I sold my soul

to Nintendo:
On Wednesday evening, I found myself owner of a Nintendo DS Lite. It is red and black and when it gleams in the sun, it looks like it's grinning at me. It is also the first gaming hardware that I've ever owned. Why wait till now? Until a few weeks ago, I held two assumptions about the world of digital games: one, I'm not really a gaming person - Dungeons & Dragons, Counter Strike - remember the Southpark episode, Make Love, Not Warcraft (watch a clip from the award-winning episode) - that was my idea of gaming. Besides, I am really terrible at remembering which button does what, and what to press while scanning the area with a 360 degree camera view. Most of the time my character dies, gets badly wounded or does something illegal before two minutes are up (I wish I were exaggerating). Two, I didn't think games had much to offer with regards to tickling the intellect, that they were mostly mindless shooting, uninteresting graphics and non-engaging stories. That's what I assumed.

VERY VERY WRONG

Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Elite Beat Agents, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - these are responsible for my altered perspective. I am also interested in getting Trauma Center and Hotel Dusk - the latter for the film noir style and the former because it might be the closest thing I'd get to being a doctor and killing people.

Indeed, I stand shamefully corrected. I have learnt that just as there is a book for everyone, there is also a game.

Anyway, bookshopping today: Patrick Suskind's Perfume and Junichiro Tanizaki's The Key. It was only when I was paying ($14) that I realized today's purchases had a theme: cover nudity!