west thinks that asian people are a little strange. only here do we get arcade gamers so accomplished, yet pursue excellence just for the satisfaction of it — while in the US, all the “good” ones at least become professional and get some tangible benefit from all of the madness. and a culture of generally competent gamers (due to an underlying genetic tendency to be computer/gaming geeks), a market ironically defined as one which would scramble for Mario Golf above, say, Grand Theft Auto.

think about how “exciting” Pokemon is, for example, and that pretty much sums it up. the first time i played it, i was shocked to find it was one of those ’80s-styled adventure games, where you crab-walk from town to town speaking to the same people over and over again to “get information”. and at least the ’80s ones were interactive.

by the way, can someone explain to me what the difference between the “red”, “green”, “yellow”, “blue” or maybe “mindblowing psychedelic magic rainbow” Pokemon series is? because i tried red and yellow, i think, and it was just… a tint. really. like, it was pretty much monochrome with a general red or yellow wash.

and people are spending money on this. the only thing Pokemon left behind for us, at least, is that jody went through a phase thinking pikachu was cute. (don’t deny it, you had a coin bank, jody.) oh the shaaame.