JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I COULDN'T BE NERDIER

After I got home on Friday, Tony and I decided to have a little mini celebration in regard to my new job. We had been holding off until the magic day of three checks; last check from old job, vacation paycheck, and new paycheck. It was a nice day. We decided to go get the new Ratchet and Clank for PS3. We have been waiting for this game since before we got the system and were super excited to start playing. We bundled up and headed to Game Crazy.

Unfortunately, they had none. While we could have got on a bus and went to another game store that really wasn’t something we were planning to do. The five block journey had been all we were planning for. The game guys were quite apologetic and they started making suggestions. Tony had been eying Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune since he played the demo a few weeks ago. I wasn’t as excited about it because I had only played the demo once and was pretty bad at it. Tony played it about eight times and was pretty ok. I had been yearning for Assassin’s Creed since months before we got the system even though the game wasn’t coming out for a month after we got it.

They had a Limited Edition copy of Assassin’s Creed that came with an action figure, penny arcade comic, mini strategy guide, a bonus stuff CD, and an awesome tin case for only $10 more than the regular game. They also had a used copy of Drake’s Fortune which was about $10 less than the regular game. What were a girl and a guy to do? They were to buy both games, obviously. We then took our games, went out for Thai food (where Tony pointed out that I had said "Awesome" about eight times in one hour), picked up some breakfast for the next day, got home around 9:30, and settled in for some hardcore gaming.

As issue we sometimes have is getting too many games at once. We are the types that really need to only have one game to play because if we have more than one a favorite will invariable arise to the top and the others won’t get touched for months. We decided to try Drake’s Fortune first and I am so glad that we did. After we played a few levels (and I got better at shooting) Tony asked if we should pop Assassin’s Creed in. I decided against it because we were having a blast. At around 5:30am we were on level 12 or so and had a feeling we were close to halfway done with the game. We figured at that point we would just beat it before starting Assassin’s Creed thus eliminating any competition between games.

We got up relatively late on Saturday but considering what time we went to bed it made sense. We had our breakfast, hung around for a little while and started back on the game around 4pm. After taking a break for dinner we wrapped it up around 2 or so. We had never before finished a game in such a short amount of time. It wasn’t that the game sucked, it was quite awesome, just relatively short. However, if it had been much longer I don’t know if I would have enjoyed it as much. The length made sure that nothing got too repetitive (because there isn’t much more to the game than hiding behind things and shooting bad guys with a little jumping over chasms thrown in) and the story was excellent but could have become really drawn out. It was time for Assassin’s Creed.

I was almost jumping out of my skin with excitement as we put the disc in the system. The game promised to have everything I love; graphics, story, blood, strategy, and general awesomeness. The system told us an upgrade was needed before we could play. We clicked ok. The system began to upgrade, and froze. We tried again, it froze. I was about to throw something against the wall. Finally after about the 8th try it upgraded fully and the game loaded. We began to play.

If you have been watching TV at all in the last month you have an idea of what this game looks like. It’s the one with the crusades looking guy running over rooftops and killing people in most excellent ways. The game itself looks just as good as the commercials. The story had elements I was completely unaware of that were incredibly unique. Even though it is primarily set at the time of the crusades there are some very futuristic elements that are just great. We finished about 90% of the first level and decided to head to bed around 5.

Sunday was a calmer day. Dave came over in the late afternoon; we showed him Assassin’s Creed and played around a little bit. Then he and I went to meet Jamie (but not Monica because she is a lame) to watch The Darjeeling Limited, which was quite enjoyable despite how much I want to slap Jason Schwartzman. I tend to like his work but having seen him in many interviews I wish I didn’t. What a pompous ass. We got a large popcorn and found out there were free refills. Who needs refills on popcorn though? Apparently it was us. We essentially killed two of those things. It was disgusting but oh so yummy.

I have an iPod again so let’s name that song.

1. On candy striped legs/ The Spiderman comes/ Softly through the shadow of the evening sun. Lullaby, The Cure. Identified by Monica

2. I'll start this off without any words/ I got so high I scratched 'till I bled/ I love myself better than you / I know it's wrong so what should I do? On a Plain, Nirvana. Identified by Identified by Monica

3. We are two mariners/ Our ships sole survivors/ In this belly of a whale. _________, The Decemberists. Partially identified by Identified by Monica

4. To me/ Coming from you/ Friend is a four letter word/ End is the only part of the word/ That I heard

5. All My Friends know the low rider/ The low rider is a little higher. Low Rider, War. Identified by Identified by Monica