OK, I said no Sparky's Update earlier today, but I find myself with half an hour to kill while I boil the everloving shit out of these delicious looking brats. Living in the country does have its advantages, one of which is deer and elk meat made into jerky and brats. So freakin' good. Anyways, today's update will be ever so brief. Think of it as a loving caress from your pimp for bringing in an extra $100 for the evening instead of the usual beating I give you for not havin' all my damn money. Damn it, woman, don't you know daddy needs his lettuce?

Right. On with it, then.

Playing with a Flute... and Not the Skin Kind, Jackass

This week, I hardly played any games at all save for those on handhelds. I've talked a bit about Star Ocean: The First Departure and feel no need to reiterate the basics again - it's solid, good fun. Instead, I'll focus on my big purchase of the last week - a 3DS.

It wasn't costly at all, thanks in part to me busting my game trade-in cherry. That's right - your pal Sparky traded in games for the first time ever this last week. I've given them away, sold them to friends, and flat-out lost them before, but never have I traded in any games to a shop. I didn't trade in anything I'd regret later - just a bunch of old sports games, a handful of games I'll never, ever touch again (Record of Agarest War and Alpha Protocol, you won't be missed), and games that didn't work for me visually (Gears of War 1, namely). I also traded in my DS, figuring it would be fairly pointless for me to have both. All told, the 3DS (used) was about $130. With all my trade-ins, I whittled that down to a $30 purchase. Not bad at all.

None of the 3D nonsense will be used - I flipped it on to see if it would work with my eyes, and of course, that's a big "no." I do think, however, there are enough great games out for it and on the way that the purchase is warrented. I didn't buy any games for it. I have a ton of DS games I couldn't play because of a broken shoulder button on my old DS, so I figured I'd wait for some good deals on 3DS games and whittle down my To Be Played list. I did, however, borrow Ocarina of Time from a pal. I don't think there could have been a better way to enjoy the system day one. Ocarina of Time on the 3DS feels like gaming perfection. The controls are much more natural than its N64 counterpart, The graphics look cleaner without really varying too much from the charming look of the original. The gameplay is still superb. And for the three or four hours I played, it was an absolute joy to revisit. I was worried nostalgia might have affected that game's quality, but I'm happy to say that it is still one of the best games out there.

Randomness!

-I did finish off a few games of Civ V this week, mostly from old saves that I hadn't quite gotten around to beating. I played as Gandhi, Caesar, and Alexander, with Alexander being the clear-cut favorite of the three. The production boost you get from buildings already created in the capital cuts costs down by a ton and encourages rapid and militaristic expansion. It's pretty great. I adore that freakin' game.

-Do you watch Spartacus? Because that motha fucka cut a man's face off this week - and it was awesome.

Sorry for the brevity of this update. Much more to come next week, as I explore some old DS games and maybe start in on the next Tomb Raider game in the PS3 collection. We shall see. Enjoy your week, and bring daddy his goddamn money!