The world turns.

Well, I'm 25, which is the new thing - same as the old thing.

It was one of my more enjoyable birthdays, actually, as I had taken the entire preceding week off, and had reached a state of full relaxation. Which was nice.

It also neatly coincided with the Xbox 360 launch. So, being a current (former) Xbox user, I upgraded. It's shiny and works on the HD LCD tv, which is shiny. Hopefully much fun will be had by all, though I've yet to get a fighting game (a prerequisite of consoles) as I'm not the hugest Dead or Alive fan. But hey, whatever. Indeed, my father was rather horrified by my first game purchase for the 360: a tennis game. Which is shiny.

What can I say? I like sports games - they're naturally competitive. They're learning experiences. And they very simply replayable. My favourite games will always be the likes of Knights of the old Republic, Full Throttle, Deus Ex (homg) and far cry, but they're much less entertaining to play through the second time. Sports games can be good on and on.

The other game related thing is that I transfered my main World of Warcraft character to a server where they have a very sizable (200+) South African guild. That plays at "human" hours. Good for me.

Anyway, Loeries has come and gone. It was still held in "sunny" Margate. There was still too much (hah) drinking. And I still won nothing. Many tears and all that. Though the weather was Cape-Town-winter-esque, which was...damp.

I think the entire Margate experience wore a little thin - the newness had gone, and the whole thing felt very slick. I have a suspicion that the Loeries would do well to attract as many people back next year.

I've also watched a crap load of tv (on pc) - see above regarding me taking a week off. I watched Deadwood season 1 (So much swearin', so many whores, so much facial hair), How I met your mother season 1 (fun), finished Angel (yeah, no, well...sad to ended, glad it's gone), and wrapped up BSG season 2 (one year WTF).

Luckily, there's still more tv to consume - but if anyone has any clever suggestions, pony up (and not anime, anime is never clever).

Final news of the day: I'm finally caught up on George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. It kicks ass. Seriously. Like, fwoah. But now I'm considering trying to run a game in it's setting using something like Riddle of Steel. I say I'm considering, but I imagine my phobia of deep, hurtful pain will help me avoid it.