Okay, so you know why my wife is the greatest? She bought me a new recliner for our anniversary. I'm still not exactly sure how I can top it. You see... she's tough to buy gifts for. She doesn't like jewelry, and the only things she wears are her ring and occasional earrings... I bought both of these items for her. She wear the occasional necklace, but only for special occasions. She doesn't like gold, and she's allergic to nickle. It's a double-edged sword... I don't have to buy jewelry, but I also can't buy jewelry. That's tough on a gift-giving adult.

But, back to the chair. Saturday, we grabbed some lunch stuff from the deli counter at Wal-Mart (popcorn chicken!) and took a trip south to a small lake. We sat on the shore, watching the little ducks swim around, and ate our food. I made the mistake of grabbing chocolate milk, which didn't exactly handle the sun well. Lesson learned. On the way back, she wanted to stop at a furnature store, which isn't unusual. After all, she's the queen of "looking." Buying is her achiles heel. We actually looked at dining stuff first, which we didn't need, but we like looking at. Someday, we'll own a house, and actually have to fill it with these things. I want a nice wine rack, but that's me. Wine racks make everything look classier.

First, we found a couch and loveseat set that was perhaps one of the most comfortable I'd ever sat in... and beyond that, the couch had a flip-down cushion that revealed CUP HOLDERS! I mean seriously, how slick is that. After that, we walked around, and I saw this little recliner which was comfy, but on the smallish size. But it was better than the recliner I had. We walked around a bit, and I sat in one that was comfortable, but pricey. It was blue, which I like, but it wouldn't match our couch now, or our carpet. A little more walk-around, and I found another chair, a clearance floor model with full warranty... and I fell in love. It was comfier than the aforementioned pricey chair, it was $150 cheaper, and it had fabric that had texture and softness. It was also a tan/brown blend, which matched our stuff a lot better.

And then, she said we were going to buy it, and we had the money.

I know I can't top it, but I can try. She'll get the usual dinner+flowers thing, with my cooking. I have to do something special for that dinner, maybe some BBQ chicken breast, fried potatoes, etc. I have invented a rather good recipe for fried potatoes that I need to try again. I'll definately have to fork out for some good summer flowers, I think, and plan the night. Hopefully the weather cooperates with me.

And now, the soapbox

You know, it's funny... the closer we get to the launch of the Revolution and the PlayStation 3, the more and more "articles" appear. Most of these are nothing more than some raggy opinion sheet or "list" of games. But the overall climate of the fanbase seems to be shifting around wildly these days. People fall into five general categories.

1) Xbox Fans - They're well served, and already have their Next Gen console. They're not prevented from owning anything else, but they have their toy, and can laugh at all the people who say "Playstation 3 will be so much better." (As a note, I have my 360, and my response is already "Well then, why don't you go home and play with the console you don't have yet")

2) Sony Bi--- Fanbois - Don't get me wrong, I own a PS2. Most likely, I'll buy a PS3, but not at launch. Most of the games I play are sports games, and I can get those on my 360, play them on Live, and get additional content. But I get sick and tired of all the ranting about how good the PS3 will be every time I just mention, in passing, as relevant to the conversation, that I own a 360.

For Example:

Hey Nick, what have you been up to?
Playing Top Spin 2
Oh, that's out?
Yeah, it's on the 360.
Some person not related to the conversation: God, the 360 sucks my balls. Playstation 3 will fucking kill the XCrap 360.

I kid you not, I've had that conversation. In fact, that same person jumps into any conversation like that, even when the people talking all own 360s and are talking about their systems and games. The PS3 has all the capabilities to be a good console, but the simple fact remains... Sony has yet to deliver on it. They've promised the moon with it, with things like Blu-Ray, HD 1080p rendering, and their half-assed less-than-useful online service... and they haven't delivered. Sony still hasn't learned the lesson about proprietary technology... they push Blu-Ray, MediaSticks, and all the other custom stuff consumers have rejected. Their Mp3 player was a disaster, the PSP is tepid at best, and Blu-Ray seems to be lame out of the gate. Even Microsoft realized that the 360 controllers could be USB and give added value by hooking up to a PC (and thus reviving the Sidewinder legacy... best controllers ever). XBox Marketplace is the best... god, that Outpost Kaloki game is like digital heroin.

