::A Geek in Korea::

We went to my local game shop to trade in a few of my Nintendo DS games I haven’t played in a while. I traded in some of my games for some cash that will be earmarked for more games, of course. It’s a vicious cycle, but the New Super Mario Brothers game isn’t going to purchase itself, and you can better believe it’s going to be in my game collection when it’s released.

While I was at the store, another guy was there looking at games, new and used. He wanted to trade in his copy of Mario Kart DS (an act not unlike heresy), and was looking to pick up either Tetris DS or Metroid Prime: Hunters. I had Tetris in my DS with me at the time, and I gave him a free demo. I later ran into him on the subway and see he followed my recommendation on Tetris DS. We tried to get a game going between stops, but had connection difficulties.

I also got to witness the Nintendo DS lite on my own in person. The screen can only be described as: Glorious, like heavenly gaming light sent from above. Everyone in the store went "Oooooh," when we could see the screen light up for the first time. I’m pretty sure the setting I saw it on wasn’t even the brightest possible, so it may be possible to signal people from outer space when the DS lite is turned to full.

My first impression: Holy crap, it’s small, bright, and pretty. I wasn’t allowed to pick it up, (seriously) so I don’t know how comfortable it will be to play, but I’m guessing the decrease in weight (like 50% lighter and smaller) will help with the dreaded "numb hands" I get holding the DS on extended gaming sessions.

I’m not sure when the new 220v Korean plug friendly models will be released. This was an imported Japanese model with a 110v plug, which is more USA friendly, but since demand is so high, being sold at a premium price that is tough to swallow. The price is something like $70 over the retail price, which is only $20 over what importers are getting for them in the United States before they are officially launched there (sometime in May?). If I can hold out for a few months from the temptation of picking up this model, maybe I can get a Korean 220 volt model, or new color instead. Besides, I like my DS "phat" anyway.

My wife wanted to do some spring clothes shopping, and I wanted to go looking for some new games. I’m usually the big spender in the house. She hardly shops at all, so it’s not like I minded. We got to go out "on a date", which is basically impossible during the week.

She was looking for some T-shirts. Korean T-shirts, 9 times out of 10, will have crazy English written all over them. It’s harder to find correct sentences on T-shirts than in my basic English classes notebooks, and even harder to find anything written in Korean. I have no idea why.

I was given the job of proof reading all the shirts she liked. It was tough telling her if the stuff written on it made no sense at all if she really liked the shirt. For some reason, incorrect grammar on shirts bothers my wife more than me. Eventually, I found a shirt with correct English that she and I liked, as well as the design that was suitable for what she wanted. We picked up a few things for her today, which was nice for a change.