Xmas Prezzies and More

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Christmas at my BF’s parents was really enjoyable. His family is very reasonable, quite happy, proud to f ly the Scottish flag (but not in an over the top way), and were very friendly towards me but not to the point of nosey. B. and I could pretty much do whatever we wanted to, i.e. there was no ‘forced’ or prescribed behaviour or expectations in any shape or form.

We got there at about 1PM and they were already over at their neighbours (apparently this is a tradition – they go over there for a couple of drinkies in the PM). B. and I stayed in his room for a bit but then we were ‘discovered’ – his brother called on his mobile and asked us to come across, which we did. We stayed for a few drinks (me being on the Vodka + Diet Coke) and then went back to theirs and sat down in the conservatory, where presents were given and unwrapped, before having dinner and drinking some more 😛

I got various things including a dark slab of chocolate by HotelChocolat which is amazing mmhh! Also a couple of games – LittleBigPlanet for the PS3 (which I played tonight) and God of War – Chain of Olympus for the PSP (great game!).

I’m back home now though. Needed to get back to the cat and try out LittleBigPlanet. My BF has an Xbox 360 and not a PS3, and I got him Gears of War Special Edition so this afternoon  I was on the PSP and he on the Xbox 360. I don’t mind that – quite the opposite. It was interesting seeing the Xbox 360 in action, and particularly Live. I can see how the system is more ‘sophisticated’ than PSN – on the other hand, PSN is free, and to be honest it’s just right for a casual gamer like myself. I wouldn’t know what to play on the 360!

PS: Today I also purchased the new Prince of Persia for the PS3 from play.com – it’s only £17.99 for some reason!

New TV

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I bought a new, HD-ready 32 inch TV on Saturday. The TV repair people didn’t turn up on the Friday and on the Saturday I just thought ‘fuck it, let’s buy a new one’.

It’s not for the TV aspect of it at all – I resent having to start paying again for the bloody TV license (but will do so naturally..) – it’s just so I can play  my games and my PS3 (whatever game my BF is getting me for Xmas 😀 ).

I’ve also taken my own handle online now. I reserved my nick ages ago when PlayStation first made accounts for PS Online available. Though I doubt I’ll be playing online much – the types of games that I like simply don’t lend themselves to do that.

I also downloaded and logged into PlayStation Home for the first time. That’s worth another blog post though! And some more general PS3 – frustrations too… at least it was free, and with a couple of decent games out now (the new Prince of Persia; LittleBigPlanet) it might actually get played!

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TV Repair Men Coming Next Tue

I found a shop in Edinburgh that repairs TVs, including rear-projection ones, and popped in last week-end. They do a free assessment (to see if it’s repairable) and will then give me a quote, so I can see if it’s worth it going along with it or not. I suppose I’d be quite happy to pay up to £200 max IF they are able to fix it relatively quickly and easily (without having to take it away). But definitely no more than that. Maybe even £200 is too much, given  how little it’s probably worth it (it’s a 42″ Toshiba rear-projection, bought around 5 years ago).

Either way it’s good to know one way or another. Naturally, if I did get it fixed, it would mean I have to get a TV license 😐  – and I’ve come to HATE TV so wouldn’t watch it anyway. Why am I thinking of getting it fixed, I hear you ask?

So that I can play LittleBigPlanet, which is meant to be amazing, and which B. I hope will buy me for Xmas 😀

Back to Unlimited Downloads after 3 Days

Today, I decided to upgrade back again to UNLIMITED downloads, having been on a 5GB limit since Tuesday 6th. I just figured that it may not work for me to have a download limit. While I don’t really actively download any large files (such as films etc.), I do send and receive a fair amount of emails with relatively large attachments. Another contributing factor is that I’ll soon be connecting my PS3 to the Internet here, and I just remembered how huge the PS3 demos are that you can download for free from the PlayStation store.

Finally, when I ordered the downgrade, I did it mainly for reasons of money-saving. At the time, I was unsure about my future – I didn’t have the new job then, and was seriously considering leaving my current one (1 week to go… 😀 ).

Now, I don’t really have to worry about it too much – I won’t need to save and cut costs left, right and centre – the salary the new guys offered me matched my current one 😛

As a consequence, I’m back to Unlimited after 3 days of a 5GB cap. Didn’t last long!

lenina is addicted

Over the last few days, I’ve been playing Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction constantly. Instead of watching shitty Xmas TV (well, apart from the obligatory Eastenders – Stacey’s and Max’ affair is finally revealed; Dr. Who – guest starring Kylie, the nation’s darling :S , and Mr & Mrs Smith on Film 4 – mediocre star-vehicle that at one point puts Angelina in dominatrix – gear – undoubtedly entertaining for elberry), I’ve just been progressing swiftly on this extremely pleasurable and entertaining game.

I really am a very casual gamer – up until this point, I hadn’t played my PS3 yet, even though I’ve had it since July, purely because there were no games out on it that interested me. I probably haven’t played my PS2 in over a year, and on the PSP I have been playing Breath of Fire III, but again haven’t in fact touched the handheld in about 2 months.

There isn’t normally time in my life to just indulge in wasting time, which is what gaming essentially is. A glorious waste of time, but entertainingly so. A definite alternative to watching TV, though gaming will never take on the importance or relevance of reading (incidentally, the story of most games is appallingly poor).

However, games vs. shitty TV and mainstream Hollywood yawners = games win every time 😛