Holiday is here!

The mid-semester break is finally here. Yesterday, Monday I had presented my presentation and now the following 2 weeks is time to catch up on some work. Thank god the presentation went smoothly and without any major hitch. Anyway, had fun last night playing on Xbox Live with the usual friends. The line was good and my frag count was wayy better compared to last time :P

I tried to buy Burnout Revenge yesterday, went up and down Rundle Mall comparing prices (actually, availability) and went home empty handed. EB was selling the game, but at the full retail price. The shop I wanted to buy it from have not receive the new game yet although it advertised it should be here on Monday. Oh well, some money saved in the process.

Now I have that funny desire to buy a Nintendo DS. Wait... NINTENDO?!?!$!# Didn't I said I hated Mario? Didn't I said I hated Pokemon? Well, of course I hate those 2 franchises since Pokemon is lame on the GBcolor and Mario.... gosh that was YEARS ago, but after reading up about the DS, I found out that the DS isn't actually a bad system. So the comparison

PSP
Bad points
-cost AU399 on average, or about RM 1200 in M'sia
-need another RM 500 or more for the memory stick duo, which only compatible with Sony items
-the UMD movies are region coded. Boo boo if I purchased one here and can't view UMDs from Singapore or Japan (Why the hell S'pore and Japan are different regions?)
-chances of getting the dreaded dead pixel problem
-games run on UMD disks and some games has long loading times (.. argghh..it has the PS2 genes)
-need memory stick to save games (duh, it's a Sony)
-UMD games cost more than DS games (not sure about it yet)
-Fragile LCD screen just screams for a third party screen protector= more $$$ spent
-battery life

Good points
-OMG THE LCD SCREEN!!!! IT ROCKS!@#!@#$!@$ *** Drooling****
-UMD games are region free (thankfully)
-it looks waaayyy cooler and more techno than the DS... remember how good the PS2 looked last time?
-has multimedia function with internet browser, wifi, bluetooth
-the games looks GORGEGOUS!@#!@$@!$

DS
Bad points
-Mario... Pokemon... argghh
-just gaming?.. no MP3? no internet browser?what the heck is the wifi for?
-the LDC screen looks pale in comparison to the PSP
-looks so... plain
-cheap plastic

Good points
-Cost about AU 170 for a new one, so it is half the price of the PSP.
-NO NEED FOR MEMORY CARDS!@#!@
-has a touch screen and "some" games untilized them
-more durable than the PSP. Some even commented it can be dropped and still works after that. the PSP on the other hand....
-the flip design protects the screen
-Advanced Wars DS, Metroid Prime Hunters
-full backwards compatibility with GBA games

So all in all, the PSP will eat almost the same cost I "intended" to spent on the Xbox 360 when it is released in Singapore. I am estimating the Xbox 360 will cost around RM 2500, minus the trip to Singapore of course. Besides, the Xbox 360 has a lot more USEFUL functions than a PSP.
UMD movies: DVDs is waayyy better and region free. Movies are meant to be watched while sitting on a couch with the legs up
Mass data storage capability: a portable hard disk or a MP3 player which is cheaper and has far more GB capacity can get the job done better
Internet surfing: I don't think surfing with something without a keyboard (i mean, how to sent e-mails? I am puzzled) or for fun is something I will do in the future when my handphone can do a better job.
The awesome screen: I will definitely scratch the screen sooner or later

So I was thinking, most probably I will get DS first and a PSP later when I can actually afford it (hey, the 360 costs more u know). For the PSP the only games I want are Lumines, Ridge Racer and Wipeout Pure. For the DS it is Advanced Wars, Meteors, Metroid Prime Hunters (later next year) and Kirby. Bah, maybe I just get a 360 first.

Anyway, my purchasing plans are:
DS (October), AU 300 = RM 1000 (just estimating)
PSP (January), RM 2000
360 (middle of 2006?), RM 4000 , inclusive of games, the console itself and the trip down?

and for my current Xbox:
Burnout Revenge AU 80
Conker (still deciding, coz this game isn't really child or senior friendly due to its language, and paying so much for a game full of @$%@$%@ isn't such a good idea to me) AU 80
Far Cry Instinct AU 90
Kingdom Under Fire AU 90
Beyond Good and Evil AU 50 (darn it, why only EB has it?)

So in a years time I will spent RM 8000 on games and the gadgets above.

hmm.. that's not so bad, especially since the hardware will last a long long time...

oh wait, I forgetten to add PC games into the equation. But I don't think it will cost so much since my present PC is capable of handling the current games. It did managed to play BF2 without a hitch.