In an aprés Xmas shopping spree, I purchased several computer games. One of these was Nox, which I was willing to buy for the reasonably low price of $19.99 as marked. However, it rang up as an insanely low $9.99. There is a perverse part of me that nags "why that cheap? it must suck", but then the rest of me just snuggles into the warm fuzzies of getting a good deal.
(Isn't it odd that the perverse part of me doesn't use capital letters when it speaks? But I digress.)
Another game I picked up was Need for Speed 3, which is a car racing game that is few years old, and was selling for $8.99 at BJ's. Unfortunately, the game is misnamed. It should have been called Need for Crack, because it quickly became apparent that I was going to have to buy a lot more stuff to get the full enjoyment out of the game.
The problem began when I tried to race using my joystick. I have a pretty nice joystick, but it is still hard to steer, accelerate, and brake with one control. Playing head to head against Allison only made things worse, because her joystick is, um, inexpensive. Specifically, I think it was free after some rebate or with some other purchase, and it shows.
So, as a birthday treat to myself, I went out and bought us a pair of steering wheels. Force feedback steering wheels. With foot pedals. Now I can have a near arcade quality racing experience at home. And if I run several hundred races, it will have paid for itself.
I wonder if I can get a couple of bucket seats from a junk yard?
Well, at least I am getting some enjoyment out of these games. I am a fifth level Warrior in Nox, carrying my full weight allowance of armor, weapons, and miscellaneous crap, as usual. I can't figure out what is going on when fighting in a group, though. And now, with the steering wheel, I race somewhat better in Need for Speed. I consistently finish in the top eight. Of eight.
Maybe I should try the 3D glasses at the same time. Yeah, that must be what I'm missing - depth perception. Sure.
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