3) Anyway... Nintendo Fans - They're an accepting bunch, I know, I'm one of them. I own a GameCube, and I love the thing. Everytime I break it out, my wife goes "It's sooooo cute" and then leaves the room, because even if it's cute, it's still a video game console. I own a Nintendo DS. I had two N64s, and still have my NES and SNES. Unlike the apparent Sony fan, you can love Nintendo and still play with other consoles. You see, we went so long without getting the "good" titles on our systems, so we just came to accept it.

But now, suddenly, there are all these people clamoring over the Revolution, and how it amounts to the invention of sliced bread or whiskey in the form of Video Games. As always, there's a group of people that have decided to select it as the "console to beat" (much as the PS2, and then the Xbox, was the generation before) and proclaimed it the winner. As a fan, I'm not sure we need them, but it's nice to suddenly be on the "winning" team.

4) After that, you have your hardcore gamers. They play everything, regardless, and will probably own all the consoles and buy a few dozen games for each one. I'd like to say I'm that person, but I sold my original Xbox, and only own 6 GameCube games. This group also tends to contain the anti-PC crowd that proclaims PC gaming is dead everytime a new console or big game comes out. Some would wonder how many times they have to be wrong about that to give up the argument.

5) The other group: the "I really don't give a rat's ass" collective. The reasons can vary... consoles are too expensive, or they'll buy the cheapest or most available, or that rare bunch that prefer everything to come in cartridge form and feature the "up-and-comming" sounds of Marky-Mark done on simple MIDI. Or, they just don't like games, which means for the sake of this argument, they don't matter.

Bonus Group: The anti-console movement always seems to jump into these arguments... those so ingrained in the "PC Gaming" mentality that they feel the need to dismiss consoles. Because, after all, you can't possibly play both... your head would explode. But for some reason, they always chime in how their system will be state of the art in 2008, and our Xboxes will be three years old. I play plenty of games on my PC, like World of Warcraft, Rise of Legends (when it's released), Call of Duty 2, Quake 4... the list goes on and on.

But the fact is, I spent more on my video card that's already outdated (7800GTX SLI) than I did on my X-Box 360, 4 controllers, and 5 games. That's a pretty strong "against" PC gaming, at least if you like the eye candy. Oblivion looks amazing on my 360, which is why I purchased it for the console over the PC. Plus, I'm still that sports gamer at heart, and they've always worked much better on a console than on the PC.

In the end, the consoles will all launch, they'll all occupy some retail space, and they'll all have good games. In four years, the next round will come about, and the arguments will repeat. Maybe the Xbox^3 or the PlayStation 4 or Nintendo's Next Big Thing will end the arguments, but I doubt it.

Until then, I'll play my games and be happy.

How evil are you?

This test will tell you!

Ah, spam. I'm still not exactly sure how my primary email account got on so many spam lists, but I will probably need to change it soon. Though, I don't know if I can blame the spammers as much as the people who honestly buy these things and keep them in business. I would gladly run either party down with a lawn mower though, to protect the gene pool. Our little swimmers are in danger out there from people who'd actually buy viagra from a guy named hec88anctr.

Baseball season starts today. I'm not sure if I'm excited or not... don't get me wrong, I love baseball. I love going to games. I love watching a good, long, methodical game. I don't mind watching a pitcher go deep, control the plate, and all those other "anti-climactic" things that drive people away. After all, if you don't like it, that's why beer is served at the parks.

But there's just so much negativity surrounding it. I can't watch ESPN any more because I quite frankly don't care if some star or another is juicing. I mean, you see Barry Bonds, and there wasn't a baseball fan out there who didn't think "well fucking duh" when they said he used steroids. Seriously. Big Mac used over-the counter andro? Say it ain't so! Jose Conseco is a tool? Holy crap!

A pitcher said it best... it's just another brand of cheating out there (except the Mac thing, that was allowed). It's not as widespread as people thing, same as school shootings aren't happening every single day (they were more common at the beginning of the 20th century than in the 21st) and Al-Quidea isn't likely to kill you with mutant anthrax any time soon (you're actually more likely to die because of a wild deer while in your car than to ever meet a terrorist).

Congress gets involved... which is obviously such a good idea, because that group of idiots have the war; Bush's obvious abuses of the constitution, common sense, and morality; the budget; and so many other things in line. Yeah, that's right, go police baseball. Most days, I think our country would be better if they left a two-week old waffle in charge.

Mmmm.... waffles...