Gamer Again

11/01/07 --> My cousin was arranging the things in her bag, and one of the things she brought out was a PSP. She must’ve seen me glanced at it, so she asked me if I wanted to borrow it. She said it was her husband’s, but she didn’t think he would mind. So I played with the games casually. The games that were preloaded didn’t interest me much, but it was better than doing nothing. A few minutes later, her daughter came. “Is that my PSP?”, she said loudly. “That’s my PSP! That’s my PSP!!!!”, she kept repeating, the intensity of her voice grew louder after each repetition. Jesus Christ. In my head, I answered “NO! This is your dad’s PSP! Not Yours!” Knowing it would be futile to keep holding on to the device, I handed it to her. Here it is, you spoiled little brat. Eat your selfish little heart out.

I never wanted to buy a PSP. I thought it was an unnecessary device, something I would never use. It’s just not practical for someone in the medical field… or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when almost all of the doctors in the hospital where I’m currently working has a PSP. And because it’s a private hospital and there are less patients as compared to government hospitals, they do have a lot of time to play with it. After a few days, I felt a bit out of place… I couldn’t join their mini PSP versus battles, and I can’t relate with their conversations regarding the latest games. And since I easily give in to peer pressure… when I received my first salary, I went straight to a nearby mall and bought myself a PSP.

Crap. As I went home, I kept wondering if I made the right decision. I wondered if I wasted my money, yet again. But as soon as I turned on the device, all doubts had disappeared. I was in gaming bliss until the wee hours of the morning. Burnout is the best game ever. LOL.

I haven’t really played videogames for years. I casually tinkered with my brother’s Playstation 2, but I never really played the games he had. The last time I was dedicated to a videogame console was with our Dreamcast, and that was 6 years ago. I used to be addicted to videogames---- I sacrificed precious study time just to keep on playing. When I turned on my PSP, it’s like a sleeping part of me had awakened.

And it’s not just a device for games! I could play music, videos, and I even put some of my favorite pictures. Playing music is comparable to the ipod, but the PSP has some visualizations--- something the ipod lacks, which is a pity since itunes has one of the best visualizations I’ve ever seen. It’s not really a necessity, I guess--- after all, who looks at the screen while listening to music? But a few bells and whistles here and there can add to a product's gloss. Watching videos is better because of the larger screen. Viewing pictures is also better. You can also zoom in and view the photos in their original sizes, something I couldn’t do with the ipod. And since it comes with WLAN, you can surf the net each time you’re within a wireless hotspot! If only the device was a bit smaller, and if it only had a whole lot more storage available at a reasonable price, it could totally replace my ipod!

As for console gaming... I doubt if a new videogame console such as an XBOX 360, Wii, or PS3 would be a wise purchase. After all, I plan to go back to residency training soon, and videogame consoles belong at home, not in a hospital... but there’s a PS3 in the department of surgery. I watched the others play occasionally, but I’m not really interested. They kept on playing the same game, Call of Duty--- and I’m not really a fan of first person combat games. But a few days ago, one of them asked me if I wanted to play. I looked at the other games, and I saw Virtua Fighter 5. I have fond memories of the previous incarnations of the game. VF2 on Saturn, and VF3 on Dreamcast. As soon as I started the game, I immediately remembered how much I loved the series. Virtua Fighter is the best fighting game ever. I was foolish to think that Soul Calibur is the best. Tekken and Soul Calibur seem shallow compared to it. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Either he has never played Virtua Fighter, he’s just a casual gamer who hasn’t spent enough time with the game to discover how deep and fulfilling it is, or he’s some Tekken fanboy who can’t accept the fact that Tekken is just an inferior copycat of Virtua Fighter.

Virtua Fighter 5 is a really beautiful game. My jaw dropped when I saw some of the backgrounds. Just look at these pictures (c/o IGN.com)…

Those are actual in game screen shots... yet they still don't give the game justice. You have to see it in motion! The first time I saw Sarah Bryant in motion in VF5, her breasts jiggling a bit (hehe), it was like being reunited with your first love. LOL. Only now, she's hotter than ever! I had to grapple with some of the characters that I used to play, I found it hard to remember some of their special moves--- Especially Lion Rafale's, which was the character I often used before. I tried El Blaze, one of the new characters, and I couldn’t help but smile as I managed to pull off his special wrestling moves--- I remembered the days when I was addicted to WWF, thinking all the things I saw on TV was real. Hehe. Picture perfect graphics combined with perfect gameplay makes it the ultimate fighting game. I hogged the PS3 for hours. When one of my seniors made a comment that I was now officially an addict, I saw that as a sign that I had to give back the controller to him--- it was HIS PS3, after all. If I got carried away, I could’ve bought myself a PS3 as soon as I went home. hehe. Good thing I regained full control of my senses.

It’s great to be a gamer again. :)