I’ve become a bit of a “next-gen” snob. I don’t mind admitting it. In the past year since the release of the 360, my GameCube, PS2 and original Xbox controllers have collected their fair share of dust, for a variety of reasons. With the limited free time I have to play games, I usually default to the latest stuff that’s out, and I now avoid games on the “old” systems because they just don’t measure up.

Not that graphics are the only thing that matters in a game, because they aren’t. But I do like pretty graphics. Moreso, I enjoy crisp, sharp, high-definition pictures. Pixelation on the older systems is more exaggerated on larger TVs.

So when a game like Okami comes along for the PS2 exclusively, I don’t exactly perk up. However, I’ve been hearing such great things about Okami, I can’t help but become interested. Because as I said, the latest graphics processing power will only get you so far, and when a truly unique and entertaining game comes along, the graphics really don’t matter so much.

I’ve been checking up on Okami all morning, and I’m definitely planning on dusting off the PS2 to give it a whirl.

Speaking of new games, I swung by Best Buy the other day to grab a new game, and the moron behind the register was so busy trying to be funny and make bad jokes that he forgot to remove the security casing from the game. And I was so anxious to get the hell away from him that I didn’t notice until I got home.

So I pull the game out of the bag, and there it is, imprisoned in its hard plastic shell. What a pain in the ass. Fuck it, I wasn’t driving all the way back out there just so they could take it off, so I got out my hammer and a really large screwdriver.

Boy, those things really are theft deterrents, huh? I got the game out, but I managed to slice open my pinky and stab myself in the ankle with a screwdriver in the process. Don’t even ask how I pulled that off; I’m just that talented.