The Chronic Consumer

I was cleaning out my desk drawers last month when I came across a brand-new, unopened package containing Gretzky NHL for PSP. This game was released in 2005, so I guess I must have bought it back then, stuffed it into a drawer, and completely forgotten about it! At any rate, I opened it up and started playing right away.

There aren’t too many sports games that I like, but hockey is one of them. Ever since NHL ’94 on PlayStation (the one with the unstoppable Jeremy Roenick, as featured in the movie Swingers), I’ve enjoyed this type of game. But I’d never played hockey on a handheld before, so I was wondering how Gretzky NHL would stack up.

In all honesty, the game isn’t that great — but it’s still fun for me. I’m not a serious gamer by any means, though, so I imagine that true hockey game enthusiasts would be put off by this title. In other reviews I’ve read, players bemoan the “atrocious framerate”, but I have no clue what that refers to. The game looks just fine to me, despite its flaws.

There are several options that allow you to tailor your gaming experience to your liking. For instance, you can jump right into Quick Mode for a one-off game against the computer, or you can spend an entire season playing as your favorite team as you vie for the Stanley Cup. There’s also an online mode, but I haven’t tried that at all.

Within each game you play, you can control things like period length (2, 4, 5, 10, or 20 minutes), whether infractions like icing, offsides, and two-line passes are whistled, shot aim (manual or auto), game speed, and the frequency of injuries, penalties, or fighting. I love this ability, because I was able to make the game very simple (no penalties, no offsides) when I was just starting out and learning the controls, then I could ratchet up the intensity the better I got.

Of course, you also have access to all teams and rosters (the 2005 versions, unfortunately) and have complete control over the rosters and individual lines. You can also make trades, sign players off waivers, and “unlock” additional players (namely, four different versions of Wayne Gretzky from various points in his career) by beating certain in-game challenges (winning x amount of face-offs, scoring x amount of goals, landing x number of big hits).

The complaints I have about this game mostly have to do with the AI. You can only control one of the five players on the ice at a time, which means the AI handles the rest. But what sucks is the AI players on your team simply follow your general direction. So if the player I’m controlling is going one way down the ice, all the other guys on my team head in the same direction. This is a problem when the puck takes an unexpected bounce, like on a rebound or something. Also, it’s sometimes downright impossible to get the puck away from the other AI-controlled team because my own AI players don’t do a damn thing about it. Seriously, it feels like 1-on-5 sometimes and really makes the game feel bogus.

Another complaint I have is that it’s hard to maneuver the players precisely. This results in skating right by pucks that are laying on the ice, which is frustrating as hell. In fact, it’s not uncommon to have the puck just sitting there while my player helplessly circles it… Ugh!!

But overall, I think Gretzky NHL for PSP is more fun than not. I’ve already won the Stanley Cup (with the Ottawa Senators) and am currently on an all-out assault with the Philadelphia Flyers (I’m averaging 9 goals per game through 13 games — thanks to the 3 Wayne Gretzkys on my team!). I know there are a couple of newer versions to this game… I wonder if any improvements have been made?

I don’t do nearly as much as I should to lessen my impact on the environment, but I’m taking small, positive steps. I’ve been recycling cans, plastic bottles, and newspapers ever since I was a kid, which I know is the bare minimum that everyone should do.

But now I’m doing a couple of other things in addition to recycling. First, I’m riding my bicycle or walking whenever I can instead of driving my car. I used to use my car for everything, including the five-minute trips to 7-11 or the library. Now, I bike to those places, even though it takes me three times longer to do so.

I’m also taking reusable shopping bags with me whenever I go to the grocery store. I’ve got a bunch of sturdy promotional tote bags that I’ve received from various places like the health club and B&N, and these are just perfect for the purpose. I feel a lot better now that I’m not getting a bunch of plastic bags from Jewel every weekend!

These are easy steps that everyone can take to help preserve our environment. Going green is all the rage these days, so please try to extend these good habits to your shopping endeavors!

I was doing some Google searches earlier today, and as one thing led to another, I ended up checking out some stuff that had nothing to do with my original search terms.

Anyway, I eventually started reading about “shopoholism” and people who are actually addicted to shopping. Some of my friends have occasionally joked that I’m a shopping addict because I tend to buy a lot of things, but apparently, I’m not even close to exhibiting some of the behaviors of people that really do have a problem.

Real shopoholics give in to impulse buying on a regular basis or shop to self-medicate when other things in their life are going bad. They run up huge debts on their credit cards, spend ungodly sums on merchandise they don’t actually need, and generally display other addictive behavior patterns.

In other words, if there was something like a drug rehab program for shoppers, these folks would be prime candidates. In fact, I read that there have even been clinical trials for a drug that is supposed to quell this type of impulsive behavior in people. Wow — I had no idea that compulsive shopping was such a huge problem!

Fortunately, I don’t think I fall into this category at all. I do buy things on impulse sometimes, but more often than not, my purchases are the result of careful comparison and research rather than a simple urge. Moreover, you can see from this blog that I usually buy small-ticket items that cost less than $50, so it’s not as though I’m putting myself in debt here.

Nintendo has announced that there’s a sequel to the wildly popular video game Super Mario Galaxy in the works. It will simply be called Super Mario Galaxy 2, and will likely feature the same kind of gameplay that made the original such a big hit. Nintendo made the announcement at its press conference at the E3 trade show earlier today. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is scheduled for release in 2010.

We purchased the first Super Mario Galaxy game for Wii and enjoyed it very much. It’s a great game for all ages, and has so many levels and worlds that you can play it for months on end. I’m sure we’ll end up buying the sequel, as my son absolutely loves all things Mario. Can’t wait for this one!