I really have a bad habit of spending money that I don't have, and it's gotten me into a tight financial spot on more than one occasion. But man, it's hard not to spend money when you're bored out of your mind and can't think of anything to do. Sure I can train some; I can watch TV; or I can shoot some hoops. But honestly, none of those things can keep me occupied as long as most games and gadgets do, so I end up going to the stores and looking around for "just one game" to buy, and usually I end up coming home with several games and a bunch of junkfood. Yay for the massive gaping hole in my hand!
Here's the funny thing: one of the games I bought isn't even a game that I'm particularly interested in, namely Ninja Gaiden II. I liked the first one to a degree, but I never really got into it, and hence I've never finished it. It's been sitting near my 360 for a while now (on top of it to be precise), but I haven't even so much as popped the disc into the drive to check if it works--which I hope it does. But maybe that's because I've been to engrossed by Condemned 2: Bloodshot. That game is far better than I'd expected it to be. When I bought it I figured it'd be some good brawling game to blow of some steam when I'm stressed; but man, it's far more than that. Heck I like it so much that even though I lost my savegame when I was near the end, instead of putting it away like I normally do, I just started again from scratch. So yea, I can honestly say that I like the game. The combat system took me a while to get used to, and it was harder on normal difficulty than I initinally expected, but once I got the hang of it I couldn't get enough of it. Don't hold your breath for a review, though, because I honestly don't know if or when I'll be writing those again.
Another couple of games I bought include the 3 first Splinter Cell games for a mere 6 euros; Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood for 10 euros; and the collector's edition of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for 30 euros. That last one is kinda surprising because I've seen the regular copies being sold for that price in just about every store I've been to. So yea, I could say that was a spot of luck. And I really like the tin casing it comes in. It has your usual extras you'd expect from a collector's edition: a bonus dvd; some extra booklets; two special multiplayer maps; and a map. The map, however, is probably something I could've done without as it looks pretty darn cheap and lame.
And last is probably my most joyous purchase of all: a brand new phone! It wasn't really something I was planning on doing, but my old phone which was just over a year old (and hence no warranty) broke and I was forced to get a new one. And well, I'm totally loving it. It's an LG Viewty or otherwise known as LG KU990, and it's one of the nicest phones I've had in a long time. It's got a 5 megapixel camera and video camera; a wide variety of video support with 30fps playback and 120fps recording; a nice little music player; and a decent browser that supports multiple windows. And the whole thing is touch screen to boot, leaving me with a nice big screen. It also has support for youtube, which is pretty neat, but I haven't really made use of that function. Most of my time is spent browsing the mobile web and listening to music. I've also taken a couple of shots with the camera, and while it's obviously not as good as an actual camera, I'm more than satisfied with the picture quality. The image stabilizer is especially a neat little thing as I have trouble holding the dang thing steady when I'm taking pictures.
One bad thing about getting the new phone, however, is that now I'm once again stuck with two contracts. I'd just gotten rid of my T-Mobile contract, and lo and behold, the phone I'd gotten from Orange breaks not long after. And seeing as how it was outside of my warranty period, it'd cost me almost as much as a new phone to get a it repaired. I asked if I could somehow remove my remaining contract period onto a new contract and hence get a new phone, but no dice. And seeing as how I didn't have the money lying around for a new one, my only other choice was to get another contract that allowed me to get a free phone. So voila, I'm back to paying for two contracts again. Oh the irony.
Well I think that'll do for now. I wouldn't blame anyone if they avoided this entry due its lengthy nature, but I didn't see any good reason not to put all of it into one post.
Have a great day!